Welcome readers,
Having seen the team sheet ahead of yesterday's game I suddenly felt nervous. The type of feeling where you feel aches in your stomach. Wigan, as I mentioned in the preview, are an unpredictable side, always have been, always will it appears. Last season at home they were anialated by United 5-0 before beating Chelsea 3-1. This inconsistant form they have worried me going into the game and my uneasy conscience wasn't helped by the fact our captain was suspended, Nasri and Walcott were left on the bench while Van Persie and Song weren't even in the squad. Still, we possessed more than enough quality to win the game.
We didn't start well. Koscielny gave away possession cheaply deep inside our own half before Watson crossed for Rodallega whom Koscielny should have been marking and he somehow missed when it seemed easier to score. The Latics came at us again. Bendtner this time guilty of being sloppy on the ball as he gifted it to the lively N'Zogbia who forced Fabianski into a fine save.
Our first opening came when Arshavin was picked out by Rosicky but the little Russian fired his shot well over the bar. Just as we looked to be getting a foothold in the game Wigan pounced upon a loose ball and hit us on the break. N'Zogbia was the one orchestrating another attack as he ran at Koscielny. The French winger cut inside before falling over Koscielny's trailing leg. There was no intent from the defender, N'Zogbia was looking for one thing only as he came inside and the referee did the typical thing and bought it. Penalty to Wigan. Ben Watson stepped up and converted. We were a goal down and despite the dubvious decision to give them a penalty, we couldn't hide from the fact that we didn't start. I hoped this would give the players a kick up the arse.
It looked to have done just that. We seemed to get the passing game flowing after that and we began to close Wigan down a lot quicker. What annoys me is that it always takes something like a goal or flurry of chances from weaker opposition to get us going. It shouldn't and we need to sort that out. Anyways Tomas Rosicky nearly scored his first goal in a million years as he drilled in a shot from just outside the box which Al Habsi parried but Bendtner failed to capitalise on. Things got a whole lot worse soon after as Abou Diaby limped off and was replaced my Wilshere. The Frenchman just can't nail down a place in the team because of all these niggles he picks up.
Six minutes before the break Arshavin scored an absolute cracking goal. He had been rubbish up until then but he justified the reason why Wenger still seems intent on picking him. Chamakh played in Bendtner with a lovely lofted pass, the Dane's shot was well saved by the keeper who seemed to get the ball away to a safe distance too until the Russian fired home with an exquisite scissors kick. 1-1 was a scoreline I was willing take going into half-time but Arshavin and Bendtner had other ideas. Andrey scrapped for possession just the Wigan half before playing the ball into big Nick who barged through two defenders before netting with a fine finish. We led going into the break, something you could not have possibly seen ten minutes before hand.
The objective at half-time was to go out and kill the game as soon as possible. Chamakh came close to doing just that as he leapt highest from Rosicky's corner but headed inches wide. We were in full control of the game at this stage. I was particulary impressed at how we kept the ball in midfield but you just felt we lacked the cutting edge going forward at times. Twenty minutes from time we should have wrapped up the points as clever passing resulted in Wilshere playing Arshavin in with a delightful ball but this time Al Habsi was on hand to deny the goalscorer.
We were very nearly made to pay shortly afterwards. Another Wigan counter attack left us stretched as N'Zogbia was set clean through on goal only to be denied by a fine save from Fabianski. N'Zogba or "Insomnia" as Joe Kinnear once referred to him as was later sent off for a stupid headbutt on Wilshere for no apparent reason other than the fact he was losing. Despite the man advantage, disaster struck ten minutes from time. An inswinging corner was headed back across goal by Rodallega and Squillaci nodded the ball into his own net. Infairness to Seb there wasn't much he could do, he threw his head in there hoping for the best but Caldwell would have headed in anyway even if he didn't throw himself at it.
The drama wasn't finished there. Walcott and Nasri were soon introduced. The latter had a free-kick beaten away by James McArthur's hand inside the box. I think everyone in the stadium saw it apart from the referee but what's new eh? We can sit here all day and blame him, his assistant and Platini or whatever tool is over that mickey mouse organistaion at the moment. The fact is we dropped two valuable points that we can't get back. It leaves us going into Saturday's game at Birmingham basically needing a win to keep the heat on United.
Anyway here are the player ratings:
Fabianski: 7 - Reliable and made a very good save.
Sagna: 8 - Gave everything, role model to the young players it must be said. My man of the match.
Squillaci: 6 - Not his best performance but received unncecessary stick for it.
Koscielny: 6 - Made some very good tackles but looked dodgy at times. Need to see more of the Kos we saw against Chelsea.
Eboue: 6 - Not in his natural position but did okay.
Denilson: 7 - Fine performance. Broke up play and kept play flowing.
Diaby: 5 - Withdrawn early on with another injury.
Rosicky: 7 - Worked hard and was at the heart of every move.
Arshavin: 7 - Very average performance but showed why he's still rated highly by some with a spectacular goal and yet another assist.
Bendtner: 6 - Worked hard and got his goal but overall he was quiet.
Chamakh: 6 - Worked very hard for the team but didn't see much of the ball.
Subs:
Wilshere: 7 - Came on for Diaby early on and put in another brilliant performance. So mature for his age.
Nasri: 5 - No time to make an impact.
Walcott: 5 - Likewise.
Its a shame to go from beating Chelsea to dropping two points at Wigan but that's football. You have your highs and your lows. Its all part of being a fan, the main thing is that we stay behind the lads all the way to the end. Our next two games are huge. Trying to get six points will be very difficult but very achievable at the same time. I'm back tomorrow with a more detailed preview of the Brum game.
Till then.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Wigan Preview
Evening all,
We are confronted with another big challenge tonight just two days after our monumental win over Chelsea. If we go to the DW Stadium tonight, put on a sloppy showing and come away without the three points the critics will return with the usual abuse. We have got to keep going, put in 100% every game and we will be rewarded. I've stressed it for a long time now. Hard work pays off, we saw that Monday night and we have the right to see more of it. Not just for 45 minutes, not for 80 minutes but for the whole 90. We might win comfortably tonight but if we do, it will be because we worked for it, not because Wigan are a poor side.
We all know what happened last season when we visited the Latics. We were 2-0 up at half-time and coasting. Then the players decided to take the foot off the gas and take it easy for the rest of the game. Big mistake. Wigan pulled a goal back and saw that we were weak. Eventually they equalised and won the game with a late scorcher from N'Zogbia. To be honest I can't see them putting three past us tonight. I really do think we've learned from previous mistakes, its taken a hell of a long time but it looks like the players get the message now.
I mentioned yesterday that Wigan's pitch is generally crap because they share it with the Wigan Warriors (rugby team). We aren't helped by the fact that we've only had a days rest either before we travelled practically the lenght of the country while Wigan have had two days rest and only have to travel a few miles. Strange I know.
Wigan's start to the season was appalling but Martinez has pulled them together and got them playing good football. They don't always get the results but they have the players to give us serious problems. N'Zogbia, when on his game is a real handful. He'll swap flanks throughout the game. Clichy will need similar support to that which he received in the Chelsea game be it Arshavin playing ahead of him or not.
Here's the Arsenal team I reckon we'll see tonight or at least I'd like to see:
Fabianski
Sagna - Squillaci - Koscielny - Clichy
Nasri - Song - Denilson
Walcott - Chamakh - Arshavin
I'm expecting to see a few changes tonight. Two games in two days is a lot to ask of the players. Cesc of course is suspended so Nasri may drop bac into midfield, if not we might see Rosicky in there. Djourou struggles to get two games in a row under his belt these days so I wouldn't be surprised to see a fresh Squillaci come in. Eboue may come in for Sagna, I'm not too sure on that one. Wilshere is bound to be feeling the effects of Monday's game, he gave absolutely everything so Denilson might get the nod there, I wouldn't rule out a start for Diaby either. The front three could be reshuffled. Van Persie isn't quite at his sharpest just yet so Chamakh may replace him. Arshavin may be welcomed back too and I'd like to see Walcott up there again after his amazing display against the Chavs. All this rotating isn't ideal but you have to keep players fresh during this busy period.
