Arsenal | Wild American Gooner

July 18, 2014
by etfaust Leave a comment

Evaluating Arsenal’s Latest Signing – Welcome Mathieu Debuchy

Many names have been tossed around in the last two years as potential replacements for Bacary Sagna when he left Arsenal. Sagna’s shoes were a big fill, and it didn’t seem like Carl Jenkinson was going to be ready quite yet. We heard about Serge Aurier, Micah Richards and Callum Chambers. But it was always going to Mathieu Debuchy. It just made too much sense. And the former Newcastle man became Arsene Wenger’s second signing of the summer yesterday, confirming a transfer story that had lost all suspense weeks ago.

Debuchy is as close as it comes to a like-for-like replacement for Sagna at right back. Whether or not he is an upgrade is up for debate, but he is certainly a suitable replacement. The similarities start with the obvious fact that the two of them are French internationals, with Debuchy starting over Sagna at the World Cup. That fact right there should leave Arsenal fans satisfied with the move, even if they are not overly excited. He showed himself well in Brazil, and didn’t look out of place in the quarterfinal against the eventual champion Germany.

But the biggest similarity between the two French right backs is their style of play. At this stage in their careers, both are above average going forward, having the ability to make runs down the flank. And while Sagna might be a better crosser of the ball, Debuchy has a little more pace at the moment. They are also above average defenders, capable of winning balls in the air and defending one-on-one situations. One negative of Debuchy is that he won’t be able to fill in at right back like Sagna could, but that shouldn’t be a factor unless Wenger allows Thomas Vermaelen to leave without replacing him.

Tactically, Debuchy will slot directly into Sagna’s role in Arsene Wenger’s plans. He and Theo Walcott should make for a terrorizing duo on the right, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a majority of Arsenal’s crosses coming from that side once again. With French teammate Olivier Giroud to aim at in the middle, Debuchy should have little trouble fitting in offensively. He might struggle at first with his defending though, as he won’t get much help from Walcott. He’ll have to quickly learn to be extra disciplined so as not to leave himself and Per Mertesacker exposed. Sagna was excellent next to the big German, and it will be vital for Debuchy to develop a good relationship with Mertesacker from the start.

Where Debuchy’s experience could help the most is on Arsenal’s goal kicks. A pattern had developed in recent years of Wojciech Szczesny aiming his kicks at the head of Sagna up the field. And Sagna was pretty good at winning those first balls, getting Arsenal up the field in an efficient manner. Debuchy will offer the same sort of outlet. At Newcastle, the former Lille star won a high percentage of his aerial duels, and he should be able to do much of the same at Arsenal.

And as Debuchy is 28 years old, he’s a known commodity. What you see is what you’ll get. Playing with the pressure that comes from the Arsenal fans sometimes can be tough. But someone who’s been involved in the France national team setup should have no problem with pressure. He’s also had experience playing in the Champions League in the past. And as he’s been in the Premier League for the last 18 months, he should be able to settle in quickly.

I won’t lie. I’m not overwhelmed with excitement over the Debuchy signing. He doesn’t make us title-winning threats all by himself by any means. But Arsenal needed to find a replacement for Sagna and Carl Jenkinson didn’t seem ready. So signing a veteran international who can bring stability to the position while Arsenal search for the right back of the future signing over the next few years makes a lot of sense.

There was a hole at right back, and Arsene Wenger filled it swiftly and appropriately. And while Debuchy obviously won’t bring the same spark to the team that Alexis Sanchez will, he is a valuable signing nonetheless. Arsenal now has a starting lineup that rivals any in the Premiership, and further signings this summer will only serve to strengthen the campaign. I can’t wait to see this team take the field in less than a month.

July 17, 2014
by etfaust 1 Comment

My Peculiar Path to Becoming an Arsenal Fan

As there isn’t much at all to talk about in the sports world today, I thought I’d share the story of how and why I became an Arsenal fan. One of the most interesting things about American soccer fans is that we all come to the game in different ways. We weren’t necessarily born into families that rooted for these clubs. As such, a lot of us, myself included, had to put a lot more effort into falling in love with a team.

For me, my path to soccer fandom began as a general sports fan. Being raised in Boston, the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots were my life. And I was also an Arkansas Razorbacks fan – the biggest one in Massachusetts. But as my family never focused on soccer, I grew up thinking all of the American stereotypes about soccer. I probably watched fewer than five professional games before the 2006 World Cup, as I didn’t have a reason to want to like soccer. And once I got through the obligatory youth soccer, I had no intention of playing again.

