The Short Fuse - All Posts

Arsenal Man of the Match: Laurent Koscielny

2013-05-20T20:43:46Z

You all had to know who this was going to be. We didn't even really vote, like we usually do. Someone - maybe me, but I don't remember - just said "MOTM is Kos, right?" Nobody really responded, because it was so clearly obvious.

The clear primary reason is that for the second year running, he scored the game-winning goal in the match that secured Champions League football for Arsenal for the next year. He did it to West Brom last year, and again to Newcastle this year with a ridiculous scissor-kick that hit goalkeeper and Canadian prime minister Steve Harper in the side of the head on its way in. It probably wasn't how Harper envisioned allowing his last goal as a professional, but it was pretty enjoyable.

But in this game - and in the several leading up to it, as Arsenal's unbeaten run to 4th place continued - Koscielny's defending was a big part of keeping the clean sheet. The whole team has re-committed itself to defense during this run, but the pairing of Kos and Per Mertesacker in particular offered solidity. His leaping clearances the past two weeks in particular have drawn the eye, but I've been more impressed by the way he's worked with the rest of the team to build a cohesive unit.

I've long thought that Koscielny hasn't gotten quite the credit deserves for his defending and overall play for Arsenal. At least for this one game, that wasn't the case. He helped keep Newcastle out, and he scored. For that, he's the season's final Man of the Match.

Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle: The Last Good, The Final Bad, And The Ultimate Ugly

2013-05-20T15:13:17Z

Full disclosure: I missed all of Sunday's action. I was in Vancouver with the lovely mrs. pdb and some of my fellow Eleventy Ones to watch the Portland Timbers take on the Vancouver Whitecaps (and leave with a point that if I'm honest, they probably didn't deserve, but that's a whole 'nother post). Because international data roaming is stupid expensive, and because I didn't turn my phone on until we got to the border crossing at Blaine, and because our bus left BC at 9AM (pro tip, kids: if you know you're going to be out late, don't plan on catching a 9AM bus the next morning because blarghoighrrrrrrrrughblggggh), I had no idea what was going on over in England.

We got to the border, my friend turned on his phone and checked Twitter, and he looked at me and said "do you want to know?" so I said sure, as my phone was still powering up. He showed me a tweet of Theo saying "I'd like to say it's a shame (that Spurs didn't make the CL), but it's not really", and all of a sudden, my sleep-deprived, sorta-hung-over, wanna-be-home-on-my-couch-now self was very, very happy.

I got home, watched some highlights, and consulted with the other oracles of TSF, and I now bring you the season's final Good, Bad, Ugly. To the GBUifier!

THE GOOD:
Really? You need me to spell it out? OK. Arsenal have now qualified for the Champions League for 16 consecutive years. SIXTEEN YEARS. For those of you who think that this is the ceiling of Arsenal's ambition, you're wrong - it's just that Arsenal's start this season and wobbly fall/early winter left them with far too big of a hill to climb to hope for a championship, and given those wobbles, Arsenal left themselves with some work to do to qualify for the CL. They did that work, finishing the season with a 10 match unbeaten run (hey! That's the same as the Timbers' unbeaten run right now! TIMBERS FOR EUROPE!), and they got results when they needed them, even if they weren't pretty.

Arsenal's resource constraints are well known, but as someone mentioned in the comments yesterday, this feels like Arsenal have made it through to the other side - starting next season, the money spigot is much more fully open, so while I'm not going to sit here and say ARSENAL WILL BUY ALL THE PLAYERS I have a sneaking feeling this off season will be very, very different than the last few. And with CL football guaranteed again (assuming Arsenal win their qualifying round), I'm pretty damn optimistic heading into the summer.

Also, St. Totteringham's Day. The best holiday of the year, the day when the rightful order of things is cemented for yet another year.

THE BAD:
The only bad I can think of is that Arsenal didn't score six, but then I wasn't expecting them to, so.

THE UGLY:
There was only Theo's thwack off the post, and even that wasn't so much "ugly" as "unlucky", but WHO GIVES A DAMN ARSENAL ARE IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AND SPURS ARE NOT AND ARSENAL ARE WHICH IS AWESOME BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA SPURS

So there you have it, the last GBU of the season. I feel like over the summer I'll need to GBU my workmates, or the traffic or the weather or something, because I like doing this and I'll miss it until games start again.

On Arsenal Celebrating 4th Place

2013-05-19T21:23:29Z

As you may have seen, if you follow either me or Ted on Twitter, I was at the Pacers game last night as we beat the Knicks, winning the Eastern Conference Semifinal and advancing to face Miami in the Conference Final. It was a big game - probably the most important sporting event I'v ever attended live. The stadium was full and crazy loud, and the game was close late and tense. If you know me at all, you know I was bricking it something fierce.

