Why Peyton is an Elite Brand, not an Elite Player

Wherever you are from, chances are you have heard of Peyton Manning. In fact, you probably know him as the "greatest quarterback of all time."

Is Manning the most talented quarterback of all time? No. Lack of athleticism, inability to throw the deep ball, and the occasional inability to throw a tight spiral take him out of the discussion. 

Is he the most successful quarterback of all time? Not even close. Manning's career playoff record: 11-12. 5 quarterbacks have won more playoff games. 96 (!) have a higher career playoff winning percentage. 23 have won more Championships. No quarterback in history has suffered as many playoff losses.

Manning is the greatest ever at something, though. 

Marketing.

Calling Peyton Manning the greatest quarterback of all time is like declaring the Big Mac the best burger ever. It's nonsense.

Successful branding can work miracles for a business. A strong brand can allow a business to sell an inferior product more frequently--at an equal or sometimes even higher price--than a superior competitor. 

Good brands aren't easy to create. It takes a lot of work to market the brand effectively. Inherited connections (the family you are born into and the access to capital that family provides) and luck also are significant factors.  

The currency of the NFL is popularity, not simply money. The more popular a player is, the more people watch him on TV, and the more valuable NFL broadcasts become. 

Therefore if you have a player with an inferior skillset (meaning his talent, by itself, won't do the job) you make him popular by building his brand and marketing it well. No player has ever done this as well as Peyton Manning.

Manning is the son of one of the SEC's most beloved quarterbacks, Archie Manning. Archie used his connections as a former New Orleans Saint and broadcaster to convince the New Orleans coaching staff to let Peyton sit in, and sometimes even run plays, at Saints practices during his junior year of high school. 

It also helped that Manning was lucky enough to be drafted by Indianapolis, who play their home games indoors. Quarterbacks who play indoors generate 15% better statistics than those who play outdoors. 

All the factors are present here. Manning had inherent connections at birth, and used them wisely. He had good luck to play where he did, because he had no control over where he would be drafted.

Manning has also been marketed more intelligently than any player ever. No athlete is on more commercials than Peyton Manning. Few have ever hosted Saturday Night Live. Seldom are athletes as comfortable and humble in front of the camera as Manning. This has made him a media darling.

Businesses pay large sums of money to public relations firms for a reason. Effective public relations can improve public opinion of a brand without letting their actual product do the talking. PR creates demand that the product itself doesn't create on its own.

Manning is a public relations dynamo. He displays remarkable humility when interviewed, and his gifts to charities are well-known. No football player in history has been more adept at controlling their media narrative. But none of this tells the public anything about Manning's demeanor on the field.

These 3 factors combined to make Manning a very popular quarterback (especially in the South) very early in his career. And the NFL took steps to make sure they could profit as much as possible from this popularity.

Rulemakers often tweak the rules to help promote a successful brand. Politicians frequently give successful businesses incentives to develop and grow in their areas because they know they'll get something in return--in the form of jobs, tax revenue, or other political capital. The NFL did the same thing with Manning. 

The NFL did this in two ways. First, the NFL tweaked the rules to decrease the risk of injury to all quarterbacks in the league. Then, the NFL significantly changed the type of pass defense teams were allowed to play. 

Take a look at the timeline:

1998: Manning was drafted #1 overall by the Indianapolis Colts.

1998-99 season: The Colts go 3-13, and Manning leads the league in interceptions, in his rookie year.

1999-2000 season: Colts go 13-3, Manning makes the Pro Bowl, but loses his first playoff game. 

2001 offseason: NFL decides to more strictly enforce the roughing the passer penalty in order to keep quarterbacks from getting injured.

2002 offseason: NFL bars all helmet-to-helmet contact with the quarterback, even if a change of possession occurs. Helmet-to-helmet hits are still legal against any other player at this time.

2003-04 season: Manning wins his first MVP and wins his first playoff game in his 4th attempt. In the AFC Championship, Manning struggles against the New England Patriots' bump-and-run coverage. Manning puts up a 35.5 passer rating and throws 4 interceptions in a 24-14 loss to the Patriots.

2004 offseason: NFL bans bump-and-run coverage.

2004-05 season: Manning wins second consecutive MVP and throws for career-best 4500 yards. He also completes an NFL record (at the time) 49 touchdown passes. In his first 6 years, Manning had averaged 27.8 touchdowns per season. 2004-05 brought a 76% increase over his yearly average. But he still loses to the Patriots in the AFC Championship, 24-3.

2006 offseason: NFL bans all hits below the quarterback's knees.

2006-07 season: Manning wins his first, and only, Super Bowl.

There have been no further quarterback-related rule adjustments since Manning's Super Bowl victory.

When Manning entered the league, defenses were allowed to play "bump-and-run" coverage. A defender could make contact with a receiver to keep him from running his intended route so long as the ball wasn't in the air. This sort of coverage forced quarterbacks to be able to throw the ball deep. If you could throw it deep, you could force opposing defenses to play more conservatively, sitting further back to avoid getting beat for big plays.

One of Manning's most glaring weaknesses has always been his arm strength. He lacked the ability to make opposing defenses honor the deep pass, and struggled to complete passes and avoid interceptions against more physical, bump-and-run defenses early in his career.

In 2004, after one of Manning's worst games ever (against the league's best bump-and-run team in the AFC Championship), the NFL made this style of play illegal. Starting in the 2004-05 season, defenses could only make contact with opposing receivers within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. Any contact deeper down the field would result in a penalty and an automatic first down.

The result of this rule change was a complete change in the skills required to be a valuable quarterback. Deep passing had, for a long time, been the most valuable attribute a quarterback possessed. Eliminating bump-and-run meant receivers would be open earlier in plays, making accuracy on shorter throws much more vital than it had been before.

The NFL tweaked its rules to maximize offensive firepower at a time when Peyton Manning was the MVP and league's most popular offensive player. Ray Lewis, who had been recently charged for murder, was the league's biggest defensive star at that time. The NFL wanted to promote offense (and thus Manning) as much as possible. They wanted quarterbacks to be ambassadors of the sport to the public. And they wanted to run as far away from Lewis (and thus defense) as possible. 

Manning is not the only one to benefit from these rule changes. Drew Brees, Tom Brady and many other quarterbacks have seen their careers lengthen and their stats inflate in the last decade. 

Manning will retire with the greatest statistics of all time. He will retire as the most popular player ever. All while competing against other higher quality players.

Substitute "player" with "burger," and "statistics" with "sales." All of a sudden you are talking about the Big Mac.

Manning is very intelligent, he works extremely hard to improve himself, and he possesses many other excellent qualities. Peyton Manning is a consistent, Hall of Fame quarterback who has had a remarkable career. He's got a "special sauce" about him, that's for sure.

But when compared to Warner, Brady, Favre, or Rodgers--Peyton Manning is the inferior product.

Arsenal Escapes with a Point Against Hull

Or...

Arsenal Robbed By Another Referee

What's the story to take from Saturday's match?

Depends on your perspective, I guess. Here's mine:

Arsenal is too big a club to drop points against Hull at home. Arsenal is too big a club to blame results on a referee decision that took place 75 minutes before the match ended.

Arsenal is too big a club to win just 2 of its first 8 EPL matches. And Arsenal is too big a club to be 11 points behind the league leaders at such an early stage.

Arsenal dominated the opening 15 minutes against Hull. Alexis Sanchez scored a fantastic goal to take the lead. Sanchez was miles better than any other individual player on the pitch. But Hull were a better team than Arsenal.

Hull were level within 5 minutes of Sanchez's goal. The referee missed a foul when Mo Diame pulled back Mathieu Flamini. But Arsenal also made 2 mistakes in the build-up.

Nacho Monreal played like a fullback thrust into an uncomfortable position. His timid "challenge" on Diame when the Hull player first received the ball was downright cowardly. It's the type of defending you'd expect from a player thrown into an unnatural position.

But luckily, Mathieu Flamini was in position to cover for Monreal. Flamini darted in front of Diame and was in a great position, but rather than booting the ball out for a throw or corner--with Diame (literally) on his back--Flamini bizarrely attempted to play a 5 foot pass to Mertesacker rather than clearing the danger. This is where "keeping the ball" goes wrong.

At the end of the day, I try to analyze what Arsenal can do better. It's useless to worry about what a referee could have done better. We have no control over referees. We have full control over ourselves. And Arsenal made two glaring, foolish mistakes on the buildup to that goal. Mistakes that got punished.

Diame's goal was in the 17th minute. From that point on, Arsenal only had 3 more shots on target.

Not good enough.

This is a tactical problem.

Hull set up with 3 center halves and 3 central midfielders. They simply clogged up any available space for Arsenal to try their preferred short, intricate passing game. And like we've seen so many times, Hull's pragmatic, negative, defensive approach neutralized Arsenal's attack quite easily.

Wenger praised Hull's defending post-match. I'm not sure why. Our new 4-1-4-1 formation is hopeless. Anyone can defend against it.

Arsenal spent more this summer than Hull have spent on their entire starting XI. It's not all about the money, as so many want to believe. Sometimes its about executing a game plan.

Arsenal rarely does.

Hull's second was scored just 31 seconds into the second half as Arsenal came out from the break complacent and lazy. Like a team who thought Hull's first goal was an unfair fluke. A team that deserved to be winning. An over-confident team.

Even after falling behind, Arsenal could not muster a shot on target until the 86th minute, when Sanchez's header was pushed out for a corner by Hull's 3rd string goalkeeper. Santi Cazorla, who had a poor match, took the set piece with his weak foot, overhit it, and Hull nearly countered for a victory-clinching 3rd goal. A miserable pass by Jake Livermore wasted a 2 on 1 opportunity.

When Sanchez received the ball in the center circle in stoppage time, Arsenal were lucky to still be in the game. He proceeded to dribble past multiple Hull players and find Danny Welbeck in a great position inside the box. Welbeck had great composure as he poked the ball in with his left foot.

