Have Arsenal resurrected their title hopes in their win over Chelsea?

Robin van Persie’s two strikes in three minutes in the second half certainly will have boosted the young Arsenal side’s morale.

But the reality is, a team’s winning mentality should not just be seen against the top sides in the Premiership but in every single game they face.

Wins against ‘la crème de la crème’ of the league – Manchester United and Chelsea, are impressive, but the North London side have lost to more predictably easier opposition, like Premiership newcomers Hull and Stoke.

Why has Arsenal lost those games?

• Wrong mentality.

Manager Arsene Wenger summed this up in his post-match interview this afternoon:

"It’s part of the learning process…that you need to understand that in every
game you need to be in that kind of state of mind”.

Whether they always perform to the best of their ability is another matter but Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool will always play to win and be the best irrespective of how lowly the opposition maybe.

And that’s what it takes to win consecutive matches in the Premiership, something Arsenal have struggled to do this season.

Any team will always want to beat a top four side, claim that victory and slice of history. It seems West Ham’s goalkeeper Robert Green consistently plays the ‘game of his life’ against Arsenal every season because he wants to beat them, but it is also down to Arsenal’s attack to make life difficult for him.

• Arsenal lost a winner in Mathieu Flamini – who sadly departed on a free transfer to AC Milan over the summer.

The way Flamini prepared himself on the pitch before a game was quite telling of his committed approach. He would jump up and down on the spot and do windmills with his arms, revving himself up to be ‘the running man’ in the side.

Flamini would run at players, not allowing them any time on the ball, and would put in a challenge and break up play.

No other Arsenal player can really do that, and subsequently opposing midfielders float around and run through the midfield unchecked and expose Arsenal’s already vulnerable defence.

Flamini’s replacements - Denilson and Alexandre Song rarely put in an effective challenge.

• The loss of Belarusian midfielder Alexander Hleb to Barcelona has also affected the Gunners’s ability to retain the ball and start attacks.

Granted Hleb never scored goals like his replacement – Samir Nasri – but he got stuck in, could keep the ball for hours through his skill and trickery, and was far more consistent in his performances compared to the one-hit wonder Nasri is proving to be.

Arsene Wenger is unlikely to bolster his team’s title credentials with any purchases in January, believing to the end, in his youthful side.

But by then, the title is likely to be all but out of sight.

Lord Mawhinney’s call for more home grown players

Mawhinney hopes Football League clubs produce more home grown players like English international Theo Walcott (image courtesy of PL Hee)

The Times has announced today that the Football League chairman, Lord Mawhinney plans to introduce the “Home Grown Players” rule in a bid to groom more England players.

The rule would mean that clubs have to have at least four members of their match-day squads who qualify as domestic players.

To qualify as a domestic player, the player has to have been registered in England for three seasons before their 21st birthday.

Genuine need for an English quota

The fact that there is a genuine need for an English quota to be introduced into the football leagues – the Championship, League One and League Two – illustrates how widespread the issue of foreign player recruitment has become.

The clubs in the three lower leagues do spend £30 million a year, however, on developing home grown talent.

And to great effect. As Mawhinney points out:

"Fourteen of the 23-man England squad that beat Germany in Berlin last week were
developed by youth development programmes at Football League clubs".

And with this extra impetus, we should see more special players like Ashley Young (from Watford), Theo Walcott (Swindon Town and Southampton) and Micah Richards (Oldham Athletic) coming through the ranks and breaking into the England senior side.

Aaron Lennon's dominance fails to cement England regularity

Aaron Lennon

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Aaron Lennon played with pace and persistence against Blackburn Rovers today and deservedly won man of the match for his efforts.

The 21-year-old midfielder raced round the Blackburn fullback Martin Olsson with ease, and the humiliation was such, that the defender was sent off six minutes from half-time as he was booked for his second, cynical challenge on Lennon.

Pundits have often heralded Lennon’s pace but criticised his lack of end product, but in this game he was able to provide both. Beating Olsson on the right for the umpteenth time and laying off a simple ball to the Russian striker Roman Pavluychenko to finish smartly.

