Almost nothing here on Higuain, Jovetic, Sanogo, Fabregas--almost.

First, let me say that you find no updates on how close we are to signing anyone here. There. I just don't want there to be any misconceptions about what you're about to read. I'm just here to address the frenzy of rumors after seeing that my earlier post, in which I looked long and hard at something that actually happened (namely, our losses to Bradford and Blackburn) seemed to be the only story out there wtihout the wordtransfer or Higuain or Jovetic in its title.  Naturally, I felt lonely, so here I am to join the fray.

Fans? The fish. Rumors? The bait. No fish, no fishing.

I've said it before and I'll say it again and again. Rumors are rumors, and this means that they are not yet true. "News" refers to things that have happened and have been confirmed by some outside source. The same news source that "confirms" that we have signed Gonzalo Higuain, sport.es, is running a newer story claiming that Juventus has launched a bid for the same man. They can't both be true. If we've signed the man, is Juventus approaching us with an offer? Here, if you care to look, is what you'll see at sport.es if you enter a search for "Higuain." Newest headline: "La Juventus inicia su ofensiva por Higuain" or "Juventus begins its offensive for Higuain." Preceding, earlier headline: "Higuain está a un paso de fichar por el Arsenal," or "Higuain is one step away from signing for Arsenal." Technically, they are both true. The man might be one step away from signing while Juventus tries to pry him away before he takes that last step. However, it's pretty clear that we, along with Juve's fans, are being hustled. Neither story is more true or more false than the other, which is to say, they're both equally neither. They exist in the limbo, and, like a horoscope, are just vague enough for any reader to pin hopes and dreams on to make it seem true: "Hey, look--my horoscope says I will go on a difficult journey. I do have to take the train to work today..."

I understand the seductiveness and the lure. We all want to know who's joining the club as soon as possible. However, there's little point to reading story after story that follows the same formula: an unconfirmed source says that a player's agent or brother or chlidhood coach has confirmed that the player has agreed to terms or is close to signing , and then peters out with a brief run-down of the player's exploits and how he'll enhance his new club's prospects while being the best _________ since the previous bloke to play the position.

Of course, I slum around a bit as well. I'm excited for what our squad will look like. However, I don't really want to reward the sites that entice us with these recycled stories (and yes, I'm aware of the irony of commenting on transfer-talk in order to decry it, so don't bother to point it out). Here's what I recommend.  Limit your time to a site like transfermrkt.co.uk, who offer odds on who will go where. First, I owe them after mocking them for mis-spelling "mrkt". I didn't realize it was German, okay? Second, they offer such excellent stats on just about every single team that exists that they deserve the attention. When it comes to the transfer-talk, they simply suggest that there's a 52% chance that Higuain will join Juve and a 22% chance he'll join Arsenal. There's a 53% chance that Jovetic will join us, 47% he'll join Juve. That's all I really care to know at this point. Everything else that we're going to hear is just part of the negotiation process as everyone's agents and entourages look for leverage, players pitting teams against each other, teams pitting players against each other, all of them seeking the best deal. There's nothing wrong with them doing that, but it seems silly to pay it so much attention.

Of course, having said all of this, my most-popular posts to this point have all addressed transfer talk, so I should mind my manners until I figure out if I'm a hypocrite or the last angry man. Just do me a favor and don't try to do the figuring for me...

What was Arsenal's worst loss of the season?

I hope it's not too much of a buzzkill to dredge this subject up, but I thought I might maybe sneak this in while we're still celebrating Champions League qualification, St. Totteringham's Day, and all the rest. A spoonful of sugar, perhaps. Last year, we had to deal with the 8-2 debacle at Old Trafford, a humiliating destruction that hung over us for most of the rest of the season. This year, thankfully, we never conceded more than five goals (to Reading? at least we won...) or lost by more than two. Improvements, to be sure, but more to be done. In the absence of such a shocking scoreline this year, what, then, sticks out as the worst loss, either symbolically or strategically?

