Hull 1 – 2 Arsenal, 3 points battled for, Brown leave the party now

14 03 2010

All that is important now is points and results, performances whilst nice are not essential. We need to battle as a team and take the 3 points to keep the pressure on Utd and Chelsea. Things looked good early in the game as we got another pre-15mins goal, this time from Arshavin as he bundled through two defenders then managed to get a shot off. From accounts of the game we looked like we were going to run away with it, but then an offside player was given a penalty. Hull were level. Phil Brown said Sol should have been sent off, not for that challenge, he did make contact but it was hardly scything him down. Oddly Hansen and Shearer agreed on MOTD that it was not red.

The equaliser gave Hull some impetus and they came back into the game. They managed to string passes together and make a few breaks on goal. Had I been watching live I would have been very worried. But yet again the dirty side of football came to the fore, a Hull player went in studs up on Denilson and was booked, whilst this was taking place Boetang and Bendtner appeared to come together – replays showed that Boetang struck Bendtner in the face but both players were shown yellow.

This was not to be the only card Boetang would see, he made a proper Englishman’s challenge on Sagna, right above the knee by planting his foot on the Arsenal player – just like Phil Brown likes to see. Should have been straight red but a yellow was shown.

Arsenal v 10 man Hull should have been easy but they went negative in the second half and we missed two sitters, a draw looked likely. But 3 points was ours, a Denilson shot was parried into the path of the advancing Bendtner who fired home an injury time winner. That might be really crucial come season end. 3 points was ours.

Now onto Phil Brown. Having studied at Allardyce Polytechnic he is not of Premier League calibre. I hope he and his team go down and he never darkens the doors of the Premier League again. Fuck you and your dirty anti-football Brown.

So we keep pressure up at the top of the league, we are joint on points with Chelsea and one ahead of Utd, yes they have a game in hand but they still have to play each other in a game that could take one team out of the title run. We need to keep winning, it doesn’t matter how crap we play, it’s the results from now on in that are important.

Believe Gooners


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Away games 09/10

West Ham 1 – 2 Arsenal (FA Cup)

4 01 2010

Not a huge amount of time to write this as I was back to work this morning and the re-training is taking up much of my time.

Yesterday we saw a game of two halves, not two 45 minute periods but one half with the emphasis on youth and the other half with two of our current top 11 playing. I was worried that starting with Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen at the back was a risk. Injury wise I meant, not a risk of not winning the game. But it was our two youthful midfielders in Merida and Wilshere who were the stand out performers for the wrong reasons. Merida looked a step or two behind the game and his set piece delivery was shocking. Wilshere perhaps was overawed by playing at the stadium of the club he support(ed as a boy) and was either overawed or had a hangover from his 18th birthday celebrations. Either way he must improve if he is going to have aspirations for staying with the club for the rest of the season rather than going on loan somewhere.

We went in at halftime a goal down, it wasn’t a shock to be honest as West Ham had played pretty well. A poor offside trap was outwitted and an injury time goal was scored.

The second half continued much as the first had, we just didn’t seem to get into the game. Not our normal free-flowing selves. However on 65 minutes Arsene changed Merida and Wilshere for Diaby and Nasri. It pretty much turned the game on it’s head. The midfield had more purpose as did our attacks. A brilliant finish from Ramsey brought us level and Eduardo scored a fine headed goal for the winner. Good to see them both continue their recent scoring ways.

But a mention must goto Ramsey, aside from his great goal he had a very good game. He is a real contender for a first team start now, Cesc should be concerned. He has come on a lot in the last few months and if his and Diaby’s form continue perhaps the absence of Song will not be so keenly felt.

We were drawn away to Stoke for the next round, which again won’t be an easy tie. But our attention must turn to our next game on Wednesday against currently manager less Bolton, who will hopefully stay that way until after we play them this week. More on that game tomorrow.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Arsenal, FA Cup

Arsenal 3 – 0 Hull, Hey mr tangerine man…..

20 12 2009

Hey mr tangerine man, it’s pretty clear to me,

That Arsenal are far better than Hull Ci-ty.

Yesterday Phil Brown returned to the grove, the match opened with a handshake (which was I am sure for effect shown on the big screens) between the two managers. In what was probably the coldest weather I can recall watching football, I sat with my Dad in the upper tier above my usual seat in block 6. The game started reasonably well for Arsenal, but Hull were pretty resilient and after a few minutes you could see that two games close together giving an element of fatigue and the absence of Fabregas meant we looked short of ideas and impetus to break down Hull. The game started to have a tempestuous edge to it when Stephen Hunt (most famous for his “challenge” on Petr Cech) bundled into Almunia after play had stopped, the Spanish keeper ran over to remonstrate with Hunt, the referee also spoke to the player. But it had little effect as he made two or three further challenges that warranted bookings.