Lennon also tested ex-Tottenham keeper Paul Robinson several times as he quickly darted about the midfield cleverly making space for himself.

The young midfielder’s impact coming off the bench against Chelsea a few weekends ago, suggests that he might be finding some consistency to his game under Spurs manager Harry Redknapp.

Not a shoe-in for England

But until he secures this consistency, puts in at least five impressive displays, it would seem far too premature for England manager, Fabio Capello, to answer Harry’s call that his player should be a shoe-in for England.

Two impressive performances do not earn you a call-up.

Kevin Nolan can play well against Arsenal one week, rough up the French elite and get a pat on the back from The Times writer Tony Cascarino and he certainly won’t earn that golden phone call.

When Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor got his first cap against Germany last week, he had strung together some compelling performances for his club throughout the last couple of Premier league seasons.

Agbonlahor’s team-mate, Ashley Young has only just received his first call-up to the senior side too after shining at Villa for some time.

Granted Capello took a chance on 19-year-old Theo Walcott after only just breaking into the Arsenal first eleven this season.

But when he was given this chance away to Croatia in September – like Lennon was given under ex-England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson– he took it, becoming England's youngest ever hat-trick scorer at 19 years 178 days.

Lennon has yet to impress on the international stage.

But if he is able to frequently re-produce these exciting performances, indeed then, he would be a real asset to England.

Difficult captaincy decision for Wenger

Arsenal captain William Gallas has received a great of criticism since his on-field sulk after the Gunners's draw with Birmingham last February.

It is a draw that swung the momentum away from Arsenal in their quest for the Premiership title, and conceding a penalty in the dying minutes after such a hard-fought battle was understandably hard to take.

Arsenal never recovered from this draw, which some argued at the time was partly due to Gallas's lack of leadership qualities when he slumped onto the floor at the final whistle.

Croatian striker Eduardo's horrific leg injury in this game also significantly contributed to Arsenal's demise.

Gallas's post-match reaction could also reflect his strong desire to win and perhaps his realisation that despite their brilliance throughout the season, this youthful side might just capitulate when it truly mattered.

Winning mentality

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, has often described Gallas as a "forgotten centre forward" in the way he charges into the box for late, decisive goals.

Gallas's sublime header in last season's home encounter against Wigan in the 82nd minute, his late finish in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United and in this season's Champions League away tie to Dynamo Kiev - were all a captain's contributions and should be counted in his defence.

Never openly criticise players

Gallas's latest folly, however, has been his open criticism of his team. A manager should not personally berate a player to the press, and neither should a captain.

What purpose does it serve in furthering that player's confidence and development if they believe their manager and/or captain doubts them?

The captain has revealed arguments in the dressing room in the Gunner's 4-4 home game with Tottenham Hotspur and has questioned the courage of the youth to genuinely fight for the title after their capitulation to Aston Villa last weekend.

Gallas talks of the necessity to fight together, but by speaking out against the team, he is surely causing further divisions in the camp.

Difficult decision

Many have called for Wenger to strip Gallas of the captaincy and certainly the fight and determination of the still young Cesc Fabregas might be better suited to the role.

Gallas will have be chosen partially because he has won titles with Chelsea, and therefore knows how to win and what it takes.

But 21-year-old Fabregas started this season off the back of winning the Euro Championships with Spain and is an undoubted fighter.

Wenger's decision is a difficult one when you consider how Gallas might respond by being stripped of the captaincy. He is a proud player, and at 31 might find it difficult to suddenly take advice from someone 10 years his junior.

It would be a humilation for him, and Wenger can ill-afford another vulnerable player at the heart of his defence.

The cost of international friendlies

Olympic Stadium in Berlin

Arsenal winger Theo Walcott is the latest player to pull out of the England squad to face Germany at the Olympic Stadium tonight.

The nineteen year old dislocated his right shoulder during training, which is likely to keep him out of club fixtures for several months.

Top premiership managers - such as Rafa Benitez and Arsene Wenger - have been frustrated by the timing of this friendly, particularly when there are no international competitive matches for four months.