At that point it actually looked like Arsenal could steal a win. Kieran Gibbs nearly scored on a cross to the back post but the Hull keeper saved it well. And on the very last corner of the match, the ball fell to Monreal in the box with no one near him but the Spaniard whiffed.

Poor preparation led to a situation where Arsenal was forced to play Nacho Monreal at center half. Poor motivation led to Hull's second goal just seconds after the second half began. And poor tactics have led to a toothless, predictable Arsenal attack.

Poor management continues to cost Arsenal a chance to win the Premier League. We can only hope Wenger will eventually recognize his mistakes and address them.

Problem is, there is a decade-worth of evidence suggesting he won't.

Interpreting Today's AGM

Arsenal's board and upper management met with the supporters today for the club's Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Last week I showed how Arsenal under-performs compared to similarly-valued clubs in Europe. I maintain that Arsenal's financial clout is strong enough to put together a much more competitive team than it does currently.

I am convinced Arsenal is under-achieving. Therefore I will analyze the answers given, as well Arsene Wenger's speech, at the AGM with a very high degree of scrutiny.

Chairman Sir Chips Keswick kicked it off with a question about the murky 3m fee paid to the owner's subsidiary company, Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE).

I will break down the question, and the answers (or lackthereof) provided:

1) Was competitive tender issued (meaning did KSE have to compete with other sports analytics companies for Arsenal's business)?  No, AFC did not make KSE compete for our business.

2) What specific services did KSE provide? A wide range of services.

3) Why were these services needed? Because it was of upmost importance.

4) Will there be similar future fees? Maybe, that depends.

Sir Chips answered just 1 of the 4 prongs of the question. And the answer he did provide was alarming. Not only could the chairman not describe with any specificity what services were provided, why they were important, or whether they would continue in the future--he also freely admitted that Arsenal did not force KSE to compete with other similar companies for the services rendered.

Everything about this answer is concerning. The chairman did nothing to ease supporters' fears that the owner has simply taken money out of the club in the form of this fee for nondescript "advisory services" to the owner's subsidiary company.

While Man City's and Chelsea's owners use their outside companies to try to artificially (aka fraudulently) beef up the income of their clubs due to FFP, Arsenal seems to be using club revenue to artificially beef up the value of their owner's other companies. When people complain about Arsenal's lack of ambition, this is what they are talking about.

When asked about the appointment of Stan Kroenke's son, Josh Kroenke, to the Arsenal board, Lord Harris replied:

Josh has a chief executive role in basketball, ice hockey and soccer teams in the US. He has a background playing basketball and football. He has knowledge and insight at the disposal of Arsenal FC.

It's true, Josh Kroenke is the chief executive of the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, and Colorado Rapids. But as far as his knowledge and insight goes, let's actually look at the Kroenke family's level of success with their 4 US sports franchises.

Stan Kroenke bought the Nuggets and Avalanche in 2000. He bought the Rapids in 2004. And he bought the NFL's St. Louis Rams in 2011. NFL bylaws prohibit any owner from being involved in the day-to-day operations of any other professional sports team, and therefore Josh was promoted to chief executive when Stan took over the Rams.

In over 40 combined seasons under Kroenke family ownership, their teams have combined for a total of 2 championships. 1, the Avalanche's Stanley Cup winning team of 2001, succeeded with the previous owner's players and and the previous owner's coach. The other, the Rapids' MLS Cup victory of 2010, was a team that finished 5th in their conference with a 12-8-10 record (to put that season in EPL terms, that's 44 points of 90 available, a success rate that is usually just good enough to finish in the top half of the table, but nowhere near the top 4) and the Rapids got hot in the Americanized playoffs to come out with an undeserved championship, when judging their season as a whole.

The Kroenke family has a record of sporting failure. I fail to see any positive insights and knowledge Josh Kroenke can offer as a member of the Arsenal board. I am disappointed to see him there.

Arsene Wenger, as always, gave a rousing speech to the audience, proclaiming he is proud of what his team has accomplished and urging the supporters to get behind their efforts.

Wenger: I know you (supporters) are ambitious, skeptical, and critical...I know we have 1 thing in common, we are loyal to this club and we love this club.

I liked this statement quite a lot. I have a very hard time with Arsenal supporters who perceive any criticism of Arsenal--be it the manager, the players, or the general ambition of the club--to be disloyal Arsenal 'hatred.'

If you believe that the role of the supporter is to be relentlessly positive, then support the club that way. There are others who believe criticism is necessary to prevent complacency and stagnation. Both sets of supporters simply want the club to be as competitive as possible, they just have different philosophies as far as how to get there.

The fact is there is no one way to support this club. At the end of the day, everyone wants the same goal. For Arsenal to be as good as possible for as long as possible. So even if you disagree with other Arsenal fans, respect their opinion and don't degrade them for it.

Wenger: We worked on different aspects to strengthen our side. We bought four players, we lost two defenders in Vermaelen and Sagna and bought two defenders in Debuchy and Chambers. We were able to buy as well Sanchez and Welbeck...I believe we have done remarkably well on the transfers. I agree we could have bought one more player, we didn't find him. We will try in December to rectify that because we are a bit short with the injuries we have. We will rectify that in the transfer market in January.

I agree with Wenger for a lot of this statement. The 4 players bought are quality players. But I am concerned with his statement that "we didn't find" the one player the club needed at the end of the window.

First, I disagree that only one was needed. We need 2, a center half and a holding midfielder, at least.

And if Wenger can't find anyone who can do a job, at the least as a reserve defender, maybe he should set his sights a little lower. Wenger is a mastermind of the transfer market, but this skill is somewhat marginalized by his ultra-cautious, reluctant approach. Sometimes, the club would be better served if Wenger was less picky and filled positions of need with one of the best players available, even if he believes that player to be worse than an alternative that might become available at a later time.

And as far as his promise to deliver the player we need in January, talk is cheap in October.

 Wenger: We've tried as well...to strengthen our prevention work for injuries...The team is united. They still lack a bit of confidence because we've been hit hard by injuries again. But this year they've been post-World Cup injuries. Ozil got injured on his own. We had Debuchy get injured on his own. We had Giroud who got injured at Everton from basically nothing.

More of the same, I'm afraid. Wenger has consistently held himself blameless for his club's devastating struggles with injuries every year. This time it's the World Cup's fault, not his.

When Wenger says an injury was caused "on his own" or "from basically nothing," he is saying these are non-contact injuries. The problem with that perspective is, we know fatigue causes injuries just as frequently as a hard tackle. The World Cup was not unforeseen. Adding more depth to the club to be able to rotate more players when others were fatigued and needed rest is the best way to combat fatigue injuries. Depth can keep a strong squad of players available for a longer period of time. Therefore, until the manager is willing to take on the larger burden of managing a bigger squad, I fear nothing will ever change on the Arsenal injury front.

Chief executive Ivan Gazidis then fielded a two pronged question about how the club could raise ticket prices when it sat on such a large sum of cash in the transfer window. Gazidis's justification for raising ticket prices was clear.

We make responsible and reasonable decisions. We understand the pressures. We have tried to take a balanced approach to competing pressures. We have relied mostly on commercial and broadcast increases (in revenue) to compete at the level we demand...Demand for tickets continues to far exceed supply.

It's really that simple, people. Arsenal continues to increase ticket prices because the demand for tickets continues to outweigh supply. Therefore, rather than letting scalpers earn a profit off of the secondary market that springs up when Arsenal keeps ticket prices too low, Arsenal has raised ticket prices to take full advantage of a high-demand product with a limited supply, like any rational business would.

Im not saying those who claim "we pay the highest prices in England, so we deserve a better team" are wrong. Not at all. I agree with that sentiment. But I understand the club's decision to increase prices in order to minimize the profits ticket dealers reap from on the secondary market. It's a decision any responsible business would make.

Gazidis also discussed how much cash was actually available at the end of the window:

There is an inaccurate analysis about cash available. We are not hoarding a vast cash balance. We do not try to broadcast our cash situation but the situation is more complex.

In back-to-back sentences, Gazidis says "we are not hoarding cash" and "we do not try to broadcast our cash situation." So which is it?

Understand that the club has a major incentive in keeping their cards close to their chest on this issue. Negotiating transfer fees only becomes more difficult when your adversary knows you're holding enough money to fund a small country's deficit in your back pocket.

Think critically about Gazidis's answer, and you understand his motivation to lie about/not reveal the true extent of Arsenal's cash reserves.

The good thing is, you can look at the numbers for yourself (and the bad thing is, so can the clubs we try to buy players from).

I used Bobby McMahon's excellent analysis on Forbes.com (and converted US$ to pounds) for all of the below figures.

First, for those fans who still believe the Emirates Stadium debt is the main factor holding back the club, look at what has happened to that debt in the last 7 years. The debt was at its highest in 2008, at 411m. Today the principal balance of that debt has been lowered to just 241m (largely due to the successful Highbury property development). The debt has already nearly been cut in half.

Annual interest on that debt is 13.5m, and Arsenal has paid 19.5m per year for the last few years, paying off 6m from the principal balance on a yearly basis. If Arsenal continued to pay off the stadium debt at these increments, it would take an even 40 years to pay off the principal in full. This is a payment plan that leaves enough income untouched to add much more quality to the team  every year.

Don't forget that Arsenal's annual revenue has exploded since the stadium was built. Matchday income doubled immediately, but progress on the commercial and broadcasting fronts, as the EPL becomes more and more popular worldwide, have driven this growth in revenue.

Look at how Arsenal's broadcasting, matchday, and commercial revenue has increased since the stadium was built:

Revenue source	2006/07	2013/14	% increase
Broadcasting	44	121	175%
Matchday	91	100	10%
Commercial	42	77	83%
Total	177	298	68%

Now let's look at how last year's 298m in revenue was used:

2013/14 REVENUE DISTRIBUTION

The debt payment costs Arsenal just 19m, only 6.5% of Arsenal's 298m revenue. The majority goes to wages, as you can see, but a very large portion of last year's revenue (75.5m) has not been spent.

The club already had 132.5m in cash reserves entering into last season. Add 75.5 more and the reserves equaled 208m when the financial report came out in June.

