All posts by h79snht.top

Home advantage is often talked about in football; the twelfth man, the extra motivation provided by the crowd that can, and should, provide teams with the catalyst they need to go out there and take their game to the next level. That is of course presuming that the home crowd are on your side. I’m not suggesting that the home crowd would want their team to lose, but there are instances of crowds who have a negative agenda, whose reason for turning up is as much to demonstrate their frustration as much as it is to watch football. Take the atmosphere at Ewood Park this season, or at The Emirates towards the end of last season, both unhappy places to be, both crowds detrimental to the football being played by the home side. You can’t necessarily blame angry crowds of fans; to pay good money to see your side consistently under perform is exceptionally testing, even for the most patient and optimistic of fans.

However it is important that fans recognise that by booing their players, or by calling for their manager’s head at games, they are only hurting themselves.

It is a problem that affects all clubs. For the bigger sides the weight of expectation can prove a hindering factor and for the smaller clubs the lack of support and niggling abuse they receive from their fans can affect the players. Take Bolton for example; out of the sixteen points they have gained in the league this year only four have come at home. You would imagine that a team struggling in the league would be grateful for a little home support. However when things aren’t going your way as a team sometimes it is easier to play away from the eyes of the expecting crowds. Some players perform better in high-pressure environments, but not all. It’s pretty clear that Bolton’s best performances for the season have come away from home where there is less pressure to get the result, just in the same way that towards the end of the season when your place may be cemented in mid table then your team may in fact churn out some of their best performances of the season. Similarly Blackburn have got some of their best results of the season away from home such as their 2-3 victory at Old Trafford. The same can also be said of Wigan who have only picked up about 35% of their points for the season at home. If you collate that information you realise that on average around 60% of the points belonging to those in the relegation zone come from away games. But it’s not just the struggling teams that are affected.

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At The Emirates at the end of last season you could tell that the Arsenal players wanted to be anywhere but their home ground. There’s nothing like 60,000 disappointed fans to remind you of your failings. One of the problems for Arsenal ever since they moved to The Emirates is what it, as a ground, embodies. When they first opened the stadium there were, commemorated around the stands, pictures of all the trophies that had been won over the years and spaces had been left to insert new pictures. However this season they closed those spaces. Optimism seems to have dipped on the red half of north London and it is reflected in the fans. It’s not just that the lack of noise in the ground, I know this because I am there every week, is almost deafening but playing in front of a quiet or disgruntled home crowd can inspire the opposition. The point of playing at home is that your supporters drown out the opposition fans. As soon as that ceases to the case, as it often does at The Emirates, then it is hardly like you are playing at home at all.

Clearly I’m not saying that the home crowd is always a disadvantage, nor am I saying that these grounds are always like this. However there does seem to be evidence amongst certain teams, especially in the lower half of the table, that playing in front of the home crowd can actually be more of a hindrance than a help.

Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay

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No deadline day rush signings, no losing one of our best players at the last minute, leaving a gaping hole in our starting line up, no losing out on a potential signing to a bigger club. This Tuesday was a very quiet day at the Greenhous Meadow and that’s been somewhat of a rarity over the last few seasons.

For a manager who signed six new players signed on either a permanent or loan deal on the same day last year Graham Turner has been unusually quiet during this years usually hectic period.

With one addition to the squad brought in, West Brom striker Romaine Saywers on a one month loan deal, one would suspect that Mr Turner certainly believes that this year his squad are more than equipped to finally seal promotion.

The question every town fan has been asking is does our squad contain enough depth to successfully battle on and seal promotion come May and should we have brought one or two more players to help boost our chances.

We currently possess one of the smaller squads in the division with only just over 20 players currently on the books. Whilst our Midfield appears to be the strongest part of our team, I believe Turner should have looked into bringing some cover in at the back. With only seven defenders in the squad and with two of them (Sherriff and Hazzell) out injured all it takes now is another injury or even a suspension and we may be forced to cope with a make shift defence, which is not what is needed at such a vital time in the campaign.