At first, I was drawn to the 3-1 loss to Bayern. It was a home-loss, it all but ended our European adventure, and it was the first time a German team won in England. It echoed last year's 4-0 loss at AC Milan in many ways. However, as soon as we drew Bayern, we all but knew that it spelled our demise. After all,  Bayern had terrorized the Bundesliga and are hell-bent on winning the Champions League after falling short last year and in 2010. In fact, because we answered so famously in the second leg, the sting of that loss is all but forgotten. The long-shot nature of progressing here or beyond inure us against feeling too much lingering bitterness.

No, instead, there are two losses from the year that are going to chafe at the taint for a while, and both of them ended our best chances at actual silverware this year, extending The Drought for yet another year. By now, I'm sure you're thinking along with me: the quarter-final loss to Bradford in the Capital One Cup and the 5th round loss to Blackburn in the FA Cup. Both were embarrassing at both levels (symbolic and strategic). We lost to far-inferior teams despite fielding full-strength squads, crashing out of competitions in stunning fashion. Which one is worse, though?

At first blush, the Bradford loss stands out. We must have a dozen players who each out-earn the entire side. We sent out Szczesny, Sagna, Per, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Wilshere, Ramsey, Cazorla, Coquelin, Podolski, and Gervinho against a League Two club and lost. By contrast, in the previous round, we featured Martinez, Djourou, Miquel, Frimpong, Gnabry, and Chamakh and won 6-1. If we had hoped to intimidate Bradford, it seems only to have backfired. That we needed a last-gasp goal from Vermaelen to even get to extra time, much less penalties, is ridiculous (no disrespect to the Bantams). Lastly, heaping even more misery on ourselves, Chamakh and Vermaelen missed, and Cazorla had his shot saved to concede the game infamously to Bradford. Had we won, assuming that the next-round draw had remained the same, we would have faced Aston Villa and would have gone on to face Swansea in the final. Both of these would have been eminently winnable games.

Our other option is the Blackburn loss. The gap between the two of us is not nearly as considerable as it is between us and Bradford, but it's still quite large. They were relegated to the Championship this year after ten in the Prem, and they'd even won the league championship in 1995. However, this was another game we really should have won with ease. Even if we did have one eye on the Bayern match three days later, we again sent out a squad full of first-team regulars with Szczesny, Monreal, Koscielny, Vermaelen,, Diaby, Rosicky Arteta, Ox, Coquelin, Giroud, and Gervinho. The fact that we went on to lose to Bayern seems to have deflected attention away from this one somewhat as it became "just" the first of two losses in a row, and there was barely enough time to feel its sting before we had to prepare for Bayern. However, we had to go in knowing it was our best last-chance at a trophy. Had we won, all other things staying the same, we would have faced Millwall, then Wigan, and then Man City in the final. Perhaps not quite as winnable as Swansea in the Capital One final, but still well within reach.

We might have simply written off the Capital One Cup as beneath us, and even winning it might not have offered us much consolation even if it would have ended The Drought. Even if some among might sneer at the Capital One Cup, a trophy is a trophy. Winning it might have been nice, if only to get the monkey off our backs and allow us to relax just a little. It's more than a shame to have let it slip through our fingers when it could have been so easy. It should have been. We could have exacted some revenge on Swansea for the earlier 2-0 defeat. We simply underestimated Bradford and the Cup, thinking that the name "Arsenal" should be enough to win games for us. Lesson learned.

Or it should have been. Instead, we went into the Blackburn match knowing that the FA Cup was the only silverware within reach. We were 21 points behind Man U in the Prem and would have to beat Bayern, then Dortmund, Real, or Barca in the UCL. In one of my first-ever posts,  I lamented this loss bitterly. This, even more than the loss to Bradford, cut me to the quick. It seemed to slam shut a coffin-lid whereas the Bradford loss merely slammed shut a door. I'm not ashamed to admit that I wept--but it was "manly" stuff: a tear or two rolled down my cheek, jaw clenched, etc. I didn't even care how we would  do against Bayern. My mood darkened anyway, as that loss rolled into the 2-1 loss at White Hart Lane. 