Just before half time things did turn ugly, from our seats we saw a Hull player fall to the ground and then the rest of the players on the pitch bundled around Nasri, I thought I saw arms flailing as if it were a punch. Again Hunt was the main Hull agitator. Sylvestre was the boxing buddy, and carried the part off pretty well shielding Nasri. The replay on MOTD shows that Nasri stood on the Hull player’s (Garcia I think) foot, it was not a stamp. He might have meant it but we don’t know. Both Nasri and Hunt were booked after the melee.

Following on from this some rash challenges started to fly in and the ref had his whistle in his mouth almost permanently. He gave us a perhaps generous free kick after Diaby was felled. Nasri and Denilson stood over the ball, then Nasri joined the wall. In time honoured tradition of current Arsenal free kicks I expected this to go straight into the wall, but then, something magical happened.

Denilson hit a perfectly placed free kick into the net. It was fantastic. We were 1-0 up just before half time. After the game Arsène said “Denilson was not going to take the free kick”. Well I am glad he did!

As the players left the pitch there was some afters as they entered the tunnel, but no further bookings came of this. However I am not sure if Cesc’s clothing antagonised any of the Hull staff so we will have to wait for the report from their lawyers on that one.

The second half started with us on the front foot, Hull now needed to attack us and we had the chance for an early goal when Arshavin fed Eduardo, he really should have put it away but his current lack of match practice and form conspired against him sadly. Not long after this Hull were awarded possibly the softest penalty in football history (even Brown admitted it was soft after the game) when Fagan went down in our area. I was not confident at this point, Almunia has not played well of late and his ball distribution in the game was again poor. However he made a great save from the penalty and Hunt missed the follow up. I laughed at him.

Almost immediately after the penalty miss we were up at the other end, Diaby made a play in the left of their area and sent the ball across the Hull goal for Eduardo to tap in, he didn’t look that happy when he scored but perhaps his form is playing on his mind. The game was pretty much ours now with half an hour remaining. Hull provided little resistance beyond that point and we took full control of the game, some press reports say we struggled but I certainly disagree as did my non-Gooner father who I feel gave a balance view on the game.

But another goal was to come, Diaby danced through the Hull defence and scored a great goal. 3-0 to the Arsenal. “Stand up if you hate Phil Brown” and “Tango whats the score” reverberated around the stadium, much to our, and I suspect Arsène’s, amusement. Theo and Aaron Ramsey were introduced as subs which I think meant our front 6 players were under 23, a great thing for the future of the club. Theo had a chance late on when he chipped the advancing keeper only to see it go agonisingly just past the post, thankfully this was met with chants of his name from the crowd rather than something else.

So it was 3 points, which was great given Utd losing earlier in the day. We are now 2 behind them with a game in hand (at home to Bolton on the 6th Jan) but Villa are pretty close behind and I suspect our next game at home against them will be a very tough test. A few players did well today, the midfield trio of Song, impressive as ever, Denilson, a great goal and some good tackles, and Diaby, one of his better games, were the key today. Yes they didn’t have the creativity that Cesc has but they all put in solid performances, Diaby needs to work on his first touch still but he continues to develop. If he can erase the poorer moments of his game and be more energetic like he was in spells today then he can be a mainstay in this team. Almunia also did well; he has been criticised, and rightly so, of late. His ball distribution was poor for the first hour today, but the penalty save gave him a much needed confidence boost and after that he looked more settled, he made a good save late on as well. He might not be a top top keeper but he is what we have at the moment and he needs our backing all the way. Eboue again impressed at right back, I think that should be where he plays from now on. Rotate him and Sagna so we don’t have a right back injury crisis like that on our left.

So we are still in the hunt at Christmas, this season is far from over and I can see Chelsea, Utd and sadly us lose at least 2 or 3 games more before the season end. But we can revel in our third place in the table and be glad our board have the confidence in what our manager is doing and don’t make any rash mid-season sackings like two other money laden clubs seem to have as their model of how they think football should be run.