With other teams around us in the league making big name signings during the window and on the final day some fans could argue that we have made a mistake by not signing up anybody. Crawley completed the biggest deals of the day in the division, saying goodbye to top goal scorer Matthew Tubbs and welcoming Billy Clarke to the club, a player who has proven his goal scoring prowess at this level on numerous occasions in the past. With the loan signing of highly rated Arsenal youngster Sanchez Watt completed earlier in the week as well, Steve Evans’s men are beginning to look even stronger going into the second half of the campaign.

Rather than looking at the lack of signing’s we should be looking at the players we have managed to keep hold of. Lionel Ainsworth and Jon Taylor, two of the best wingers in the division were both tipped with moves away from the club in August and no doubt some of those clubs would have been sniffing around again during January following promising starts to the season from both of them. Striker Terry Gornell was linked with a move to league one Rochdale to reacquaint himself with former Accrington manager John Coleman. Had we lost any of these players it would have been a huge blow to our promotion hopes.

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So does Turner not signing anyone demonstrate a lack of ambition like some fans have suggested? I think it will be beneficial for us as a team going into the second half of the season, the players have gelled together well and with no new faces coming in there is little chance of someone causing problems within the team. If we can continue to play the way we have done so far this campaign then I believe that this could finally be our year to seal promotion.

By Liam Hoofe 

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Swindon Town’s 0-0 draw with Bristol Rovers on Saturday epitomised the lack of recent finishing power.

With only three goals being scored in our past five games, Di Canio’s Swindon have looked poor in front of goal with a neck injury for Paul Benson, ruling the striker out from the starting line-up, being a major blow for the Wilshire side.

With 13 shots on goal, seven on target and the woodwork being hit, Swindon failed to convert any of these chances. Bristol Rovers seemed to have settled for a point before the game had even kicked off and this showed in their lack of adventure with the ball.

Fans reaction using just five words…

@ijwilmer81 – Rovers game plan worked perfectly

@Charliejewell98 – Town dominated but poor finishing

@swindonpdc15 – Frustrating, annoying, outplayed, good, enjoyable

@Noelbeau – One point closer to promotion

@safehandsgk1 – Dogged, injured, clean sheet, point

@DaveHendrickTLW – Swindon wasteful, Rovers resilient, stalemate

Game In Hand…

Swindon’s first game in hand is away at Barnet on Tuesday night. With a two point lead over Torquay already, the Robins will be hoping to cash in on Barnet’s poor form. The Bees have accumulated just seven points in 12 matches leaving them just one place above the relegation zone. With a poor goal difference and Barnet shipping goals left, right and centre hopefully the Wiltshire side will adhere to the form book.

Earlier In The Season…

The sides have not only met already in the league this season but also in the Area Final of the Football League Trophy. The Robins won the two-legged affair 2-1 on aggregate with Benson scoring the decisive goal in the 2nd leg. In September, 7,297 fans saw a dominant 4-0 win for Swindon which left Barnet Manager Lawrie Sanchez reeling, ‘This is not what I expect from my players, the whole team played poor, I feel sorry for the fans who have paid and traveled to watch’.

…Cheerio Tehoue

Paolo Di Canio has sent on-loan striker Jonathan Tehoue back to Leyton Orient stating ‘It’s a technical decision. He’s not as good as I thought he was. It is nearly impossible he will see the football pitch at Swindon.’ The French forward has spent less than a month with Swindon Town making just three appearances. Paolo’s comments will be endorsed by many Robins fans after receiving scathing reviews around Tehoue’s performances for the side.

Trip down memory lane…

Saturday 28th December 1996

Swindon Town 1-0 Grimsby Town Match Abandoned 32 minutes (Frozen Pitch)

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Ref: Mark Halsey

Goal: K.Watson (’31)

Starting-Line up: Digby, Kerslake, Elkins, Watson, Robinson, Horlock, Culverhouse, O”Sullivan, Cowe, Allison, Walters.