As for the Wigan team I expect to see line out:
Al Habsi
Stam - Alcarez (C) - Caldwell - Figueroa
Cleverley - Thomas - Diame - McArthur - N'Zogbia
Rodallega
I'm predicting Martinez will set his side out to keep it tight in midfield to stop us playing our game. Before we played them earlier this season in the Carling cup at the Emirates, everyone said he would stick to his usual free flowing style but he didn't. They made it difficult for us to break them down and I reckon we'll see a similar tactic tonight. We have to be careful we don't committ too many forward too, they have players like Cleverley, Rodallega and N'Zogbia as I mentioned who can all cause damage. All three are on form so it will be interesting to see how we cope against them. This could well be one of those games where we have to scrap for three points. If it is then so be it, the players should be well used to it by now.
Elsewhere Aaron Ramsey looks set to start for Nottingham Forest tonight as they take on Derby County. Luckily for him, Robbie Savage is suspended so there is some hope that he will come out in one piece. We all wish him the best ahead of the game.
There's not much else going on this Wednesday evening. Let's hope for a comfortable three points tonight with no injuries. I could be back tonight with a match report, if not then tomorrow.
Till then.
We are confronted with another big challenge tonight just two days after our monumental win over Chelsea. If we go to the DW Stadium tonight, put on a sloppy showing and come away without the three points the critics will return with the usual abuse. We have got to keep going, put in 100% every game and we will be rewarded. I've stressed it for a long time now. Hard work pays off, we saw that Monday night and we have the right to see more of it. Not just for 45 minutes, not for 80 minutes but for the whole 90. We might win comfortably tonight but if we do, it will be because we worked for it, not because Wigan are a poor side.
We all know what happened last season when we visited the Latics. We were 2-0 up at half-time and coasting. Then the players decided to take the foot off the gas and take it easy for the rest of the game. Big mistake. Wigan pulled a goal back and saw that we were weak. Eventually they equalised and won the game with a late scorcher from N'Zogbia. To be honest I can't see them putting three past us tonight. I really do think we've learned from previous mistakes, its taken a hell of a long time but it looks like the players get the message now.
I mentioned yesterday that Wigan's pitch is generally crap because they share it with the Wigan Warriors (rugby team). We aren't helped by the fact that we've only had a days rest either before we travelled practically the lenght of the country while Wigan have had two days rest and only have to travel a few miles. Strange I know.
Wigan's start to the season was appalling but Martinez has pulled them together and got them playing good football. They don't always get the results but they have the players to give us serious problems. N'Zogbia, when on his game is a real handful. He'll swap flanks throughout the game. Clichy will need similar support to that which he received in the Chelsea game be it Arshavin playing ahead of him or not.
Here's the Arsenal team I reckon we'll see tonight or at least I'd like to see:
Fabianski
Sagna - Squillaci - Koscielny - Clichy
Nasri - Song - Denilson
Walcott - Chamakh - Arshavin
I'm expecting to see a few changes tonight. Two games in two days is a lot to ask of the players. Cesc of course is suspended so Nasri may drop bac into midfield, if not we might see Rosicky in there. Djourou struggles to get two games in a row under his belt these days so I wouldn't be surprised to see a fresh Squillaci come in. Eboue may come in for Sagna, I'm not too sure on that one. Wilshere is bound to be feeling the effects of Monday's game, he gave absolutely everything so Denilson might get the nod there, I wouldn't rule out a start for Diaby either. The front three could be reshuffled. Van Persie isn't quite at his sharpest just yet so Chamakh may replace him. Arshavin may be welcomed back too and I'd like to see Walcott up there again after his amazing display against the Chavs. All this rotating isn't ideal but you have to keep players fresh during this busy period.
As for the Wigan team I expect to see line out:
Al Habsi
Stam - Alcarez (C) - Caldwell - Figueroa
Cleverley - Thomas - Diame - McArthur - N'Zogbia
Rodallega
I'm predicting Martinez will set his side out to keep it tight in midfield to stop us playing our game. Before we played them earlier this season in the Carling cup at the Emirates, everyone said he would stick to his usual free flowing style but he didn't. They made it difficult for us to break them down and I reckon we'll see a similar tactic tonight. We have to be careful we don't committ too many forward too, they have players like Cleverley, Rodallega and N'Zogbia as I mentioned who can all cause damage. All three are on form so it will be interesting to see how we cope against them. This could well be one of those games where we have to scrap for three points. If it is then so be it, the players should be well used to it by now.
Elsewhere Aaron Ramsey looks set to start for Nottingham Forest tonight as they take on Derby County. Luckily for him, Robbie Savage is suspended so there is some hope that he will come out in one piece. We all wish him the best ahead of the game.
There's not much else going on this Wednesday evening. Let's hope for a comfortable three points tonight with no injuries. I could be back tonight with a match report, if not then tomorrow.
Till then.
Are We Ready?
Welcome back,
The andrenaline is still flowing from yesterday's game. Even though we're all buzzing and have a new optimism stored amongst us the fact is we've achieved nothing yet. Yes we've overcome a major hurdle and it's probably the best performance the team has put in this season but it means nothing unless we can carry on winning. The Chelsea game was one which would tell us so much about this team's ambitions. We found out this team is capable of not only mounting a title challenge but going all the way and actually winning it. It's simple. If we can beat Chelsea we can beat anyone in this league. Hell with that performance the might Barcelona would struggle to turn us over. I honestly cannot stress how important yesterday's victory was. Some will tell you if we fail to beat Wigan tomorrow night then it counts for nothing. Not true. Although it would be a setback we still beat Chelsea. We still stopped the rot. We overcame our fear. Last night heart and desire overcame experience. It's not often you say that but this team has something speical as Arsene has been telling us for a long time now.
There are many challenges ahead, that's for sure. The next one is right in front of us. Can we go from such a hyped up game to a low key one and put in another perforamance? We'll have to wait and see. It's not going to be easy, I'll guarantee you that. Wigan's pitch is poor for the majority of the season mainly because they share it with a rugby team. Even more so, we've barely had time for a training session today before we headed for the long journey north. I'll preview the game in more detail tomorrow but the point I'm trying to get across is that it is vital the players now put in the same level of determination and work into every single game. Be it against Chelsea or West Brom. To win this league you must give your all throughout the season. You might get away with the odd laxydazy showing but too many and your caught. That's the exact lesson Chelsea are being taught at this moment. Anyway I think you guys get the idea.
Theo Walcott certainly knows the importance of being consistant. He says:
"We have to go on a run of wins. If you want to be champions and win the League you need to go to places like Wigan and win.
"We need to do it in every game. It's difficult to do throughout the whole 90 minutes but on Monday there was so much energy the whole team had [against Chelsea]. Come Wednesday we need to do that again because it's going to be tough.
"We lost there last season so we don't want to do that again. We have to travel a long distance to get there as well."
He's spot on there. Being champions is all about consistancy. We've lacked that so far this season but because the others have dropped so many points, we can start here. For 2011 let's see a new Arsenal where the players wear their hearts on their sleeves. Do and we'll be rewarded. Don't and we'll achieve nothing. It's that simple.
Now this morning news broke that our young defender Havard Nordtveit was in Monchengladbach having a medical. We accepted a bid for him two weeks ago so his departure has been inevitable really but it's still sad to see him go considering he never really got the chance to show what he can do in the first team. The fee we receive for him will be pretty small because his contract was due to expire in the summer. We wish him all the best should he complete the move.
There was a minor outburst on Twitter today from Benik Afobe. He deleted the tweet and apologised. Basically he said he was angry at being left on the bench for Huddersfield. We had an agreement with them that they would play him sparingly to avoid burnout and clearly he felt upset by that. I know at his age all you want to do is play football but we know whats best for him and he should follow the advice given to him in order to make proper progress and hopefully one day he'll wear the Arsenal jersey on a regular basis.
That is about it for today folks. I'll be back tomorrow with a preview of the Wigan game. Till then.
The andrenaline is still flowing from yesterday's game. Even though we're all buzzing and have a new optimism stored amongst us the fact is we've achieved nothing yet. Yes we've overcome a major hurdle and it's probably the best performance the team has put in this season but it means nothing unless we can carry on winning. The Chelsea game was one which would tell us so much about this team's ambitions. We found out this team is capable of not only mounting a title challenge but going all the way and actually winning it. It's simple. If we can beat Chelsea we can beat anyone in this league. Hell with that performance the might Barcelona would struggle to turn us over. I honestly cannot stress how important yesterday's victory was. Some will tell you if we fail to beat Wigan tomorrow night then it counts for nothing. Not true. Although it would be a setback we still beat Chelsea. We still stopped the rot. We overcame our fear. Last night heart and desire overcame experience. It's not often you say that but this team has something speical as Arsene has been telling us for a long time now.