I have very strong memories of the first few games of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. It was eye-opening to me that I knew next to nothing about a major sporting event, and when I sat watching the U.S.A.-Czech Republic game at tennis camp, the biggest sports fan there, and couldn’t say anything about what I was watching, I took it upon myself to get acquainted with soccer. I might not like it, but as a sports fan, I had to watch the World Cup. Or so 11 year-old me thought. And watch it I did, quickly appreciating the beautiful game. The Portugal-Netherlands match, considered one of the ugliest soccer games played in recent years, was the first soccer match that ever got me thinking that I could like the sport.

But after that month, I quickly went back to my old ways, primarily focusing on baseball, basketball and football. However, around that time, and over the next few years, I particularly enjoyed a British book series that I found. It was called CHERUB – a series about a special division of British spies that were kids. They worked alongside MI6 and it was an absolutely incredible series. The main character, James Adams, someone whom I identified with, was a huge Arsenal supporter, as he chose the last name Adams when he became a spy in honor of the Arsenal great Tony Adams. There were a ton of Arsenal references in the books, and I became an Gunners fan through James without realizing it. I’d known of Thierry Henry from those Gillette commercials of old, and I had generally compared Manchester United to the Yankees in my mind, so it was natural to want to be like James Adams in this respect.

So in 2009, I began following Arsenal results casually. I wasn’t even aware that I was doing it for a while, but late in the 2009-2010 season, a few months before the World Cup, I realized I was strangely excited for a game I had no business being excited for. It was Thierry Henry’s return to the Emirates with Barcelona in the Champions League in late March. I didn’t know how to watch the game, so I followed it on gamecast on ESPN.com. And from that day forward, I was officially an Arsenal fan.

Now at this point, I found myself trying to learn a lot about the game as quickly as I could. I had a bunch of friends who followed the EPL closely, so I picked their brains almost every morning at school. They of course were mostly Manchester United and Chelsea fans, but I was a Gooner, whatever that meant. We played a lot of soccer in our free time, and while I was awful at that, I was thoroughly enjoying learning a new game. By the end of that season, I’d found a few EPL games on ESPN, but I needed to learn as much information as possible before the World Cup began.

I would look at rosters on Wikipedia, reading up on all the players I only knew by name. And of course when the World Cup finally begun, I watched just about every match, learning something every second. While I had decided to be a fan roughly three months before the World Cup, it was the action in South Africa that got me to fall in love with the game. When it was over, I was dying to watch the EPL. By the time the season started, I had spent hours and hours reading and watching everything I could find about Arsenal. And from there, I’ve never looked back.

For the last four-plus years, I’ve probably read 10-20 articles a day about the club I follow from afar, utilizing the Google News function to find as many pieces of Arsenal content as I can. I quickly learned which British tabloids were semi-credible and which were not at all. But what made it all so much fun was that I came to this sport entirely on my own.

I knew that I would have to prove my Arsenal fandom through endless dedication and devotion. And that the reason I was an Arsenal fan was a book series only made me more determined to prove myself. Whether I was trying to prove it to my fellow soccer fan friends, to my family or to myself, I don’t really know. But I ended up taking this particular journey to super-fandom rather seriously. Missing a game was a felony in my eyes, and I did everything possible to develop my soccer knowledge.

Everybody I know is a Red Sox fan. And the same is true for the Patriots and Celtics. Even being an Arkansas fan wasn’t entirely unique. But Arsenal was my club. Every time somebody questioned why I cared, every time someone wondered why I wasn’t a Man United fan, I became even more of a Gooner. I wanted a sports journey that was entirely my own, and I got that and so much more.

I hate answering the question about what my favorite sports team is. Compared to everybody else, I’m the biggest Red Sox, Arkansas and Celtics fan I know. But I think at this point, it would be fair to suggest that Arsenal rivals those teams for the top spot in my heart. It may even surpass it. For I had to learn to love Arsenal myself. Now, after four years of hard work to learn the game to the best I can, I have an extremely personal relationship with the club I have come to love. Even though my reasons for becoming a fan aren’t convincing to some, and even though I’ve only been a fan for a little more than four years, Arsenal is everything to me.

I believe it is not how we become a fan that matters. And it’s not about how long we’ve been a fan either. It’s about how much time we spend thinking about the team. It’s about whether we’d wake up at 3 a.m. to watch a preseason match. It’s about how much we love our team. And damn do I love Arsenal Football Club.