But honestly, I was at least as nervous for today - while that game was happening - as I was about the Pacers winning.

To be fair, a part of that was because for Indiana it was the sixth game of a seven-game series, so it wasn't quite a must-win (though it kind of was, really). But really it was because today was a massive, massive game for Arsenal. A win secured fourth place, and a berth in next year's Champions League. It might only be the playoff round, but it's Europe, and not the off-brand kind. It's important.

After the final whistle, I screamed. Much as I did after Laurent Koscielny scored the goal that ultimately secured Arsenal's umpteenth consecutive Champions League berth. The players celebrated on the pitch. They hugged and jumped around, and Bacary Sagna squirted people with his Lucozade bottle. It was all very fun to see, and a great reward for a team that had just gone through a hellish ordeal, having to get 29 of the final available 33 points to secure fourth place. It took hard work and a bit of luck, and some great defensive fortitude (yeah, Arsenal ended up with the second-best goals against in the league. Think about that for a minute). Most of the pundits, on television and newspapers and the Internet, didn't think they had it in them. They proved them all wrong, and Theo Walcott actually mentioned in his post-match interview that it was a bit of a motivator for the squad.

So they'd done it, and beaten Tottenham Hotspur to (real) Europe. They were pleased. And of course, this is where the hacks came back in.

Being American I was watching on ESPN2, and I don't know if Steve McManaman is still a thing in England, but he is here - or at least he was, until this year. I'd already had to suffer through two hours of him and the less-awful but still not great Ian Darke, and he got one last parting shot in before banished to the gap between dimensions, as the Premier League moves to NBC.

Look at them celebrating. I know they're in the Champions League, but they're acting like they've won the league. Blah blah blah I hate fun and I'm a big moron.

Okay, I paraphrased a bit, and made up the end. But the spirit is there, and it's a goddamn stupid spirit. And he wasn't the only one saying things like this - there were Spurs fans cracking jokes about being "content" with 4th (which is rich), there were journalists trying to be funny, there were all manner of idiots showing off. It was all very annoying.

There are a whole host of reasons why these players ought to be celebrating, and if you're going to try to withhold that, I am going to laugh at you. Not that I should really have to explain this, but here's why.

Fourth place qualifies for the Champions League, and the Champions League is awesome. Honestly, this on its own could be enough. The Champions League is really fun, and while I'm sure the Europa League is too, it probably actually isn't because for Christ's sake, Wigan's going to be in it next year and Wigan are terrible. Beyond The Fun Factor, the Champions League is one of probably two trophies (three, if I'm being extremely charitable to the FA Cup) that people actually care about winning. In a shock twist, you have to be entered in a competition to win it.
The Champions League is a big draw for potential new signings. I know it's possible to bring in good players without it. Tottenham and Liverpool have done it, but it takes much higher wages for the most part, and you're just going to be at a disadvantage. And beyond that, for all the noise people make about Winning Things, that's not really a guarantee on this front. Not to gang up too much on them, but I don't think Stevan Jovetic is probably considering Wigan. Players who've come here in the past have talked about the Champions League playing a huge part in the move - particularly erstwhile captain-ish guy Mikel Arteta, who basically forced his way out of Everton to come here, for Europe.
Cash. Yeah, it's lame, but this matters a lot. We don't have an owner who's drenched in blood and oil, and while that would make winning easier (maybe; we nearly matched Chelsea this year and weren't far from Manchester City all told), the benefit is that we have our souls mostly intact. But something has to pay the bills, and fund our new signings, in the case that we don't sell big again. The Champions League will bring in something like £30million if we can get into the group stage, and while we can survive without it, it's hard to thrive without that money.
St. Totteringham's Day. It's far from the most important thing in my mind, but finishing above Tottenham is a nice plus in my book. And speaking of them...
The players care about the Champions League. Here's a picture. It's Michael Dawson after Gareth Bale put Spurs ahead, and keep this in mind: he erroneously thought Newcastle had equalized against us, meaning that goal had put them into fourth.

via pbs.twimg.com

That's a man who thinks he's in the Champions League. You think it doesn't matter? Because it did to him.

This is why we celebrate, and we should. This is why the players celebrated, and they should. And this is why anyone who has anything to say about these celebrations is just off-target. Enjoy this win, and enjoy fourth place. It's been earned.

Newcastle 0 - 1 Arsenal: Match Report

2013-05-19T18:23:04Z

0 - 1 Laurent Koscielny 53'

Arsenal defeated Newcastle by a final of 1 - 0 today to secure fourth place in the English Premier League for the 16th straight year, all under Arsene Wenger. It was a tense, tense match, and Arsenal were not at their best, but they again defended resolutely and held on.

