Up and down the City Road
In and out the Eagle
That’s the way the money goes
Pop! goes the weasel.
The carnival is over girls and boys. I was in two minds about that unseemly spectacle over at Stamford Bridge; whether to wish for the continued reign of the Special One as he drove the club further into the ground with his increasing megalomania and irrationality or to wish for a summary execution where he would be publicly shamed and ridiculed. Somehow I think we got the best of both worlds. Now the very media who fawned over the deluded little man, literally treating him like the second coming, are like a flock of carrions diving into his carcass, seeking to extract as much of the meat to sell to the public. What a comment on the times we are living in.
The only good thing about the recent bloodletting at Stamford Bridge is the distraction it provided from the real business at hand, the upcoming clash between City and Arsenal. Knowing the media, this reprieve won’t last for long. Pretty soon the demise of the so-called Special One will be yesterday’s news as it becomes apparent that his loss will be mourned by only a few. He mattered little, most of us will move unto more important things.
While our eyes were diverted elsewhere, there have been several attempts to stir the pot with the usual stories about the inevitable demise of Arsenal in the face of the financial juggernaut of Abu Dhabi’s Manchester City, just like that other colossus, the club in blue from Fulham. Some people never learn do they?
One of the memes trying to gain traction is that Per Mertesacker is some sort of a liability for the Arsenal. Earlier this week, one of the Fleet Street rags did a real hack job, bigging him up as having “great positional awareness and strong leadership skills” and in the same sentence, striking like the hand of Brutus, describing Per as having “the pace and mobility of an industrial storage container.” Outside the mainstream, one of those juvenile football websites that somehow manage to get frequent visibility on NewsNow, came up with the brilliant idea that against City “Arsenal need the combined athleticism of Koscienly and Gabriel in the center of the defense. Absolutely.” Yup, you read right. Gabriel, who is considered inferior to such paragons of defensive ineptitude as David Luis and Thiago Silva in the Brazilian set-up, must absolutely play ahead of the most experienced Arsenal defender in a decisive game vs its main title rival.
You have to wonder what Per has done to earn such disrespect. This is a player prior to signing up with the Arsenal in 2011 had 100 caps for Germany. In fact his contract was brought forward one year earlier than planned after we were embarrassed 8-2 by Manchester United in August of that year. That, I wish to remind Goners was the month of infamy when Cesc Fraudegras declared he was not fit enough to play for the Arsenal, but immediately after his transfer, turned up for Barca in the Copa Del Rey final. Despite Arsenal FC being shorn of two of its best players, the other departee being Samir Nasri, immediately after his arrival Per immediately contributed to solidifying the team, especially in defense, as he developed a partnership with Laurent Koscielny. The importance of this duo became apparent in the month of November when we overcame Sunderland, Stoke and Chelsea and kept a clean sheet in the away victory in Marseille in the CL. No wonder he earned the moniker of the Big Fucking German (our BFG).
It is amazing how some people easily forget the ropy defensive performances prior to the Mert-Kos alliance. Per was virtually present in every game until February 2012 when he suffered an injury at Sunderland and had to undergo an operation which kept him out of the team for the rest of the season. Losing defensive solidity, despite Van Stapleton’s golden boot performances, we struggled to 3rd at the end of the season, barely securing our Champions’ League spot on the final day of the season, only one point ahead of the Scum.
In subsequent seasons, the firm of Mertesacker and Koscielny has been the defensive foundation of Arsenal’s consistent improvement in Goals Against statistic.
| 2014-15 | 2013-14 | 2012-13 | 2011-12 | 2010-11 | 2009-10 | |
| W | 22 | 24 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 23 |
| D | 9 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 6 |
| L | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 9 |
| GF | 71 | 68 | 72 | 74 | 72 | 83 |
| GA | 36 | 41 | 37 | 49 | 43 | 41 |
| GD | 35 | 27 | 35 | 25 | 29 | 42 |
| PTS | 75 | 79 | 73 | 70 | 68 | 75 |
In the two years prior to 2011-12 Arsenal coughed up an average of 42 goals per season. Since the BFG took charge, after an aberration of 49 goals conceded in 2012, the numbers have consistently trended downwards to an average of 38 goals against in the past three seasons. It is remarkable that while our Goals For has remained stable, in the low 70s and even declined to 68 in 2013-14, it was our mean defending that drove our goal difference to a high of +35 last year. Not bad for defender who is like an “industrial storage container.”