Reason why I Remember The Game:

I travelled from Grimsby on a coach laid on by a company in Grimsby that one of my neighbours worked for as there head office was in Swindon. I had an amazing day out, met some of the squad and received a signed ball which I still have. I was gutted when the match was abandoned as it was my first visit to the County Ground, but I was promised that I would return for the rematch. Unfortunately this didn’t occur as it was played on a Tuesday night and as I was only 11 at the time couldn’t persuade my parents to take me. Another reason is that the Club Shop was shut after the game and I didn’t get the chance to go in it beforehand, my heart sank and I almost cried at that moment.

You can follow me on Twitter for even more Swindon Town discussion.

There are just three weeks to go until the end of the season, so the timing for a double gameweek in Fantasy Football couldn’t have come at a more pivotal moment. As Manchester City and Manchester United prepare to duel, eight clubs in the Premier League make up for the fixtures they missed due to the FA Cup Semi Finals two weeks ago. Who are the players performing twice though that you need to be keeping an eye on?

The Captaincy Debate

Due to the well publicised financial situation at Everton, David Moyes hasn’t had many opportunities to delve into the transfer market of late. However, in Nikica Jelavic, he’s found the regular goal scorer Everton were in need of. In his last four games, Jelavic has found the net five times. His best performance to date came last weekend as he bagged two against Manchester United at Old Trafford. In the double gameweek, he’ll go up against Fulham and Stoke City. It would be surprising if the Croatian forward didn’t net in either of these games, judging by his recent form.

Good form though is something unfamiliar to Spurs currently. Ever since Fabio Capello resigned as England Manager, the North Londoners challenge for the Champions League has rapidly disintegrated. With that, so has the form of Gareth Bale. However, with four games left, all is not yet lost and over the course of this gameweek, Bale will face two relegation candidates in Blackburn at White Hart Lane, followed by Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium. Facing the relegation candidates could just rekindle Bale’s form from earlier in the season when the Welshman was playing superbly.

Whilst Spurs have suffered of late, Chelsea have managed to turn around their fortunes under Roberto Di Matteo. Juan Mata has been one player in particular who has been impressive of late. Whilst he hasn’t had too much of a chance to make an impact in the last two league matches, he has a goal and three assists in his last four starts for Chelsea in the Premier League. The Blues have two home games against QPR and Newcastle in the next week.  They will be pivotal to any hopes of qualifying automatically for the Champions League although should they fail, there’s always the Champions League final. That said, Mata is likely to start in both games and is therefore a great option to have.

Just to check though, you have Papiss Demba Cissé in your side, right? What? What do you mean you don’t? The Newcastle striker is the most in-form player in the Premier League. He’s scored 11 in his first nine games. That includes nine in his last six matches. The man is a revelation. Yes, he does have two tough away games coming up against Wigan and Chelsea but this is Demba Cissé – he’s scored when he wants so far.

Captain: Papiss Demba Cissé – It’s very hard to ignore the Senegalese the way he’s playing at the moment.

Vice Captain: Juan Mata – He hasn’t started in the last two league games but that’s because of the Champions League. You have to fancy the Spaniard to make a mark over the next week.

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For more Premier League musings, follow @archiert1

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With the 4 point gap to West Ham opened up and only 6 games left, it may seem that promotion is in our hands.

However, looking through our remaining 6 games, specifically our 3 away games it doesn’t get much tougher.

That’s why I feel our 3 home games will prove massive in us achieving the ultimate goal, starting with Leeds today. Leeds have not had the best of starts under Neil Warnock, but have put in great performances against the likes of Southampton and Middlesboro recently so cannot be underestimated.

Despite them having a few injuries and suspensions, they still have dangerous players in Snodgrass and McCormack who will need to be dealt with.

We should put out an unchanged line up from Saturday and our settled 11 really should come out on top today, but don’t expect it to be easy. We also have home games against Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace before the end of the season, teams who have been on decent form as of late.

The Madejski has been a happy hunting ground for us recently, with no team leaving with a result since Hull in mid January. This run will have to continue if we are to hold on to that coveted second spot, or even make a challenge for the title.

I personally cannot wait for the challenge of the run in.