Here's the thing, if you thought last year's revenue was great, just wait until you see the numbers for this year. Commercial revenue has nearly doubled thanks to new deals with Puma, Emirates, and others. These deals will bring in an extra 70m in commercial revenue next year.

In addition, the 3% increase in ticket prices will bring an increase in matchday income, although not likely a 3% increase due to diminishing returns (i.e. tickets are more expensive, so purchasers are less likely to buy concessions or memorabilia on matchdays). A conservative estimate would be a 1.5% increase in matchday revenue this season. Broadcasting revenue will not rise unless Arsenal's position in the league table improves, or the club makes a deep run in the Champions League, and therefore is on more televisions than last season.

A conservative estimate of this year's eventual revenue would be the same broadcasting revenue as last year (121m), a 70m increase in commercial revenue (147m), and a 1.5% increase in matchday revenue (101.5m) for a 24% increase in total revenue (71.5m) to an astounding 369.5m.

It is impossible to know how that revenue will break down next season, because transfers could yet take place and new contracts could be handed out at any point. We do know Arsenal had a net transfer spend of approximately 64m this summer, and those players will add at most 15m to the wage bill.

Therefore lets look at Arsenal's projected financials, admittedly with some key, and probably unrealistic, assumptions (1: that we finish in the same positions in the EPL and UCL as last season, 2: that no new players are bought, 3: that no current players are given new, lucrative pay raises, and 4: KSE takes the same 3m fee for themselves as they did this year).

PROJECTED 2014/15 REVENUE DISTRIBUTION

The increased commercial revenue, despite a higher net transfer spend and a higher wage bill, has still increased. Unaccounted revenue should rise above the 100m mark over the next year.

Simply put, Arsenal is on track to earn enough money to invest more in the team. Much more. And Ivan Gazidis, wisely, wants to conceal this fact in order to better negotiate with other clubs for future transfers.

Late in the meeting, A supporter in the audience asked whether funds were available to further strengthen the defense this summer, and if so--why were these funds not used.

Sir Chips responded: The board backs Arsene Wenger 100% on football decisions. Its not up to me as chairmain to decide on football, not the fans, it's up to Arsene Wenger...If he has a plan we back it, if he doesn't have a plan we keep quiet.

Gazidis assured: We did not withhold cash reserves from the manager.

Wenger had no comment.

When many people bemoan the lack of ambition by the manager, this is what they are talking about. The board is, and have been, unequivocal in support of Wenger. They have been equally unequivocal, for years, about the resources available to him.

Therefore when Wenger doesn't use the club's significant resources to strengthen his team to the full extent capabale, many say it's because Wenger is not ambitious enough.

I do not agree with this notion. I believe Wenger is ambitious. I believe he wants to win trophies more than any supporter does. I simply think its a case of misguided priorities.

I think Wenger mistakenly values the unity and togetherness a small, tight-knit squad can create higher than the contingency and versatility a larger squad with more depth provides.

And I believe Wenger's mistaken priorities are the root of Arsenal's problems.

Therefore I continue to look forward to--and do not fear--the prospect of a new Arsenal manager in the near future.

Building a Champion

How long do we have to wait?

Arsenal, the 5th most valuable football club in the world, has gone 10 years without winning a European title or their domestic league.

I'm not saying "we don't win anything." I appreciated the FA Cup victory in May. I appreciated it in 2005.

I can appreciate the joy of winning a domestic cup while also understanding that a club at Arsenal's level should be winning more.

Compared to the most prestigious trophies--domestic league titles and European cups--success in a domestic cup is more random than a major trophy. Basically, small clubs can win domestic cups. Only big clubs can win major trophies.

Look at the number, and caliber, of clubs who have won domestic cups in the 4 major leagues (Germany, Italy, Spain, and England) over the last 10 years:

Domestic Cup Winners:

FC Nuremberg
Werder Bremen
Schalke
Dortmund
Bayern Munich (6 times)
Lazio (twice)
Napoli (twice)
Roma (twice)
Inter Milan (4 times)
Real Betis
Espanyol
Sevilla (twice)
Valencia
Barcelona (twice)
Real Madrid (twice)
Atletico Madrid
Arsenal (twice)
Liverpool
Chelsea (4 times)
Portsmouth
Manchester City
Wigan Athletic

That's 22 different teams for 40 available trophies. Of those 22, 13 are listed in the world's top 20 most valuable football clubs, just 59%,

4 clubs (Wigan, Portsmouth, Real Betis, Nuremberg) are not even currently in their own country's top division.

That 59% ratio suggests winning domestic cups has been far more random than winning more significant trophies over the same period of time. To make my point, I will compare that 59% level of economic diversity with the champions of each of these countries' domestic leagues over the past 10 years.

League Champions:

Bayern Munich (6 times)
Stuttgart
Wolfsburg
Dortmund (twice)
Juventus (3 times)*
AC Milan *
Inter Milan (5 times)
Barcelona (6 times)
Real Madrid (3 times)
Atletico Madrid
Chelsea (3 times)
Manchester United (5 times)
Manchester City (2 times)

* in 2004-05 Juventus forfeited the Serie A title as a penalty for match fixing. AC Milan finished second that season. Depending on your opinion, either team won Serie A that season. Since no champion has been officially acknowledged, I have not awarded a domestic league title to either team.

13 teams for 39 available trophies. and of those 13 teams, all but 2 are among the world's 20 most valuable clubs. 11 of the 13 are in that exclusive list, a rate of 85%.

Now let's look at the last 10 Champions League winners.

European Cup Winners:

Liverpool
Barcelona (3 times)
AC Milan
Manchester United
Inter Milan
Bayern Munich
Real Madrid

That's just 7 different teams in 10 years, and 100% of those 7 are included in the world's 7 most valuable clubs.

In total, just 11 clubs have won the 49 significant (domestic league titles and European championships) trophies over the past 10 years.

Clearly, club value has an extremely strong correlation with club success. And Arsenal, despite the club's strong financial value, has not enjoyed the same competitive success both in England and in Europe a their financial rivals.

I decided to plot this information on a graph to further illustrate my point. The below scatter plot shows the expected return (significant trophies) by club value (in millions of US$):

As you can see, Arsenal has vastly underachieved when compared to other similarly-valued clubs over the past 10 years, No club is further below the line of best fit than Arsenal. 11 clubs have won more significant trophies than Arsenal over this time period, 7 of whom have much weaker valuations.

The money is there, people. Even if Arsenal didn't have enormous sums of cash reserves in the bank (we do) Arsenal could easily take loans out against the strong value of the club to put a more competitive team on the field. There is no doubt, when looking at the numbers, that Arsenal could--and should--be winning more significant trophies than we have over the past 10 years.

SO PLEASE STOP USING OIL MONEY AS AN EXCUSE FOR ARSENAL'S SHORTCOMINGS.

The fact is Arsenal have the resources to put together a team with enough quality to win the EPL and the Champions League. We have possessed the necessary resources for a long time. And we have not used those resources effectively.

The only conclusion one can take is that Arsenal has underachieved for 10 years. And somehow, Arsenal have not changed managers during this period of blatant underachievement.

Many Wenger supporters have suggested the manager is striving to build Arsenal into some sort of Barcelona 2.0. That's why so many support "keep the ball" tactics  and so many are willing to accept losses. Somehow, a large portion of Arsenal supporters are willing to accept losses because they still believe that Arsene Wenger will be able to develop his team into an unstoppable force if he can get the time required to develop the club's culture in his vision.

Here's the problem. Teams like Barcelona don't take 10 years to produce results. They do require more than one manager to get there, however.

If we want to be the new Barcelona, let's actually look at how Barcelona developed.

Frank Rijkaard took over for Louis Van Gaal in January of 2003. In his second full season at the club, Rijkaard won La Liga. In this third, he won it again, and added a Champions League victory against Arsenal in Paris in 2006. 3 significant trophies in 2 years.

And then Rijkaard suffered two straight years without a significant trophy. He was sacked at the end of the 2008 season.

When people say Wenger is developing the "new Barcelona" they are presumably saying he can create a similar team to the treble-winning 2008-09 version of Los Blaugrana--Pep Guardiola's first year in charge.

Over the 10 years that preceded that Barcelona team, they went through 5 different managers, including two separate spells with Van Gaal.

The fact is, in aggregate, a new set of eyes adds value to a football club. Turnover at the manager position creates value. It normally does not hurt a club. In fact it is more frequently much more beneficial than destructive.

Situations like Manchester United's are not a warning sign. They are the exception to the rule. A tenure like Sir Alex Ferguson's, where one manager sustains success for an extremely long period of time, has happened just once. Every other big, trophy-winning club in Europe employed 3 or more managers over the past 10 years.

This makes sense. Football clubs stagnate when one manager is given too much time to attempt and reattempt and reattempt to implement their own personal ideals on their team. A new set of eyes is normally able to quickly address their predecessor's overlooked vulnerabilities, while maintaining the old manager's strengths, and win trophies as a result.

It's why Arsene Wenger's attacking philosophy brought so many great results during his initial years at Arsenal. Wenger took over a George Graham team that already knew how to defend. He taught the club how to attack. And in so doing created the best team England has ever seen.

But 10 barren years have shown that Arsene Wenger is not the exception to the rule. He is not without weaknesses. A new manager will be better equipped to address those weaknesses.

Rather than let the club stagnate, Arsenal needs to be brave.

Arsenal needs to sack the best manager the club has ever known. 

To move the club forward.

And build a champion.

Time to Question the Manager

Forget the win against Galatasaray. The Turkish giants are somehow managed worse than us. 

Arsenal got knocked out of a cup, and took just 1 point from 2 matches (without leaving London) in less than 2 weeks.

Arsenal entered this season with a new-found emphasis on "keeping the ball," as if possession is the be-all and end-all of modern football. A 4-1-4-1 formation has been used with this directive in mind.

At the beginning of the season, while Mesut Ozil was rested after his World Cup campaign, most supporters believed this formation would be scratched as soon as "the world's best #10" came back. Ozil returned. The ineffective system has remained in place.

