Jack gets reward & change to the formation?

Afternoon Gooners,

Now, we all know that Arsene Wenger's policy at our club has been to invest in youth to buy loyalty in the hope that as the players stick together, play together and grow together they can develop relationships with each other on the pitch that cannot be replicated or found by the £30 million players that rivals are bringing in. The long term goal is to have a sustained period of absolute dominance in the game like that of Man U when the premier league was launched.

Wenger has gifted players like Denilson, Diaby, Djourou, Vela, Walcott, Fabregas, Song, Clichy, Fabianski etc massive contracts for players of their age at the time, he even did it in his early Arsenal career with Anelka (although he moved on to 'greener' pastures). A lot of criticism comes with these deals especially for the likes of Denilson and Diaby who in some fans eyes aren't near the quality needed to wear the arsenal shirt but this has been and I can only guess, always will be Wenger's method.

The latest player to get a massive new deal is our local lad Jack Wilshere. If reports are to be believed then Wilshere is now taking home £50k a week, which for a 18 year old is beyond mental but the difference with Jack is that he loves the club, he describes it as 'his' club and I reckon - if agents didn't exist - he's among the rest of us fans who would play for nothing. Jack was obviously really pleased with the deal saying:

 "Arsenal Football Club has been like a second home for me and my family since I was nine years old. To be offered a new contract means everything to me.

"At this point in my career, when I'm only 18 years old and still learning so much about the game and myself, this is the perfect club, the perfect team-mates, the perfect fans, the perfect backroom staff and most importantly, the perfect manager to help continue that."

He also talked about improving himself:

"I've got a long way to go before I can become the player I dream of becoming and I'm sure I'll keep making the odd mistake, but it is a massive help for me having a special manager like Arsène Wenger and so many quality team-mates and the unbelievable Arsenal fans around me. I believe there is a lot more to come from me."

For those who follow him on twitter (@jack_wilshere), reading his tweets yesterday made you feel great that he's our player and you could really tell he was genuinely excited to have committed. Even Cesc came out on twitter to congratulate him, I know it was only his duty as captain but twitter makes it feel more personal and it was great to read. Hopefully we will see Fabregas and Wilshere lifting trophies together for years to come at Arsenal.

Well done Jack!

Changing the subject a tad, I've been watching games since the Chelsea game and I can't help but wonder, has Wenger changed his formation again? Last season we saw a back four, a DM, two CM and an attacking triangle, this season we seem to be setting out in a sort of 4-2-3-1 formation, using two DMs. This theory was emphasised on Saturday against West Ham when like everyone else I was surprised to Song and Denilson in the starting line-up, especially at home and even more especially against a team sat on the bottom of the table. It would also explain why Song as been more attacking this year already claiming a couple of goals. It would seem that we are playing two DMs and they are taking it in turns to hang back while the other one attacks, What do you think Gooners? Have we changed our system, but more importantly, is it a good thing?

In more negative news, Sczcesny has reportedly been stalling on a new deal. His current deal expires at the end of the season so he is free to talk to other clubs in January, can someone please give this kid the phone number for Alex Hleb,  Mathieu Flamini or any of the many other players that have left thinking that they are too good for Arsenal only to realise they were good BECAUSE they played for Arsenal. It is nice that this sort of diva behaviour is not too common at our club and hopefully these stories are all bull being spread by agents but the best way for Sczcesney to put a stop to any fan's backlash before it starts to sign a deal and commit to fighting for a place at the greatest club in the world.

On that note, I'll leave you to the rest of your Tuesday,
Until next time,
Goonerfish.

It's never over till the blond Song sings. Hammers thoughts.

Phew!!

Our boys don't half make things difficult.

Robert Green is awful for 36 games a year but seems to have absolute stormers against us and he continued this trend yesterday keeping us out with a string of top saves.

Despite having the likes of Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin, Chamakh, Walcott and Bendnter all having chances it was Alex Song that stepped up to save the day yesterday, throwing his bleach blond noggin onto a gorgeous Gael Clichy cross with just two minutes left on the clock to put Arsenal 1 - 0 up. At first I had a mixture of relief and disappointment, as Arsenal fans we are far too used to dominating games and then not getting what we deserved out of them and for 88 minutes it seemed that horrible 'should of been' feeling was going to haunt me over the weekend yet again. But as that final whistle went and the three points were confirmed I realised that the fact we are used to losing these games means that today we proved again that we have grown as a team and are finally learning from lessons that are being taught to us. Maybe, just maybe we have turned a corner.

I won't go through the game minute by minute as you will find hundreds of news reports or blogs that will do that however I'll point out some key points we can take from the result. The old saying goes, and I'm sure it will be repeated over and over again, "this is a game that last year, Arsenal would have dropped points" and to a point, those people are right. In games against teams that fought as bravely as the Hammers did yesterday Arsenal very rarely picked up all three points, it's a horrible truth but a truth all the same.
Yesterdays three points could show that we can now win those games that last year we fell just short and with those extra points gained we can possibly see a real title challenge.

Another point that may get overlooked is that yesterday marked our third successive clean sheet. Real credit for a clean sheet must go to the goalkeeper and two centre backs so the fact that we have had different trios in each of those three games is even more impressive. Not bad for a team who are missing their best centre back and apparently don't have a goalkeeper good enough for premier league football.

As we come into November, which is traditionally not a very good month for us, we can look forward to a month of fixtures that are all games that we should win but at the same time not be overly surprised if we drop points. We travel to Wolves, Everton and Villa while we welcome Newcastle and the Spuds for a good old fashioned Emirates spanking. These are five games we could pick up a maximum 15 points from, especially if everyone stays fit and we don't have to worry about the Champions league qualification, however, 11 points from those games - dropping points to Everton and Villa wouldn't be surprising, realistically we should be looking to take maximum points from every game until at least December 13th when we go to Old Trafford, Chelsea and Man Utd will not drop too many points over the season and we cannot afford to drop needless points against teams like those named above.

Anyway, back to yesterday, three point is three points and I don't care how we got them. It's time to keep enjoying that winning feeling and look forward to officially qualifying for the knockout stage in the champions
league on Wednesday against Shakhtar.

Till next time Gooners,
Goonerfish.