Upcoming fixtures:

Leeds United (h)

Brighton (a)

Southampton (a)

Nottingham Forest (h)

Crystal Palace (h)

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Birmingham (a)

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Juventus have given up in the race for Arsenal hitman Robin van Persie, and will turn their attention to Liverpool’s Luis Suarez and Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, according to Mirror Football.

The newly-crowned Italian champions are expected to strengthen in the summer in preparation for Champions League football next season, with a new frontman high on the wishlist.

The Bianconeri had been interested in bringing Van Persie to Turin, but the Dutch international is now in a tug-of-war between Arsenal and Manchester City, and as such Juventus are ready to drop their pursuit.

Suarez has been involved in controversies on and off the pitch this season for the Reds, and the Italian giants are eyeing up a move for the Uruguayan.

Meanwhile, Dzeko is fourth choice in Roberto Mancini’s preferences in attack at City, and is widely expected to leave the Etihad Stadium this summer in search of regular first-team football.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Robin van Persie, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud. Between them the three strikers scored 81 goals and assisted 35 others in a combined 122 games last season. The signing of Lukas Podolski was, even in the eyes of the most pessimistic Arsenal supporters, never truly seen as a replacement for Robin van Persie. Reassurance came in the form of his performances for Germany in which he is deployed on the wing and his admission that he didn’t always expect to be number one.

But what about Olivier Giroud? The news announced yesterday from a variety of sources seemed to indicate that every man and their dog had spoken to an insider source, either at Arsenal or Montpellier, who had confided in them the most secret of secrets – that Giroud had agreed a contract with Arsenal. With the £12m deal to be announced after Euro 2012, just what does it mean for Arsenal and van Persie?

It didn’t take long for a whole host of self-appointed-experts to formulate definite and partisan opinions on the consequences of this, seemingly certain, signing.

For some he is the poor man’s replacement for our outward bound captain, for others he is the target man van Persie has been waiting for as a partner and for those truly cynical fans Giroud is the reincarnation of one Marouane Chamakh. But with less gel, obviously.

So, which is it – the captain’s usurper or Marouane mark II? Well, let’s look at the facts. First of all, it’s not hard to dispel the myth and show that Giroud is comfortably a better player than Arsenal’s desperately underwhelming Moroccan forward. Olivier Giroud has scored over twenty league goals in two of the last three seasons and is a natural goal scorer. Chamakh has never managed to score more than thirteen league goals in a season and was always more of a link up striker.

Moreover, Giroud, at Montpellier, is used to playing the same system that he would presumably be asked to play at Arsenal – flanked by two wingers with a playmaker in just behind. Finally, at six foot three and weighing just under fourteen stone Giroud is easily better built for the physicality of the Premier League.

As simple as it is to highlight the disparity Giroud and Arsenal’s lesser strikers it is easy to highlight the same situation between van Persie and Giroud. The Dutchman is a proven, world-class striker at the peak of his career who, last year, was the top scorer as well as the PFA Player of the Year for arguably the best, and toughest, league in the world. Olivier Giroud may have been joint top scorer for Ligue 1 last year but the fact remains he has spent most of his career playing in the lower echelons of French football.

I’m not saying that means he’s necessarily not up to scratch, the same was true of Laurent Koscielny and he had a superb second season for Arsenal, but it does indicate that he will struggle to ever fully replace a player like van Persie. But maybe we’re missing the point. Perhaps neither Podolski nor Giroud are replacements for van Persie on their own, perhaps the Arsenal hierarchy view their combined purchase as a solid replacement for Robin – Giroud and Podolski scored a combined total of 42 goals last season, van Persie scored 37.

It would be understandable if Gazidis and Wenger, resigned to losing their captain, had gone out and bought two players to replace him. The problem is, however, that it is not a progressive step by Arsenal. Who knows, maybe these two strikers together could replace him, but Arsenal only just scraped third this season, do they really want risk having a similar season again? They don’t need to swap and replace players; they need to improve the squad by adding to it.