Arsenal started with Mikel Arteta, who'd been a doubt to start, in the midfield alongside Aaron Ramsey. The first 25 minutes were very tight, neither side really fashioning much of a chance aside from Papiss Cisse looping over the crossbar from a cutback when he really should have done better. The first notable action from an Arsenal perspective took place in the 27th minute, when Arteta's calf flared up, preventing him from continuing.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain took his place, but Arsenal still struggled to find fluency. The first half sailed on by with very little action.

As the second half began, a "plague of flies" settled upon the St. James Park pitch. They did not bother Laurent Koscielny, though, as a free kick from the right came in, Podolski headed it forward, and Koscielny got past Fabricio Coloccini to poke the ball past Steve Harper out of the air. It was the kind of goal Kos has been scoring from free kicks, always alert for the bounces, and it was massive.

From that point forward, Newcastle really put a lot of pressure on. Arsenal looked to spring the counter, but the ball wasn't behaving, and the passing was all a bit off. (I blame the flies). Hatem Ben Arfa put a shot wide in the 72nd minute, and Olivier Giroud replaced Podolski six minutes later. His holdup play helped a bit as Arsenal continued to clear Newcastle attacks.

Jack Wilshere replaced Santi Cazorla, and then the news came through that Gareth Bale had scored for Tottenham. Arsenal would have to hold on to their result to finish fourth, and the four minutes of injury time were mildly terrifying. Arsenal, as is their wont, refused to just go to the corner flag with the ball. Arsenal really should have pulled ahead by two in the 91th minute, as Theo got clean through, shifted onto his left foot, and slid a shot which only hit the far post and bounced back to Harper.

It was agonizing, but Arsenal held on and won a corner, which as soon as they took, brought about the end of proceedings, Howard Webb blowing for full time on the match and the season. Arsenal had finished in fourth place with three more points than last year's squad as well as a goal difference of +35.

After the match, Arsene Wenger summed it all up:

I'm happy as well because the exceptional attitude and determination of this group of players has been rewarded. They continued to believe when we were seven points behind Tottenham in mid-March. [They knew] that we had no room for error anymore and you could never see any sign of giving in. That's why the exceptional mental attitude of the players has been rewarded.

Here's an interview with Laurent and Theo:

Roll on the summer.

Newcastle 0 - 1 Arsenal: Instant Reaction: YES!!!

2013-05-19T17:03:13Z

Arsenal pulled out a squeaker at St. James Park in Newcastle today, winning 1-0 in a tense affair to finish fourth, one point above Tottenham Hotspur (again).

Some thoughts:

-- Arsenal were not at their best. Do not care.

-- Arsenal sat very deep after their opener. Scary it was. Do not care.

-- Laurent Koscielny was excellent; Per was less so; Ramsey struggled. He is my lovely Franco-Polish Man. Care.

-- Theo hit the post late. I almost died. Do not care.

-- Bale scored a worldie. Honestly who cares at all.

I don't care much about how much this morning sucked to watch; it was tense, it was awful, it was great, it was awful. But in the end, Arsenal frigging pulled this sucker out.

Laurent Koscielny the best.

I love everyone. I love Santi. I love Ox. I love Poldi. I love Giroud. I love everyone. Today, I love everyone.

That is honestly my instant reaction. I have nothing else.

Newcastle vs. Arsenal: Lineups and Match Thread; Arteta Starts!

2013-05-19T14:33:41Z

Newcastle vs. Arsenal
Sunday, May 19, 11 AM EDT
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England
Form: NCSL LDLDW | ARS DWDWW
SBN Newcastle Coverage: Coming Home Newcastle
TV Coverage: ESPN 2, Watch ESPN

Well. Here we go.

Here are your lineups for today:

Newcastle: Harper; Debuchy, S.Taylor, Coloccini (c), Yanga-Mbiwa; Tiote, Cabaye, Gutierrez; Ben Arfa, Cisse, Gouffran.

Subs: Alnwick, Simpson, Anita, Perch, Marveaux, Obertan, Campbell.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey, Rosicky, Cazorla, Walcott, Podolski.

Subs: Fabianski, Vermaelen, Monreal, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gervinho, Giroud.

So. Mikel Arteta starts against doubts; Wilshere starts on the bench. Olivier Giroud also starts on the bench, with Lukas Podolski retaining his place at the point of attack.

All the games are starting at the same time today, so it's going to be a pretty wild two hours.

Everybody hold on to your butts.

Feel free to comment on all the action below; remember, no links to illegal streams, and always be kind to one another.

Newcastle 0 - 1 Arsenal: Gunners finish fourth, qualify for Champions League

2013-05-19T14:24:16Z

Arsenal pull it out at St. James Park to finish fourth and qualify for the Champions League qualifiers next year.