There are many challenges ahead, that's for sure. The next one is right in front of us. Can we go from such a hyped up game to a low key one and put in another perforamance? We'll have to wait and see. It's not going to be easy, I'll guarantee you that. Wigan's pitch is poor for the majority of the season mainly because they share it with a rugby team. Even more so, we've barely had time for a training session today before we headed for the long journey north. I'll preview the game in more detail tomorrow but the point I'm trying to get across is that it is vital the players now put in the same level of determination and work into every single game. Be it against Chelsea or West Brom. To win this league you must give your all throughout the season. You might get away with the odd laxydazy showing but too many and your caught. That's the exact lesson Chelsea are being taught at this moment. Anyway I think you guys get the idea.
Theo Walcott certainly knows the importance of being consistant. He says:
"We have to go on a run of wins. If you want to be champions and win the League you need to go to places like Wigan and win.
"We need to do it in every game. It's difficult to do throughout the whole 90 minutes but on Monday there was so much energy the whole team had [against Chelsea]. Come Wednesday we need to do that again because it's going to be tough.
"We lost there last season so we don't want to do that again. We have to travel a long distance to get there as well."
He's spot on there. Being champions is all about consistancy. We've lacked that so far this season but because the others have dropped so many points, we can start here. For 2011 let's see a new Arsenal where the players wear their hearts on their sleeves. Do and we'll be rewarded. Don't and we'll achieve nothing. It's that simple.
Now this morning news broke that our young defender Havard Nordtveit was in Monchengladbach having a medical. We accepted a bid for him two weeks ago so his departure has been inevitable really but it's still sad to see him go considering he never really got the chance to show what he can do in the first team. The fee we receive for him will be pretty small because his contract was due to expire in the summer. We wish him all the best should he complete the move.
There was a minor outburst on Twitter today from Benik Afobe. He deleted the tweet and apologised. Basically he said he was angry at being left on the bench for Huddersfield. We had an agreement with them that they would play him sparingly to avoid burnout and clearly he felt upset by that. I know at his age all you want to do is play football but we know whats best for him and he should follow the advice given to him in order to make proper progress and hopefully one day he'll wear the Arsenal jersey on a regular basis.
That is about it for today folks. I'll be back tomorrow with a preview of the Wigan game. Till then.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
The Rot Is Over - Now Let's Keep Going
Greetings all,
I'm not going to go beating around the bush tonight. Let's cut straight to the chase. What a magnificent night! You could say something speical has happened on this night. A major mental barrier has been broken, not only broken but smashed. We've taken some critisism over the last year or so for our inability to beat the big sides. I'm not saying it was injustified critisism but I think I speak for all of us when I say I was damn right fed up with it. We no longer have to listen to countless pundits, journalists and even our own fans abuse this club. I've been saying this for a long time and I've never once doubted it. This team has the ability to win the Premier League, I'd go as far as saying we can win the Champions League. The only thing holding us back was this mental weakness which has been so difficult to diagnose. The players have failed to live up to the big occasions in the last year. Even Cesc himself admitted the players were nervous going into these games. This past week I reckon the players just decided to put the foot down and tell themselves - "look this is hit, there's no point being afraid anymore, we've taken a lot of slack, now it's time to respond". I had a feeling we'd get a response tonight. You could just sense that the players really wanted this needless pressure off their backs. I'm so glad they did.
Prior to the game, everywhere you looked, all you would read or hear was "Arsenal can't lose tonight or their out of the title race" or "Do or Die for Arsenal". It gave you a sort of sick nervous feeling in your stomach imagining the amount of shit we'd have thrown our way if we did manage to fuck up. It was up to the players to deliver now.
Arsene made a few surprising changes to the team. Out went Squillaci for the in form Djourou. Walcott actually got the nod for once ahead of the unpredictable Arshavin and Van Persie came in for Chamakh who had been rested by the boss. The first name you looked for on the Chelsea team-sheet was Drogba and as expected, he was there. I really didn't give a shit about who else lined out for the Blues. I knew that if we turned up and played as we all know we can, then there would only be one outcome.
The early signs were good. We kept the ball well and the passing was very sharp, something that's been lacking in recent games. We should have gone ahead inside the first five minutes as Alex Song's beautifully lofted ball somehow evaded Van Persie, he appeared to have been put off by Ivanovic's attempted clearance. Despite our good start, Chelsea fired a few warning signs as Drogba looked to get on the end of long balls. Djourou and Koscielny kept close throughout, limiting him to a minority of headers and when he did control the ball he was quickly closed down and dispossessed.
A Samir Nasri free-kick was the next test for Cech. The ball was firmly hit but the big Czech made the catch look easy. Shortly after Walcott was set through but he miscontrolled the ball allowing Terry to get in and clear. Soon after a challenge on Theo resulted in Cashley Cole been giving a yellow card. Oh how sweet it would have been to have seen him sent off but it wasn't to be. Then a beautiful passing move involving Cesc and Nasri resulted in Van Persie blazing over. You got the feeling that if we didn't take our chnaces, sooner or later we would be punished. That feeling was soon banished. Jack Wilshere picked up the ball on the edge of the box, he played it into Song who turned his man, the ball fell to Cesc who was fouled but Clattenberg allowed the advantage and Song slotted home. My lungs were ready to explode. We all knew how important the first goal was. When we fall behind we tend to sulk if you like and life is made all the more difficult when you go a goal down against the top sides because they just shut up shop and look to hit you on the counter. This time we were leading. Yes, I know its hard to believe. It came just on the brink of half-time too so there was a serious buzz as the players headed into the dressing room.
The main concern for me at half-time was that we would come out, lose all momentum and allow Chelsea to come at us. It is well known that we struggle when we're put under increased pressure. For us, attack is the best form of defence. Chelsea brought on Ramires for Mikel. It was clear they were going to have a go at us. Our job was to expose them, we are the best team in the country at hitting teams on the counter attack after all. Despite the Blues' efforts to drag themselves back into the game, we were the ones to come out of the blocks firing and what a start to the second half it was. Essien's attempt to dispossess Van Persie resulted in him setting Walcott clean through on goal. The winger, who we've often critisised in the past for his failure to produce an end product, pulled the ball back for Fabregas to slot home and put us firmly in the driving seat. Despite the fact that I was celebrating like I'd been relaesed from prison, I knew the game was far from over. However, Theo seemed intent on proving me wrong. Two minutes later Florent Malouda took too much time on the ball, Theo nicked it off him, passed to Fabregas who returned the pass with an exquisite through ball to split the Chelsea defence in half before the Englishman fired home past Cech. At this stage, we were all in dreamland. 3-0 up against Chelsea and there wasn't even an hour gone on the clock, are you being fucking serious!? The Emirates was on the verge of eruption. I haven't seen the fans bounce like that since....I don't think I've ever seen such celebrations at the Emirates. That is how much this game meant to everyone at the club. However, I still wasn't convinced we had the game wrapped up. It was far too soon, there was still over a half an hour to go and as we've already experienced this season, anything can happen in football.
Ancelotti responded immediately by replacing the awful Malouda with youngster Gael Kakuta. It wasn't exactly the substitution that would leave you quaking in your boots. Three minutes before the hour, my worst fear came about. A Drogba free-kick was nodded in by Ivanovic. I was dreading that nervous tension around the Emirates we all know. Credit to the fans though, they kept the atmosphere going and made sure the players didn't collapse. We kept going, if anything the Chelsea goal spurned us on. We fought for every ball as if our lives depended on it. You could see they really wanted this game. The only thing in their head was three points. No bad memories of the Spurs game. No thoughts of our inability to beat Chelsea in recen years. They wanted to win, full stop. The Blues tried to put us under pressure but everything they threw at us was fucked back up the field. We should have killed the game once and for all when Walcott's cross-field ball was miscontrolled by Kakuta who tried to chest it back to Cech. Instead Nasri latched onto it but his shot was poor and easily saved by Cech.