Clearly there are two sides to every coin; the other being that Arsenal could get over £20m for van Persie this summer and he is unlikely to be the same player next year. The van Persie situation is remarkably similar to that of Thierry Henry in the summer of 2006. What happened there? Henry signed a new deal with a huge sign on bonus and effectively cost Arsenal around £10m to keep him for a year, a year in which he spent most of his time on the treatment table. The same could easily be possible for Robin. Last year was a gruelling physical challenge for van Persie and his resting period will be minimal because of his involvement in Euro 2012 (just as it was for Thierry at the 2006 World Cup). If the Dutchman does stay Arsenal risk either losing him for nothing if he refuses to sign a new deal or they risk wasting vast sums of money on a player who is far from guaranteed to be fit all season.

This would be a worrying thought for Arsenal fans, were it not for the other aspects that van Persie brings to the club.

Forget the money, forget the worry of whether all these strikers can play together. Robin van Persie is Arsenal’s captain, he holds this team together. To sell him might not only take Arsenal back to the gloomy days of William Gallas’ reign, devoid of morale with a distinct sense of disunity, but it also sends the message that every summer Arsenal will sell their best players. It is an issue that needs to be dealt with and there is no time like the present.

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You hear people saying that Giroud, Podolski and van Persie won’t all be able to play together, that there will be problems and damaged egos. Who cares? If these players don’t like competition for places then they shouldn’t sign for big clubs. Every successful team has decent squad depth. This is Arsenal’s chance to have a good array of strikers in the prime of their lives for the first time since Kanu, Henry, Bergkamp and Wiltord were all on the books; and we know what kind of success that lead to.

If Arsenal sign Olivier Giroud they have a chance to change their fortunes. They have the chance to forget that they’re a conservatively run business and remember that you have to speculate to accumulate. Arsenal football club have to forget what they ‘know’ about how you run a business; even the most risk averse football clubs must put themselves on the line occasionally, this is Arsenal’s chance.

Follow Hamish on Twitter @H_Mackay

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The dawning of a new day has arrived folks, Liverpool have a bright young, dynamic manager at the helm in 39 year-old Brendan Rodgers and a cast-iron identifiable ‘philosophy’ to get behind. Cautious optimism has spread through the halls of Anfield these past few weeks, which means it could be the perfect time for the club to loan out some of its bright young things.

Liverpool have become somewhat well-known in recent times for failing to bring youth-team players through into the first-team set-up, which led to a radical overhaul from top-to-bottom by previous manager Rafa Benitez of the club’s failing academy. Only now is it starting to pay dividends and the club has an exciting young crop of talent coming through the ranks in the likes of Suso, Raheem Sterling and Connor Coady, but the club should really consider utilising the loan system to their benefit a lot more in the coming months.

Manchester United have benefited hugely from using the loan market the past couple of years, with both Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley going away on respective season-long loan deals to Sunderland and Wigan before coming back and staking their claim for a place in the starting eleven.

The impact that regular first-team football in the Premier League has had on them has been huge; they’ve matured, become more technically proficient, while adapting to the rigours of the top flight in the process. Nobody is for one minute suggesting that the likes of Sterling and Suso are going to walk into a Premier League club this season, that’s obviously setting your sights way too high far too soon, but a gradual progression up the leagues has to be explored.

Cleverley for example, enjoyed loan spells first at Leicester and then a breakthrough year at Watford as a hard-working and creative right midfielder before he secured his chance with Wigan – proving yourself somewhere first then taking your chance when you make the step up is what it’s all about.

Liverpool could be found guilty of not cherry-picking the right clubs with the same footballing culture for their youth-team players to go out on loan to in the past, the result being that the young players development is stunted by a lack of first-team opportunities. For instance, Ghanaian Godwin Antwi had four loan spells in two years, Craig Lindfield also had four loan moves in two years while Robbie Threlfall was shunted out to Hereford for two years running despite making just 12 appearances altogether. Clearly not enough care was taken in the past, rather a ‘well we’ve got to get them out there in the lower leagues, so they’ll do’ attitude.

