Good evening readers,
Sorry about the lack of blogging during the week, once again I was very busy and getting hold of a laptop these days is proving to be a challenging task. Anyway theres plenty to get through.
I'll start of course with Wednesday nights 4-0 victory over the Toon. To be honest I wasn't too blown back by the scoreline as some people might have been. Chris Hughton was always going to play a slightly weaker side ahead of the big derby game they have on Sunday and Arsene already said he was planning to play a strong side. I was expecting nothing less than a victory and for once to go through 90 minutes without my heart going into overdrive. Too much to ask you might say?
We started off brightly and should have been ahead inside the first minute, Tomas Rosicky playing through Carlos Vela who's tame effort was beaten away by Krul. Moments later Bendtner had two shots scrambled away as it looked to be a long night for the Magpies. A goal looked inevitable at that point but the game seemed to go a bit flat after those chances, we played our usual passing game and looked for openings but Newcastle stood firm. Then they almost stunned us as Szczesny missed what seemed a routine clearance completley leaving Ranger with an opportunity to put the Toon Army ahead but the ever reliable Koscielny closed him down well. Shortly after Alan Smith rattled the bar with a 25-yard effort, replays showing Szczesny somehow got a fingertip to it. This little period got the home fans going but still Newcastle never looked like taking the game to us. On the stroke of half-time we struck a killer blow, Bendtner's header didn't look like the most threatening attempt on goal until Krul somehow let it through his legs, Ryan Taylor headed it off the line back onto the keepers head and the ball hilariously ended up in the net. It gave our men a big boost going into half-time.
We began the second half comfortably keeping possesion, again the home side didn't look like coming close to scoring. Not long in we doubled our lead. Djourou's header set Walcott clean through on goal and he dinked the ball over the keeper beautifully, it was good to get an early second because at 1-0 there is always the danger of teh opposition coming back as us Arsenal fans know too well at this stage. There was a bit of controversy in the goal, Nicklas Bendtner who was in an offside position as Theo raced through, collided with a Newcastle defender. Some say it was deliberate and clever, big Nick himself says he was just turning around to try and set himself up for a tap in. It's hard to say to be honest, make what you want of it. Not long after the home side nearly clawed themselves back into the game as Ryan Taylor's free kick was fantastically saved by Szczesny.
It was clear Newcastle hadn't given up on this game yet as Hughton then brought on Carroll and Gutierrez Jesus look-alike. Arsene responded by introducing who other than Cesc Fabregas, it was nice to see that he let Rosicky keep the captains armband when he came on. I was slightly worried though about our defenders ability to cope with Carroll and rightly so. At times his strenght was just too much and thanks to a few good saves from the keeper, last ditch tackles and poor misses, we managed to keep him abay and in typical Arsenal fashion we punished their inability to take chances as Cesc raced onto a poor throw-in from Guthrie, he fed Bendtner who finished superbly to finally kill off any hope of a comeback for the Magpies. Five minutes later Theo capped off a good night with another tidy finish. It was great to see himself and big Nick hitting the net like they'd never been out. It gives Arsene a headache ahead of this weekends game.
I've drawn up a list of player ratings from Wednesday's game below. I'll do it after all games from now on, it's marked out of 10 and theres just a little comment after to sum it up.
Szczesny: 8 - Fantastic performance, I knew he had talent but based on that display alone he really does give Wenger something to think about.
Eboue: 7 - Solid game, was forced to switch to left-back after Gibbs' injury and didn't seem out of place.
Koscielny: 8 - It's like this guy has been playing in England for years, fantastic positioning, impossible to get past, really bright future in an Arsenal shirt if you ask me.
Djourou: 7 - Nervy first off but settled in and was comfortable overall.
Gibbs: 5 - Forced off early on with knee injury.
Eastmond: 5 - Looked nervous and never seemed composed on the ball, has a lot of work to do to make it here.
Denilson: 7 - Decent game, kept the ball and tracked back well.
Rosicky: 7 - Always a threat to Newcastle, pushing for a regular spot now.
Walcott: 8 - Man of the match, superb display, two goals, Newcastle defence will dread seeing him again in a few weeks at the Emirates.
Bendtner: 7 - Looks like a player with a point to prove, good to see.
Vela: 5 - Needs to start putting the hard work in if he wants to have a future here, that being said I don't think the left-wing is his best position but he's got no chance of pushing MC, NB or RVP for a starting spot in my opinion.
Subs:
Fabregas: 7 - Came on, gave his all and set up Bendtner's goal, a true captain and role model to all the youngsters.
Sagna: 6 - Played practically the whole game due to Gibbs' early injury, was comfortable until Carroll came on.
Emmanuel-Thomas: 6 - Was hoping to see more of this beast but looked bright in the few minutes he was on the pitch, nearly got set through on goal by Cesc.
A fantastic moral boosting victory in the North-East but atentions quickly turn to West Ham tomorrow afternoon and Wenger has already warned the team against complacency and rigthtly so. We were on a similar sort of run going into the West Brom game, didn't bother turning up until the last 15 minutes and payed price. We have got to approach this game with the same tenacity as we did to the City game last week. I know that can be hard but if everyone gives 100% then thats all we can ask of.
West Ham come into this game on the back of a 3-1 win over Stoke City in the Carling Cup so their confidence will be on the up, our job is to knock it right back down. Koscielny is back so he should come in for Djouroum below is how I think the team will line out:
Fabianski
Sagna - Squillaci - Koscielny - Clichy
Fabregas - Song - Denilson
Nasri - Chamakh - Arshavin
As you might have noticed, Koscielny is the only change I've made from last weekends victory at City. I think Wenger should stick to that team. I know a lot of people want Walcott to start at the expense of Arshavin but I can't see it happening. First of all Arsene will probably start him on the bench anyway after playing the whole 90 minutes on Wednesday as he is just back from injury and also after praising Arshavin last week he's hardly going to drop him now is he? Either way we have so many attacking options in the team now it sends a chill down my spine just thinking about it. Before pundits took shots at us saying we don't have strenght in depth, where are they now? We've got three taleneted keepers battling it out for the number one shirt. Four quality defenders going at it with Vermaelen the only In the full-backs position Gibbs and Eboue are turning the heat on Clichy and Sagna, thats good to see although Gibbs has just been ruled out for a few weeks. Then in midfield your going to have Diaby, Denilson, Rosicky and Ramsey looking for that final role in midfield alongside Cesc and Song. Up front you have Walcott and Arshavin going at it, Vela and Rosicky could fall into that category too. Nasri is a guaranteed starter for me and then you have Bendtner, Van Persie and Chamakh as options for the main striker. There is mouth watering competition all around. We just have to hope we can stay clear of a few injuries and focus on mounting a serious title challenge.
Anyway, I think I've said enough for one day, hoping to be back tomorrow with a positive report on the game. Heres to three valuable points, till then Gooners!
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