Arsenal 2 – 2 Everton, most definitely a point gained rather than two lost

10 01 2010

The Arsenal and Everton teams that played yesterday were very different to those that met on the opening day of the season when we triumphed 6-1. Everton had players back from injury, we had players injured. But that is not to take away from the Everton performance. They came and brought the game to us and they must get massive credit for that. The first goal they scored was a defensive lapse from a set piece, again. Their shortest player was left with a free header from a corner, not great defending. The second goal was scored when we had no players other than Almunia in our own half and they broke on the counter.

Our two goals were somewhat fortuitous, both deflected efforts, but I will take them. Our equaliser, initially hit by Rosicky  came late in injury time and saved our blushes and cruelly robbed Everton of 3 points. We were lucky yesterday to come away with something from that game. Whilst no player can be singled out as being the reason we did not win the game; Manuel Almunia was very poor, his distribution was again sub standard, he rushed out a number of times and near the end of the game clattered Traore when there was no need to come to clear the ball. I really do wonder when Fabianski will get his chance this season.

Diaby on the other hand continued his recent good form, and hopefully this run of games he is getting will be the making of him. He has become a real asset of late, something we need with the absence of Fabregas and Song. Denilson would provide us with something but he worrying collapsed yesterday with no player around him, the fact that happened and play continued is not something any player or fan should wish to see give the recent tragedies that have hit young players in the game. I can’t yet find any news on what caused him to collapse or his condition.

The optimist inside me will argue this was a point gained rather than two lost, yes we didn’t capitalise on Chelsea not playing but Utd didn’t pull any further away from us either. We need Fabregas back, but only when he is fully ready as I don’t want him risked. Bendtner is due back in two weeks “probably” but the addition of a striker in the transfer window would not be a bad thing. However cover at centre back must be far more pressing, and perhaps getting a keeper should be on Arsene’s mind at the moment. We are by no means any worse off after yesterday, but it could have been better had we not performed poorly.


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Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Home games 09/10

Liverpool 1 – 2 Arsenal, a game of two halves

14 12 2009

Premier League results earlier in the weekend meant that we could gain 3 points on Utd and 2 on Chelsea. Gilbertosilver from Gunnerblog said before the game that “yesterday’s results were a gift. Now we must take advantage”, that was so true but we have seen this many times before when on a league weekend where our rivals have faltered we have struggled to get a draw let alone that important 3 points.

I was watching the game delayed by about an hour, I had been out for lunch and Sky+ was set. Around about the time when the final whistle was blowing my phone started getting texts, I was fearing the worst.

The first half was all Liverpool, we look so poor. There was little real defending done, out passing game was again all over the place. I think Nasri’s long range shot was about our only real chance on goal. At our end Torres had a golden opportunity that he shot straight at Almunia, perhaps showing his lack of match practice.

Liverpool should have had a penalty, Gerrard was felled by Gallas. If he had the ball or not is irrelevant to me, had that happened to one of our players I would have been furious with Howard Webb. But the problem is when you cry penalty so many times like Mr Gerrard does, sometimes you won’t get the genuine ones. Even Andy “I love Stevie Gee” Gray said on first viewing that Gerrard “went down a bit easily”, although he did later change his opinion. It wasn’t a turning point in the game as such, but it would have given Liverpool an earlier lead.

But the Liverpool goal did come, call it a lack of defensive play if you will but I think the blame has to lie at Almunia’s door. The freekick came in, and instead of catching it Almunia palmed it away, right into the path of Kuyt who fired home. Earlier in the week Lukasz Fabianski was saying he wants to push for the number one spot, he has a great chance. Yes he makes rash decisions coming out of the area, but so did Jens, but his command of catching and coming for crosses, corners and freekicks is, in my opinion, better than Almunias.

Liverpool finished the first half on top of the game, one goal up, and set to gain some points back on the 4th place spot they so desire. Our league challenge was further fading. But at halftime I was not too disconsolate, perhaps it was the alcohol inside me giving me confidence, or maybe our goals from last year. I just felt, or probably hoped, that Arsenal were not finished.

In the second half Arsenal looked to have stepped up the pace somewhat. They were harrying for balls in midfield, Cesc and Song looked much more effective as we started to penetrate Liverpool more. About five minutes after half time Samir Nasri whipped a ball in from the right, Carragher fell on his arse trying to clear it and Glenn Johnson kindly put it into his own net. It was 1-1, game on!

We built on this goal and it appeared that we had the confidence now and Liverpool were on the ropes. Not much seemed to be going their way as they went to attack the Kop end. Enjoying the mainstay of possession the ball was played, by Cesc I think, to Arshavin who was stood on the left of the Liverpool box. The Russian wrong footed Johnson and lashed a right foot shot in off the post, past a motionless Reina. Another stunning goal for Arshavin.