Arsene made two sensible changes as Diaby replaced Walcott and Chamakh came on for Van Persie. Diaby's height of course would benefit us in defending set-pieces and Chamakh's work-rates is fantastic. Chelsea had a goal ruled out for offside as I continued to eat what nails I had left. Diaby had another chance to kill the game but Cech saved well. It didn't matter as the sound of the final whistle was like music to my ears. I celebrated and sang for hours afterwards (which is why I'm writing up this blog so late). This team has answered so many questions with tonight's performance and more importantly the result. There's little time to dwell on the game and think of the great performance we put in. The players have to remain concentrated. We play Wigan away on Wednesday, we're going to get fuck all of a rest. Anyway here's the player ratings:
Fabianski: 7 - Didn't have much to do but was so reliable when called upon. He has come some way.
Sagna: 8 - Bombed up and down the right wing as if he had unlimited energy. Real solid display.
Djourou: 8 - My man of the match. He was incredible, kept drogba quiet all night. Surely he has earned his place in the starting eleven now?
Koscielny: 7 - Very impressive but needs to bulk up fast. His lack of strenght costs us from set-pieces.
Clichy: 8 - Answered a lot of questions tonight. Got protection from Nasri which he didn't get off Arshavin and it made a big difference.
Song: 8 - Best performance from him this season. He didn't wander forward like a headless chicken. Remained disciplined, broke up Chelsea play and opened the scoring.
Wilshere: 8 - Continues to grow in starure and confidence. What he talent we have on our hands.
Fabregas: 8 - Typical from Cesc. Committed, determined and brilliant.
Nasri: 8 - Unlucky not to score. Several moments of brilliance.
Walcott: 9 - Tonight he made a huge statement to Arsene. This boy deserves his place in the side, sorry Andrey.
Van Persie: 7 - For a man who is supposedly lacking in sharpness, he was fantastic.
Subs:
Diaby: 7 - Came on and did his job.
Chamakh: 7 - Ran his socks off to close down the Chelsea defenders.
Rosicky: 7 - Had little time on the pitch but nearly scored.
Well folks I could go on for hours talking about how brilliant we were tonight but I'm sure all of you have seen the game by now and know for yourselves. I'm off to celebrate some more.
Back tomorrow.
I'm not going to go beating around the bush tonight. Let's cut straight to the chase. What a magnificent night! You could say something speical has happened on this night. A major mental barrier has been broken, not only broken but smashed. We've taken some critisism over the last year or so for our inability to beat the big sides. I'm not saying it was injustified critisism but I think I speak for all of us when I say I was damn right fed up with it. We no longer have to listen to countless pundits, journalists and even our own fans abuse this club. I've been saying this for a long time and I've never once doubted it. This team has the ability to win the Premier League, I'd go as far as saying we can win the Champions League. The only thing holding us back was this mental weakness which has been so difficult to diagnose. The players have failed to live up to the big occasions in the last year. Even Cesc himself admitted the players were nervous going into these games. This past week I reckon the players just decided to put the foot down and tell themselves - "look this is hit, there's no point being afraid anymore, we've taken a lot of slack, now it's time to respond". I had a feeling we'd get a response tonight. You could just sense that the players really wanted this needless pressure off their backs. I'm so glad they did.
Prior to the game, everywhere you looked, all you would read or hear was "Arsenal can't lose tonight or their out of the title race" or "Do or Die for Arsenal". It gave you a sort of sick nervous feeling in your stomach imagining the amount of shit we'd have thrown our way if we did manage to fuck up. It was up to the players to deliver now.
Arsene made a few surprising changes to the team. Out went Squillaci for the in form Djourou. Walcott actually got the nod for once ahead of the unpredictable Arshavin and Van Persie came in for Chamakh who had been rested by the boss. The first name you looked for on the Chelsea team-sheet was Drogba and as expected, he was there. I really didn't give a shit about who else lined out for the Blues. I knew that if we turned up and played as we all know we can, then there would only be one outcome.
The early signs were good. We kept the ball well and the passing was very sharp, something that's been lacking in recent games. We should have gone ahead inside the first five minutes as Alex Song's beautifully lofted ball somehow evaded Van Persie, he appeared to have been put off by Ivanovic's attempted clearance. Despite our good start, Chelsea fired a few warning signs as Drogba looked to get on the end of long balls. Djourou and Koscielny kept close throughout, limiting him to a minority of headers and when he did control the ball he was quickly closed down and dispossessed.
A Samir Nasri free-kick was the next test for Cech. The ball was firmly hit but the big Czech made the catch look easy. Shortly after Walcott was set through but he miscontrolled the ball allowing Terry to get in and clear. Soon after a challenge on Theo resulted in Cashley Cole been giving a yellow card. Oh how sweet it would have been to have seen him sent off but it wasn't to be. Then a beautiful passing move involving Cesc and Nasri resulted in Van Persie blazing over. You got the feeling that if we didn't take our chnaces, sooner or later we would be punished. That feeling was soon banished. Jack Wilshere picked up the ball on the edge of the box, he played it into Song who turned his man, the ball fell to Cesc who was fouled but Clattenberg allowed the advantage and Song slotted home. My lungs were ready to explode. We all knew how important the first goal was. When we fall behind we tend to sulk if you like and life is made all the more difficult when you go a goal down against the top sides because they just shut up shop and look to hit you on the counter. This time we were leading. Yes, I know its hard to believe. It came just on the brink of half-time too so there was a serious buzz as the players headed into the dressing room.
The main concern for me at half-time was that we would come out, lose all momentum and allow Chelsea to come at us. It is well known that we struggle when we're put under increased pressure. For us, attack is the best form of defence. Chelsea brought on Ramires for Mikel. It was clear they were going to have a go at us. Our job was to expose them, we are the best team in the country at hitting teams on the counter attack after all. Despite the Blues' efforts to drag themselves back into the game, we were the ones to come out of the blocks firing and what a start to the second half it was. Essien's attempt to dispossess Van Persie resulted in him setting Walcott clean through on goal. The winger, who we've often critisised in the past for his failure to produce an end product, pulled the ball back for Fabregas to slot home and put us firmly in the driving seat. Despite the fact that I was celebrating like I'd been relaesed from prison, I knew the game was far from over. However, Theo seemed intent on proving me wrong. Two minutes later Florent Malouda took too much time on the ball, Theo nicked it off him, passed to Fabregas who returned the pass with an exquisite through ball to split the Chelsea defence in half before the Englishman fired home past Cech. At this stage, we were all in dreamland. 3-0 up against Chelsea and there wasn't even an hour gone on the clock, are you being fucking serious!? The Emirates was on the verge of eruption. I haven't seen the fans bounce like that since....I don't think I've ever seen such celebrations at the Emirates. That is how much this game meant to everyone at the club. However, I still wasn't convinced we had the game wrapped up. It was far too soon, there was still over a half an hour to go and as we've already experienced this season, anything can happen in football.
Ancelotti responded immediately by replacing the awful Malouda with youngster Gael Kakuta. It wasn't exactly the substitution that would leave you quaking in your boots. Three minutes before the hour, my worst fear came about. A Drogba free-kick was nodded in by Ivanovic. I was dreading that nervous tension around the Emirates we all know. Credit to the fans though, they kept the atmosphere going and made sure the players didn't collapse. We kept going, if anything the Chelsea goal spurned us on. We fought for every ball as if our lives depended on it. You could see they really wanted this game. The only thing in their head was three points. No bad memories of the Spurs game. No thoughts of our inability to beat Chelsea in recen years. They wanted to win, full stop. The Blues tried to put us under pressure but everything they threw at us was fucked back up the field. We should have killed the game once and for all when Walcott's cross-field ball was miscontrolled by Kakuta who tried to chest it back to Cech. Instead Nasri latched onto it but his shot was poor and easily saved by Cech.
Arsene made two sensible changes as Diaby replaced Walcott and Chamakh came on for Van Persie. Diaby's height of course would benefit us in defending set-pieces and Chamakh's work-rates is fantastic. Chelsea had a goal ruled out for offside as I continued to eat what nails I had left. Diaby had another chance to kill the game but Cech saved well. It didn't matter as the sound of the final whistle was like music to my ears. I celebrated and sang for hours afterwards (which is why I'm writing up this blog so late). This team has answered so many questions with tonight's performance and more importantly the result. There's little time to dwell on the game and think of the great performance we put in. The players have to remain concentrated. We play Wigan away on Wednesday, we're going to get fuck all of a rest. Anyway here's the player ratings:
Fabianski: 7 - Didn't have much to do but was so reliable when called upon. He has come some way.