Club versus country

It is this frustration that drives club managers to intervene and withdraw their players from national squads if they show the slightest sign of injury.

Liverpool Football Club, for example, enraged England manager, Fabio Capello and the FA when they scheduled Steven Gerrard to undergo an operation on his groin injury during the World Cup qualifiers in September.

Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez announced that Gerrard had carried the injury for awhile and had just been able to "play through the pain" for a full 120 minutes in the club's Champions League qualifier with Standard Liege.

Incidentally, the two week international break meant Gerrard was able to recover properly without missing significant club football.

Fabio Capello was quick to re-assert his authority as England manager this week when he insisted Gerrard be assessed by the FA's medical staff after the club withdrew him due to injury.

The 'club versus country' debate will continue to swell until FIFA intervene and re-assess the timing and number of games in the fixture list.

‘It’s all about Aaron Ramsey, Aaron Ramsey, Aaron Ramsey’

Wales manager, John Toshack, tried to calm the hype surrounding 17-year-old Aaron Ramsey's debut in the Wales senior side tonight, by saying:

"It's not all about Aaron Ramsey, Aaron Ramsey, Aaron Ramsey".

But Wales captain, Craig Bellamy's flattering comments about the young Arsenal midfielder - saying he "cannot recall as much fuss about a young Wales player since Ryan Giggs" - has not helped to quell the nation's expectation.

Aaron Ramsey has already proved that he can handle this kind of pressure when coming on as a sub in Cardiff's FA Cup final in May earlier this year:

And he has also looked impressive in a string of appearances for his new club Arsenal in the Champions League and Carling Cup this season.

Tenacity

The Welshman's quality of passing has prompted comparisons with the imperious Cesc Fabregas.

But Ramsey's tenacity - his ability to hold off players despite his under-developed physical frame - will prove equally important to his success, particularly in the combative English game.

Injuries have forced Toshack into naming a very youthful squad - half the squad are under 25 - against an experienced Danish set-up in Copenhagen.

There's a great deal of promise from the young Welsh on show, however. Hull City's 25-year-old goalkeeper, Boaz Myhill, has convinced in the Premiership so far and is expected to win his third Wales cap.

Manchester City's 19-year-old striker, Ched Evans, has been handed glimpses of the pressures of the Premiership and is likely to feature alongside captain Craig Bellamy up front.

Some view friendly internationals as the perfect opportunity to blood the youth and see how they handle the pressure.

Rest assured, Ramsey will not disappoint.

Bold selection by Jim Magilton

Ipswich Town Football Club

(Courtesy of Paul)

Ipswich manager, Jim Magilton, made the controversial decision of including out-of-favour midfielder David Norris in his squad to face Doncaster this afternoon.

David Norris has been heavily criticised for his ‘handcuffs’ gesture in his goal celebration against Blackpool last weekend in support of his jailed former Plymouth team-mate Luke McCormick.

Luke McCormick was jailed for seven years in October after causing the death of two boys - Aaron Peak, ten, and his brother, Ben, eight – when drink driving.

McCormick had been driving at 90mph on his way home from David Norris’s wedding party when he crashed into the Peak’s car.

In a statement on the club's website, Norris denied making a handcuffs gesture or “personal message to Luke McCormick," but appreciates how his “actions may have been misintepretated” and has apologised to the Peak family for any offence caused.

Insensitive

It was a particularly insensitive celebration given the proximity of the event, and the Peak family’s disappointment that Luke McCormick will be eligible for parole after only three and a half years.

The boys’s mother, Amanda, described the player’s behaviour as “disgusting” and insisted he should be punished by the club.

In an interview with Sky News, Amanda said she found the goal celebration particularly offensive because it was likely to have been “premediated”.

Light punishment

Ipswich Town Football Club have fined David Norris and the proceeds are to be given to the Peak’s family charity of choice.

The Football Association have requested an explanation from Norris, but as yet have not chosen to suspend him, making him eligible for this weekend’s fixture away to Doncaster.

Given the sensitivity of the issue, this seems to be a light punishment. Other controversial goal celebrations in the past have earnt match bans from the FA.