At PA we are fully aware there is an unrepentant minority in our fanbase who delight in finding fault and belittling the qualities of some of our players (Giroud anyone?). Evidently some wish to give the BFG the same treatment even though all the recent scapegoats have simply made fools of the slaggers and slaters.
Given recent reports that, via the in-house statistical team, AW is fed much more data than my simple review, I am sure he is well aware of the key role that the BFG plays in the team. Despite the naysayers, captain Per will be the first name on the team-sheet leading the troops out to battle on Monday against the oily-might of City.
Positively Arsenal 
Haha haha haha.
Special one weasel.
Spot on shotta. Happyh holidays
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Fantastic stuff mate,another blinding read.
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Brilliant stuff Shotts. Spot on as ever. Calmness is such a vital commodity and Per brings buckets of the stuff. And skill, stability, timing, experience, balance, elegance, and nous. A vital cog in Arsene’s beautiful machine.
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When Per hangs up his size twenty-fives and Kos (and Monreal, for that matter) are no longer automatic first team selections, the memories of this particular group will be revered precisely for the reasons you so eloquently extol.
And it is the context in which they were introduced to the team, as you rightly explain, that is so important to appreciate. That we didn’t fold and ‘do a Chelsea’ following the 8-2 with a manager who made a laughing stock out of himself, his team and his club, is a testament to all involved with the club at the time. Such circumstances could well have left most clubs rocking, yet out of adversity came one of the Arsenal’s most critically important partnerships.
Anyone seeking to denigrate it or any aspect of it simply does not understand football, have a grasp of history or an appreciation of cup-winning standards of player contribution.
A great piece Shotta, and a terrific reminder for anyone tempted to take for granted the defensive stability we have now come to expect as ‘routine’.
It’s that same ‘routine’ that provides the bedrock of our debt of gratitude and appreciation for the toweringly magnificent German, bringing whole new meaning to the phrase ‘as Per usual’.
Played Shotta.
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The other Per statistic that might be worth looking at is his goal scoring. He gets 2-3 goals a season which for a great big centre back is about right. He has scored a few crucial goals, against Spurs to get us on our way after falling behind in the second 5-2 demolition, the equalizer against Wigan that took us to extra time at Wembley. Without these goals the history of AFC might look a little different, maybe a lot different.
Well the odd thing is that this season he has not troubled the scorers yet. My guess is he is about to get off the mark.
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I remember that close season well when Per and Arteta came in. The WOB werent to happy but I was relieved. I recall Per being a bit bewildered in the first games, but I was glad of his big presence and he soon adapted. His passing skills are pretty damn good too, and he loves Arsenal, he really does and he wants to win. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t stay committed to the Gunners post playing career. I hope so, hes a good bloke, who does a heck of a lot to support young players.
Cheers Shotta, a fine read early on a Sat. morning. I now look out for your selection on Slow and Dirty, you choose some great songs!
As for the 8-2? Hollow victory, we werent even interested that day .Even Lee Dixon said before the game he could see six going in that day. Still, I’d rather be the Arse than the Manure.
Cheers!
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Per is a bit slow,
So was Paul McGrath.
You don’t have to run where you are already in the correct defensive position.
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Our Big Fookin German will be wearing the captain’s armband on Monday night.
Only the lunatic fringe would have a problem with that.
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Well said everyone.
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Glad to see PG is up and about, watching over this blog and scoring points over on twitter. But you owe us a medical bulletin Mr Meerkat. Don’t be so coy.
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I gave one on here the other day Shotta.
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Missed it. You must be on the mend.
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the arsenal team to face city on monday
lost his agility and over the hill
too young and inexperienced, industrial container, full of mistakes, not good enough to get in the spain team
liability, hollywood and only interested in his own glory
just not good enough for my club, lazy, barca reject
lampost
and don’t get me started on the subs, dwarf, useless and co
managed by senile stingy clueless old fool of a frog.
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The BFG’s performance during the recent victory over Munchen was something special.
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Rumours of his demise have been prematurely exaggerated.
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shotta one thing that your table shows is that Wenger, despite losing 2 star men season on season, still managed top 4, and in his worst season for defeats lost only 1 more than the special one lost in 16 games this season, this despite cfc having a BPL winning squad, plus £60M worth of additions, and with a greater squad that allows them to have 33 players out on loan.
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Per is and always has been an excellent player for us. As mentioned, he arrived at a very difficult time, and along with the likes of Arteta,played a huge role in stabilising things. The media are just short on things to slate AFC, and the part of our fanbase that follow their every word must be equally frustrated, their fave team are near the bottom, their manager of choice has been sacked, their chosen Serb Central MF has been crap all season, Cesc has seemingly revealed some true colours proving Wenger was right not to go anywhere near him, and they don’t have another manager to use as a stick to beat Wenger with. Some of our fans on some sites threw their affections towards Poch and Klopp, but For now, without reward.