Sagna: 8 - Bombed up and down the right wing as if he had unlimited energy. Real solid display.
Djourou: 8 - My man of the match. He was incredible, kept drogba quiet all night. Surely he has earned his place in the starting eleven now?
Koscielny: 7 - Very impressive but needs to bulk up fast. His lack of strenght costs us from set-pieces.
Clichy: 8 - Answered a lot of questions tonight. Got protection from Nasri which he didn't get off Arshavin and it made a big difference.
Song: 8 - Best performance from him this season. He didn't wander forward like a headless chicken. Remained disciplined, broke up Chelsea play and opened the scoring.
Wilshere: 8 - Continues to grow in starure and confidence. What he talent we have on our hands.
Fabregas: 8 - Typical from Cesc. Committed, determined and brilliant.
Nasri: 8 - Unlucky not to score. Several moments of brilliance.
Walcott: 9 - Tonight he made a huge statement to Arsene. This boy deserves his place in the side, sorry Andrey.
Van Persie: 7 - For a man who is supposedly lacking in sharpness, he was fantastic.
Subs:
Diaby: 7 - Came on and did his job.
Chamakh: 7 - Ran his socks off to close down the Chelsea defenders.
Rosicky: 7 - Had little time on the pitch but nearly scored.
Well folks I could go on for hours talking about how brilliant we were tonight but I'm sure all of you have seen the game by now and know for yourselves. I'm off to celebrate some more.
Back tomorrow.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Can't Beat The Big Teams, CL Draw & Postponements
Evening all,
Well I'll start by saying I fucking hate snow. It has completely ruined what was meant to be an exciting weekend of football. I woke up this morning with a real buzz and felt if we beat Stoke it could turn out to be a fantastic weekend for the Gunners. It wasn't to be. I switched on Sky Sports News to see a list of games that had been postponed and the fixture I was dreading to read was right at the top. Not all the games were called off, I passed the day by watching Sunderland vs Bolton and Blackburn vs West Ham. Not the most entertaining of games but better than nothing I suppose. As frustrated as we all are at our own game being postponed, we need to take into consideration the safety of the fans and of course the players wouldn't be able to play their best football if the ball was being caught up in four inches of snow would they? We'll have them scumbags from up north another day.
Now back to Monday night. I didn't get a chance to give my thoughts on the game because my internet was going on and off mainly due to the non stop snow and wind. Anyway, as I mentioned leading up to the game, it was a great opportunity to actually go to Old Trafford and get a win. Our away form this season has been fantastic, we possessed bags of quality up front and it was clear the players were pumped for it. You could be excused for having a little bit of optimism. I was reasonably confident during the weekend but as the game drew closer I was ready to ruin my boxers.
United played their usual 4-3-3 which worked so well against us in the past so it was going to be a test to see if we had come up with a strategy to come out trumps this time round. Szczesny was given the nod ahead of Fabianski as he failed a fitness test due to a hip injury. A lot of fans saw it as a huge blow before the game. I held no such fears, we saw what this boy can do in the Carling Cup and he's not short of self belief. That's what you love to see in a keeper. Fabianski has obviously had issues overcoming the physcological aspects of whats required to play at the top level but he's made it at last. I've no doubt he's going to have to be on his toes to retain his number one spot though.
Back to the game now and the atmosphere was simply incredible. I was particularly impressed with our away fans. They sang their hearts out, you'd have never thought the game was on at Old Trafford. I'd just like to give a massive big up to those travelling supporters, you've been brilliant all season, keep it up!
The opening stages of the game saw us put in some real tough challenges. I was expecting us to get to grips with the game early on as we did at Stamford Bridge. Instead we let the hosts have it and there were a few late tackles. I feared we would pick up an early yellow that would put that individual under pressure for the rest of the game (Song springs to mind). In recent years we have been the victims when it came to wreckless fouls and rough treatment. It gave you a sort of proud feeling to see our players standing up for themselves, in particular little Jack Wilshere who layed into the mouthy Evra and then stuck up for Chamakh when Fletcher tried on his usual bitching techniques.
As much as I enjoyed the physicality on our part, we weren't playing well and United were looking far more threatening than we were. Szczesny was put under unnecessary pressure from a few short back passes from Sagna and Clichy looked a bit streched at times but wasn't helped by Arshavin's inability to track back. Minutes before half-time we were made to pay. Nani again found himself in space before running at Clichy, his cross was half blocked by teh full-back before Park somehow headed in over the keeper. Call it what you want, fluky? Clever? It dosen't matter, the main thing is that we were losing to another big team and we didn't look like scoring at all. I was relieved to hear the full-time whistle as United reapeatidly came at us. It was a chance to regroup and make what changes were necessary.
We came out in the second half with a bit more enthusiasm. Our passing was better despite the bog like pitch. Our best chance of the match came when Nasri's shot was parried by Van Der Sar but Chamakh didn't react quick enough and his rebound was blocked by Vidic. It was a magnificent opportunity to stun the hosts, the type of chance you know Van Persie would have gobbled up. Speaking of the Dutchman, he and Fabregas were soon introduced as we looked for some more creativity at the expense of Rosicky and Wilshere. It left us more open at the back but it was a risk that we needed to take.
Despite the introduction of our two best players, we were unable to find openings. Arshavin was then withdrawn for Walcott. The pacy winger was quick to get involved and gave United something to think about but they were resilient at the back. It was going to take either a moment of magic or a big cock up in their defence. As we looked for an equaliser United hit us on the break, Anderson spreading the ball wide to Nani who's cross was blocked by Clichy and his second effort hit the Frenchman on the hand and Howard Webb pointed to the spot. It had to have been one of the worst decisions of the season. Clichy was on the ground, there was nothing he could do to get his arm out the way. Up stepped Rooney but he hilariously blazed over. Justice was served and we were given a second chance. Rooney was presented with another opportunity shortly after but his attempted chip was brilliantly saved by the ever reliable Szczesny. We pressed for an equaliser but nothing materialised and the full-time whistle meant we had fallen in a big game yet again.
It was a dire affair with both sides keeping it tight. United worked their socks off, we looked intimidated at the prospect of going forward which is understandable considering how we've been ripped apart against the big sides on the counter attack in recent seasons. On a postive note, we were organised. Squillaci and Koscielny who have come under cristisism were as solid as you'd have liked although certain fools will come up with reasons to blame them. Clichy has received severe slack for his performance. I know he had a tough time but what exactly do you expect when you come up against one of the in form wingers in the Premiership and you get absolutely no protection from the winger ahead of you? After the goal, I felt he did quite well, got tighter to Nani and nicked the ball off him a few times. Song and Wilshere sat in front of the defence and did a good job at it. Nasri was isolated on the right wing. I honestly don't know why Arsene played him out there. We see the best of him in when he's just behind the frontmen. I know Rosicky works hard for the team but he can do a job on the right wing too and will track back. It seems we have to learn lessons from every game these days. Here are my player ratings:
Szczesny: 7 - For a Premier League debutant at just 20, he was superb. His kicking was dodgy but he gradually improved and pulled off some great saves. My man of the match.
Sagna: 7 - Gave everything and kept Park quiet.
Squillaci: 6 - Nearly gifted Nani an early goal but did well in general.
Koscielny: 7 - The best of the four defenders. Still improving too.
Clichy: 6 - Hard night but critisism of him went over the top.
Song: 6 - Didnt contribute a whole lot but held his position well.
Wilshere: 7 - Gave 100%, not overwhelmed by occasion.
Rosicky: 6 - Gave his all but nothing came off for the Czech.
Nasri: 6 - Isolated but lively when in possession.
Arshavin: 6 - Not the Arshavin we know.
Chamakh: 6 - Received no service, crosses were poor. Had one opportunity to level.
Subs:
Van Persie: 5 - Very quiet.
Fabregas: 5 - Lively but failed to threaten.
Walcott: 6 - Tried but couldn't materialise anything.