In 1999, Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler was fined by the FA and banned for four matches after gesturing sniffing cocaine from the penalty box white line when he scored against Everton.
This had been in response to Everton fans’s taunts about him being a drug user.

"not been an easy decision"

Jim Magilton admitted that it had “not been an easy decision” to include Norris in his squad this weekend.

It is difficult for a manager to omit a player who scored the winning goal in his last game and says he wants to play, despite the likely abuse that he’ll receive from the crowd.

There is also the added pressure that it is an away game broadcasted on Sky TV.

It will be interesting to see how David Norris and the fans respond.

Aston Villa need greater steel to secure fourth place

Aston Villa First 11 (Courtesy of Guðmundur Lúðvíksson)

Two successive defeats in a week for Aston Villa, see them miss out on the chance to go fourth in the table and overtake current premier league holders, Manchester United.

With all their youthful, promising attacking talent in Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Steve Sidwell and James Milner, Villa need to eliminate defensive slip-ups in order to progress and build on their top six finish last season.

A mark of a top club is often their ability to ground out results - to be resilient, even when they are not playing their best football.

Villa manager, Martin O’Neill, referred to this sentiment in his post-match interview with Sky Sports: "We didn't play well but we shouldn't have got beat. That really is the disappointment”.

This has frequently been the criticism levied at Arsenal – for example, in their away defeat to Stoke this season – and what both teams lack, are assured defences.

Good offensive play

In Villa’s away game at St James’ Park a week ago, they were unfortunate not to open the scoring on numerous occasions.

Laursen headed Gareth Barry’s 11th-minute corner against the post, ten minutes later Agbonlahor miscued his shot from close range and Newcastle keeper Shay Given expertly saved Ashley Young’s powerful attempt minutes before the break.

The away team needed to be patient, to keep their shape and continue to create chances.

Defensive inadequacies

Newcastle were re-invigorated, however, at the start of the second half, when Laursen all too easily allowed Obafemi Martins to cut inside twice, and score two well-taken goals.

Defensive midfielder, Nigel Reo-Coker, was also culpable for the second goal in failing to challenge the goal assister - Newcastle’s Argentinean winger, Gutierrez - in the centre of midfield.

Even more blinding defensive inadequacies were to blame for Middlesborough’s goals on Sunday.

Villa left-back Nicky Shorey misjudged Stewart Downing’s cross and Turkey striker Tuncay Sanli eagerly pounced.

Making his premier league home debut for Villa, midfielder Steve Sidwell equalised minutes later and then two minutes from time, made a wayward pass which was seized by Tuncay to score his second.

The premiership’s “top four” all have exciting offensive players to put their teams ahead, but equally important to their success are their gritty, powerful defenders, who fight to intercept that cross and make that last-ditch challenge that keeps their team in the game.

As illustrated in Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic's double tackle below:






Aston Villa’s defence needs to produce that form consistently if they are to viably compete for a Champions League place.

Arsenal remind us of their English heritage in their win over Manchester United

The distinctive poppy embroidered onto Arsenal players’s red and white home kit in their crunch game with Manchester United this weekend, not only served to commemorate Remembrance Sunday but also served to remind the viewers that the traditions of this football club remain quintessentially English.

Arsenal Football Club was the only club in the premier league to pay their respects in this way.

After the high profile game, the shirts were signed by the players and they are to be auctioned and raffled in aid of The Royal British Legion and Help for Heroes - two organisations that support servicemen and women and their families.

Arsenal Chairman, Peter Hill-Wood said: “The players are very proud to wear this shirt and remember those who’ve given their lives for our freedom. We hope these very special shirts can raise vital funds for those who have served and are currently serving in the Armed
Forces.”

Arsenal Football Club also lay a poppy wreath at Islington’s Green War Memorial after the game on Saturday.

The North London club also work extensively in the community. Their chosen charity for the 2007-08 campaign – Treehouse – raised £250,000 for a new sports facility at the autism charity’s new education centre three miles from the Emirates stadium.