It was now 58 minutes into the game and I was really worried we could hold onto this lead. Liverpool had a few chances, but we did something we have rarely done this season, we defended as a team and looked comfortable with it. A few more chances came our way, but in the end we didn’t need them. We weathered the storm and won 2-1. The only concerns were the removal of Traore and right at the very end Arshavin coming off – more on those injuries when we hear it.

However the drama was not over, in his post match interview with Sky Cesc had the following to say on the manager’s half time team talk:

“He said none of us were fit to wear the Arsenal shirt. I have never seen him like that”

It clearly worked. Arsène after the game was a bit coy and hinted at saying that but wanted to keep things in the dressing room, however when the Sky reporter asked if we were back in the title race the boss had this to say, I will leave it as the last words on today’s blog:

“Mathematically yes, and mentally, certainly”


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Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Away games 09/10

Olympiacos 1 – 0 Arsenal, some good performances, ITV commentary is far worse than Skysports

10 12 2009

Last night our (mainly) young guns put in a pretty good performance against Olympiacos but in the end suffered a 1-0 defeat. Not that it matters we are top of our group, that had been decided before last night, and it also gave Arsène the chance to rest some first team players. The game was pretty fast paced and there was a genuine parallel between how our first team plays and they way the youngsters equipped themselves last night. Slick passing and movement around the pitch were apparent throughout most of the game until some legs began to tire, but given some are yet to leave their teens this lack of full fitness is not a surprise.

The impressive performances of the night goto three players; Lukasz Fabianski played well in goal, he has a great command of his area and seems more confident and more effective coming for crosses compared to Almunia, yes he possibly could have done better for the goal but overall his positioning and shot stopping was good – I suspect he will push for number 1 next season if a keeper is not purchased in the mean time. Aaron Ramsey was again outstanding, his passing is akin to Cesc at times, some fantastic through balls that many players would be unable to even imagine playing let alone have the balls to try them. He is a massive massive prospect for us, however can the team accommodate both him and Fabregas in our current formation? Fran Merida also played well, he had good movement and seemed to pop up all over the pitch. Another hot prospect for Arsenal but he needs more work than Ramsey.

However all was not well with some of the performances last night, I hate to single out players but something has to be said about Carlos Vela’s performance. For a player who has represented his country at international level and has been a starter for us in the absence of van Persie he really needs to do better than he did last night. He had three chances that a quality striker should be putting away, or at least getting the ball on target. If he was one of the younger players who was making his first appearances for the team I could give him some leeway, but he is not. He should be far better than he showed last night. I was disappointed in his performance.

One final thing I will say is how shit the ITV commentary is. We have not been on ITV this season, and I take back a lot, but not all, of the things I have said/shouted about Sky and their commentary. In the early stages of the game they mentioned Steven Gerrard, Liverpool weren’t even playing for fucks sake. Then as the game progressed it was “have a pop at Arsène” time, some of the comments they came out with:

“Can you remember the last time Arsène started 5 English players and 1 Welshman in his first team?”

The ITV stats department went away to find out and came back with the reply from the commentators. But there was no mention of look here are 5 great English players that the Arsenal Youth Academy has helped develop, no it was just the usual xenophobic crap about foreign players and a foreign manager.

The list of substitutes was read out at some point in the second half, each one said in a completely different tone compared to the normal commentary voice that was used, as if to exaggerate the odd sounding surnames these johnny foreigners had. Then when we were about to make a substitute these two comments were made:

“A very weak bench for Arsenal tonight”

Yes, we are playing mainly our reserves you twunt.

“Gilles Sunu, heard of him? No I haven’t either”

Err, yes the Arsenal fans watching your shite channel have.

I may write and complain to ITV. Seriously!

It was also the first time I have watched ITV HD, can’t say I was that impressed either there was a lot of pixelation around moving players. Sky have the edge here as well. Anyway we are through to the knock-out stages, I will post later who we might be drawn against – I think the draw takes place on the 18th December.


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Categories : Arsenal, Champions League

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!


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Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Away 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!


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Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Home games 09/10

Arsenal 2 – 1 Liverpool (Carling Cup)

29 10 2009

Our Carling Cup campaign rolled on last night as Liverpool came to the Grove. The game opened at a nice pace with some good end to end action as both teams fielded a mix of youth and experience. The opening 20 minutes saw some slick play from Arsenal which was capped by a fantastic first goal for the club by Fran Merida, a great shot from just outside the box went in off the post. Liverpool however piled on pressure and scored a great goal of their own which put the tie back on an even keel. We had our chances in the first half to go ahead, the best of which fell to Nicklas Bendtner however he shot straight at the keeper. The half finished level but both teams had the capability of winning the game, worryingly Liverpool had a far more experienced bench than we did.

Our second goal came from Bendtner, a cross from Merida was met by Ramsey and Bendtner, once they worked out what to do with the ball the Dane was clear and lashed the ball into the roof of the net. A good goal, but it did not make up for his play on the night. I hate to pick on one player but he looked so disinterested at times, much like Arshavin can but Andrey has the skill to make up for that whereas Nicklas doesn’t. I struggle sometimes to see what Arsène does in him, he can look very lazy and wasteful. This really works against him and the crowd start to jump on his back, which in turn probably compounds his attitude to certain games.