In my opinion this defeat means we go into next week's game against Chelsea needing a win. The players have to prove to us the fans and more importantly to themselves, that they can win the big games. It would give them a huge mental boost and give them the belief to go on and win the Premier League. We can do it, whether we will turn up with the right frame of mind and performance remains to be seen.
Now to the Champions League draw. Did we honestly have to watch it? It was inevitable that we were going to be paired with Barcelona. Everyone including some of our own fans have written us off already. I'm not one of those fans. I'm no fool, obviously it's a huge task to overturn the best team in world football at the moment but like Arsene said, it's "difficult but possible". We've got to believe in ourselves. Don't forget we went to the Nou Camp last season with a squad down to it's bare bones and a defender who should have been paying us to play instead of the other way around (ahem Silvestre ahem). Look at it as if we've got nothing to lose which we don't in all honesty. People are saying we'll get hammered which should spark the players into a reaction. One things for sure, it will be another exciting affair.
Finally for today, we've snapped up Japanese prospect Ryo Miyaichi who will officially sign in January. He's 18 and caught the manager's eye in a trial with the club earlier this year. I've got high hopes for this lad, Wenger seems to too. If he can make progress with us and fulfill his potential, think of how much his reputation will enhance back in Asia hence benefiting us financially.
Think I've said enough for today. I could be back next week, if not have yourselves a very happy Christmas. Till next time Gooners.
Well I'll start by saying I fucking hate snow. It has completely ruined what was meant to be an exciting weekend of football. I woke up this morning with a real buzz and felt if we beat Stoke it could turn out to be a fantastic weekend for the Gunners. It wasn't to be. I switched on Sky Sports News to see a list of games that had been postponed and the fixture I was dreading to read was right at the top. Not all the games were called off, I passed the day by watching Sunderland vs Bolton and Blackburn vs West Ham. Not the most entertaining of games but better than nothing I suppose. As frustrated as we all are at our own game being postponed, we need to take into consideration the safety of the fans and of course the players wouldn't be able to play their best football if the ball was being caught up in four inches of snow would they? We'll have them scumbags from up north another day.
Now back to Monday night. I didn't get a chance to give my thoughts on the game because my internet was going on and off mainly due to the non stop snow and wind. Anyway, as I mentioned leading up to the game, it was a great opportunity to actually go to Old Trafford and get a win. Our away form this season has been fantastic, we possessed bags of quality up front and it was clear the players were pumped for it. You could be excused for having a little bit of optimism. I was reasonably confident during the weekend but as the game drew closer I was ready to ruin my boxers.
United played their usual 4-3-3 which worked so well against us in the past so it was going to be a test to see if we had come up with a strategy to come out trumps this time round. Szczesny was given the nod ahead of Fabianski as he failed a fitness test due to a hip injury. A lot of fans saw it as a huge blow before the game. I held no such fears, we saw what this boy can do in the Carling Cup and he's not short of self belief. That's what you love to see in a keeper. Fabianski has obviously had issues overcoming the physcological aspects of whats required to play at the top level but he's made it at last. I've no doubt he's going to have to be on his toes to retain his number one spot though.
Back to the game now and the atmosphere was simply incredible. I was particularly impressed with our away fans. They sang their hearts out, you'd have never thought the game was on at Old Trafford. I'd just like to give a massive big up to those travelling supporters, you've been brilliant all season, keep it up!
The opening stages of the game saw us put in some real tough challenges. I was expecting us to get to grips with the game early on as we did at Stamford Bridge. Instead we let the hosts have it and there were a few late tackles. I feared we would pick up an early yellow that would put that individual under pressure for the rest of the game (Song springs to mind). In recent years we have been the victims when it came to wreckless fouls and rough treatment. It gave you a sort of proud feeling to see our players standing up for themselves, in particular little Jack Wilshere who layed into the mouthy Evra and then stuck up for Chamakh when Fletcher tried on his usual bitching techniques.
As much as I enjoyed the physicality on our part, we weren't playing well and United were looking far more threatening than we were. Szczesny was put under unnecessary pressure from a few short back passes from Sagna and Clichy looked a bit streched at times but wasn't helped by Arshavin's inability to track back. Minutes before half-time we were made to pay. Nani again found himself in space before running at Clichy, his cross was half blocked by teh full-back before Park somehow headed in over the keeper. Call it what you want, fluky? Clever? It dosen't matter, the main thing is that we were losing to another big team and we didn't look like scoring at all. I was relieved to hear the full-time whistle as United reapeatidly came at us. It was a chance to regroup and make what changes were necessary.
We came out in the second half with a bit more enthusiasm. Our passing was better despite the bog like pitch. Our best chance of the match came when Nasri's shot was parried by Van Der Sar but Chamakh didn't react quick enough and his rebound was blocked by Vidic. It was a magnificent opportunity to stun the hosts, the type of chance you know Van Persie would have gobbled up. Speaking of the Dutchman, he and Fabregas were soon introduced as we looked for some more creativity at the expense of Rosicky and Wilshere. It left us more open at the back but it was a risk that we needed to take.
Despite the introduction of our two best players, we were unable to find openings. Arshavin was then withdrawn for Walcott. The pacy winger was quick to get involved and gave United something to think about but they were resilient at the back. It was going to take either a moment of magic or a big cock up in their defence. As we looked for an equaliser United hit us on the break, Anderson spreading the ball wide to Nani who's cross was blocked by Clichy and his second effort hit the Frenchman on the hand and Howard Webb pointed to the spot. It had to have been one of the worst decisions of the season. Clichy was on the ground, there was nothing he could do to get his arm out the way. Up stepped Rooney but he hilariously blazed over. Justice was served and we were given a second chance. Rooney was presented with another opportunity shortly after but his attempted chip was brilliantly saved by the ever reliable Szczesny. We pressed for an equaliser but nothing materialised and the full-time whistle meant we had fallen in a big game yet again.
It was a dire affair with both sides keeping it tight. United worked their socks off, we looked intimidated at the prospect of going forward which is understandable considering how we've been ripped apart against the big sides on the counter attack in recent seasons. On a postive note, we were organised. Squillaci and Koscielny who have come under cristisism were as solid as you'd have liked although certain fools will come up with reasons to blame them. Clichy has received severe slack for his performance. I know he had a tough time but what exactly do you expect when you come up against one of the in form wingers in the Premiership and you get absolutely no protection from the winger ahead of you? After the goal, I felt he did quite well, got tighter to Nani and nicked the ball off him a few times. Song and Wilshere sat in front of the defence and did a good job at it. Nasri was isolated on the right wing. I honestly don't know why Arsene played him out there. We see the best of him in when he's just behind the frontmen. I know Rosicky works hard for the team but he can do a job on the right wing too and will track back. It seems we have to learn lessons from every game these days. Here are my player ratings:
Szczesny: 7 - For a Premier League debutant at just 20, he was superb. His kicking was dodgy but he gradually improved and pulled off some great saves. My man of the match.
Sagna: 7 - Gave everything and kept Park quiet.
Squillaci: 6 - Nearly gifted Nani an early goal but did well in general.
Koscielny: 7 - The best of the four defenders. Still improving too.
Clichy: 6 - Hard night but critisism of him went over the top.
Song: 6 - Didnt contribute a whole lot but held his position well.
Wilshere: 7 - Gave 100%, not overwhelmed by occasion.
Rosicky: 6 - Gave his all but nothing came off for the Czech.
Nasri: 6 - Isolated but lively when in possession.
Arshavin: 6 - Not the Arshavin we know.
Chamakh: 6 - Received no service, crosses were poor. Had one opportunity to level.
Subs:
Van Persie: 5 - Very quiet.
Fabregas: 5 - Lively but failed to threaten.
Walcott: 6 - Tried but couldn't materialise anything.
In my opinion this defeat means we go into next week's game against Chelsea needing a win. The players have to prove to us the fans and more importantly to themselves, that they can win the big games. It would give them a huge mental boost and give them the belief to go on and win the Premier League. We can do it, whether we will turn up with the right frame of mind and performance remains to be seen.