However, we all know how the story unfolds. Yeah, we've gone another year without a trophy, but we finished famously. For as depressed as I got back there, I'm going to savor the celebration at the end of the season more than I'll rue the maelstrom in the middle.

Happy St. Totteringham's Day to you all!

Wow. I can't say enough about the rollercoaster-ride this season has been, and to have it end as it has is nothing short of wonderful. Anyone still dwelling on the idea that we've fallen on hard times if we're celebrating a 4th-place finish because "we're Arsenal Invincibles blah blah blah"  can take a flying leap, for all I'm concerned. 4th place may not be caviar, but it sure as hell ain't sausage. Ask 34 other Prem League teams if they'd trade places with us--heck, it could've been 35 if Chelsea had  stumbled. Check with Gary Neville, who rightly points out that we've spent less than £10 million net in the last ten years as we've paid down the debt on a new stadium that raised capacity from 38,419 at Highbury to 60,362 at the Emirates.  Under Arsène, we have never finished lower than Spurs, never finished lower than fourth, and have always played in the Champions League. Sure, we've gone from finishing first or second to finishing third or fourth but have done so without the resources of any of the clubs who have been finishing above us. To anyone who feels that this isn't good enough, maybe you should consider rooting for the likes of Man City or Chelsea or Man U. I mean, seriously. Come to grips with reality, and, by all means, see where we are a year from now and ten years from now.

Neville hit it on the head when he said the following:

They've built a football stadium, they're paying off their debt, and they're nearly there. If they move up now, it will look like one of the most magnificent managerial performances when you look back in history. Half the Arsenal fans are annoyed because they think they should be doing more and should be doing better, but of all the madness and debt that surrounds football, what they have done is absolutely the right thing.

He goes on to mention a few cautionary tales, such as Portsmouth and Leeds, as examples of what can happen when a team mismanages finances. I'm always suspicious of how "great" a manager can be if he can manage the best players in the world. Yes, it's a challenge to sort those egos and all, but what Wenger has done with the players he's had and with his long-range plan is nothing short of visionary. Of course, he does put out a rather large "if", as in "if they move up". We'll come back around to that in moment.

First, though, let's remind ourselves of what we've done because it is significant and wonderful. We've climbed back from 10th place, taken 26 of our last 30 points, conceded less than a goal per game, and finished in 4th place, behind three of the freest-spending teams in the world, and have done so while having to see some of our best players leave. Just about the only improvement I could suggest on the season (aside from finishing first) would be to switch the Wigan and Newcastle games. How amazing it would have been to finish on a delirious high note instead of having to settle for a stomach-churning grinder whose outcome never seemed secure until the whistle blew! Up until Webb called it, I think most of us got more satisfaction from the fake "Newcastle equalized" tweet than we did from the actual game. Even Koscielny's goal, as fantastic as it was, wasn't enough to produce more than a moment of ecstasy before we settled back into worrying.

That's all in the past, thank god. We can hash and rehash what could've been and what should've been in a few days, but for now, just bask in the glory of yet another St. Totteringham's Day. I do actually pity Spurs even if it's not sufficiently Goonerish of me. They've achieved a lot, and it does say something that they can hang with the big boys as well as they do every year. I don't know if 5th place will convince Bale pack up and leave. I hope not. He's good for Spurs, of course, but he's been good for us. We needed a rabbit to chase, especially with the Manchesters pulling away from the rest of the pack for the last couple of years. Without him, Spurs will all but fade into obscurity, and we might start to feel complacent. We can't have that.