Happy days for some, endless frustation for the media and the haters.
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anyone else notice the soundbite that has caught hold this week, probably by design seeing as we are playing city on Monday – so many versions of this being put out there in the last week – “there is no reason why Arsenal will not win the title this season”
isn’t it amazing how Man city and even Man Utd are so easily discarded by those pushing a certain agenda.
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Arsenal U16’s currently losing 4-2 away to spurs in a game of 3 x 30 minutes. AFC have 3 Greek trialists playing for them. I think all 3 are from the Arsenal Academy in Greece.
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Mandy – times are tough for the Goners, I just don’t know how they keep going, I really don’t. Their morale, in inverse proportion to the team’s success, tanked yonks ago and they are left to scratch around in vain for a stick to beat the club with.
Their disappointment at the turn of events at Chelsea over the last six months is palpable.
Diadems.
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http://www.beinsports.com/en/football/video/wenger-eyes-up-the-stats/159293
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So Chelsea hopped on the bus Guus,tryin set themselves free.
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I see poor old Jimmy Hill died. RIP Jimmy.
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Confirmation from deluded Chelsea fans that the myth of a super coach who wins at all cost, underwritten by the largesse of a benevolent oligarch, is alive and well. Their team seemingly liberated from the paranoia of the megalomaniac is 2:0 up in 15 minutes yet they yearn for the very man that ran their club into the ground. Unbelievable.
PS: I remember writing a similar post at ACLF when the maniac was first fired. Nothing has changed it seems.
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Shotts, the more things change, the more they remain the same!
Great write up, as Per normal!
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Excellent read Shotta. I’m of the opinion that much of football commentary is groupthink. People just regurgitate what they perceive is a consensus. I hear it all the time. I struggle to prevent myself being rude. The other day I failed. I blurted out at a bunch of numbskulls in the sauna “do any of you have an original thought based on your own observations?”. I can compete with PG when it comes at being grumpy….
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Great piece Shotts and great timing as Per is on the front of the ARSENAL magazine, Shotts review is obviously better than the official one.
I’m also of the opinion that this current back 5 is approaching the brilliance of some of our best back 5’s weve seen in our history.
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Zombiefying the masses has always been the role of the mass media, G-P. An independent-thinking public is the last thing our elites want. How else would they be able to mis-rule our countries? No better microcosm of this feature in society than in English/European football. Almost always the mainstream media celebrates Mourinho and his management style, completely ignoring the fact that this his methods are unsustainable. The Portugeezer must constantly trawl the transfer market and has very little interest in developing players. In fact the record is now very predictable, after one or two years he alienates rather than motivates the majority of his players. Without Roman underwriting the cost of Mourinho’s short-termism the club would have gone bust a long time ago.
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I see that without so much as kicking a ball we have fortified our defensive position as the meanest in the league. Augurs well for Per. Ah!
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I would like to agree with others about the sad news of the passing of Jimmy Hill. Even if you didn’t like all his ideas and opinions everybody would agree he was a true pioneer and would never let football standstill. It is a shame Fifa, Uefa and indeed our own F.A. didn’t have his foresight. R.I.P. a true football great.
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I see the refs weren’t reluctant to call penalties in the earlier games today. 6 penalties by my rough count. But then again teams don’t need pens to beat United as Norwich proved today. As for United their attacking is so pathetic a ref has no opportunities to bail them out.
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The away sides in excellent form so far this weekend
It stops right there
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in all my years of seeing teams have an improved performance in the first game after a manager’s sacking, I’ve never seen the media and pundits have a go at the players for upping their game, but that is what has happened today with Chelsea’s win, all over the place the media are having a go at the players for letting the special one down. such utter bias from them, its unreal.
The one thing that seemed clear from all reports of the Chelsea performance today was that the players (were allowed) to express themselves, to play fast, open attacking football. and this was totally ignored by the Mourinho sycophants, in the media and among fans. Must also say it was at home to sunderland, but to hear the media you’d think CFC had just dismantled Bayern Munich.
Would also like to point out that the media in their rush to condemn the players for letting jo say down, have not addressed the question as to why this happened, what was the mans role in it, how much was he to blame, why did the players go from last seasons invincibles(isn’t that what they were declared about this time last season), to being down at the bottom this season, could it be that the media do not want these questions even asked, let alone answered, as it would show their special one up for the cunt that so many of us know he is.
