Comments on: How Arsenal share an approach with the Royal Shakespeare Company

By: dan

dan — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 22:13:20 +0000

We’re certainly Hamlet in the transfer market.

By: don't believe the hype

don't believe the hype — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:21:17 +0000

Good points Tony, I had not really thought about things from that perspective. But it’s obvious now that you say it that Arsene has been experimenting to try to get that famous ‘balance’ between creativity and defence. It does not seem to be based on formations but more about mobility when in possession of the ball and closing down the opposition when they have the ball.

By: LRV

LRV — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:42:57 +0000

I am pretty sure that it will all come together sooner rather than later. We saw it work to a ‘T’ against Rengers. At the moment, some players click better than others. What is most ideal is for several combinations of players to click. They just need to see the other player in a poition, study how they move differently to others so as to know what type of pass to play; not just sending the same pass to everyone. I have no doubt that it will bear fruit.

By: pig

pig — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:36:11 +0000

tony, i dont think its your laptop. ive watched 4 preseason matches on atv-online and last nights match was the worst quality of all. it almost looked like a re-streamed feed from some french tv channel.

as for the 6-month rehearsal, i totally agree. after the setback at birmingham, when our season fell apart, it took arsene the few months until he signed arshavin to re-group and settle the team down. the 07/08 season was the first completion of his ideal squad, and had things been slightly different, we would have won the league, hleb and flamini….etc etc. but the point remains, our pre-season has been going on a lot longer than our opponents’.

By: walter

walter — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 12:46:54 +0000

@ Armin Medic, I can call you a collegue because I write almost everything on the site of the Arsenal Benelux Supporters club. So normally it is a rather positive site in the Arsenal world.
@ Tony : I also think that the sometimes strange positions for some players is a way of learning in matches how it is to play there. The result yesterday wasn’t good but to stay in the Shakespeare thing: After a bad final rehearsel, a great opening show will folow.
Maybe the result yesterday was the best thing that could have happened because when you win almost everything in the preseason, you sometimes get the feeling amongs some players they just have to step on the pitch to get 3 points and now they will know again that it will be hard work and 200 % of winning attitude in the season.

BTW : was I the only one to notice that the ball bubbled around the pitch as iff it was being used for rugby just a few hours before kickoff ?

By: TheSKAGooner

TheSKAGooner — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 12:08:21 +0000

Spot on, Tony. Arsene even says, although perhaps not as frequently as some of us would like so as to make it well understood, that he WANTS flexibility in a player. He wants the CB who can, on occasion, slip into a DM role if needed due to injuries or if tactics require. He wants an attacking midfielder who can slide out to the wing. Playing the preseason matches and using different formations, different combos and what might often seem a hodge-podge to the regular starting XI, is exactly what the preseason is for.

At the midpoint of last season we saw a squad that was struggling, was low on self confidence and had suffered some injuries to key players. In comes Arshavin. He’s most comfortable in the middle, either as an attacking midfielder or as a second striker. Arsene pulls him aside and says “Son, I need you out on the wing. The LEFT wing.” Shava, being a professional, dutifully trots out to the left wing and stuns everyone (including himself) in the Prem with his performances. As the season wore on and we were forced to continue fielding a mix-n-match squad at times (Cesc was out, Ade was out, Theo was out, Clichy got hurt, Gallas got hurt), needs must that some players were simply going to have to step into positions they were not either intimately familiar with or were not at their preferred position. But something strange happened around the end of February…it all started to make sense to the players. Yes, we were still fielding an odd squad, but the players themselves understood what the demands were, WHY they were being asked to do such, and went about putting together a 21 match unbeaten streak.

I guess my point here, in complete agreement with you, Tony, is that we as fans often only see what’s on the pitch. It might not always be pretty or make sense. But the most important thing is that the players get it. And they take it on 100% and get the job done. In taking this preseason to experiment a bit with formations and player positions, the squad must surely understand the method behind the madness (well, madness to some fans, anyway). The deeper methodology of experimentation will help us as the season goes on and the players will have at least some modicum of experience with the inevitable adjustments to draw upon when needed.

By: Armin Medic

Armin Medic — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 10:51:42 +0000

I absolutely agree with you Tony, unless someone think that Senderos is midfielder and Wenger lost his mind and he have to be fired and replaced with some of us, fans, who see things clearly. So why to overpay Wenger when its so obvious, in fact, I will apply for a job, and I will even agree to be paid 2000 pounds (month, not week).
So, or football is a bit more complicated than it look on computer games and from comfortable home chair, or whole footballing world get insane overpaying mangers.

They may send us in Championship a week before season even started, and they may have right. But there is one fantastic thing and I have to share it with you. For our Bosnian Arsenal Supporters Club I have task to write article about start of new season, and I start with analyzing our squad, positions, strength… and marvelous thing is, that every time I write about some position, I forget some players. And not some crap players, but excellent ones. No I don’t have Alzheimer, I am only 35, than our squad is filled with bunch of extraordinary players, and Wenger have plenty of options. Maybe even more than any manager in PL. Others may have stars, but in general we are the ones who have equal strength on each position, we have reserves who are enough strong to beat opponent. Squad is such “wide” that some players couldnt even be tested during preseason. And don’t forget…there are Rosicky and Nasri who will be there in month or so.

By: Will

Will — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 10:11:12 +0000

So you are you saying that all the out of position play towards the end of last season was all just an experiment. That having bendtner, walcott and eboue playing on the wing will ultimately make us a stronger team and doesn’t represent either a permanent tactical change or a deficiency in the squad?

To be honest I’m not entirely convinced but it’s a possibility and will be interesting to see happen if this is the case.

By: steww

steww — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 10:03:57 +0000

Very much a public rehearsal these games. You can learn some stuff, confirm other stuff and marvel and wonder at what the great man might see that we don’t. I know he looked a bit grumpy on occasions last night which suggests not all was going as he’d planned.
He does believe in a kind of total football I think, with all players comfortable on the ball and understanding how different positions work and interact, but the needs of the premiership to an extent have straight-jacketed him Other teams, with the complicity of the English football world, think that kicking pretty players works – sometimes (Reyes) it does.
I for one am looking forward to the fruition of his great plan and just hope the players can deliver it. Efficiency and beauty, victory through harmony.