St. Totteringham's Day came about as late as it could this year, and there were moments when we doubted it would come at all, but it's here. Even now, nearly 24 hours after the fact, a smile spreads across my face and beams so brightly that colleagues worry about my mental state. For the first time  in a while (at least as far as it concerns this lovely team), I'm quite good. Happy. Relieved. Excited.

And that brings me back to Neville's "if". Qualifying for the Champions League gives us that much more leverage and, yes, lucre to woo a few new signings. I'd said it before and I'll say it again, not that anyone pays much attention to what I have to say: we've fought and scrabbled for ten years to arrive at almost precisely the point we are right now, in a new stadium, still in the Champions League, and with the financial stability and flexibility to dress up the squad a bit. We're therefore poised to make some moves over the summer, not that we need to overhaul this squad. I believe that the squad as it's currently made up, is on the verge of stepping up very well on its own, and could very well reel in if not overtake the clubs that finished ahead of us this year. Now that the season is over, the rumors will start to fly like an unholy Biblical plague. Do your best to ignore them, at least for a few days, and celebrate what and who we do have. Wilshere. Cazorla. Walcott. Koscielny. Gibbs. Ramsey. I won't list 'em all here, but you catch my drift. These are players (and yes, there are others) who might emerge next year with break-through performances. After all, we don't buy superstars. We make them.

Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle: Koscielny rules the roost

May the gods and all other mysterious forces that govern the universe be praised for delivering Laurent Koscielny to us on this day. The Frenchman almost single-handedly made sure that Arsenal secured all three points in a tense contest that saw Newcastle threaten but never deliver on far too many chances. Were it not for Koscielny, we'd almost certainly have finished with a draw and might even have suffered a far-worse fate. Securing these three points became vital once Spurs went ahead of Sunderland, and, thanks to Koscielny's goal and all-around performance, we claimed them.

Fifteen minutes after Sunderland went down to ten men after a bad tackle from David Vaughan, and one minute before the end of regulation, Bale scored yet another last minute goal in all-too-familiar fashion: sweeping from right to left, just yards from the 18', he tapped the ball ahead and blasted one to  just inside the post. Everyone knew what was coming, but such is his quality that no one seemed able to stop it. That it wasn't enough to see them through actually makes me feel just a little bad for Spurs. Nah. Just kidding! I'll be celebrating this St. Totteringham's Day especially loudly. What's this now? Eighteen years in a row?

His goal made Koscielny's goal earlier in the day all the more vital. Without it, we'd have dropped to 5th place. In the 52nd minute, Walcott chipped a spot-kick into the box which Podolski looks to have headed forward, and Koscielny made a nifty little half-bicycle, beating Coloccini and glancing it off of a frozen Harper's head for the only goal of the afternoon.

It wasn't for lack of trying or chances, though. Walcott, for example, was one part unlucky, one part overdoing it when he flicked past Harper and hit the woodwork. After dribbling through three Toon defenders, I thought to myself, "he should've shot by now. Too many touches!" Then, when he did shoot, I thought, "ooh, one more touch would have put him past Harper". Truth be told, flicking right while moving left is a tricky one; he might have done better to go to the near post. Despite that, we really only put two shots on goal. In a game in which we knew we would need three points, either to stay ahead of Spurs or to overtake Chelsea, we looked strangely listless and ineffectual.

Of particular concern to me for most of the match was Per Mertesacker. Papiss Cissé regularly had his way with the big German, whether it was claiming loose balls, making runs, passing, shooting, whatever the case may have been. We have some poor finishing from him and the at-times dangerous Ben Arfa to thank for saving Mertesacker on more than one occasion. There were too many times when he got beat and seemed to jog far too casually to try to track down the player or the ball. I know that speed is not his forté, but even a slow man can be seen looking like he's running hard. Mertesacker absolutely trotted as if he was retrieving a frisbee in the park instead of chasing an opponent with the ball at his feet. Of course, were it not for Mertesacker's struggles, Koscielny would have found much less on his plate, and I do hope that Per treats Kos to something nice to thank him.