It’s not that the quality isn’t there either – Tom Ince, Paul Anderson, Adam Hammill, Lee Peltier, Mikel San Jose, Zak Whitbread and Jack Hobbs have all made it elsewhere in recent times. They may not be of sufficient enough quality in some cases to have become a regular starter, but they’re of Championship quality in most cases, and are they really any worse than the likes of Phillip Degen, Antonio Nunez and Gabriel Palletta? Players brought in at far more expense from across the world to plug squad gaps.

There should be an established system whereby the club’s young talent is loaned out between the ages of 18-20 at clubs which will guarantee them first-team football, if they won’t, then what’s the point sending them there in the first place? They could gain experience of not playing back at the club, confined to reserve-team football, but at least learning from the same training methods that the new manager wants the entire club to play with.

The Liverpool academy clearly doesn’t have the same currency of status as either Manchester United’s or Arsenal’s, and the fact that the club’s youth-team players aren’t courted by the same level of lower tier clubs is worth drawing attention to, but that doesn’t mean that they should compromise the player’s footballing education by simply loaning them out for the sake of it, it has to be a move that will benefit the player and the club.

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Rodgers seems serious about cultivating a steadfast set of principles in the way that he wants his side to play, while the likes of Pep Segura and Rodolfo Borrell have been doing a very good job with the youth-team sides – now is the ideal time to see if these youngsters will sink or swim, you can’t mollycoddle and protect them forever, there are plenty of real footballing sides within the lower leagues these days, it’s not simply confined to the long-ball antics of the past, so in the right environment, there’s no reason why they wouldn’t be snapped up and allowed to flourish.  The club need to utilise the loan market in their favour, otherwise decent young players that could have been something more at Anfield, will continue to slip through the net.

You can follow me on Twitter @JamesMcManus1

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Roberto Di Matteo was handed a two-year deal to take over Chelsea in the summer on a permanent basis after a hugely successful six-month interim spell in charge last term, but is talk of a title challenge premature? You only have to look at their rotten pre-season form to realise that this is a side caught in transition.

Owner Roman Abramovich has invested heavily in the squad this summer, spending £65m on the likes of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Marko Marin, while Marseille right-back Cesar Azpilicueta looks to be getting closer to completing a move. All four of these players have one thing in common – they are all under 25 years of age and the long-term nature of these deals is worth drawing attention to.

You can never truly gauge a team’s form solely from pre-season – Tottenham for years dominated all before them year after year only to then go on and struggle in the league, but you can begin to make a judgement on the shape of the team and where the club’s new players are going to settle in. It looks as if Di Matteo is staking a hell of a lot on Fernando Torres being a success this coming campaign and there are simply too many things up in the air to treat them as serious title contenders.

Andre Villas-Boas was accused of trying to do too much, too soon, which may be true to an extent, even if his sacking for that very same reason can be considered extremely harsh. Nonetheless, the very same job that he was brought in to do still needs picking up and finishing off as they simply reverted back to the tried and tested old guard during their Champions League and FA Cup triumphs.

The club looks to  have a settled number one goalkeeper in Petr Cech, while Gary Cahill’s form towards the back end of last season was magnificent and in Ashley Cole they have one of the best left-backs in the world. Branislav Ivanovic is a sturdy and versatile squad player and John Terry, despite being hugely flawed, still has some use to him, while David Luiz has vastly improved. It’s only really at right-back where the troubles come in and they’ll definitely make a signing there this window.

However, you can’t ignore the fact that the club kept just 10 clean sheets last season, compared to Manchester United’s 20 and Manchester City’s 17, with even Arsenal (13) and Tottenham (14) achieving more. They failed to score in eight separate fixtures, again more than all of their rivals and some systemic problems still need addressing, even if some are willing to get carried away by the glitz of new signings and promise of more, with FC Porto forward Hulk still on the horizon.

They conceded 46 goals last campaign, more than Everton, Liverpool, Tottenham and both Manchester clubs – just because they’ve signed a few eye-catching creative talents, this problem doesn’t suddenly just go away and there’s no magic wand to this issue and the club could do with some more strength in depth at the back, even if on paper, the first-choice side looks decent.