What’s your story about becoming a fan?

July 16, 2014
by etfaust 4 Comments

Rating the Arsenal Performances at the World Cup

Making the transition from World Cup content to Arsenal content, I would like to write about Arsenal’s players in Brazil. The Gunners sent nine players to Brazil for the World Cup. Three of those players got knocked out in the group, three exited in the quarterfinals and three come back to London as world champions. Here, I would like to assess each of those players individually. And for the record, I am not including new signing Alexis Sanchez in this list. And as far as Joel Campbell, I left him off this list as he has yet to train even once with the club. However, I’ve had extensive coverage about Campbell over the past month which you can search for if you want to see that. Here is a link one of those pieces.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (England) – Having overcome injury concerns late in the season to make the final roster for Brazil, the Ox was terribly unlucky to pick up another injury in England’s final preparation friendlies. The hope was that he’d make it back in time for the final group game, but by then, England was already out, and Oxlade-Chamberlain never saw the field. It was a huge blow to the youngster, but one that might ultimately be beneficial. The added rest will hopefully mean he’s fit and firing by the opener, and he shouldn’t have to miss much of preseason. With other players in his position coming back from extended breaks and injuries, the Ox should be in line to start a few games early on, giving him a chance to show his continued development.

Jack Wilshere (England) – Wilshere was a frustrated figure for England in Brazil. He came off the bench to mild success in the opening loss to Italy, was an unused substitute against Uruguay, and started the meaningless game against Costa Rica. At times it looked as if Wilshere felt sorry for himself, but mostly it looked like he thought he should be the first name on the teamsheet. That was seen as confidence a year or two ago, but with mixed results lately, it looks a lot more like arrogance. As the young midfielder might be looking at a lot of time on the bench this year, he’ll need to channel all of those negative feelings into making himself better. Going out and smoking cigarettes on his holiday isn’t a good way to show everyone that he’s working hard.

Santi Cazorla (Spain) – While Spain was generally terrible in Brazil, Cazorla looked one of their better players when he was on the field in the final two games. He created a number of chances, and he was one of the few Spaniards to show any sort of urgency when they were down against Chile. Arsenal would seem to benefit from Spain’s exit, as Cazorla could be ready for preseason. And as he gets older, more rest can only be a good thing for the veteran midfielder. It’ll be nice to have him fit for the Crystal Palace game. And as he’s already won a European Championship, Cazorla still carries the winner’s mentality.

Thomas Vermaelen (Belgium) – This was a thoroughly disappointing World Cup for the Arsenal captain. Even though his team made the quarterfinals, he made only one start, and had to come off with an injury. A year away from the first team at Arsenal saw him lose his place with the national team, and he had to watch his team struggle all tournament. This World Cup disaster will surely cause Vermaelen to reconsider his future as a Gunner. I expect him to leave the club by the end of the window.

Laurent Koscielny (France) – The Arsenal center back surely would have wanted to start for his country, and he will be massively disappointed in his place on the bench for much of the tournament. Especially against Germany, when he could have been on the field against a few of his Arsenal teammates, he was quite unlucky to have been on the bench. I certainly feel he’s better than Mamadou Sakho, so it made little sense to me. Being a defender, he won’t need much of a preseason to be ready, so there shouldn’t be too much of a worry there. But overall, Koscielny won’t look back on this World Cup with particular fondness.

Olivier Giroud (France) – Giroud’s World Cup was a mixed bag. In the group stage, he played his way into the lineup with a series of impressive displays alongside Karim Benzema. Against Switzerland, the big frontman grabbed an assist and a goal. But when France took on Germany in the quarterfinal, Giroud was back to the bench. From an Arsenal standpoint, it would have been nice to have seen him score a big goal in the knockout round, but alas, he once again failed to make much of an impact against the very best teams. However, Giroud did force his way into a very talented team for a few games, and that should be good for his confidence going forward.

Lukas Podolski (Germany) – While Podolski didn’t see much of the field, totaling zero minutes in the knockout round, he leaves Brazil a world champion. And watching him on the field in the postgame celebrations, you could see how much it meant to him. Although he didn’t play a whole lot, this summer should still do wonders for his confidence. Nobody can take away the fact that he is a world champion footballer. And hopefully he was playing up Arsenal to Sami Khedira for the last month. While he’ll miss much of preseason, Arsenal should be able to deal with his absence until he’s fit.