A late victory against manager-less Crystal Palace brought 3 points. And then the Gunners drew 4 matches out of 5, with the lone victory coming against a flu-ridden Aston Villa side in Birmingham.

Sunday's 2-0 defeat to Chelsea means this is Arsenal's 2nd worst start ever in Arsene Wenger's career.

The new formation has looked terrible. The lack of depth in defense and defensive midfield has been exposed. The best players in the team have been misused (Ozil in nearly every match) or quizzically dropped (Alexis vs. Spurs) in the name of "keeping the ball."

Arsenal has the third-highest wage bill in the Premier League--higher than Chelsea's this year and higher than Liverpool's last year. 

Arsenal is not in a transition period like Manchester United. Arsenal spent twice as much as Manchester City on new transfers this summer. 

And this Arsenal team is worse than every other Arsenal side in Wenger's reign that did not lose 8-2 at Old Trafford.

There is no excuse. Arsenal has underachieved for years. But this year, the underachievement is worse than ever.

The "strategy" to "keep the ball" is failing.

In the Spring of 2012, Arsenal kept an attacking 4-2-3-1 formation but instructed the defensive fullbacks to play conservatively and not get beaten. The result was a skyrocket up the table, catching the Sp*rs before they could remove their "Mind the Gap" shirts, and securing Champions League qualification when it seemed impossible.

That next fall, just after the addition of Ozil, the same conservative tactics remained. And Arsenal enjoyed good results, leading the table for most of the year until January.

But as the fixtures got more difficult, that defensive solidarity was abandoned for some reason. Suddenly all that mattered was scoring goals, and the fullbacks both pushed forward with reckless abandon whenever Arsenal had the ball, leaving gaping holes at the back.

Results suffered. 

Humiliating losses at City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Everton pushed Arsenal back down to 4th place. 

But rather than blaming the over-aggressive, foolish deployment of the fullbacks, Wenger was able to deflect the blame onto an inability to "keep the ball" in midfield.

The rest of the Arsenal players (and a majority of the fanbase) echoed the manager's viewpoint. All of a sudden, keeping the ball was Arsenal's #1 form of defense. You can tell this by examining the criticism of players like Mathieu Flamini.

Flamini, the only midfielder in the entire Arsenal squad with even the slightest amount of defensive ability, has been blamed for goals conceded because he sometimes loses the ball in midfield. 

Admittedly, when he does lose the ball, there are so few players in defensive positions behind him to clean up the mess that it does lead to goals.

It's true, in the current tactical setup, players like Flamini keeping the ball at all times is crucial to prevent the concession of goals.

But this in England, not Spain. 

Players get kicked, Fouls aren't always awarded. And every player in England, no matter how good their first touch is--or how quick they can find an accurate pass, will sometimes lose the ball in midfield. 

The recent past has proved that a more conservative approach with the Arsenal back-line has brought defensive solidarity while also preserving the potency of Arsenal's attack.

So rather than blaming midfielders who can actually defend, like Flamini, for goals conceded, Arsenal's manager, players, and fans should be concerned with the obvious vulnerabilities of Arsenal's foolishly open tactical system.

But the collective conscious of the club has become obsessed with "keeping the ball," justifying this new, ineffective formation.

And simply put, these tactics are awful.

I cannot rationalize Wenger's decision to abandon the conservative defense-first approach that worked so well in 2012. He has been more conservative this year, but in the wrong areas. And in so doing he has marginalized the most considerable amount of individual talent (Ozil and Sanchez) that is available to him.

Arsene Wenger is misusing the resources available in order to implement his own ill-conceived philosophies, rather than utilizing a system that maximizes his players' qualities. Wenger's system is failing to provide his team the best chance of winning matches.

And at the end of the day, getting the most out of the players available is Wenger's job.

Frankly, Arsene Wenger does not do this job as well as his competitors. 

And therefore, Arsene Wenger remains the single biggest liability holding back Arsenal FC. 

Just 2.5 more years to wait.

EPL Roundup: Arsenal Build Momentum as Rivals Slip

Any memory of last week's terrible trip to Dortmund should be well and truly forgotten after Arsenal thrashed Aston Villa at Villa Park 3-nil on Saturday. The Gunners scored 3 first half goals in 3 minutes to end the contest before half-time.

It was a very encouraging performance from Arsenal, who were without a doubt aided by a horrible illness that had struck many of the Villa players before (and during) the match. Still, Villa threatened early and might have taken the lead if not for a great save from Szczesny on a Villa set piece.

Arsenal had conceded a goal from their first shot on target allowed in all four of their opening Premier League fixtures, and with Ciaran Clark unmarked on the far post, it looked like it was going to be five out of five. But Szczesny did really well to save and keep the clean sheet.

Ozil finally played further forward in a central role, and he responded with his best match of the season so far. Playing just off of new striker Danny Welbeck, the two combined excellently for the first two goals. Welbeck played in Ozil with a great through-ball assist on the first, and Ozil responded with a perfectly-placed cross to Welbeck for the second. When Kieran Gibbs put his cross in a dangerous area in the next attack, Aly Cissokho put it in his own net.

It was a great response by Arsenal after being, frankly, played off the pitch at Dortmund in midweek. And afterwards, Arsenal supporters watched with glee as each of their rivals dropped points in the ensuing matches.

First was Liverpool, who fell 2-nil down in the first 10 minutes at West Ham. a Raheem Sterling rocket made it 2-1, but a late finish by Morgan Amalfitano clinched 3 points for the hosts.

The Liverpool defense is in shambles at the moment. They conceded on an early set piece for the second straight match just as they did a week ago at home against Villa.

Then new "left back" Alberto Moreno allowed Diafra Sakho far too much time and space in the box and he responded with a fantastic chip into the far corner. Moreno had a great goal against Spurs, but he has looked downright clueless defensively.

Right back Javier Manquillo hasn't been much better. And Dejan Lovren, who cost about as much as Mertesacker and Koscielny combined, has also struggled. And of course Steven Gerrard is struggling yet again to be the "shield" in front of these new players. Liverpool had just the eighth-best defensive record in the league last year, they spent over 35m on new defenders to fix it, and they somehow got worse.

Brendan Rogers was forced to add a third center back after just 20 minutes, but it wasn't enough to get the two goals he needed. Liverpool is now in 11th, losing 3 of their opening 5 matches.

Then on Sunday Manchester United looked like they had taken confidence from their thrashing of QPR last week into Leicester. Their shiny new expensive toys were looking great, Falcao made a great assist and Di Maria scored an incredible chipped goal to go 2 nil up. Leicester when right down and scored from the resulting kickoff.

When Ander Herrera made it 3-1, it looked like game over. But the Foxes responded with 4 goals to win 5-3. The best part? All the United players in utter shock when a foul wasn't given their way in the build-up to Leicester's second goal.

Manchester United had just found out what it was like, for so many years, to play against... Manchester United.

Like Liverpool, United have some serious problems in defense. Like Liverpool, part of the problem is a lack of protection from midfield. Their simply isn't enough balance in the United team. They don't look good at all right now. Ed Woodward's thoughts on the matter? "Maybe we need another striker."

And then Chelsea faced Man City at Eastlands. The Blues scored from a good counter attack after Zabaleta had been sent off, and it looked like Chelsea's perfect start to the season would continue.

But Diego Costa hit the post when he might have scored, and Chelsea were eventually undone by none other than Frank Lampard, whose late volley was enough to secure a draw for City and keep Chelsea from opening up a sizeable gap on the competition.

I've never been so happy to see Frank Lampard score a goal in my life.

Arsenal will take a huge amount of momentum after seeing everything go their way this weekend into the North London derby* Saturday. Next up, however, is a Capital One Cup match for the reserves against Southampton tomorrow night.

* to top off the hilarity, the Spuds lost 1-nil at home to West Brom on Sunday, who were bottom of the league heading into White Hart Lane. Not exactly a title rival slipping up, but icing on a very delicious cake

Leicester Reveals Weaknesses, Will Welbeck Fix Them?

2 days ago, Arsenal was lucky to take a point from a trip to Leicester.

The finger was pointed at Yaya Sanogo in his first game since Giroud's injury. Sanogo's touch and decision making was poor, as attack after attack ended with him.

To be fair to Sanogo, I thought he was scapegoated somewhat. He was getting the ball constantly because he was working hard, making good runs into good positions, but he struggled to deal with the physicality of Liam Moore and Wes Morgan. But young Yaya was far from the only Arsenal player to have a poor match.

Most of the team struggled Sunday. Mesut Ozil put in a completely forgettable shift on the wing, and Aaron Ramsey's passing continued to be over-ambitious and wasteful.

The tactics employed (a 4-1-4-1 which looked more like a 4-1-5 as all 4 attacking midfielders pushed forward without caution) didn't help our cause either. I feel Wenger is perhaps too worried about scoring goals, especially now that Giroud is injured until January, and he instructed the team to push recklessly far forward. Flamini was the lone anchoring midfielder as the rest of the "midfield" didn't seem to have any defensive responsibilities. The gap between was enormous. On top of that, both fullbacks were encouraged to push forward as well, which left the team very vulnerable to the counter-attack.

Indeed, Leicester's goal came on the counter just a few minutes after Alexis Sanchez scored the opening goal. Leicester's Jeffrey Schlupp caught Debuchy out of position and bombed down our right flank, and his cross found Leonardo Ulloa who headed home with ease from a great position over a dazed and confused Laurent Koscielny.

Frankly, Koscielny should not have been on the pitch for the goal. He was finally subbed off shortly after, but he clearly was not at his best and the team paid the price. Had Koscielny been subbed off as soon as the injury occurred, Callum Chambers would have come in and Mertesacker would have slotted into Koscielny's spot in the left-center of the defense. Not only might Chambers have been more quick to defend Schlupp's cross, Mertesacker would surely have been more alert to Ulloa's position to defend the header.

Either way, the Leicester equalizer came from a mistake from the Arsenal sideline. The tactics and the decision to leave Koscielny on when he needed to come off were punished by the home side.

