A very good early morning to you all,
For the 4,000th time I apologise for the lack of blogging, I should be able to do it daily from Christmas onwards fingers crossed. Plenty to get through now and I'll start with Wednesday nights game. I know it was four days ago now and most of you will have just about gotten over the disappointment but I'll give a run through it anyway just to piss you off hehe.
We went into the game only needing a point to qualify from the group and it would have also put us in poll position to top the group. Beforehand I would have taken a draw if I'm being honest. Shakhtar were unbeaten at this ground and we were missing several key players. It was going to require a solid performance and unfortunately the boys didn't bring their A-game.
We couldn't have had a better start, with only ten minutes gone Jack Wilshere punted up field to Walcott whos sensational burst of pace allowed him to latch onto the pass and finish superbly. He took the shot a little earlier than some of us might have expected but it was proof of the confidence that he is brimming with at the moment. I was hopeful we would kick on from there and try and put this game to bed as soon as possible, it wasn't to be. Shakhtar immediately went on the offensive and hit the post just six minutes after conceding before Chygrynskiy forced a brilliant save from the very much on form Fabianski. Then came a moment of controversy in the build up to the home sides equaliser. Jack Wilshere was fouled, we had about half a second of possesion which the referee somehow thought was an advantage, then Eboue fouled Jadson and was yellow carded along with the player who impeted Jack. From the resulting free-kick they scored, Chygrynskiy's header deflected off Craig Eastmond and flew into the back of the net. Huge slice of luck to the Ukranians but you couldn't say they didn't deserve it with all the pressure they were applying.
We failed to recover from this blow and the home side continued to pour forward looking to take the lead. The somewhat inevitable second came on the stroke of half-time. Clichy delayed an opportunity to clear the ball and was dispossessed by Srna who squared for Eduardo to finish neatly. Before the game he promised the Shakhtar he would score and clearly he is a man of his word. More worryingly though is that it was as a result of yet another Clichy error. It is becoming an issue for me now as its happening far too often. No doubt Gibbs will be pushing him for the starting spot when he returns from injury. Anyway back to the action and we started the second half brightly and Wilshere looked destine to equalise but his curling effort skinned the post. This was followed by several tame long range efforts from Theo before the chance of the match fell to Squillaci when he found himself in acres of space but could only point his header straight at the keeper. We continued to hold possession for long spells but the lack of creativity was frustrating. Late on Wenger brought on Jay Emmanuel-Thomas but there was to be no way back. The defeat leaves us needing a point from our two remaining games to qualify which I know for a fact we will get. Still though, the opportunity was there to get something out of the game and leave us with the luxury of being able to rest key players. The player ratings are as follows:
Lukasz Fabianski: 8 - Did everything right and made some good saves. Confidence continues to grow.
Emmanuel Eboue: 6 - Not his best game in an Arsenal shirt, needs to improve defensive side of his game.
Sebastien Squillaci: 7 - Positioning was as good as ever, adapting very well.
Johan Djourou: 7 - Once again started shakily but grew in confidence as the game wore on, improving all the time.
Gael Clichy: 6 - Bad mistake that led to goal, needs to cut them out asap!
Craig Eastmond: 5 - Looked nervous again, not sure if he's ready at the moment.
Jack Wilshere: 8 - Big games just don't seem to faze this kid, my man of the match.
Tomas Rosicky: 6 - Saw plenty of the ball but failed to create much.
Samir Nasri: 6 - Started brightly but faded.
Theo Walcott: 7 - Scored a great goal but lacked support from midfield.
Nicklas Bendtner: 6 - Looked off the pace, still regaining sharpness.
Subs:
Marouane Chamakh: 6 - Lacked service.
Carlos Vela: 7 - Did okay for once, needs to keep the head down and work his arse off.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas: Had little time to make an impact but looked sharp.
Attentions immediately turn to Newcastle now. A win is a must as it is in every league game we play and we cannot under-estimate the Toon. We beat them with ease in the Carling cup a fortnight ago but that was a completely diiferent team to the one Hughton will field today. Andy Carroll is a man on form and we saw how dangerous he can be when he caused us a few problems when he came off the bench in the cup. He may be partnered by another giant in Ameobi so Koscielny and Squillaci will have their work cut out for sure. Also they are on the back of a 5-1 demolition of Sunderland so confidence will be high within their squad. Hopefully all of our players will be fired up after Wednesday night and will want to make ammense.
In Arsene's press conference on Friday he brought some very good news indeed for a change. Cesc Fabregas, Denilson, Alex Song and Andrey Arshavin will all return for the game. He also confirmed Robin Van Persie is now taking part in full training and Thomas Vermaelen is only a matter of days away from returning to action. Of course though, it't not an Arsene press conference without bad news, that being the injury to Abou Diaby. Arsene dosen't know when he will be back, they are still trying to get to the bottom of the injury which he sustained in a tackle from that horrible cunt Paul Robinson. He has played games since of course but has never been the same and it wasn't helped when Michael Essien tested how far an ankle can bend without snapping. Hopefully its not too serious. Manuel Almunia is still not fit suspiciously. I don't think anybody is too bothered though because of Fabainski's incredible form.
Now to the rumours surrounding Arsene Wenger. Some of you may not have heard yet but some dude on Twitter is claiming a story will break tomorrow about Arsene having an affair with another woman. The Sun is the paper supposedly reporting it. Here is what its meant to look like: http://twitpic.com/348gqk. Notice the person didn't manage to capture the actual name of the paper, just coincidence? Lets wait and see. I don't want to say anymore until we know more.
Now I mentioned the good news that Van Persie has returned to full training and of course Holland are going to do all they can to make sure he dosen't make a full recovery by calling him up for their upcoming friendlies. Do they have any consideration whatsoever? Of course not, their not the ones who have to pay his wages and medical bills. If he gets injured on international duty I will literally fly to Holland and punch the coach Van Mardick or whatever his name is right in the face!
Apologies for that little outburst. During the week Arsene spoke of his plan to eventually turn Theo Walcott into a striker, the man himself later echoed the bosses comments. Since he arrived he has played on the right wing but has shown glimpses of his ability to finish, espeically in recent weeks. He clearly has an eye for goal but it will take a while to transform him into a centre forward. First of all we already have three quality players in that position and number two he is quite small and not the most physical striker out there so that is a factor and more so because we play a 4-3-3 formation at the moment. It would be easier if he had a bigger strike partner but for now I think we should stick to the current setup.
Back to Arsene's press conference once again and the news that he plans to open negotiations with Nasri and Clichy over extending their contracts was very welcoming. I see both of them here for many years to come and the sooner we tie both of them down to long term deals the better.
Thats about all for now, hopefully I'll be back later to talk about the Newcastle game. Till next time take care of yourselves, thanks for reading and heres to three points!
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