The scoreline shows Koscielny with two tackles, two interceptions, four clearances (two effective), and two aerial duels won. None of this seems to effectively capture the man's impact on the game. He simply dominated from end to end. In fact, he seemed to be the only player for either side who understood the importance of the match. I've written previously of Koscielny's importance to our success and have even wondered if he's ready to claim a spot among the Prem's best center-backs. It might still be a little early for that, even after today and after a string of strong performances to lock down our defense since mid-March. Thanks in part to his play and leadership, not to mention his partnership with, yes, Mertesacker, Sagna, Gibbs, Monreal, and Szczesny, our defense has emerged as the second-stingiest in the Prem, behind only Man City for goals-allowed. So improved has our defense been, in fact, that we conceded 12 fewer goals this season than last for an average of 0.98 goals per game. Not bad. Not bad at all.

The win means we finished the season having taken 26 of our final 30 points, climbing from as low as 10th place in December to claim 4th on the final day of the season. A fantastic finish, no doubt, and one that I hope propels us into next season with greater momentum, purpose, and consistency than this year. Qualifying for the Champions League was vital as it gives us that much more leverage in signing a few players to sharpen up the attack.

I think all of us were hoping for a match more similar to Wigan, one that would allow us to celebrate and shout and sing earlier and more often. This was a tense slog, but one that once again shows that we can win with flair or with grit. It may not have been pretty to watch, but it's a joyous outcome all the same. Let's sit back and savor it on that level, at least for a day or two. We can dissect it and the rest of the season in a few days' time. All season long, we've worried and wondered, and that's all over for now. Congrats, lads, on a well-fought season and a finish that all too many doubted would ever happen. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!

Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle: Halftime Player Ratings

We're looking sluggish and disinterested while Newcastle look lively and determined. We haven't musted a shot on goal yet and are probably fortunate to go in to halftime with a scoreless draw. It's not that Newcastle have been all that incisive, but we seem to be lacking purpose, which is odd considering our needs and the stakes. Chelsea is tied with Everton at the half, and the same is true of Spurs and Sunderland. Sure, we can match Spurs for points, but they win, we must win. Here's hoping Wenger lays into the lads as he apparently did last week. Here, then, is a brief rundown of our boys' efforts so far:

• Szczesny: 6/10. Not tested really but has doen well, such as on Cabaye's tricky shot.
• Sagan: 6/10. Decent efforts moving forward but is having to do too much in back (see Mertesacker below).
• Mertesacker: 3/10. Looks slow and lacks urgency as Cisse is beating him to loose balls and getting past him more often than not. Even when he gets beat, he seems to jog back, leaving others exposed.
• Koscielny: 8/10. All over the place on the back line with several sharp headers and clearances. Very nearly scored from a corner early on. MOTM so far.
• Gibbs: 6/10. Not yet delivering on my boast from the previous post but looking sharp. Might have had an assist if Cazorla hadn't wasted a decent chance from about 25 yards.
• Ramsey: 6/10. Looks a little slow and tired but continues to work and press around the pitch well. Has to do more with Arteta off.
• Arteta: NA. Subbed off after about 25' after re-aggravating the calf.
• Oxlade-Chamberlain: 5/10. Hasn't made much of a mark yet. It will be interesting to see what he does in the second half.
• Rosicky: 6/10. Lively and alert and harassing Newcastle well but to little effect so far.
• Cazorla: 5/10. Decent but a bit wasteful, shooting poorly and getting a little too cute on the ball, taking touches when a pass would be better.
• Podolski: 6/10. Has threatened at times. The offside call was tough as he looked onside, but he wasted the shot anyway (perhaps distracted by the whistle).
• Walcott: 5/10. Getting too predictable on the wing, always looking to speed past on the outside after 1-2 feints. He'll have to mix it up there as well as on his crosses, which are all chips to the far post. A cut-back to the middle might give him better shots or chances to lay off to the top of the box.