Leicester were dangerous on the counter for the entire match, to be fair, even after Koscielny had subbed off. Ulloa missed a golden chance to take the lead after Chambers slid in naively and missed the ball. And Szczesny made a fantastic late save which saved two points. But fingers were pointed at Sanogo as the focal point of the Arsenal attack.

Arsenal dominated possession but failed to create many good chances. Of Arsenal's 24 shots, over half were blocked by Leicester's defenders. The build-up was too slow, too predictable, and not wide enough to open holes in the Leicester defense.

The away fans sang "Sign a f-ing striker" to Wenger when the match ended, and Wenger obliged yesterday.

We've signed Danny Welbeck.

"Not good enough!"

"20 goals in over 120 appearances!"

"Man United has never sold us a good player, its Silvestre all over again!"

Now, I'll be the first to admit I'm never afraid to criticize Wenger and the club (just look to my analysis of our tactics against Leicester above). But sometimes I think a portion of Arsenal supporters are bound and determined to never be pleased, no matter what.

The fact is, Welbeck had the 4th highest goals/minute ratio in the EPL last year, despite most of those minutes being out on the wing. He's an experienced England international and he's just 23 years old. He is proven in the Premier League and could really grow when given an extended period of time in his favored center forward position. Time he will get at Arsenal thanks to Giroud's injury.

Welbeck is a huge upgrade on Sanogo, and for those complaining about the fee, he cost just 4 million more than Shane Long. He was roughly half the cost of Romelu Lukaku, and brings nearly all the same attributes. He's extremely athletic, strong enough to hold off defenders and fast enough to run by them. He links up well with midfielders. He works very hard for the team. And he scores goals from the center forward position.

18 months ago Daniel Sturridge, aged 23, moved to Liverpool from Chelsea for 20m after a series of underwhelming performances on the wing for the Blues. When given a chance and an extended period of games in his favored position, he became a 20-goal a season striker.

I don't see any reason why Welbeck can't make a similar leap.

Arsenal may have underwhelmed a large portion of its fanbase last night (and some would say the anger was directed more towards the club for neglecting to add defensive cover to the team--but more on that to come later this week). At the end of the day, the most pressing need for Arsenal was at forward, due to Giroud's injury. We desperately needed a striker who could play right away. We got one from a Premier League rival, on a permanent deal, who is still young and should be able to contribute immediately.

Welbeck is a fantastic signing for this club and I'm delighted we've signed him.

5 Stages of Grief: Manchester United Edition

Imagine you spent your summer supporting Manchester United.

If you're like me you probably want to stick a knife in your eye right now. I don't blame you. But stick with me, it isn't reality. This is all hypothetical. Just pretend for a few minutes.

You had just suffered through your club's worst season in the Premier League era. You put all the blame on 1 man who had been at the club for 9 months, David Moyes. You were eager and more than willing to throw Moyes under the bus. And you suddenly felt better.

Next up was Louis van Gaal, a man who had won things everywhere in Europe. Problem solved! Soon you'd be back on top!

Imagine yourself watching the World Cup, thoroughly impressed by your new manager as he coached Holland. Imagine your glee when his team annihilated the defending champions 5-1 in their first match.

You watched each Holland match and got more and more excited, convinced that the new boss was a genius who would easily fix all of Moyes's mistakes. He'd do it in his first training session!

You loved the new tactics, 3 at the back with wing backs pushing forward. You told yourself "Valencia can be twice the player of Daryl Janmaat!" And "Holland's center halves are nowhere near as good as Evans, Smalling, and Jones--consider the defense fixed!"

Manchester United destroyed teams in their preseason tour of the US, and your expectations grew and grew with each demolition. Surely the famous Guinness International Champions Cup was the first of many trophies you'd win this year!

You loved the new signings. Luke Shaw was the British Roberto Carlos! Forget Pogba! You had Herrera!

And then the injuries piled up. Shaw, Valencia, Evans, and Carrick were all out for the opening match against Swansea. Van Persie wasn't fully fit yet. But surely you'd still win! Nothing could stop this team!

And when United lost to Swansea, you made excuses. You were in Denial.

The injuries, the new tactics, the commercial tour of America as opposed to a proper preseason. "Our best players are all injured, we just need time," you told yourself. "It will all turn good, I know it."

But then you watched United draw with Sunderland on Sunday, and your confidence began to falter. Van Persie was back, but you still weren't creating chances. And you couldn't defend either.

You became Angry. Some winger named Will Buckley ripped you apart in his first ever Premier League match. Who the hell is Will Buckley? What is going on?

You took out that handy pitchfork, on which you so satisfyingly skewered Moyes in April, and pointed it directly at executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

"Woodward you imbecile! We need better players! You said you had all that money to spend, so spend it!"

The Bargaining began. If you just had better players, world class players, that would fix the problem. Woodward needed to get those world class players right away.

Woodward obliged. Yesterday it became clear you would soon have Angel Di Maria in your ranks. What a player! The man who single-handedly won the Champions League!

"Who cares what he costs? Who cares that he doesn't fit in the 3-5-2? Angel Di Maria is twice the player Ronaldo ever was!"

You were excited when you woke up this morning. You watched with glee as Di Maria held up that gorgeous red Chevrolet shirt. You thought you might go out and buy yourself a pickup truck.

Next you'd watch United build their confidence by thrashing some lower league team that you hadn't ever heard of in the Capital One Cup. It was all set up for a wonderful Tuesday.

Never in your wildest dreams did you think United would get embarrassed 4-nil. To MK Dons.

Suddenly you are humbled. In 10 days, the club you support looks nowhere near challenging for the title and you've already been knocked out of one of the cups. In 10 days, all of that excitement--from van Gaal at the World Cup, the new signings, the great preseason form--its all gone.

You hit Depression.

There is only one more step to go.

Acceptance.

The fact is, your beloved Sir Alex left behind an awful squad of players. The club is paying a long-term price for Ferguson's last grasp at glory.

Your defense was getting worse by an average of 5 goals per season over Fergie's last 3 years. The unit declined as Vidic, Ferdinand, and Evra aged. The signings of Smalling, Jones, and Alex Buttner didn't fix the problem. The weakness grew.

Sir Alex also allowed the midfield to deteriorate. Fergie converted Giggs into a center mid and brought Scholes out of retirement instead of letting his younger players get valuable experience and grow.

Even when Sir Alex played younger players, he played the wrong ones. He played Tom Cleverley and Anderson ahead of Paul Pogba, so Pogba left. Now United can't give Cleverley and Anderson  away as no club will take them, and Pogba is the best young midfielder in the world.

United's squad was nowhere near good enough to compete for any trophies last season, and they still aren't good enough right now.

Time to accept it.

Arsenal Resilient Against Everton

I'll be honest, I didn't know how to respond to this match until now.

At halftime I was on the war path. I was furious.

When it was over, I was relieved, but I hadn't got over the first half yet. I was still angry.

24 hours after it ended, I watched it again. And then I watched one more time. My opinion changed drastically.

Without a doubt, Arsenal put together their best performance of this young season at Goodison Park. More unlucky than poor in the first half, the Gunners made several astute tactical adjustments at half-time to get a well-deserved point.

Credit where it's due. Last spring Roberto Martinez's tactics befuddled Arsene Wenger. Not this time. Wenger's subtle tweaks did just enough to break down a disciplined Everton defense twice in the final 10 minutes.

I think it's best to divide the review in halves to better make my point.

1st Half

The intial setup was curious. Mesut Ozil lined up on the left wing and Per Mertesacker was on the left-hand side of the two center halves. Neither looked comfortable early on in the 4-1-4-1 formation.

Last year Ozil was given a free role behind the striker in a 4-4-1-1, but based on the first three matches, Wenger has changed his tactics considerably this year. Both central midfielders have been given license to push forward all match--when we have the ball and when we don't. Wilshere and Ramsey often pushed forward to pressure the opposing center halves in possession, and the outside players (Ozil and the Ox in this match) were given responsibility to track back and man-mark the opposing fullbacks.

Everton lined up in the same exact 4-3-3 formation that had worked so well the last time. Steven Naismith was the False 9 in front of a 3 man midfield of McCarthy, Barry, and Osman, and he had a large amount of defensive responsibility to get back and outnumber Arsenal's midfielders in the middle of the pitch. Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas played as wide forwards. Both set up on the half-line when Arsenal had the ball to give Everton early options for the counter-attack, and neither was asked to track back and mark the Arsenal fullback when Arsenal had possession.

One of the reasons Everton's 4-3-3 worked so well against Arsenal last spring was the numerical advantage it gave Everton in the center. When Naismith tracked back, Everton often outnumbered Arsenal 4 to 2, and they stopped Arsenal from enjoying the methodical possession game we want to play. Arsenal's 4-1-4-1 formation helped somewhat, if only because it added a 3rd central midfielder to the numbers. But the Arsenal central midfielders still struggled.

McCarthy, Barry, Osman, and Naismith harassed Wilshere and Ramsey every time they took possession, and both struggled initially. Ramsey and Wilshere couldn't spring attacks due to a lack of familiarity with the central striker, Alexis Sanchez.

I will say this: Sanchez looked a lot better than I had remembered when I rewatched the match. His runs were very dangerous as he often got in behind Distin. But the Arsenal midfielders never tried to connect with a long ball over the top. Perhaps this was because we haven't had a center forward who made those types of runs in a very long time, but I think it was more likely due to the pressure Everton's midfield put on Arsenal's playmakers.

When Sanchez did check back to his midfield, he received the ball in Giroud-esque positions in front of the Everton defense. But it isn't his first instinct to quickly play the ball back to a midfielder in the Giroud mold. Sanchez wanted to keep the ball on his feet and dribble, and he often did so right into 2 or 3 Everton defenders.

In all: 1) Sanchez is not a natural center forward. It will take a while for him to learn how much time and space he has in that role. And 2) Arsenal's midfielders had no idea how to find Sanchez in positions that would play to his strengths.