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Man Utd BPL record so far this season – home and away
Home – 8 games, 4 wins, 3 draws, 1 losses, pts 15
Away – 9 games, 4 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses, pts 14
my fear is that the utd owners will sack LVG now and replace him with jo say and that he will spend big in january, and put them right back into the title race.
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anyone watch final score today on BBC, Chris Sutton seemed to attribute the infamous CFC player quote from earlier in the season
“I’d rather lose that win for Mourinho”
to Cesc, the presenter of the show switched topic as soon as sutton said it.
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Eddy: Buying can’t save United this January. None of the CL teams will sell nor will the top teams who see Europa as a route to the CL. Jo Say will just be a better LVG. Develop a siege mentality and batten down for some more boring draws or 1: nil victories. United can follow the media advise but it will only slow down their demise unless they recruit a manager with a footballing mentality diametrically opposite to LVG and Jo Say.
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I’m not so sure shotta, I would say that the poison dwarf would get them winning in the short term, and that with the favors utd get and jo say gets, it might all add up to being enough to make them champions.
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During the half time from SJP I listened to 606 for fifteen minutes
Apart from the Mancs callers predictably demanding the immediate removal of van Gaal there was an absolutely brilliant call from a Leicester fan, exceptionally drunk I suspect, who sobbed and dribbled away for five minutes as he described his ECSTACY he felt this afternoon.
Marvellous – that is the power of football
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Just to halt the “Jose to Manyoo” bandwagon before anyone attaches any credibility to the notion.
I glimpsed the future with perfect clarity this morning, in a way that only seasoned conspiracy theorists and peyote enthusiasts will be familiar with.
Jose will not take another substantial club job. Jose has been chosen by the powers that be to deliver an international football trophy.
His future employers are, and have for the past decade performed at a modest level but are very rich and very very determined to emphasise their position on the world stage, they are excruciatingly sensitive about status, about face.
A little over two years until they stage the World Cup finals – Slutsky will be allowed to take the team to France – unless he returns with the trophy there will be a new man in the Kremlin technical area by August 2016
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both Newcastle and Villa improving, west brom and sunderland getting worse. maybe we will see jose,fat sam and pullis all lose their jobs in one season.
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Excellent bloggery.
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Great article, Shotta.
I’ve got “issues” with the treatment of Arsenal, 2011/12.
The one I’ll reveal is – I can’t surmise getting the load off my chest in a couple of paragraphs.
Per Mertesacker, Respect, Brother.
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At least Jose and Louis antics are keeping the normal hype of an Arsenal Vs a City title chasing game under wraps.
I’m getting a bit fed up with the new” Arsene has to win it this season” meme.
The irony that this entirely comes from the gang who were adamant he’d never win another trophy a few years ago.
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You have to bear in mind as well DC that if, by some fluke, Arsenal did break the tape first and win the PL trophy, it would only be because the English top division has seen its standards decline to a lamentable level, the equivalent of the Estonian 2nd division
I suspect you are familiar with the theme spouted by our social media superiors and gurus of the Scarfist flame
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There are still some interesting turns and corners for this league.
Leicester have been a phenomenon so far, but the fixtures have been kind.
They still have to play City, home and away. Ditto with Liverpool.
They have to play Arsenal at the Emirates, and have to visit Old Trafford, the Bridge and the Lane before the season is over.
Not to mention they have to play Palace and West Ham.
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Shotta, very many thanks for highlighting the impressive BFG has had on the club.
We should NOT forget that the BBC no less, voted for Jose as the Coach of the Year in 2005.
on Sunday, 18th December 2005, the referee disallowed a RVP goal, allowed Michael Essien to stamp, elbows and retaliatory kicks without punishment. According to the referee, Lauren should not have put his head in the way of an Essien elbow.
I can find no evidence that Lauren sent his dental bill to Chelsea FC , for payment.
I can find no evidence that Mr Wenger went to court, for the “voyeur” slur.
BBC could have a new category, for sacking of the year?
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Jose was at Brighton today watching them lose to Middlesbrough.
Make a rumour out of that if you wish.
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several journos claiming that LVG will be sacked by Monday, Jose already being talked about as Utd’s choice to replace him, and that he will be in charge by time Utd play CFC on December 28th
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I wouldn’t be entirely certain that Jose would risk – or be allowed – to go to Man U so soon.
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He even speaks English with a Russian accent
Mouchester is not, nor will be
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