All in all, we haven't looked like a team that needs three points. Here's to them coming out for the second half like crazed, rabid wolves and eat Newcastle alive as they did against Wigan...

Kieran Gibbs will destroy Toon--and, if need be, Ashley Cole next week

I mean it, too. Gibbs will be the man we'll all be talking about after he leads Arsenal to glorious victory with a brilliant performance against Newcastle. In the past, I've gone with the cheap-and-easy picks (not that they've always worked out), choosing the headline-grabbing forwards and attacking midfielders. This week, to close the season, I'm going out on a limb to predict that Gibbs will make tongues wag. I'm not going out so far as to say he'll appear on the score-sheet, but his impact will be such that we'll be hailing him, and a certain charisma-impaired left-back will have been deposed, forgotten, and rubbished once and for all.

Since Cole (and Clichy) left, Gibbs has played off and on in that left-back position, but many Gooners have worried that we'd have to wait quite a while before seeing someone as good as Cole once was (note the past tense; it's very deliberate). After the misadventures of Santos, it's good to see Gibbs rounding back into form, and if he continues his ascendancy, he'll displace Cole on the Three Lions and may someday, sooner rather than later, emerge as the country's best left-back. In the early days, he played as a winger and attacking midfielder with Wimbledon and Milton Keynes Dons, so even if his runs forward are not yet as breath-taking or incisive as Cole's once were, he's starting to offer glimpses of those early attacking days, pressing forward to fill the spaces that Cazorla so often leaves open as the Spaniard drifts more centrally.

Against Newcastle, he's likely to see a lot of action from Ben Arfa, Cabaye, and Gouffran, but I haven't seen anything from them that Gibbs can't handle. I imagine (and hope I'm right) that he'll shut them down quite handily on Sunday. According to whoscored.com, Gibbs is 2nd on the team in tackles with 72 (behind Arteta's 108) and 3rd in interceptions with 63 (behind Arteta's 96 and Cazorla's 69). It's worth mentioning that Arteta and Cazorla have many more opportunities for tackles and interceptions; a more-telling statistic might be success-rate or opportunities converted, but we can't really gauge how many opportunities a player has to intercept a ball or make a tackle in the same way we might with shots on goal. I'd imagine we'd see Gibbs near the top of that kind of list.

Absent that level of analysis, we can hold Gibbs up for comparison against the current gold-standards for left-backs, those being [choke] Cole and Leighton Baines. At first blush, Baines emerges far and away as the Prem's best left back. However, using whoscored.com's statistics, Gibbs doesn't just compete with Baines and Cole, he leaves them in his dust in the categories that matter most to defenders: tackles and interceptions. Baines's superior rating is therefore largely down to his five goals and five assists (Gibbs has three assists, and Cole has one goal and two assists). As important as goals and assists are to any team, the foundation of the left-back position is defending, and on that score, Gibbs just can't be beat. He doubles Cole for interceptions and very nearly does the same on Baines, and he makes tackles more often as well.

With Cole at 32 years old and Gibbs just 23, it's only a matter of time before Cole is watching Gibbs from the bench for England, and it may not be too much longer before conversations about England's best-ever left-back starts with "Cole was amazing, but Gibbs..." In addition to Gibb's pace, determination, and strength on the ball, he has the noted advantage of having actual charisma. I know that a certain ruthlessness is sometimes required in order to excel, but it's refreshing, both for Arsenal and the Three Lions, to see a left-back who brings more to a squad than skill. Let's face it. Cole, for all of his excellence on the pitch, is hard to like, even in that "he might be a jerk but at least he's our jerk" kind of way.

As we go into the last match of the season, then, I'm looking to Gibbs to have the kind of performance that seals three points and 4th place for us. If the unthinkable happens and Chelsea labors to a draw against Everton at the same time, we might just see Gibbs outplay Cole on May 26th. Sure, they play about as far away from each other as two players can be, but it would be glorious and magnificent to see Gibbs is the hero who assists on the game-winner while Cole is the goat who concedes the goal on Gibbs's assist.