By no means was Saturday proof that Sanchez does not have what it takes to play the position in England. As he adjusts to the role, and as the Arsenal midfielders adjust to him, his play will improve considerably. Sanchez simply has too much raw talent to fail.

As the match went on, Ox and Ozil frequently drifted into midfield to ease the pressure on Arsenal's midfielders. This is often how Arsenal wants to play, but it was foolish against Everton. We were playing right into their hands. With Lukaku and Mirallas failing to track back, Arsenal's numerical advantage was on the wings. Everton never had more than two players on the wing at any point when the Gunners had possession. Arsenal could have set up triangles on the wing to passed around the two Everton defenders to create chances, but far too many of Arsenal's first half attacks failed as they tried to force themselves through the middle.

Everton didn't have much possession, but when they did, they often found a lot of time and space in central midfield. Wilshere and Ramsey didn't have enough defensive discipline early in the match. They were pushing too far forward and were not in position to pressure Everton's midfielders when the Toffees had the ball.

3 times Barry was given free reign to pick out a pass in a 10 minute stretch. The first led to the Coleman goal. The second led to a Naismith flick-on, which found Mirallas and nearly led to a second. The third played in Coleman on the right wing and Monreal did really well to win the ball. Arsenal were lucky to only be punished once.

Yes, Ozil lost his mark on the first goal. But more should have been done to prevent that pass from coming in in the first place. Wilshere and Ramsey weren't putting in the same defensive effort as their opponents, and Arsenal were getting punished as a result. That lack of pressure was the true root of Arsenal's problems in the first half, not Ozil's inability to track back.

The second goal was bad refereeing. Plain and simple. The referees missed both the foul on Mertesacker in the build-up and wrongly ruled Naismith onside.

Lukaku clearly made contact with Mertesacker before the ball got to him, therefore playing the man before the ball. It was not incidental contact. Mertesacker was in position to win it and was shoved off his position. That is a clear foul. No doubt about it. Same as the offside decision.

But Arsenal were not blameless either. Chambers showed his inexperience, rashly getting beaten on the left touchline rather than sitting deeper and controlling the situation. It was a clear error by the youngster, but he showed remarkable resiliency as the match went on. The boy learns from his mistakes quickly.

2nd Half

Giroud came on for Sanchez and Arsenal immediately looked much more comfortable in attack. Still in the 4-1-4-1, Arsenal was clearly much more comfortable playing with Giroud as the focal point than they had been with Sanchez. And Giroud, after a dismal performance at Besiktas on Tuesday, was much more energetic and effective.

Right away, Chambers played an excellent 25 yard ball to Wilshere which bypassed the Everton midfield and put the home side under pressure. Wilshere switched to Monreal on the left wing, and Monreal played another cross field ball back to Ox. The Ox had found space in between Baines and Osman, and he played a superb pass to Giroud. Giroud had peeled off to the far post really well and was unlucky to score with his first touch. But it was undeniably Arsenal's best attack of the game at that point.

As time went on, the subtle adjustments showed. First, Wilshere was tasked with putting the pressure on Barry in midfield. He did so with ferocity. Wilshere was maybe lucky to stay on the pitch after a hard, late tackle on Barry early in the 2nd half, but the main problem with Arsenal's defending had clearly been addressed at half time. Barry was no longer getting time and space.

Mertesacker had been booked in the first half, but his positioning and reading of the game was absolutely impeccable in the second half. He made lots of great tackles and interceptions all half.

And his partner grew into the game greatly. Mertesacker was caught out by Lukaku like he had been on the second goal, but this time Chambers kept his position and made Lukaku slow down and think. The result was another Mertesacker interception, as Chambers and Flamini had given their teammate enough time to recover.

As the match wore on, Arsenal had a clear target in possession: to exploit the numbers on the wings by getting 3 players wide to take on Everton's 2. It was a slower build-up, but Arsenal were methodically poking and prodding Everton's tactical weakness on the wing.

In the 70th minute Cazorla and Campbell came on for Wilshere and Ox. I expected the formation would change to the 4-4-1-1 we used last season. It didn't. Cazorla took up Wilshere's defensive role, even tracking back to the endline a few times, and Ramsey was still given free reign to roam forward.

Ramsey continued to struggle. Attack after attack ended with an overly ambitious Ramsey pass or an overly ambitious Ramsey shot. I love Ramsey's confidence--he can do incredible things on the pitch, no doubt about it--but Aaron should remember that his great run of form last season sprung from the simplification of his game. When he's doing the little things right, Arsenal is a much better team.

Like on Arsenal's first goal. Arsenal again took a numerical advantage on the left wing, slowly passing in triangles around Coleman and McCarthy, but we weren't able to find the final pass to set up a goal. Mesut Ozil was clearly frustrated at the lack of targets after his cross went out for a throw in. Then we scored.

Cazorla showed nifty footwork to put in a great left-footed cross to Ramsey for the tap-in, but in my opinion, Ozil created that goal.

Hear me out now. When Cazorla took the ball, Ozil took a fantastic, intelligent position just tucked in behind Coleman and McCarthy. The two Everton defenders were confused and indecisive, neither wanted to pressure Cazorla on the ball and risk opening up a pass to the German. And Cazorla made them pay with a fantastic low cross between the two Everton center-halves and the goalkeeper, right into the run of Ramsey who had timed his run so well.

Ramsey was Arsenal's worst player Saturday. He was poor in possession and failed to pressure his opposing midfielders when we didn't have the ball. And despite that, Ramsey scored the vital first goal to start the comeback. This is how you can tell Ramsey is becoming a world class player. Even when not at his sharpest, Ramsey makes an impact. That's what the best players do.

With Everton now feeling the pressure, Arsenal looked to even the score. I was impressed by two crucial plays by Joel Campbell, one that might have saved a goal and another that sparked the equalizer.

First, a bad Cazorla pass was intercepted as Debuchy pushed forward. Everton took the ball and had numbers down our right wing, but Campbell slid in well and won possession back.

Then, a pass was played in to Campbell at midfield. The Costa Rican's first touch was a bit heavy and Everton saw an opportunity to pounce. Both Osman and Naismith rushed in and challenged Campbell, but our young forward showed good strength and quickness to play a composed pass back to Chambers.

Like he did to start the second half, Chambers played a fantastic 25 yard ball that bypassed the Everton midfield and sparked the Arsenal attack. This time it was to Ramsey, but Ramsey's attempted cross to Giroud was well over-hit.

Monreal never gave up on it. He chased down the loose ball and quickly crossed it back in for Giroud. The delivery was perfect, as was Giroud's header.

From 2-nil down to 2-2 in ten minutes. It was an excellent 2nd half performance. And a real confidence boost heading into the crucial match against Besiktas on Wednesday.

Everton Takeaway: The Toffees will be unhappy not to close out a victory for the second straight week after drawing at Leicester 2-2 last weekend. But they can be proud of how they played in the first half. Dangerous on the counter and tough to break down, Everton look to have enough to trouble lots of teams. But they failed to put the nail in Arsenal's coffin to get a third goal, and Arsenal slowly figured them out.

Arsenal Takeaway: If you ignore the 15 minute stretch after Everton scored their first goal, Arsenal bossed this entire game. Everton's second goal never should have stood. The Gunners corrected their defensive mistakes and adjusted their attack to account for their opponent's weaknesses at halftime, they brought on a more familiar center forward who made everyone more comfortable, and were perhaps a bit unlucky just to score twice. It was a first rate performance in a difficult stadium early in the season, and a good result to match.

Man of the Match: Nacho Monreal. After an awful performance the last time Monreal played at Goodison, I'll admit I expected the worst when I saw Nacho lining up against Lukaku yet again. The Spaniard was terrific. His defending was great and his crosses were truly first rate--crowned of course by the brilliant cross for Giroud's equalizer. Arsenal created chance after chance on their left side largely because Monreal was causing problems all match. It might have been Nacho's best ever performance in an Arsenal shirt.

Rusty Arsenal Keeps Clean Sheet at Besiktas

Arsenal looked out of sorts in Istanbul yesterday in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Besiktas. The Turkish side was supremely motivated to put on a good display in front of the home supporters, and the atmosphere was loud and intimidating all match.

Arsene Wenger commented in the pre-match buildup that the two-legged series against Besiktas is the club's most important fixture until January, but his team lacked the quality to step up and play the way they are capable yesterday.

Demba Ba nearly caught Wojciech Szczesny off his line at the kickoff and Besiktas bossed large portions of the match, creating several good chances to score. The Arsenal defense held up well under the pressure, however, with Callum Chambers impressing in particular. Chambers was assured and confident for most of the match. He has been better than advertised; seamlessly filling in for Per Mertesacker in defense and stepping up to the challenge of playing in such a raucous atmosphere at such a young age. It was all well and good, but Chambers will hope that he won't be relied on so heavily in the home leg as Arsenal will hope to keep better possession.

The pitch, which was in very poor condition, had a significant impact on the Gunners' typical short-passing style. The Gunners lost possession frequently before they could reach the Besiktas box, constantly putting their defense under pressure.

Arsenal was at their best when they abandoned their principles and attacked quickly and directly after winning possession. The speed and dribbling ability of Alexis Sanchez was on full display. The Chilean was Arsenal's best player on the night, driving the team forward as well as working hard to reclaim the ball. Sanchez set up both Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla in the opening 15 minutes, but neither player was able to convert.

The lethargic Giroud, and to a lesser extent Cazorla, really struggled. Giroud is normally great with his first touch and link-up play--undeniably his best attribute as a player--but he was very poor last night. Attack after attack ended with the Frenchman's poor first touch.

Wenger has said he is happy with his striking options, and that he doesn't anticipate making any additions in this area. Therefore Giroud will likely be the team's only proven center forward for a second consecutive season.

I refuse to believe Wenger's intention is to play him in 50 matches again this year. Giroud visibly wore down in the second half of last season, and after playing for France in in the World Cup this summer, he still looks tired and in need of rest.

If Wenger does intend to play Sanchez as a center forward, the time to do it might be sooner rather than later. Personally I think we could see Walcott given a run of games in the middle when he returns from injury, with Sanchez staying in his more natural position on the right, at least until the Chilean adapts to the physicality of English play. But some sort of rotation in the middle is imperative. Last night showed that a tired Giroud is a liability to the whole team. He cannot be relied on so heavily again.

While never possessing the speed to get in behind defenses, Giroud is at his best when he is an energetic front-man, constantly making runs into intelligent positions where he can link up with the midfield or get on the end of crosses. Last night there was no movement, no energy.

Cazorla wasn't much better.

The Spaniard was outstanding in his first season in London, but regressed last year when the addition of Ozil pushed Cazorla out of his favored position and onto the left wing. When in the middle, Cazorla thrived in the pocket of space between midfield and defense. He has struggled since being shifted outside.

It seems he has been given the freedom to try and find that same space in his new position, but it hasn't been as effective. As the left winger, Cazorla is normally man-marked by the opposing right fullback. At 29, he does not have the pace to get in behind his marker. As a result, the defender can normally play very close to Cazorla and deny space when he checks back to receive the ball. He consequently drifts further and further toward the middle, killing the width and spacing of the Arsenal attack.

Personally I would rather see Cazorla back in the middle, at least until Ozil returns to the side. The attack lacks cutting edge without a #10. And even when Ozil gets back, I would rather not see Cazorla on the wing anymore.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain should take his place. Despite playing only 20 minutes, the Ox made a big impact last night. He created Arsenal's best chance, a shot that hit the far post after creating space for himself with some incisive dribbling. The Ox has the pace to play the on the wing more effectively than Cazorla, especially in a more direct game. And after only playing 10 minutes against Crystal Palace Saturday, he had fresh legs. Which brings me to my next point...

I thought the squad should have been rotated more for last night's match. No one is fully fit as its still so early in the season. And unlike in years' past, we have an abundance of players who can rotate in at midweek. The defense is lacking numbers, and therefore Wenger had little choice in that area, but other areas of the team have enough depth to rotate.

Tomas Rosicky had a long summer and is ready to play. The Ox and Joel Campbell looked much more fit than Cazorla or Giroud in their preseason appearances.

Wenger surely must have been able to inspect the state of the pitch before naming his team. He must have known the rough surface would negatively affect his favored short-passing style of play. A little more pace might have made Arsenal much more dangerous on the counter if he had set up his team to play more directly--a style of play that better fit the field conditions. Instead he picked Cazorla and Giroud, specialists in the slower style.

Its always easy to see in hindsight, and I don't mean to be so negative. A draw is a good result away from home in a loud, intimidating atmosphere like that. The defense played well, Szczesny kept the clean sheet, and the midfield created lots of good opportunities for Giroud. Aaron Ramsey was harshly sent off late for two yellow cards, both of which were very soft. But even after losing a player Arsenal remained in control and saw the game out.

I don't mind that Ramsey will be suspended for the home leg, either. Ramsey's importance to the team means he won't get many games off this season. Forced rest won't be so bad if it helps him stay fit. I think the team can still beat Besiktas without him.

In all, like the opener against Palace last weekend, the result is what matters most. Having not conceded, Arsenal will like their chances of winning at home next week. But the performance needs to improve for the trip to Everton on Saturday.

EPL Week 1 Review

It was great to have the Premier League back this weekend. With 26 goals scored in the 10 matches, there was plenty of entertainment to go around. But how often do you get to watch bird poop fly directly into Ashley Young's open mouth? 

The Champions Man City did just enough to win their opener at Newcastle. Sp*rs enjoyed a last-minute win at West Ham, keeping a clean sheet despite conceding a penalty and losing Kyle Naughton after his hand-ball in the first half. Sunderland's Seb Larsson equalized at West Brom, the Baggies conceding late from a winning position like they did so many times last season. Leicester rescued a draw against Everton in their first match back in the Premier League. Aston Villa won at the Brittania Stadium--one of the more difficult places to win last season. And QPR had a penalty saved late to lose to Hull City. 

I covered Arsenal's victory over Crystal Palace in full detail on Saturday. Here's a look back at 3 more of the weekend's best matches.

Manchester United 1 - Swansea City 2

The Louis Van Gaal era started with a thud as United lost to Swansea at Old Trafford for the first time in club history. United was missing 8 first team players but that is no excuse for a club of their stature. Everything about the home performance was unconvincing. Van Gaal has a lot of work to do with this average group of players.

Credit Swansea, who utilized their numerical advantage on the wings against United's 3-5-2 formation to create both of their goals. Gylfi Sigurdsson created one goal and scored the other in a man-of-the-match performance. 

When Swansea had the ball on the wing the United midfield didn't give the defense enough help. Swansea could easily cut the ball back to the top of the box and find their players unmarked. Ander Herrera looks like he will need quite some time adjusting a more defensive role in physical England, and Darren Fletcher was equally poor, failing to track back on several occasions. Neither is the bulldog ball-winner Nigel De Jong was for Van Gaal's Dutch World Cup team. 

The other major thing I noticed watching this version of Van Gaal's 3-5-2 was that the outside midfielders, Young and Adnan Januzaj (who came on for Jesse Lingard after the young player was injured on his debut), played much higher up the pitch than in the Dutch version. 

At the World Cup, Holland's formation often looked more like a 5-3-2 than a 3-5-2. These players' positioning was the root of United's problems. Too often Wayne Routledge, Nathan Dyer, and Sigurdsson were able to get in behind Young and Januzaj, stretching Jones and young Tyler Blackett out to the sideline, making the entire defense outnumbered and under pressure. 

I would not be at all surprised if Ajax's Daley Blind, who played in Young's left wing role so well for Holland, is brought to Old Trafford this week. His father, Danny Blind, is one of Van Gaal's assistant coaches. 

In addition, I think United will try to target more central defenders, such as Sporting's Marcos Rojo or Mehdi Benatia of Roma, who are more familiar with playing in this type of system as it is more common in Italy and South America. There simply aren't enough quality defenders at Old Trafford right now, and the ones that are there have played with 4 at the back their entire careers.

The 3-5-2 was so ineffective that Van Gaal scrapped it at half-time, taking Chicharito off for Nani and switching to a 4-3-3. But the home side weren't much better in the new formation.

Wayne Rooney did score the equalizer, and he nearly took the lead with a free kick that hit the upright, but other than that I felt he was very poor. Many of his passes were played too late and intercepted. Far too often the United attack ended with him. Juan Mata was largely invisible, and it said a lot that United perhaps looked their most dangerous when Marouane Fellaini was brought on late as a target man in a desperate effort to equalize the scoreline.

Swansea played well and deserved the 3 points, but United looked extremely poor. With David Moyes no longer around to play the scapegoat, finally attention is being given to the lackluster squad Sir Alex Ferguson passed on to his successor. 

I would highly recommend reading the Mail's exclusive interview with Moyes, published Saturday, in which Moyes claims he wasn't given enough time to succeed or fail at Old Trafford, as he had planned to run the club through a multiple-season rebuild. If you can read between the lines, Moyes clearly feels he was thrown under the bus by another man who was struggling in his new role at the club--Ed Woodward.

Woodward, who took over for David Gill as chief executive last June, has been in charge of negotiating transfers for 3 windows now. He has spent over 110m on Fellaini, Mata, Herrera, and Luke Shaw. What a waste of money!

The clock is ticking. This window will be closed at the end of the month, and United need several more players if they are going to get back into the Champions League, let alone challenge for the title. United can't afford to fail to bring in these players if they want to reach their former glory, but they also literally can't afford for Woodward to overpay for any more of their targets. 

Needless to say, the next few weeks will be very anxious ones for Manchester United supporters across the globe.

Liverpool 2 - Southampton 1

The post-Suarez era began at Anfield on Sunday and the Reds looked boring without him. A moment of brilliance opened the scoring, as Jordan Henderson played a fantastic through-ball with his weak foot to Raheem Sterling, who timed his run perfectly to score with ease. But the Reds didn't create much after that, and Southampton were unlucky not to score from a fantastic James Ward-Prowse whipped free kick that got caught in the wind and was heading for the upper 90. Simon Mignolet did really well to save but he paid a price, crashing into his far post in the process.

In the second half the Saints grew into the match, creating more chances than the hosts. New signing Dusan Tadic was the best player on the pitch. His first touch was always great, and his creativity was first-rate. The Serbian created an absurd 133 chances at Twente last season, and it was easy to see why. He combined really well with fellow newcomer Ryan Bertrand on the left wing, befuddling Liverpool's Javi Manquillo, and his back-heeled flick to Nathaniel Clyne led to Southampton's equalizer.

Minutes later Tadic was at it again, cutting a pass back to the excellent Ward-Prowse inside the penalty area. Ward-Prowse passed it square to an unmarked Steven Davis when he might have shot, and Davis's effort was too close to Mignolet.

When Southampton manager Ronald Koeman withdrew Tadic in the 77th minute, the Saints lost a bit of momentum. Liverpool took advantage. They got the lead again when Daniel Sturridge flicked Sterling's header in at the far post after Southampton struggled to clear the ball from multiple crosses. It was a poacher's goal by Sturridge, but a fortunate one. Southampton's 6'4 center-half Florin Gardos was not yet fit after his recent arrival from Bucharest, but he almost certainly would have done better to clear the ball than the vertically-challenged Maya Yoshida. Also, the referee missed a fairly blatant handball by Rickie Lambert early in the build-up.

Southampton was able to create another great chance before the match was over. New signing Graziano Pelle had struggled to deal with the physicality of Martin Skrtel in the first half but he grew into the game, and imposed himself strongly in the second. His chest-down to Morgan Schneiderlin set up the Frenchman with a golden chance inside the box. Schneiderlin's rocketed a half-volley toward goal, and Mignolet somehow got a fingertip to it to push the ball onto the crossbar. The rebound fell to Shane Long, but the Saints' most expensive signing of the summer somehow pushed his header wide of the empty net. 