There’s also an onus on changing the side’s style of play and they’ll need to integrate the likes of Hazard and Oscar slowly into a new league. The pace and physical demands of the Premier League will far exceed what both of them are used to and while they may be wonderful, world-class players in the making, right now, the pair are little more than potential and should be treated as such, rather than the world-beaters capable of helping to bridge a huge 25 point gap on both Manchester-based clubs.

Di Matteo will not be able, particularly given the money spent, to rely on such a defensive outlook that helped them to their success at the end of last season. He’s essentially just warming the seat until Pep Guardiola wants the job at the moment, which explains the relatively short contract he was offered which only increases the pressure on instant results. It’s a huge job to take on, especially for someone with as little managerial experience as Di Matteo, but patience is the key and expectations must be dampened.

In midfield, Ramires was a huge success last year and Oriol Romeu showed some promising signs too, but doubts still remain over the likes of John Obi Mikel, Michael Essien and Raul Meireles, while Yossi Benayoun and Florent Malouda look they’re going to be heading towards the exit door. The sheer volume of incomings and outgoings are just not conducive to a title challenge, that is not to say that the signings that the club have made this summer will not go some way to improving their chances of mounting one in the future, but for the time being, pragmatism must reign supreme.

The role that Frank Lampard will have over the coming campaign also provides food for thought, and at 34 years of age now, he must begin to accept that he’s no longer first-choice, otherwise we may see another display of his much-vaunted ‘professionalism’ as we were treated to last year, when he repeatedly complained to his media chums about Villas-Boas benching him.

They do have a tantalising front four on paper, with Torres and Mata dovetailing beautifully at times last year, supplemented by the likes of Hazard, Oscar, Sturridge and Marin, but they will need time to gel together and the club’s bumpy pre-season form, during which they’ve won just one of their five games so far, has seen Hazard shifted about in numerous different roles, which points to Di Matteo struggling to find where he’s best placed.

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A switch to a more fluid system to suit the players at his disposal coupled with the need to let new players settle and a fresh emphasis on stylish, aesthetically pleasing attacking play all points to an inconsistent season ahead for Chelsea. When it clicks, it will be quite something to marvel at, but Di Matteo has inherited the job that Villas-Boas failed to see through and trying to change too much, too soon could see results become erratic.

At this stage, that in itself is no bad thing, as long as expectations align with the realisation that this is a period of transition. Last season’s success should be seen as the end of an era, the dawning of a new one is just beginning, a potentially exciting one at that, but as the club’s pre-season form has shown so far, Di Matteo has been left with just as many questions as he has answers going into the new league campaign and talk of a title tilt is unrealistic at this stage in the club’s rebuilding process.

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Arsenal have confirmed that they have finally completed the signing of Santi Cazorla from Malaga for an undisclosed fee.

The Spain international has been a target for the north London club for the last couple of weeks, with the Emirates Stadium side making the most of Malaga’s financial difficulties.

Despite a delay completing the deal, Arsene Wenger has expressed his delight that Cazorla has joined his squad.

“Santi Cazorla is a great signing for us,” the French coach told the Gunners’ official website.

“He is a player with good experience at both club and international level, who will add significant quality to our squad.

“He is a versatile, attacking midfield player who can play comfortably on either side of the pitch or centrally.

“He has good pace, is technically gifted and will be a huge asset to Arsenal Football Club. We are delighted that he is joining us,” Wenger concluded.

Cazorla meanwhile has also admitted his delight at the deal being completed and is looking forward to getting started with his new club.

“I’m so happy to be joining Arsenal. This is a club with great players, a fantastic stadium and huge support.

“The club has one of the best managers in football and their style of play is recognised and admired all over the world.

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“I’m so excited to be joining one of the greatest teams in Europe and also in the Premier League. I will do my best to help Arsenal challenge for trophies and make all the supporters happy,” he stated.

By Gareth McKnight

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