Late into the game I was almost overjoyed to see the ball being held in the corner with a few minutes to go, very much like our previous number 14 would do. Perhaps something has been learnt afterall? The players held out well despite tiring legs and some chances for Liverpool.

My stand-out players of the night were;

Aaron Ramsey – played excellently. Some sublime passing and he can really work the ball when surrounded by a number of players. Much much improved from last year and some of the central midfield players should be very worried.

Craig Eastwood – a good debut. Shows a lot of promise. I think one for the future.

Samir Nasri – was good to see his return, another skilled midfield player who gives us another attacking dimension.

A mention must also goto our back 4; Gibbs, Senderos, Sylvestre, Gilbert, they played very well as a defensive unit and Senderos in particular looked much more composed than he had when he was previously in an Arsenal shirt. I hope he gets to be our third choice at centre back.

News today came that Fabianski injured his thigh and is out for three weeks, more on the keepers in the next few days….

So we are into the quarter finals of the Carling Cup, I hope Arsène keeps with this sort of squad mix for the rest of the competition. I would like to win a trophy, and if this is the first we win this season then I for one will be happy.


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Categories : Arsenal, Carling Cup

Arsenal v Liverpool Carling Cup Preview

28 10 2009

Tonight sees us play in the Carling Cup, a competition where we have had much success in the past few years with a predominantly youth team. However with Arsène’s recent claims that we are looking at all four competitions perhaps he is slightly drawn to add some experience to the line-ups to help us go all the way in this competition? Once a trophy is won, others will follow is an often heard saying. A trophy in late February might give that extra bit of impetus the squad needs in the push for greater prizes in May? Who knows but we can still hope.

The official website lists an 18 man squad for this evening, there are a few note-able things in the way this list is presented. Firstly Wojciech Szczesny is listed first then Fabianski, possibly just the order they were typed in or does that hint to who will be in goal? It is good to see Aaron Ramsey, Phillipe Senderos, Samir Nasri, Eduardo and Nicklas Bendtner listed, I hope they all start the game.

I suspect it will be a decent game, Liverpool with probably have a similar blend of youth and experience, but hopefully home advantage and strong support will help us win the tie. I will not be at this evening’s game, work commitments initially prevented me from going but now they don’t which is a pain but I will watch on telly and provide twitter updates during the game.

Tonight is also Arsène’s 750th game in charge of Arsenal, some feat for our manager. Here’s to a win to celebrate this milestone!


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Categories : Arsenal, Carling Cup

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.


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Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Away games 09/10

West Ham v Arsenal preview

24 10 2009

So it’s West Ham tomorrow, last season we won 2-0 away to them and whilst we might not keep a clean sheet I can see us winning tomorrow. I expect Eduardo may get to start, but Arsène may stick with the Arshavin-van Persie-Eboue front three. I would expect Eboue to feature, either at right back or as the right side of the front three. But we don’t need to rest any players in reality given that the next game is Saturday and there will be mostly youngsters playing Wednesday in the Carling Cup. Bendtner was still rated as 50/50 yesterday, if he does get deemed fit I doubt we will see him start.

On the goalkeeper front I wonder if we might see all three feature in our next three games, tomorrow Mannone, Wednesday Fabianski and Almunia will return for the North London Derby. It will be interesting to see whatever way Arsène decides to pick the man in goal.

We really should have a more positive look in tomorrow’s game. I think the laid back approach we saw when 2-0 against Birmingham and 1-0 against AZ Alkmaar will not be there. Hopefully that has given the team a kick up the backside to tell them it won’t all be easy wins this season to get a trophy or two. A quick start with a couple of early goals then apply more pressure rather than let the game come to us would be nice to see. Hopefully they have all been told something similar in the last few days.

The game is live on Sky tomorrow, so hopefully an entertaining afternoon is in store, comedy if Liverpool get beaten but if they win it means we have a great chance of closing at the top of the table, our game follows so there is a chance to get some points to cement our place where we rightly belong. Unlike some of the pretenders who are starting to cock it up. Enjoy the game wherever you are watching.


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Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Away games 09/10

Friday, Rosicky out, Bendtner maybe, but who will be in goal?

23 10 2009

A quick update to the 50/50 chances of two of our players. Tomas Rosicky will not make Sunday’s game following training today. Nicklas Bendtner however still has a chance and will be fully assesed after training tomorrow. Senderos “could be available again” you have to ask why he hasn’t been previously. All three keepers seem fit, when asked who would start Arsène had this repsonse;

“I do not know…come to the game on Sunday and you will see”

Which sort of says to me that it won’t be Almunia. If he was going to drop Mannone for Almunia I doubt Vito could have any real complaints, but there must be more to this.

More thoughts on the West Ham game tomorrow probably.


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Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Away games 09/10

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