Now to the Champions League draw. Did we honestly have to watch it? It was inevitable that we were going to be paired with Barcelona. Everyone including some of our own fans have written us off already. I'm not one of those fans. I'm no fool, obviously it's a huge task to overturn the best team in world football at the moment but like Arsene said, it's "difficult but possible". We've got to believe in ourselves. Don't forget we went to the Nou Camp last season with a squad down to it's bare bones and a defender who should have been paying us to play instead of the other way around (ahem Silvestre ahem). Look at it as if we've got nothing to lose which we don't in all honesty. People are saying we'll get hammered which should spark the players into a reaction. One things for sure, it will be another exciting affair.
Finally for today, we've snapped up Japanese prospect Ryo Miyaichi who will officially sign in January. He's 18 and caught the manager's eye in a trial with the club earlier this year. I've got high hopes for this lad, Wenger seems to too. If he can make progress with us and fulfill his potential, think of how much his reputation will enhance back in Asia hence benefiting us financially.
Think I've said enough for today. I could be back next week, if not have yourselves a very happy Christmas. Till next time Gooners.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Making Work Of Small Teams
Evening all,
Its been a while since the last blog so there's quite a bit to get through. I know it has been pretty annoying not knowing when the next blog is but I'm hoping that the problem will be sorted out after Christmas and you'll be able to enjoy reading my blog daily.
Anyway I'll go straight for Wednesday night's match. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to do a preview but I think the majority of us didn't really give a crap about the side we were facing. We just wanted the result which was fully expected. The good news ahead of the game was that Van Persie had been chosen. The boss played him just off Chamakh and as I have mentioned in the past, I'm really hoping they can hit it off as a partnership. The only other surprise was that Koscielny had made an Eboue type recovery from his injury and started instead of Djourou who was rested precautionary after picking up a minor knock.
As expected, we enjoyed plenty possession early on but failed to create much which is unlike us. Chamakh's header was about as close as we came to breaking the deadlock in the first half hour. However, fifteen minutes in Kieran Gibbs went over on his ankle and despite trying to run it off, he was forced to make way for Eboue. You have to feel symphaty for the lad, it seems every time he plays he gets injured and we don't seem him for another few weeks. This time round its three as Arsene confirmed.
As the half hour mark approached, Van Persie was brought down in the box after a clumsy challenge by a Partizan defender. The Dutchman stood up to take it and lashed home, it was a lovely confident finish for a man who is still regaining his sharpness. Soon after RVP set through Chamakh but the Moroccan couldn't get the ball out of his feet and the chance passed away. We'd improved going forward but looked nervous at the back every time Partizan came at us.
At the beginning of the second half Nasri had a chance to put the game to bed but uncharacteristically plazed his shot over. Soon after the Emirates was left stunned as Cleo found space at the edge of our box, Squillaci appeared to back off him and then decided to close him down but his attempt to block the shot took a deflection and looped in over Fabianski. There was now that sickening old tension around the stadium. It meant that a goal for Braga in the other game would put them ahead of us in the group.
We needed to freshen up and the boss responded by taking off Arshavin who was catastrophic, nothing came off for the man and he was replaced by the in form Walcott. He made the usual quick impact as his pace left the Partizan defenders clueless and they were forced into fouling him just outside the box. The resulting free-kick from Van Persie was tipped over the bar. You could sense a goal coming now. And so it came as a horrible attempt of a clearance from another dodgy Partizan defender was seized upon by Walcott and he finished beautifully.
Chamakh was then taken off for Bendtner and the Dane had a hand in the making of the third goal. He played the ball to Song who dazzled through the opposition defence with some lovely quick feet before laying off to Nasri who sidestepped his marker before firing home with his left foot. It was another piece of brilliance from a player who is on the form of his life and I hope it dosen't come to an end any time soon. The drama wasn't finished there however as our defence was carved apart once more leaving Lazavski one on one with Fabianski only to be hauled down by Sagna who was given his marching orders by the referee. It means he will miss the first leg in the last 16 tie. From the resulting free-kick Fabianski made a fine save to kill any chance of another nervy ending at the Emirates. It was job done although it was once again unconvincing and I'm worried about our inability to kill teams off. We're far more ruthless away from home than we are at the Emirates, nobody knows why that is. There are many possible reasons. Pressure of playing at home? The fact that there's no atmosphere at the Emirates? Maybe because teams tend to attack us at their stadiums leaving them open at the back? One things for sure, we'll definately need some of that formidable away form Monday night.
Here are the final standings in our group:
Obviously because Shakhtar were victorious over Braga we have to settle for 2nd place which means we will face one of Schalke, Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid. The ideal scenario would be if we were paired with Schalke but I'm not underestimating them either. Of course we could face Barcelona again. The thought of that is daunting for some people but I'd look upon it as a chance to avenge last seasons result no matter how far behind them people might think we are. There's also the possibility of facing Mourinho again, our record against him is dissmal so I certainly wouldn't mind getting one over Wenger's old foe. Bayern Munich, again are a very good prospect, I rate them highly but also see them as defeatable. Anyway the draw takes place on Friday, the 17th of this month and the ties won't commence until February so there's plenty of important football to get through domestically between now and then.
Now I know there has been a lot of speculation surrounding Manuel Almunia's future recently but according to what the boss said today, he is going nowhere or the time being. From what I've been reading over the last couple of weeks he very nearly left in the summer for Osasuna for £1.5m but the only stumbling block was his wage demands which the Spanish outfit weren't willing to match. Almunia is a man who wants first-team football and rightly so at his age but I honestly don't think he's going to get it here. He had his chance, he fluffed it with a string of errors over the years. You may wonder why Fabianski is now in goal when he's made even bigger blunders but remember he is still very young for a keeper and has showed increbible potential over the last two months. I'll give my full backing to whoever is between the sticks but I can only see the two Polish lads battling for that in the years to come.
I'm not too fussed about Evra's annual shit stirring comments. I rate him as a player but he is honestly one of the biggest bullshitters I have ever came across. Why does he make these needless comments? If he didn't feel threatened by us then he wouldn't be saying such things. Does he make similar statements prior to matches against the likes of West Ham? No and I reckon the players should use this as motivation to earn the three points even more.
Arsene has been speaking about Arshavin's performance midweek which was shocking to say the least. He said:
"He has a game that is based on risk," said Wenger.
"He tries to make incisive passes so of course when he takes one risk and it doesn’t work for him he takes another one. So sometimes people are impatient with his decision making.
"But if you look at the numbers of Arshavin in the Premier League you will see that he is the best passer and has more assists than anybody so that means [his game is] based on gambling but as well [it is] very efficient.
"He doesn’t frustrate me because I invite him to play the game that is Arshavin’s game. That means to go forward and provoke.
"There are some days it doesn’t work but Arshavin has great quality: he analyses very well, is very honest and has a fantastic objective assessment of his own performance. He is very demanding for himself so I have a huge respect for him."
I'm a huge fan of the Russian but he can be frustrating quite a lot. He often tries to pull off the spectacular which is amazing when it comes off but can look really sloppy when it dosen't. In my opinion there's no such thing as form with him. If he plays a blinder like he did against Villa, we shouldn't expect him to put in a similar display the following week and if he plays shit like Wednesday night then it dosen't mean he's off form. The guy is just unpredictable and will always be that way. That is why Arsene finds it hard to drop him, he can come up with a moment of magic at any time. Its good to have these type of players at your disposal.
Finally for an update on Cesc. He's made brilliant progress in his recovery from the hamstring injury but the medical staff are being really careful with him this time around and will take every precautionary step necessary. Its the right way to go about things, you can't be too careful with hamstrings. He's rated as 50:50 for Monday but with or without him, if we're on our game we can give them serious problems.
That's all for today folks, hopefully I'll be back over the weekend with a preview for Monday's game. Till next time, take it easy.
Its been a while since the last blog so there's quite a bit to get through. I know it has been pretty annoying not knowing when the next blog is but I'm hoping that the problem will be sorted out after Christmas and you'll be able to enjoy reading my blog daily.
Anyway I'll go straight for Wednesday night's match. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to do a preview but I think the majority of us didn't really give a crap about the side we were facing. We just wanted the result which was fully expected. The good news ahead of the game was that Van Persie had been chosen. The boss played him just off Chamakh and as I have mentioned in the past, I'm really hoping they can hit it off as a partnership. The only other surprise was that Koscielny had made an Eboue type recovery from his injury and started instead of Djourou who was rested precautionary after picking up a minor knock.