Come on The Arsenal


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Home games 09/10

Arsenal v Stoke preview, Sagna back, Walcott (probably) out

4 12 2009

Tomorrow sees Arsenal return to Premier League action as we face Stoke in the 100th competitive Arsenal game at The Emirates Stadium. Hoping to get back to goalscoring, and winning, ways we will face a Stoke team who currently lie 9th in the league. Stoke have impressed since promotion the season before last, whilst their goalscoring does rely on the Delap throw-in to some extent, they are a hard working team who do rely on defensive play whilst hoping for that goal.

Arsenal will need to be on top of their attacking game tomorrow, home advantage should help and a repeat of the 4-1 victory at the end of last season would do the players and fans some good. But I doubt it will be as easy as it was back in May. There is no doubt some confidence lacking in the team and Stoke will aim to capitalise on that, also if the fans sense the team under performing I wonder if there will be an adverse reaction from some sections of the home crowd, it is a year since Eboue-gate.

In team news Bacary Sagna will return to the squad having recovered from the knock he picked up against Chelsea. Theo is a doubt, the club reports he has a(nother) hamstring strain but some press reports say that the player himself expects to be fit for Saturday. Either way I am not sure that his current form warrants a starting place. Alex Song is suspended following his 5th yellow card of the season picked up in the midweek game, his absence will be telling against Stoke but it may point Arsène in the direction of looking for a defensive midfielder to cover Song’s absence when the ACN comes around.

There was also an update on Kieran Gibbs, who is “doing well” and Robin van Persie, his surgery went “very very well”. However they will both probably not feature until right at the tail end of the season, if at all.

I don’t feel as dejected as I did earlier in the week, but time will tell how my mood is and this of course will be determined by the Arsenal performance and result on Saturday.


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Home games 09/10

Arsenal 0 – 3 Chelsea, this Arsenal side will not win a league title

30 11 2009

Arsène might feel that the 3-0 scoreline was an unfair reflection of the game, but I would have to disagree. He has a point, but Chelsea are a better side than us. Any Arsenal fan who tries to argue different is missing the point on how the league is won. Chelsea play efficient football, they do what they have to do to win, we on the other hand play very attractive football but that does not necessarily win a trophy.

The match started brightly for us, we have a few chances in the opening 30 minutes of the game but they were again not converted. We kept Chelsea mostly in their own half and things were looking good. But again domination of a Chelsea team did not reap rewards and we found ourselves 2-0 down at half time.

The second half again showed a bright start by Arsenal, we had a goal ruled out, of which more later, but again the ruthless edge Chelsea had came to the fore and we could not convert any of our chances. A late free kick saw Chelsea run out 3-0 winners. 57000 Arsenal fans left the stadium pretty dejected.

The referee, as was the case with a lot of Premier League games this weekend, had a huge influence on proceedings. Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty in the first half by all accounts due to the Sagna challenge in the box, Mikel was booked on his fifth challenge but Traore on his first – why?, our goal “had nothing wrong with it” according to someone watching at home who isn’t an Arsenal fan, and the challenge on Vela was a foul in our outside of the box I don’t know. Mistakes do get made, to err is human, but at least be consistent with the decisions you do have the opportunity to make. Do not book one player for his first challenge when you have just let a player away with his third foul. Had our goal been allowed the game would have taken a different turn, I am not saying we would have come back for a draw but things would have played out differently for the second half.

Eduardo had a poor game, he didn’t even have an attempt at a few of the chances he was presented with. Nasri was pretty invisible, when his number was held up for the substitution I actually thought to myself “is he still on the park?” given the absence in play. I am not sure why Song came off, we can assume injury, but Walcott was ok in patches but again had no end product (I have a blog about him, which is a positive one, for some point in the next week or so).

My title of this post says this Arsenal side will not win a league title, and I stand by that. We are definitely the second or third best team in the country, there is no question on that. But we are behind Chelsea, no question. We do not have a ruthless streak to kill teams off, we can only play one way and if that stops working the players look lost. There aren’t really any poor players who can be singled out as it being their fault, and nor is it entirely Arsène’s doing, but he has a large part to play, but this team lacks something. There are key elements missing to this side which will prevent us from winning a league title.

I felt we would miss van Persie, but not massively. I think I am now wrong in that, in the two league games he has been absent we have not scored a goal, take into account how free scoring we were when he was fit and that makes stark reading. Yes he was not playing every game, yes he did not score or assist every goal but he gave something massive to the team that we now clearly miss. Bendtner may prove to be a great replacement and he cannot be back soon enough, but if that does not work then we need to buy in January.