Per Mertesacker (Germany) – The big German center back started for much of the tournament, but lost his place in the final three games when Germany moved Philipp Lahm to right back. However, that decision was not a reflection on Mertesacker’s play. He was solid in the back, and represented Arsenal well with every header won. And of course, he comes back to the club a World Cup champion. He is already held in a high status in the dressing room and this should only further that reputation. I expect a fully fit Mertesacker to be ready for the opener, and he’ll be in a great mental state going in to the new campaign.

Mesut Özil (Germany) – Arsenal’s record signing received a ton of flak throughout the tournament for a perceived lack of effort. Compared to Thomas Müller, Toni Kroos and many of his other world-beating teammates, his work rate wasn’t the best. However, despite being pushed out wide, Özil did play a lot of telling balls in the final third, and was unlucky only to garner a single goal and an assist. And he played his best game in the final, which should do wonders for his confidence. Being a World Cup winner could do more for Özil than anyone else, as he should now be of the mindset that he can be among the very best. Hopefully this means we will see Özil live up to his potential. While the Arsenal playmaker will miss much of preseason, this World Cup should do wonders for him for next season.

July 10, 2014
by etfaust 9 Comments

Arsenal’s Puma Kit Trilogy Launch (What Does That Even Mean?)

The modern convention of making soccer kit launches big events makes very little sense in the Twitter age, as nearly every single kit has been leaked at some point. So there was very little suspense among Arsenal fans when it came to the first Puma design. But that didn’t stop the club from making the reveal of their first PUMA kits an insane spectacle. It was dubbed the “Arsenal/Puma Kit Trilogy.” If only the kits were as epic as the name.

With Puma taking over from Nike, the company was always going to make a big deal out of their first big club in England. And as Arsenal got a lot more money out of Puma than they did from Nike – Puma will be paying Arsenal £30 million annually, while Nike only payed £8 a year – it made sense that they would try and please the company from the start. Arsenal’s website has been a big advertisement for Puma lately, and the Alexis Sanchez transfer even got buried beneath Puma stuff. It’s all a bit ridiculous.

But their launch today was downright strange. For those around the world, there was a Live Launch Video on Youtube that consisted of a 30 minute countdown (one that didn’t even count down the entire time – see the 8 minute mark of the video for when it counts up) and less than three very strange minutes of vaguely discernible holographs projected onto water in front of the London Eye with Arsene Wenger doing his best Morgan Freeman impersonation. Watch the video for yourself, it’s extraordinarily strange. I can’t imagine what being there would have been like.

The kits themselves aren’t as bold as I would have expected from Puma. And while it’s refreshing to see new designs after watching so many generic Adidas and Nike looks dominate the EPL recently, I don’t particularly like this new Arsenal set.

Here are all three looks for the 2014/15 season

The Home Red

The kit that we will see the most of is not particularly aesthetic to the eye. The shoulder panels are awkward, unable to decide if they should be rounded or straight. Ever since this jersey leaked months ago in a photo with Thierry Henry wearing it, I have not been looking forward to seeing it on the field. However, I do like the little bit of red on the cuffs of the sleeves. It’s a nice, subtle touch. The random piping on the side seems unnecessary though. In general, I don’t like jerseys to be overly tight, and Puma has had a tendency of doing that for soccer jerseys. Out of the three new Arsenal designs, this one could be the most susceptible to that dreaded too tight look. The socks and shorts are nice enough, but overall, this primary strip is disappointing as Puma’s first effort.

The Away Yellow

This design harkens back to previous Arsenal looks more than the others. The yellow and navy work well together here, but a slightly brighter blue like the one used in this past season’s away strip might have been better. I think the shoulder and sleeve design looks a lot cleaner than it does on the home, albeit significantly harsher, but it’s interesting Puma didn’t settle on one consistent look. The whole design is rather simple, but the little bit of yellow on the sleeve makes a boring design slightly less so. Once again, the random navy piping on the sides is worthless. The shorts are pretty standard, but the yellow and navy stripes on the socks look sharp.

The Alternate Blue

I’m generally not a fan of having an entirely new third kit, but with Arsenal not having a third Puma option, this one was necessary. Out of the three though, this look may be my favorite. The diagonal stripes across the front are handsome, and while the kit is similar to Nike’s 2011/12 design, it’s much nicer. The touch of lime-green helps bring out the stripes, and for once, I think the side piping kind of works because it’s a third color. If the shorts are different than the away kit’s, it’s hard to tell, but the socks are an entirely different design. I prefer the stripes of the others to the blocky look of this one, but overall, they aren’t a disaster. It’s a pretty classic kit, and I hope Arsenal gets to wear it more than a couple times.

With inspiring mottos like “Future Forever Victorious” and “Stronger Together,” many would have expected something more akin to the Star Wars trilogy than the Arsenal Puma Kit Trilogy. But at least we were spared the misery of another kit introduction later on for the third strip. I guess I should be thankful that the money from the Puma contract helped bring Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal, but these kits don’t seem all that revolutionary to me.

July 10, 2014
by etfaust 3 Comments

Arsenal Get Their Dream Man – Welcome Alexis Sanchez

Today is a landmark day for Arsenal Football Club, as Arsene Wenger has won a worldwide battle for a dream transfer target, getting Alexis Sanchez in a compelling move from Barcelona. Alexis Sanchez was a true star at the World Cup for Chile this summer, and coming off of a very successful third season at Barcelona, one in which he scored 19 league goals along with 10 assists, he was a valuable commodity. Seen by new Barcelona coach Luis Enrique as surplus to requirements, Sanchez had his pick of places to go, among them Liverpool and Juventus. Once other teams got involved, many Arsenal fans feared his transfer story would go the way of Gonzalo Higuain’s. But in recent days, it became clear that this time was different. And this afternoon, Arsenal confirmed that Sanchez is a Gunner.

As many people saw at the World Cup, Sanchez is a useful player indeed. He isn’t your typical striker, but his movement and pace are smart enough that he can more than hold his own up top when called upon. However, his best positions or Arsenal will likely be on the left or right side of attack. He has the speed to get in behind the full-backs, and having successfully played a similar role for Barcelona, he has learned how to make the diagonal runs in between the defenders. He has a rocket of a shot, but has also scored a lot of clever goals with finessed efforts and chips.

The player who will benefit most from this transfer is Mesut Özil. With Real Madrid, the German superstar was at his best alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and other pacey players who could continuously make intelligent runs from the flanks. Özil could sit deeper, finding the perfect ball to thread in between the defenders. With Theo Walcott out for much of the year, Arsenal’s record signing had nobody to play those type of balls to, and had a tougher time creating chances. Olivier Giroud certainly wasn’t making those runs, and neither were Lukas Podolski or Santi Cazorla from the left. But now Sanchez will be there to run in behind, and with Walcott soon returning to fitness, defenders will be downright scared of leaving any space behind them. Sanchez is an ideal signing to bring out the best in Özil.

The other area that Sanchez can help tactically is that he’ll be another head to aim at in the box when Arsenal look to cross. Sanchez has showcased his ability to get to the back post in recent years, which is something Arsenal have been without. And with more bodies to cover in the box, Aaron Ramsey might find more space to make his late runs forward. Podolski and Cazorla certainly possess great abilities in the attacking third, but neither player was eager to get in behind. As such, the midfield got overcrowded at times, with no options beside Giroud at which to aim crosses. Sanchez’s abilities to be both the creative force in midfield and the hard-working finisher should make Arsenal’s attack significantly less predictable.

Sanchez’s arrival may not be the only signing up front this summer, but his versatility could allow Wenger to focus the rest of his transfer energy on other areas. Behind Olivier Giroud, Arsenal now can play Sanchez, Yaya Sanogo and Joel Campbell in addition to Walcott and Podolski on occasion. And with an abundance of attacking midfield talent, Arsenal possess an incredible front 5. The lineup of Giroud, Sanchez, Walcott, Özil and Ramsey should scare everyone. That Cazorla, Podolski, Tomas Rosicky, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere won’t all be good enough to even make the bench if everyone’s healthy shows that Arsenal’s depth in this area is tremendous. Everyone will need to work harder for places in the side, and that can’t be a bad thing.

There are still moves to be made to shore up the defense, with the potential Mathieu Debuchy arrival looking likely, but today’s signing of Alexis Sanchez sends a message to the rest of the Premiership that Arsenal will be a force in the attacking third this year. And as none of Sanchez, Özil, Walcott or Ramsey are older than 25, this will be a potent side for years to come. I can not believe Arsenal got this deal done so quickly, and with a nearly full preseason to get acquainted with his teammates, Sanchez should be firing in no time. This is a great day to be a Gooner.

Wild American Gooner

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