Liverpool escaped with the three points yesterday. The Reds were the worse side on the day, failing to create much and allowing Southampton to get chances in dangerous positions. Due to the scoreline, many parallels will be drawn with Arsenal's 2-1 win at home against Palace, but in truth the two matches were entirely different. While Palace struggled to complete passes and only had 2 shots on goal, Southampton bossed large portions of the match at Anfield and often looked like the better attacking team.

It was just the first day, but my first impression of Liverpool is that they will have a lot to worry about this year. After spending nearly 50m luring away 3 of Southampton's best players in the summer, this was a match they were supposed to dominate. This version of Liverpool was slow, lacking creativity. 

And Southampton, who some picked to be relegated this year, looked like they will have nothing to worry about. I could easily see them replicating last year's 8th place finish. 

Burnley 1 - Chelsea 3

Newcomers Burnley scored the opener and then were absolutely torn apart by Chelsea, whose 3 goals came in 20 minutes after Scott Arfield's goal.

Nemanja Matic bossed the game, Bratislav Ivanovic was outstanding and Diego Costa marked his debut with a goal, but it was the performance of Cesc Fabregas which shined brightest. His assist to Andre Schurrle for Chelsea's second goal was incredible, as he softly cushioned a half-volley perfectly into the path of the German for an easy finish. Watching him make such a great pass in Chelsea blue nearly made me vomit. 

Chelsea looks like they'll have the creativity to open up defenses much easier this year. They sometimes struggled against the lower sides last year, especially away from home, but the additional quality of Costa and Fabregas (and a full season with the excellent Matic) should be enough to overcome some of last year's issues. And when Mourinho wants to break out his famous bus against the bigger clubs, he still has Mikel and Ramires to jam the midfield. Of all of the EPL's clubs on display this weekend, Chelsea clearly looked like the most improved.

But in all fairness, Burnley were absolutely dreadful. Chelsea passed in circles around Burnley's 4-4-2, Burnley failing to put any serious pressure on the ball even when Chelsea had it in their defensive third. And on the rare occasions when the home side won possession, they could hardly string 3 passes together before gifting the ball back to the Blues.

While watching I got the feeling that lots of goals are going to be scored at Turf Moor this year, and not by the Clarets either.

Arsenal Leaves It Late Against Crystal Palace

Arsenal were the only home team to win today as the Premier League kicked off with some very close matches.

It was by no means an easy win for the Gunners, as Crystal Palace played with the defensive discipline and physicality you'd expect from a Tony Pulis side, despite the manager resigning less than 48 hours before the match.

Arsenal started well, especially down the right hand side, where new signings Alexis Sanchez and Mathieu Debuchy combined to give Palace left-back Joel Ward a lot of problems. Sanchez in particular looked good, despite not having a great understanding with his teammates at this early stage. His individual ability was clear to see. Alexis's first touch, dribbling ability, and creativity was Arsenal's most consistent attacking threat today.

As time went on, Palace settled into the game and stopped most Arsenal attacks before they could reach dangerous positions. The first match of the season is always difficult, but no one struggled more in the first half than young striker Yaya Sanogo. The Frenchman earned his spot in the starting lineup in the Emirates Cup and the Community Shield, where he was excellent on the counter attack and constantly found dangerous positions behind the defense. Unlike Benfica and Man City, Palace sat back, content to take a point, and Sanogo struggled to find space for himself against such a deep line. When he tried to check to the ball, his first touch was often poor, and he was shrugged off by the likes of Mile Jedinak and Brede Hangeland.

With the focal point of Arsenal's attack neutralized, the Gunners struggled to find a Plan B. Arsenal's methodical buildup often gave Palace time to park their bus in front of goal. Palace's physicality gave Arsenal many chances via free kicks and corners, but Santi Cazorla was very poor with his delivery all match. But Palace was getting no players forward and they never looked like a serious threat to break the deadlock. If anyone was going to score, it was going to be Arsenal.

Or so it seemed. In the 33rd minute, Callum Chambers poorly gave the ball away, trying to find Sanogo in a crowded area. With 3 defenders in front of him, Jason Puncheon attempted to get in behind, and Jedinak obliged with a through ball.

Laurent Koscielny quickly had the situation under control and was yards ahead of Puncheon as soon as the ball was played. He never got the chance to take control.

Wojciech Szczesny, perhaps inspired by the World Cup performances of Germany sweeper-keeper Manuel Neuer, rushed 30 yards off his line to clear the ball, bizarrely beating Koscielny to it. Szczesny's woeful clearance went straight to a Palace player, who proceeded to shoot from the half-line. With the shot looking on target and Szczesny still well off his line, Koscielny lunged to save a goal.

It was a piece of pathetically poor play from Szczesny, putting his team in danger when under no pressure to do so.

Frazier Campbell retrieved the ball in the Arsenal penalty area with Szczesny racing back to his line. Koscielny recovered very quickly to miraculously tackle the ball cleanly and avoid a penalty and red card, but Palace did win their first corner of the match from the situation.

Arsenal's defensive setup on the set piece was very poor. The zonal marking system on corner kicks worked well last year, but largely due to the ability of Olivier Giroud and Per Mertesacker to win aerial duels at the near post. Sanogo's positioning was poor as the ball sailed over his head, and Koscielny was unable to match the leap of the much taller Hangeland. Curiously, no players were on either post as Hangeland's header fired straight into the bottom corner on his Crystal Palace debut.

It was an extremely frustrating goal to concede for two reasons. First, the corner kick itself was the result of Szczesny's baffling decision to come out of his box and his poor execution when attempting to clear the ball to the middle of the field rather than out of play. Second, the defense should have been better organized to stop the corner kick.

The visitors were unable to hold onto the lead until half-time, however, as Alexis's tricky dribbling won a free kick in a dangerous area in first half stoppage time. This time Alexis took the free kick, rather than Cazorla, and he took it marvelously. Alexis dropped the ball perfectly between the penalty spot and the six-yard-box. Koscielny, held onside by Hangeland, finished coolly from a difficult position. It was a great goal, scored by a man who so often steps up when the club needs him most. The accuracy of both Alexis's delivery and Koscielny's header was truly first-rate. The Arsenal players must have been relieved to score so late in the half after gifting Palace such an avoidable goal just 10 minutes earlier.

Palace set out to take their point in the second half, dropping even deeper behind the ball and getting more and more physical with their tackling. Marouane Chamakh in particular committed over 10 fouls (finally getting booked on his 11th) and no player suffered more fouls than Jack Wilshere. Wilshere wasn't at his best today, he held on to the ball too long at times and tried to beat his man with a dribble too frequently. Yes he won his team a number of free kicks, but it is easy to see why Wilshere is susceptible to injury when you watch him play. If he is going to stay fit this season, he will need to learn that sometimes he should take the quick easy pass. He needs to pick and choose his opportunities to take men off the dribble. Otherwise he will suffer contact injuries, the type of knocks new fitness coach Shad Forsythe can do nothing about.

Arsenal lacked width in their attack as the second half went on. The passing was too slow, too short, and too inaccurate to break down Palace's two lines of defenders. Jedinak and Scott Dann were excellent breaking up attack after attack. Chamakh did well to set up Puncheon early in the half, but the winger's shot was soft and directly at Szczesny--the Arsenal keeper's only save of the match.

Arsenal slowly began to wear down their opponents. The introductions of Giroud and Nacho Monreal helped a lot, as Giroud was able to stand up the physicality of the Palace center-halves and Monreal's intelligent runs forward were very well-timed.

Chamakh handled the ball in his box shortly after Giroud came on, and Palace were lucky not to concede a penalty. Arsenal controlled the match more and more as time went on, but continued to struggle to find the final ball and create good chances to score.  Giroud played a dangerous ball across the goal in the last 10 minutes, but no one was able to meet it. Palace wasted more and more time, trying to escape with a point.

Awarded a corner kick in the 90th minute, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's initial delivery failed to beat the front man, Chamakh. The former Arsenal player's clearance was poor, however, and Arsenal was able to work the ball back out to the Ox for another attempt. This time the cross went to the far post, where the ever-present Koscielny was waiting. His header was played across goal to Giroud, who headed the ball to Mathieu Debuchy in a very dangerous position. Julian Speroni was able to save Debuchy's shot from point-blank range, but Aaron Ramsey was perfectly positioned to score the winner on the rebound.

It was a relief for the home fans in a match where Arsenal dominated possession, if not creating many good chances from open play. After defending Palace's first set piece so poorly, Arsenal was somehow able to score twice from dead ball situations to win the match. It was a far from convincing victory, but the first match of the season is always difficult, and 3 points are 3 points at the end of the day.

Arsenal now will need to step up for their Tuesday trip to Istanbul in the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against Besiktas. If the Turkish team employs similarly defensive tactics, Arsenal could find themselves needing to grind out another difficult result.

Crystal Palace Takeaway: The Eagles will be disappointed not to get a point, as they organized well enough to stop Arsenal from creating chances in open play. However, their lack of attacking firepower might be a major problem this year. Arsenal often pushed both full-backs forward in attack, but the Eagles were completely unable to counter-attack despite the numbers being in their favor. Only Cardiff and Norwich, both relegated, scored less goals than Crystal Palace last season. They will need to develop a stronger attack if they want to keep their Premier League dreams alive.

Arsenal Takeaway: In years past, many teams have been able to get out of the Emirates Stadium with a point by employing similar defensive tactics. Arsenal will be relieved to earn 3 points from what was a very physical and difficult test. Koscielny and Chambers played well in defense, but Arsenal's attacking options really struggled today. They will need to improve quickly, as the Arsenal schedule gets much tougher quickly with matches against Besiktas and some of the league's best clubs coming up in the next month.

Man of the Match: Koscielny. The French defender came up huge for Arsenal in the biggest moments of the match, playing a crucial role in both defense and attack. His goal was taken perfectly, and he mopped up well in defense when he was often alone in the back with Chambers. Koscielny was immense for the entire match, and was the best player on the pitch by a mile. In my opinion he deserves serious consideration for the title of best defender in England.