I also saw a massive lack of pressing from the midfield yesterday, we just stood off Chelsea. Song is good but still learning, Cesc does not play a pressing role and Denilson is off his form at this time. We need someone with the grit and determination of Vermaelen in midfield. That will help us nullify the threat of teams like Chelsea.

11 points is a big gap, but win our game in hand and it’s 8 which is not uncatchable but it is still a massive task. We are not out of the title race by any means and could still have a massive part to play in it, but our current squad and the current way we play is not entirely suited to the Premier League. Against European opposition is a different story, avoid the English teams and we can go far in the Champions League but meet Chelsea and things will not look so rosy.

All is not lost in the world of Arsenal, but defeat yesterday showed that this team, as good as it is has some short comings that need addressing if we are to go on to greater things.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Home games 09/10

Sunderland v Arsenal preview, injury news (less people injured!!!!)

21 11 2009

So football is back, well football for me anyway. I’m from Scotland so our national team’s exploits are never anything to watch with much interest, and I struggle to watch England (although I will admit to supporting them in Italy 90 as a 10 year old, my Dad must have hated that). So The Arsenal are back, proper football I would say. The club v country thing is a bigger debate these days given the sums of money involved but if you ask any fan of a decent team, watching their club surely must come first.

In previous seasons we have struggled to regain our impetus after an international break, this season has been slightly better but we did take a while to get into gear against Birmingham. I expect Sunderland to pose a much tougher threat, especially given they are at home and their form has been good. Some people point towards the result against some shit club from north London as evidence for today’s result……errr they aren’t anywhere near us, we beat them 3-0 remember. However Sunderland have no international players to disrupt their training, so they will probably seem fitter than our players later in the game. So we need to have the result PROPERLY in the bag going into the last 15-20 minutes.

On the injury front there has been a lot of good news, no really we have more players returning from injury than we have lost to injury. I couldn’t believe it either. Denilson will travel to Sunderland, that is great news as it provides us cover for Song in the DM role. Carlos Vela, Armand Traore and Lukasz Fabinaski are also off the injury list. Late yesterday Arsène confirmed that Theo and Jack Wilshere are available for selection this weekend again. All these options, whilst some only being possible for part of the game, are great for us and allow some rotation given the exploits of some players. Andrey Arshavin is one of these, he played two competitive games for Russia, who failed to qualify for WC 2010. Two others who may be rested are Gallas and Sagna who went to ET in a match for France, but I haven’t heard much about that game – does anyone know the result? My only concern with no Gallas and Sagna is that three of the back four will be relatively new players, so Vermaelen might be our only regular in defence. With the threat of Darren Bent this is something to consider.

With van Persie definitely out there has been debate as to who will play in his central role, I would expect it to be Eduardo but we will see later on. I will try and give game updates on twitter but I am out in London this afternoon so they might not be timely or regular.

Anyway here’s to another 3 points!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Away games 09/10

Arsenal 4 – 1 AZ Alkmaar, sometimes we make it look so easy

5 11 2009

So last night saw us face a team we managed to throw a 1 goal lead away to not a fortnight earlier. The advantage we had in our own stadium was of course going to play a part in this encounter. Sadly I was not present, I have a cold and my shoulder is painful beyond belief so I decided not to travel but to stay at home and watch on Sky.

We started the game well and our passing looked fluid, Eboue came in for Sagna, Nasri started in place of Bendtner and Gibbs replaced Clichy. Yet the team looked no different, our bench weak? we lack depth in our squad? get to fuck. Our team plays like the same unit no matter who out of our top 16 or so players starts, which is no mean feat and a great compliment to Arsène and his coaching staff.

Our first goal arrived on 26 minutes, Cesc fired a shot at goal and it managed to beat the Alkmaar keeper. I was shocked it went in, and I suspect so was Cesc (he did look a bit pissed off after he scored, not sure why). Alkmaar responded to the goal by upping their game a little, but this only allowed us to expose them a bit more.

Just before half time, in a goal reminiscent of the second in the NLD, Nasri was clean through and rifled a shot into the bottom corner. Our 17th goalscorer of the season I think, wow! We were 2 up and pretty comfortable, but having been in that same position in other games at half time I suspect the team talk reminded the players of that fact.

Arshavin, who looked a bit more involved that in previous games, helped set up Cesc for our third of the night. A lovely through ball allowed Cesc to run clear and rifle a shot into the net. He ran over to the fans and looked a lot happier at this goal, 8 now this season for Captain Fantastic.