Newcastle vs. Arsenal
Sunday, May 19, 11 AM EDT
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England
Form: NCSL LDLDW | ARS DWDWW
SBN Newcastle Coverage: Coming Home Newcastle
TV Coverage: ESPN 2, Watch ESPN

Well.

It was always going to come down to the last day, wasn't it? Every match counts the same; three points in October are three points in May, dropping points in February as crucial as dropping points now, but the stakes are never quite so crystallized as they are at the end of the season.

By now, you all know the situation, probably: an Arsenal win tomorrow means that a spot in at least the Champions League qualifiers is assured, fourth place achieved. A win coupled with a Chelsea draw could mean, potentially, if both teams finish equal on goal difference and goals scored, a playoff game at Villa Park to determine who would get third place.

A draw for Arsenal opens the door for Tottenham Hotspur to leap over them into fourth, as would a loss. Those outcomes don't bear thinking about, or the screaming in my mind will not cease, and you all will find me rocking back and forth in the fetal position on my sofa.

Newcastle United are safe from relegation, and although Alan Pardew has employed some curious psychology on his players this week, I am not willing to countenance the possibility that they will not come out firing. No team in the Premier League ever wants to not win, and Arsenal have shown that they can make even the most pedestrian teams look solid at times.

The object is clear as day, however. What Arsenal might find tricky tomorrow is missing Mikel Arteta, who has been a mainstay for the Gunners as the more controlling member of this year's double pivot. He sustained a calf strain in the Wigan match on Tuesday, and it seems unlikely that he will play tomorrow. That means that some reshuffling will be in order, which could mean that Jack Wilshere returns to the starting XI:

"That is one of the things I have to evaluate before Sunday and talk to him as well," said Wenger. "He will have the final say in that because you cannot force a player, they have to be comfortable. I will only do that if he feels completely comfortable with the idea.

"It is not a risk. It is just a problem to deal with the pain. He has done that until now but for [only] 15 or 20 minutes. I need medical advice and from Jack before I make a decision, so we will see until Sunday."

So that's not a sure thing, either. One would hope that if Jack came into the side that Aaron Ramsey would stay home as the more defensive midfielder; the Welshman has shown himself to be the closest thing Arsenal have to Arteta in terms of reading the match, intercepting passes, tackling, and distributing.

Other than Arteta being out, and Abou Diaby being Diaby, Arsenal have their entire squad at their disposal. There are two main questions at work for tomorrow's team selection:

1) Does Wenger bring Olivier Giroud back into the side immediately, or does he keep Lukas Podolski at the head of the attack as he has for the past matches?

2) How does Wenger replace Arteta--does he just stick Wilshere there, or does he shuffle Tomas Rosicky in, move Santi Cazorla around, etc.?

I admit that I expect Wenger to simply plop Jack Wilshere into Arteta's spot and ask Aaron Ramsey to hold more tomorrow, and for the rest of the lineup to remain unchanged except for Giroud replacing Podolski, who I think will come off of the bench. Rather something like this:

Szczesny
Sagna - Mertesacker - Koscielny - Gibbs
Ramsey - Wilshere
Rosicky
Walcott - Giroud - Cazorla

But I don't know. What do you reckon?

Either way, the object is clear tomorrow, and the players know it. I'm just going to cower in fear over here behind my bed for a while.

Match prediction:

Newcastle vs. Arsenal: Match Preview

2013-05-18T19:21:38Z

Newcastle vs. Arsenal
Sunday, May 19, 11 AM EDT
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England
Form: NCSL LDLDW | ARS DWDWW
SBN Newcastle Coverage: Coming Home Newcastle
TV Coverage: ESPN 2, Watch ESPN

Well.

"That is one of the things I have to evaluate before Sunday and talk to him as well," said Wenger. "He will have the final say in that because you cannot force a player, they have to be comfortable. I will only do that if he feels completely comfortable with the idea.

"It is not a risk. It is just a problem to deal with the pain. He has done that until now but for [only] 15 or 20 minutes. I need medical advice and from Jack before I make a decision, so we will see until Sunday."

Other than Arteta being out, and Abou Diaby being Diaby, Arsenal have their entire squad at their disposal. There are two main questions at work for tomorrow's team selection:

1) Does Wenger bring Olivier Giroud back into the side immediately, or does he keep Lukas Podolski at the head of the attack as he has for the past matches?

2) How does Wenger replace Arteta--does he just stick Wilshere there, or does he shuffle Tomas Rosicky in, move Santi Cazorla around, etc.?

Szczesny
Sagna - Mertesacker - Koscielny - Gibbs
Ramsey - Wilshere
Rosicky
Walcott - Giroud - Cazorla

But I don't know. What do you reckon?

Either way, the object is clear tomorrow, and the players know it. I'm just going to cower in fear over here behind my bed for a while.

Match prediction: