Bleacher Report - Articles by Ankush Gulati

Tomas Rosicky: A Slideshow About Arsenal's Most Complete Player

Ankush Gulati — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:40:40 -0400

I am hopeful, but you do not know how much I wish because we miss this player a lot, for his quality, his attitude and people don’t realise that. We lost Tomas last year in January and we have missed him highly. -Arsene Wenger Tomas Rosicky is finally back for Arsenal. As Arsenal fans know all too well, he hadn’t played for Arsenal since Jan 2008, and his absence coupled to the African Cup as well as Eduardo’s broken leg meant we were unable to capitalize on our strong run in the league. 20 months and two major surgeries later, Rosicky made a comeback in Arsenal’s preseason, showing glimpses of his old self, but was unable to avoid the inevitable injuries that accompany a long layoff. In the last seven days, however, he has played 55 minutes vs San Marino for the Czech team, and just three days later, he played 35 minutes of exciting football at Manchester City, notching an assist as well as a goal in his first league game after 20 months, perhaps the only good news in a disappointing loss. And in just a few hours (at the time of writing), there is a good chance that he will be starting Arsenal’s game at Standard Liege in the group stages of the Champion’s League. I would like to use this slide show to highlight what makes Rosicky such a vital weapon amongst Wenger’s Gunners, why his comeback will make such a big difference to our season if he remains injury free.

Begin Slideshow

Adebayor: Perhaps The Ultimate Example of Egomania in Sports

Ankush Gulati — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:47:15 -0400

The day before Arsenal played Man City, a lot of newspapers published a story of how Adebayor claimed that his feud with Bendtner started when the latter arrived at the Arsenal training ground wearing footwear which was not allowed.

"There are rules saying you cannot come into the dressing-room with your house shoes. Take them off," said the giant Togolese striker.

He goes on to explain in the interview that Bendtner had an easy upbringing in football growing up at the Arsenal academy. Adebayor also claimed that "I have never been a bad influence in the dressing room."

How does picking fights with teammates over relatively trivial matters that are none of Adebayor's business not constitute being a bad influence?

Any player, be it forward or goalkeeper, be it football, cricket, or tennis can learn from Adebayor's behaviour.

His mindset during his game against Arsenal, one of extremely arrogant self-righteousness, led to him stamping on not only his former strike partner's face, but he was indeed perilously close to injuring the ankle of Cesc Fabregas (the one player he surely owes more than any other for his move to Man City), in the 12th minute of the game.

We have seen how Adebayor has decided to thank the club, thank Arsene Wenger, thank the away fans (who, unlike the home fans, support their players through thick and thin), thank his strike partner van Persie, his assistant Cesc Fabregas; and all the other players he played with during his time with Arsenal for "earning" his new contract at Manchester City.

Because he truly thinks he earned it all on his own.

Nasri Suffers Broken Fibula, Out For Three Months

Ankush Gulati — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:18:18 -0400

Samir Nasri will not be starting Arsenal's 09/10 campaign.

He has just broken his left fibula in pre-season training in Austria. Considering how broken bones are usually impact injuries, a bad tackle during training was probably responsible for the injury. A few younger, inexperienced players from the reserve squad had joined up with the first team, and I sincerely hope the injury did not involve one of them.

This is awful, awful news. Nasri is probably the most versatile player in our young squad, able to operate anywhere across midfield, including defensive positions, as well as behind the strikers. A composed dribbler who can run with the ball, he was an important part of many good moves for Arsenal last season, and came in fourth in Arsenal's player of the season poll.

According to Arsenal.com, he'll take up to 3 months to recover.

Another negative consequence of the injury will be an added pressure on Arsenal to use Tomas Rosicky, who has not yet recovered 100% and is not yet ready to play 90 minutes of a Premier League match by any means.

To "Fans" at the Shareholders' Meeting: Why Arsenal Deserves a Break!

Ankush Gulati — Sun, 17 May 2009 11:37:01 -0400

09/10 will probably be the first time that Arsenal will have their entire squad together and available, neither of which was the case at the beginning of this season. Eduardo and Rosicky will both be ready to start the season and it doesn't look like there will be many departures.

Let's look at the team that didn't start 08/09: We were without

1. Hleb
2. Flamini
3. Gilberto
4. Rosicky, absent whole season
5. Eduardo, impact limited to a limited cameo in the FA cup

While these guys remained absent, who came in? 21 year old Nasri and 30-whatever year old Silvestre. You can blame Wenger for not bringing more players in, but, then again, who knew that we were going to be missing these two for about four months each?

Fabregas
Walcott

Oh, and it doesn't end there. In the first leg of the quarter finals of the Champion's League, we lose

Gallas
Clichy
Almunia

The centre back and fullback stayed absent for the two semifinals we lost againt two heavy-duty sides, while Fabianski was unable to cope with the terrain and opposition at the semifinal against Chelsea. The injured three were present in the bulk of the unbeaten streak we achieved this season.

But never mind. I guess all the newspapers are right when they say that this season's shortcomings are all Diaby, Denilson and Song's fault.

Except they're not.

While admittedly Diaby and Denilson have had on-off seasons, Aleksandre Song has shown he is completely capable of being an part of a dominant midfield (albeit perhaps not all season long) along with the likes of Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin, Rosicky, Diaby, Walcott, etc.

He's had two great performances at centre back at Old Trafford in the previous two seasons as well. I've been a huge Song fan ever since his brilliant Carling Cup performance against Blackburn when Eduardo scored those two goals in '07/'08, and his improvement since then has been constant and significant.

We have the exact same primary back four that were so brilliant for us in the first half of 07/08. Toure is at 28 and an important, experienced head, Clichy and Sagna are irreplacable at the moment, Gallas is a true winner who's primary focus is always on getting the job done, and still has a year or maybe two in him.

The defence needs no real change, it would be nice to get someone who can deal with Drogba however.

Adebayor. Adebayor just needs to get his groove on. I was never an Adebayor fan until the period in 07/08 a bit after the Spurs game, when he started scoring goals for fun, like the volley against Newcaste, etc.

Adebayor plays well when the team plays well. Of course he has his individual moments like against Villareal, but generally, if he's isolated on top without anyone being confident enough to occupy the hole behind him (the way Hleb did) he's not going to be a consistent goal scorer.

He needs a guy in the hole, that's a big part of the reason he had the maximum number of PL assists of '08/'09 right before his injury against Spurs, about nine or so, with RVP always lurking behind him to make a killer pass or shot e.g. his second goal at Stamord Bridge, when Ade won the header for RvP to score. I hope Ade stays.

Attacking-wise, well, just thinking of the names we have in our lineups, all the possible combinations, it's a manager's paradise. It's a paradise that we will get to see at the Emirates next season. And it's one that our manager fully deserves.

Arshavin on a Mission to Kill Two Birds with One Stone

Ankush Gulati — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:59:33 -0400

As confusion grows regarding Hiddink's future at Chelsea and Russia, one thing is for sure: Expect a more than usual number of shots at goal from Arsenal star Andrey Arshavin on Saturday, April 18.

While the rest of the squad will be gearing up, mentally and physically, for the huge challenge posed by Villareal, Arshavin will, to the regret of virtually all Arsenal fans (and neutrals watching the CL as well) be unable to participate in this season's Champion's League fixtures.

Arshavin will, however, be smacking his lips at the thought of Arsenal's next FA cup fixture on April 18; the trophy Arsenal have the highest chance of getting their hands on this season.

By participating in the difficult task of knocking Chelsea out, Arshavin would be pleased at two important outcomes:

He would have reached a cup final during his first season at his new club (so important since he can't play CL).
He would have done his part in decreasing Hiddink's chances of leaving Russia, something Arshavin really cares about.

He will have the advantage of being fresh. The Arsenal games, before this fixture, are Villareal away, Wigan away, and Villareal at home. Arshavin will be absent for both Villareal games, meaning he'll only be playing one game in the previous 14 days.

So my prediction for the Chelsea game?

Undeniably biased, but here goes nothing: Arsenal win, Arshavin man of the match, and, perhaps, knowing the pleasant Chelsea boardroom, Hiddink with one foot out of the door already.

P.S. I have nothing against Hiddink, and I hope he makes Chelsea play attractive football.

Why Arsenal is NOT Inexperienced

Ankush Gulati — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:59:01 -0400

I mainly joined Bleacher Report because I was getting tired of reading about Wenger and Arsenal and how everything had become messed up because of the whole “youth policy” and refusal to spend money, etc, all over the internet.

I didn’t expect it to continue here as well, but it has. That’s why my first article is going to take form of an argument that Arsenal’s squad is not overly youthful, and by no means are they inexperienced.

Let’s start with the defence; we have Sagna, Toure, Gallas, and Clichy.

We all know about Toure’s invincible season, we all know about Gallas at Chelsea, and Clichy and Sagna made it to the EPL team of the season last year (Clichy does have to stop those mess-ups though).

As back up we have Silvestre, Djourou, Gibbs, and Eboue.. I personally wouldn’t mind the addition of reliable central defender (Senderos is coming back soon).

Then, we have central defensive midfielders; this is the most inexperienced part of the team, but with three of them who have been playing the whole season because of various injuries, they’ve gained a lot of experience.

If you would have asked me at the beginning of the season if Denilson and Diaby could dominate the midfield against Roma (even at the Emirates), I would have said no.

They did, and they did so only because they have been given a chance to grow this season (rather than buying a quick fix). The creative side of their game is slowly but surely being unveiled in recent games as well.

Then we have attacking midfielders (I’m not gonna have separate sections for central midfielders and wingers, because attacking, creative Arsenal players are expected to be able to play in any offensive position).

We have Fabregas, who is very experienced. We have Rosicky and Arshavin, who are absolutely brilliant players who have the gift of being responsible and adventurous with the ball at the same time.

We have Nasri, who in flashes is absolutely wonderful to watch, he can only become a better player. And of course, we have Walcott, who has his whole career ahead of him. There’s Eboue as well…

So playing 4-4-2, we have our best four defenders at an average age of 23+26+28+31 divided by 4 = 27

Taking four midfielders (Fabregas, Denilson (cdm), Rosicky, and Arshavin (boy can’t wait to see that in action) 21 + 21 + 27+ 28 /4 = 24.5.. and remember, Fabregas plays with the maturity of 27 year old anyway.

And the strikers; Adebayor has scored 30+ goals in a season (which is bloody hard to do as a lone striker playing almost every match in the season), no one can deny the importance of van Persie, Eduardo is the ultimate goal scorer, and Bendtner and Vela are growing.

Simply put, Wenger is not going for the whole youth policy 100% as it may sometimes seem.. It has been injuries to a load of first team players that meant that Wenger could only play Denilson, Song, Diaby, and Eboue/Nasri together.

Would the midfield look like that if he had Rosicky, Fabregas, and Arshavin the whole season? Would we have to see van Persie and Bendtner play together game after game if he had Eduardo and Adebayor at his disposal the last two months?

I strongly believe that during next time this season, the probability is very high that we will look back at this season as a blessing in disguise; injured players out for a long time, allowing speedy development of other players.

And look...in this season alone, we’re still in the FA cup, we have a shot at the CL, and we proved that we are good enough (so far) to qualify for the CL and win fourth place without Fabregas being involved during a big chunk of the season (and I am NOT, like some other fans here, claiming that this means that we should sell Fabregas).

I hope I have convinced at least some of you that Arsenal are not going into the next Champion’s League game with a bunch of teenagers, and there’s a whole lot to look forward to next season provided we’re not unlucky with long term injuries and transfers.

There is going to be a great mix of experience and youthful exuberance, a mixture that any team in the world should include in their starting lineup.

So in conclusion, check out the differences between the two squads below

Sagna --- Toure ---- Gallas --- Clichy
Eboue --- Denilson ---- Diaby ---- Nasri
----------Bendtner ---- van Persie
Subs; Vela, Song, Gibbs

Above you can see how it was right before Arshavin came.
Below is what my team, Arsenal, is going to be able to look like very soon:

Sagna --- Toure ---- Gallas --- Clichy
Walcott ---Fabregas—Denilson ---Arshavin
------van Persie------Eduardo

Subs;
Rosicky,
Adebayor,
Nasri,
Diaby,
Song,
Vela, and a few more but I believe my point has been made.