With resting players in mind Cesc and van Persie came off not long after to allow Eduardo and Ramsey to get in on the action. And get in on the action Eduardo did, an audacious backheel set Arshavin free who hit a ball across the area to Diaby, who controlled the overhit pass well and rifled into the net. 4 goals, again.

Rosicky made a return to action coming on for Arshavin and it was good to see him return from injury as I was worried he might miss a lengthy period again.

A few words on Diaby, he played pretty well last night. Looked interested, looked to be trying hard. Why can he not do that all the time? Unlike Alex Song, who again tried really hard and put in another excellent performance in the DM role in front of the back 4.

Alkmaar got a late consolation goal, which I think will annoy Almunia as he went the wrong way for the ball. But it was a resounding victory for Arsenal, and as I said in the title of the post sometimes we make it look so easy.

Qualification is almost guarenteed form the group barring some freak results in the last 2 games we are in the knock out stages. I am away this weekend so will probably only give a brief blog update or some twitter action on the game against Wolves.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : 1, Champions League

Arsenal 3 – 0 Tottenham, Derby Day Delight for Gunners

1 11 2009

IMG_0095

Prior to this game Robbie the pikey had said that Spurs had a better bench than us, their squad was on a par with Arsenal. Rat boy Bentley was buzzing about this game. Twitchy Redknapp said that the gap had closed.

Following the result yesterday it’s safe to say they were all talking bollocks. Whilst it was not a vintage performance from Arsenal, we did outplay them for good periods of the game. Arsène said earlier in the week that derby games can change the mindset of a player and effect their game, I think it did that. We were not as free flowing as we usually are and I think the prospect of a league loss against the scum from up the road (for the first time this century) was playing on their minds.

We started the game fairly brightly, but so did sp*rs to their credit. Chances fell to Arshavin, who had a poor shot and then a chance for Fabregas who we all thought had scored until Gomes managed to produce a rare save. Rat boy was lucky to be on the pitch, he fouled Vermaelen and received a talking to and also had a deliberate handball, match of the day neglected to show either incident not wishing to dispel the honest English pro image of our game. Diaby was not playing well, he was back to his poor game with passes going astray and him being out of position and not chasing back. The crowd were starting to groan and some nervousness was developing as we entered the last 5 minutes of the first half. However an innocuous throw on the right side of the pitch resulted in a cross from Sagna, whose crosses have been great recently, allowed a free van Persie to tap towards goal which was comically allowed in the net by Gomes. 1-0 to the Arsenal. We went wild in block 6, jumping around and hugging each other. Whilst still celebrating sp*rs fucked up at the kick off and Cesc managed to round 3 players and score our second goal, we had started cheering before the ball was even in the net. The delight on Cesc’s face (see yesterdays image I posted) was clear to see. We were 2 up against the scum. Come on Arsenal!!!! 11 playing seconds had occurred between the goals, fantastic.

I was slightly nervous of only having a 2 goal lead, this game last season and recent events caused this, and as the game kicked off for the second half I said to myself “one more goal please”. That third nearly came on two occasions, Eduardo and Diaby both had good chances to put the ball away but were thwarted by keeper and defender. Our third came from good refereeing, Clattenburg (who had failed to book a number of challenges by sp*rs) allowed play to continue following a foul on Eduardo that the linesman flagged for. Everyone stopped, even Sagna, but he then carried on whilst the defenders stood still. Another great cross, palmed on by Gomes allowed van Persie to score his second of the day and our third. We could relax a bit more now the game looked ours. Eduardo had a chance later on but to our and Arsène’s disappointment (he threw his jacket at the bench at this point) he shot well wide when he should have at least hit the target. But no worry we ran out comfortable 3-0 winners.

So they are up with us still? Are they fuck. Tottenham top 4, maybe next year…..

Arsène plumped for Almunia in goal which I think was the correct choice given the importance and pressure of this match, and he played well. He looked more assured coming for crosses. However this story this morning points to a family tragedy causing him to miss some games, perhaps no more needs to be said about his non-selection.

Whatever we think though we can revel in a defeat of our closest (geographically, not footbally) rivals and extend our run of not losing to them in the league. Come on you Gunners!!!!


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Home games 09/10

Arsenal v Tottenham preview – who will be in goal?

30 10 2009

Almost exactly a year since the teams last met at the grove, the wounds are still there from that 4-4 defeat. Yes I did say defeat because that’s pretty much what it was in all honesty. I remember being stunned by their fourth goal, I rolled my scarf up and put it in my pocket. The walk back from the ground to the tube was a quiet one.