English vision

As customary, only one Englishman, young Theo Walcott, made Arsenal’s starting 11 on Saturday, and the precocious talent of 16-year-old Jack Wilshire warmed the bench.

Manchester United, in contrast, began the game with four established English internationals – Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney.

Many have been vexed by the fact that a top four side in the English premier league can be so bereft of English players.

And indeed, it was a young Frenchman on display, Samir Nasri, whose skill and talent bagged him a winning brace.

But as Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson, commented after the game it was a match of “fantasy football” and the pace, vision and passing of both sides was very much in the mould of some English greats.

Nasri’s industrious play and creative vision could well be likened to World Cup winner and ex-Arsenal legend, Alan Ball.

Compare below, Nasri's second goal against Manchester United on Saturday, with glimpses of the late Alan Ball's ability in his tribute video:





English ownership

Arsenal is the only top four premiership club to have not bowed to foreign ownership, despite mounting pressure.

According to a recent article in the Mail, the Hill-Wood and Bracewell-Smith families have been represented on Arsenal’s board for three generations, some 90 and 70 years respectively.

Chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, has insisted the club’s ownership will stay in the hands of those who have “Arsenal in their blood” and resist the increasing involvement of billionaire overseas investors Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov, who between them control around 36 per cent of the club's shares.

Modest transfer dealings

The contentious departure of long-serving vice Chairman of Arsenal, David Dein, last year, has been widely linked to his contrary views concerning foreign ownership.

Dein has urged Arsenal’s board to rethink and sell-out to the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov in order to geuinuely compete for titles.

In an interview with The Telegraph newspaper, Dein said: “He [Usmanov] would change the whole dynamic of the club. At Arsenal, something has to break".

But it is the board’s traditional outlook that continues to resist the big money market in football.
Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, too has a traditonal approach to spending. Samir Nasri has been the club’s most expensive purchase to date – a reported £12.6m from Marseille Football Club this summer.

Despite this relative modesty in transfer dealings – Manchester City’s foreign owners, Abu Dhabi, funded the signing of Brazilian Robinho for £32.5m – Arsenal appear to have the money to spend, declaring a pre-tax profit of £36.7m in September this year.

Arsenal’s vital win over Manchester United this weekend might re-invigorate hopes of a title winning campaign, but doubts linger as to whether their traditional English board and frugal French manager could still leave them without silverware for a fourth consecutive season.

Chelsea's dogged teamwork should see them Champions

Chelsea's five goals against hapless Sunderland yesterday, reinstored pride into Stamford Bridge once again after their disappointing defeat to Liverpool last weekend.

Speaking to a Blues enthusiast earlier, he had expressed his sadness that Chelsea “just seemed to give up altogether” against Liverpool.

None of that cowardice was shown against Sunderland who- as Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari had feared in his pre-match interviews – looked intent to merely defend from the start.

It was the home team’s readiness to be the first to the ball and close down Sunderland’s players in their opposing half that made it such a promising win for the home crowd.

Chelsea’s breakthrough came in the twenty-seventh minute when stand-in centre back, Alex, adopted the typical position for a centre forward, right in front of goal, so he was able to latch onto Joe Cole’s shot when Sunderland's keeper, Fulop, flapped.

Persistence

Good positioning and persistence characterised Chelsea’s forward play all afternoon. In the build up to their second goal minutes later, three Chelsea players closed down a Sunderland player in order to regain possession and commence another attack.

Frank Lampard retrieved the ball, passed to Deco, who released a ball down the right for Lampard to run onto and cross into the box, with an eager Alex and Nicolas Anelka waiting in the middle. Either player could have finished the move, but Anelka claimed it with the final touch.

The fluent build up play for Chelsea’s third – Joe Cole linked up with Lampard, who thread the ball to Florent Malouda, who then laid it off to Anelka – was reminiscent of “Arsenal the Invincibles”, who went for the entire of the 2003/04 season unbeaten whilst playing exquisite and committed football.

With players like Deco, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole, Chelsea are capable of consistently showing flair and vision. If they demonstrate the same degree of doggedness and grit in every game, they could well be champions come May.

(Image courtesy of Stewart Damonsing)