First things first, of course. Kieran, do a number on the Magpies. Then we'll see if Cole is up to the challenge.

Arsenal vs. Newcastle preview

On the face of it, we really should just be able to show up at St. James's Park on Sunday and have our way with a depleted and listless Newcastle. However, it's a revealing indictment of our season that our last few months' run is not enough to instill enough confidence to actually do that, and we therefore find ourselves wondering and worrying. All season, we've shown an ability to play to the level of our opponent, whether it's a 2-0 away win over Bayern or a 0-1 home loss to Blackburn. We've see-sawed back and forth so many times that it feels impossible to know how we'll show up.  Even the fact that we've taken more points from Prem matches than any other team since February has not been enough to assuage our fears. However, we still go into Sunday's penultimate match in firm control of our destiny and on enough of an upward swing that serious plans are being made for a 3rd-place playoff game.

That said, we still have some business to tend to on Sunday. I firmly and enthusiastically welcome Olivier Giroud back from his three-game suspension after his red-card against Fulham. He brings a creative edge that our attack has lacked (an odd reminder in the aftermath of winning a match 4-1). I'd like to see him restored to the central striker role, flanked by his BFF Podolski on the left, Walcott on the right, and Cazorla playing from the center. Poldi and Walcott have recently gone on little runs of their own, with Walcott scoring in three consecutive matches and Poldi netting twice against Wigan. We won't debate whether Cazorla had three or four assists against Wigan playing from the right. The four of them could very well slice Newcastle's defense six ways from Sunday. It's in the midfield, of course, that deeper questions arise. With Arteta likely to sit, there have been many calls for Wilshere to come in, but I feel I must repeat my calls not to rise to the bait. Even with a vital three points hanging in the balance, I simply don't believe we can take risks with Wilshere's ankle. I'm willing to forego his presence on the pitch, believing we can win without him. If we can't defeat Newcastle at this point without him, we don't deserve to keep 4th place, simple as that.

No, please don't play Wilshere. I say this as one who goes weak in the knees when he is on the pitch. The boy's a beast. That's precisely the problem. He's still just 21, and he plays with the recklessness of one who may never play another game. If we throw him on, all it takes is one clumsy tackle to end his season and knock him out for a significant portion of the 2013-14 campaign. Don't do it, Arsène. Instead, play Rosický there. Yes, Coquelin is available, but he hasn't played since February. If he was close to match-ready, I believe we would have seen him come on in some of our more-comfortable wins such as those against Wigan or Reading. Even if he has the quality (and I believe he does), the chemistry is still enough of a question that I trust Rosický out of position more than I trust Coquelin. With Rosický and Ramsey holding down the defensive midfield roles, I feel very good indeed.

Across the back, the Kos-Per partnership looks set to continue, and I'd like to see Gibbs come back on the left. Nothing against Monreal, but Gibbs looks more and more to be emulating Ashley Cole each week, bombing forward while tracking back with the best of them. If he truly wants to emulate Cole, of course, he'll have to work on his charisma. He currently has some, and that just won't do if he wants to supplant Cole as England's best and least-pleasant left-back. He's already outperforming that [content deleted] and has only that [content deleted]'s reputation to overcome.

On the right, give it to Sagna. By "it", I mean the starting position and the captain's armband. If he does end up leaving in the summer, we can then claim that we're continuing the proud tradition of seeing the captain leave each year. In all seriousness, Sagna is among the longest-serving Gunners we still have, and it would be a fitting tribute to his contributions to this club and his reputation as one of the Prem's best right-backs (even if his form has suffered in this campaign). Give him the armband. If it ends up as his swan-song, we could do worse.

The Szcz looks to finish the season between the sicks, and so much the better. His return from the benching has worked out well. Fabianski's demotion, I mean injury, may be harsh, but Szcz is our first-choice keeper and has seen three clean-sheets and five wins in five matches. Each keeper owes his run in part to the defensive displays in front of him, to be sure, but Szcz has done enough to reclaim the starter's role. In fact, I'm looking to him (and the back-line) to keep one more clean sheet.

At the risk of going out on a limb, I foresee a 3-0 win with goals from Giroud, Walcott, and Podolski. I won't go so far as to predict another three assists from Cazorla. We really should be able to steamroll Toon. I like them and all, if only for the flimsy reason that my first real (non-American) beer was a Newcastle Brown Ale. I know there's no direct connection, but it marked a huge upgrade from the swill I had been drinking up 'til then. Knowing that Newcastle is safe from relegation, then, I harbor no remorse over running roughshod over the club on Sunday.

Come on, you Gunners. Just one more. Three points. Get 'er done!

The loneliness of the long-distance blogger

Caution: a bit of navel-gazing lies ahead.

I have a confession to share. I feel safe making it here because I'm among friends. I can count the Arsenal fans I have met in person with one hand. I know more Chelsea, Man U, and Spurs fans than I know Arsenal fans. I've never watched an Arsenal match with anyone except my children, whose only real interest in staying in the room is to see me hit my head on the basement ceiling if we score or collapse to the ground if we concede. No, I'm not a leper. I manage to bathe regularly. I brush my teeth every night. People seem to like me. However, I'm all alone in my own Gooner universe.

There have been brushes with fellow Gooners. Up until I tore my ACL and MCL a few weeks back, I played on Sundays with one. But that's about it. Here's how bad it's gotten. I was in the hardware store bickering with my wife about a folding table she wanted to buy. I noticed a guy walk past with the Gunners logo on his shorts. Breaking away from the argument with my wife of 13 years, I said, "come on, you Gunners." He didn't hear me. My wife glared, and I ended up buying the table to salvage the day, if not the marriage itself. Driving home, I saw a guy walking his dog while wearing an Arsenal jersey. Before I could roll down the window to call out, he had turned a corner.   For a moment, I seriously considered rounding the block for a second chance. Pathetic, aren't I?

Before you feel too bad for me, I've still enjoyed some exquisite moments, some ecstatic and some agonizing, when I do get to watch a match. However, as the prospect of another St. Totteringham's Day grows more and more likely, I think about how I might celebrate. The games will end late enough on Sunday here (somewhere around noon) that I could quaff a beer or two, whether it's in celebration or despair, but again, it will most likely be alone. I even checked the map for Arsenal supporters' pubs and was sad to see that the Globe Pub had disappeared from Chicago, further deepening my misery.

Alright, alright, enough of the melodramatic horse manure. I'm proud to be a Gooner and I loudly and repeatedly get in the faces of men twice my size and bigger when I see 'em wearing the wrong jerseys out on the town (first problem--you're wearing a jersey out on the town? really?). I do it real-friendly, of course. I did point out that they're usually twice my size. This size-ratio happens a lot when you stand 5'6" (183cm).

One of these days, I'll get to the Emirates and get properly drenched in the blood, sweat, tears, and beer of fellow Gooners as we yet again lay waste to the hopes and dreams of some other London club. That's part of why I'm here writing. Once I earn enough for the plane ticket, the game ticket, and the beer money (it has calories, so I figure I won't need food money), I'll be there. I'll be the short American who's drinking, shouting, and cheering enough to become entertainment for those around him. I wish I could be there on Sunday to cheer our boys on against Newcastle--yet another team whose fans I've met more of. I gotta move to a new neighborhood or something.

There's something of a tribe when you root for a club, a clan to which you can belong. After 30-odd years of rooting for this club, I still don't feel like a full member. I'm a vagabond, a rōnin wandering the wilderness alone. Yeah, I could switch to Man U or Chelsea or something and be welcomed as some kind of prodigal son, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I might be on my own,  but I wouldn't have it any other way.