This season the wheels are yet to fall off roflenham’s campaign, but the better they think they are the funnier it is when they fall to their rightful position in the league.

Our line up should pick itself provided we don’t have any injuries overnight, a back four of Sagna, Vermaelen, Gallas, Clichy is likely but I would not object to Gibbs starting on the left. In the middle I expect Song, Cesc, Diaby, but Nasri could be used or come on as a sub later in the game. Our front line of Arshavin, van Persie, Eboue is likely, but Eduardo may feature in that three. Which ever way the outfield 10 goes I feel confident.

What I am concerned with though is who plays in goal. Fabianski is out, so it’s down to Mannone or Almunia. Arsène says he has chosen his keeper for Sp*rs, I hope it’s Almunia. No disrespect to Vito but this is a big big game, we cannot lose this one. A win is pretty much a must otherwise that lot will be world champions all over again, like they think they have been so many times in the past. We need a strong keeper at the back, whilst it can be debated Almunia is not all that, he is the best we have.

This, it goes without saying, is a massive game. A result here must take precedence over everything else that has happened recently. Forget throwing away the lead in two games. Forget what some former player might be saying. Think only about beating them by a number of goals. I hope Arshavin has a brilliant game, he knows how much this derby means to us fans. I want to see him with his finger on his lips as he waddles to the corner flag after scoring a couple of screamers.

Come on you Gunners, do this for the fans!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Home games 09/10

West Ham 2 – 2 Arsenal, that feels like a defeat

26 10 2009

I thought that the game against West Ham would not be an easy one, but most certainly one we could win. All was going well in the first half. Two good goals; the first a great cross from Sagna allowed van Persie to score following an error by Robert Green, the second from a corner and a centre back headed home, Gallas this time. 2-0 up coming to half time, just another goal or two and the game is put to bed.

Except the players seemed to read that as “the game is put to bed”. Much like against Alkmaar it would appear our players thought their work was done. Foot can come off the gas, it’s not like we would make any errors to allow West Ham back into the game. Give their home support something to shout about and spur them towards an equaliser.

Oh but hang on, we did make some errors. A generous free kick was palmed away by Mannone. Sadly not palmed away into touch but palmed into the 6 yard box pretty much into the path of Carlton Cole. Goalkeeper error pure and simple. Vito had done well, in the main, but that error was not something any professional keeper should make, regardless of his place in the pecking order at a club. It is impossible to say Almunia or Fabianski would not have made such an error, but I would hope they would have more quality not to do so. This experiment cost us a goal, it let West Ham back into the game.

At 2-1 down there was a light at the end of the tunnel and credit to West Ham, they raced toward it. One penalty claim was turned down, the second was given. My West Ham supporting friend sent me this message on twitter;

Never a pen in a million years!

It was a weak decision from the ref. But we have to take these things, once the decision is made you have to put up with it. But why did we risk being there in the first place. Song, who had been on the whole good, made an error and caught Cole on the ankle, he went down and gave the ref the option of giving the penalty. Had there not been a goalkeeping error earlier in the game giving that penalty away would not have been so costly. But it was. Penalty duly dispatched and it was 2-2.

Where is that killer instinct? If the team truly feels every game will be like the 4-0 against Wigan or the 6-1 at Everton where they can score for fun and not get any resistance from the opposition then they are way off the mark. The Premier League is possibly the most open it has been for a number of years, if ever, any team can beat any team. Just look at the results we have already witnessed this season. Our players need to be on top of their game for the whole game. The philosophy of we will outscore the opposition so defence doesn’t matter is all well and good, but you need to outscore the opposition for that to work! We needed to be 3 or 4 up to put a game like yesterday to bed. West Ham are fighting already, this early into the season they need to be given their league position, sadly our players didn’t take that into account.

The result yesterday might as well have been a defeat for me, unlike Alkmaar where I was minded to feel it was one of those things, to let a lead slip twice in two games is unforgivable. Our next game is at home to the scum, it’s not like we have let a lead slip against them at home recentl….hmmmm. The players hopefully got a good bollocking from someone, they need it. I was pretty pissed off when the final whistle went yesterday, I hope the players felt the same. I think the only way they can show how much they are annoyed is to thoroughly trounce the next team we face in the league.

Yours, annoyed of Block 6.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Away games 09/10

« Previous Entries