As expected, we enjoyed plenty possession early on but failed to create much which is unlike us. Chamakh's header was about as close as we came to breaking the deadlock in the first half hour. However, fifteen minutes in Kieran Gibbs went over on his ankle and despite trying to run it off, he was forced to make way for Eboue. You have to feel symphaty for the lad, it seems every time he plays he gets injured and we don't seem him for another few weeks. This time round its three as Arsene confirmed.
As the half hour mark approached, Van Persie was brought down in the box after a clumsy challenge by a Partizan defender. The Dutchman stood up to take it and lashed home, it was a lovely confident finish for a man who is still regaining his sharpness. Soon after RVP set through Chamakh but the Moroccan couldn't get the ball out of his feet and the chance passed away. We'd improved going forward but looked nervous at the back every time Partizan came at us.
At the beginning of the second half Nasri had a chance to put the game to bed but uncharacteristically plazed his shot over. Soon after the Emirates was left stunned as Cleo found space at the edge of our box, Squillaci appeared to back off him and then decided to close him down but his attempt to block the shot took a deflection and looped in over Fabianski. There was now that sickening old tension around the stadium. It meant that a goal for Braga in the other game would put them ahead of us in the group.
We needed to freshen up and the boss responded by taking off Arshavin who was catastrophic, nothing came off for the man and he was replaced by the in form Walcott. He made the usual quick impact as his pace left the Partizan defenders clueless and they were forced into fouling him just outside the box. The resulting free-kick from Van Persie was tipped over the bar. You could sense a goal coming now. And so it came as a horrible attempt of a clearance from another dodgy Partizan defender was seized upon by Walcott and he finished beautifully.
Chamakh was then taken off for Bendtner and the Dane had a hand in the making of the third goal. He played the ball to Song who dazzled through the opposition defence with some lovely quick feet before laying off to Nasri who sidestepped his marker before firing home with his left foot. It was another piece of brilliance from a player who is on the form of his life and I hope it dosen't come to an end any time soon. The drama wasn't finished there however as our defence was carved apart once more leaving Lazavski one on one with Fabianski only to be hauled down by Sagna who was given his marching orders by the referee. It means he will miss the first leg in the last 16 tie. From the resulting free-kick Fabianski made a fine save to kill any chance of another nervy ending at the Emirates. It was job done although it was once again unconvincing and I'm worried about our inability to kill teams off. We're far more ruthless away from home than we are at the Emirates, nobody knows why that is. There are many possible reasons. Pressure of playing at home? The fact that there's no atmosphere at the Emirates? Maybe because teams tend to attack us at their stadiums leaving them open at the back? One things for sure, we'll definately need some of that formidable away form Monday night.
Here are the final standings in our group:
| 1 |  FC Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 15 |
| 2 |  Arsenal FC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 12 |
| 3 |  SC Braga | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 11 | -6 | 9 |
| 4 |  FK Partizan | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 13 | -11 | 0 |
Obviously because Shakhtar were victorious over Braga we have to settle for 2nd place which means we will face one of Schalke, Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid. The ideal scenario would be if we were paired with Schalke but I'm not underestimating them either. Of course we could face Barcelona again. The thought of that is daunting for some people but I'd look upon it as a chance to avenge last seasons result no matter how far behind them people might think we are. There's also the possibility of facing Mourinho again, our record against him is dissmal so I certainly wouldn't mind getting one over Wenger's old foe. Bayern Munich, again are a very good prospect, I rate them highly but also see them as defeatable. Anyway the draw takes place on Friday, the 17th of this month and the ties won't commence until February so there's plenty of important football to get through domestically between now and then.
Now I know there has been a lot of speculation surrounding Manuel Almunia's future recently but according to what the boss said today, he is going nowhere or the time being. From what I've been reading over the last couple of weeks he very nearly left in the summer for Osasuna for £1.5m but the only stumbling block was his wage demands which the Spanish outfit weren't willing to match. Almunia is a man who wants first-team football and rightly so at his age but I honestly don't think he's going to get it here. He had his chance, he fluffed it with a string of errors over the years. You may wonder why Fabianski is now in goal when he's made even bigger blunders but remember he is still very young for a keeper and has showed increbible potential over the last two months. I'll give my full backing to whoever is between the sticks but I can only see the two Polish lads battling for that in the years to come.
I'm not too fussed about Evra's annual shit stirring comments. I rate him as a player but he is honestly one of the biggest bullshitters I have ever came across. Why does he make these needless comments? If he didn't feel threatened by us then he wouldn't be saying such things. Does he make similar statements prior to matches against the likes of West Ham? No and I reckon the players should use this as motivation to earn the three points even more.
Arsene has been speaking about Arshavin's performance midweek which was shocking to say the least. He said:
"He has a game that is based on risk," said Wenger.
"He tries to make incisive passes so of course when he takes one risk and it doesn’t work for him he takes another one. So sometimes people are impatient with his decision making.
"But if you look at the numbers of Arshavin in the Premier League you will see that he is the best passer and has more assists than anybody so that means [his game is] based on gambling but as well [it is] very efficient.
"He doesn’t frustrate me because I invite him to play the game that is Arshavin’s game. That means to go forward and provoke.
"There are some days it doesn’t work but Arshavin has great quality: he analyses very well, is very honest and has a fantastic objective assessment of his own performance. He is very demanding for himself so I have a huge respect for him."
I'm a huge fan of the Russian but he can be frustrating quite a lot. He often tries to pull off the spectacular which is amazing when it comes off but can look really sloppy when it dosen't. In my opinion there's no such thing as form with him. If he plays a blinder like he did against Villa, we shouldn't expect him to put in a similar display the following week and if he plays shit like Wednesday night then it dosen't mean he's off form. The guy is just unpredictable and will always be that way. That is why Arsene finds it hard to drop him, he can come up with a moment of magic at any time. Its good to have these type of players at your disposal.
Finally for an update on Cesc. He's made brilliant progress in his recovery from the hamstring injury but the medical staff are being really careful with him this time around and will take every precautionary step necessary. Its the right way to go about things, you can't be too careful with hamstrings. He's rated as 50:50 for Monday but with or without him, if we're on our game we can give them serious problems.
That's all for today folks, hopefully I'll be back over the weekend with a preview for Monday's game. Till next time, take it easy.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Unconvincing But Job Done
Afternoon all,
The majority of us were relatively optimistic going into yesterday's game and rightly so. Our record at home against Fulham over the years has been pretty good. On Twitter I noticed a lot of people were predicting 3-0 and 4-0 scorelines etc. I was also expecting a win but at the same time I wasn't overly confident because of recent showings at the Grove. Fulham's frontline was down to it's bare bones with Kamara playing the lone role but we have a tendancy to make average strikers look very good indeed.
Arsene sprung no real surprises with his selection. Some felt Van Persie would be picked after the boss recently spoke about accomadating himself and Chamakh but the wait goes on for him to clinch his first Premier League start since August. There was still enough firepower on show to really hurt this Fulham side.
We began brightly, the usual periods of slick passing in and around the opponents box threatening to rip them open. The first real chance fell to Arshavin who had been booed by some idiots in the away stand who obviously think Adrian Durham has a brain. It was Wilshere's free-kick which the Cottagers failed to clear, it fell to the Russian who hit it on the volley but it was straight at Schwarzer. Arshavin looked up for it again as he ran at the Fulham defence giving them all sorts of problems, this time feeding Nasri who failed to make a proper connection with the ball before it rolled wide.
The inevitable breakthrough came a quarter of an hour in when the same two linked up again. This time Nasri who cut inside two defenders and lashed the ball into the top right hand corner. It was a moment of technical class from Sammy. I was literally druling and I think I've watched the replay well over 400 times now. The Frenchman was on his game and was torturing young Matthew Briggs at left-back who was eventually withdrawn. The chances continued to come our way as Song wasted a terrific opportunity to put us well in the driving seat. Soon after Chamakh connected well with Sagna's cross only to see his powerful header go straight at Schwarzer.
On the half-hour mark, what looked like a harmless long ball turned into a moment of needless drama. Squillaci and Koscielny clashed heads, the latter coming off the worst and did well to stand on his feet at the time. Fulham didn't put the ball out of play, nor the the referee blow the whistle as he should have because it was a head injury and they went on to score as Dempsey put through Kamara who finished. It was a situation that could have been so easily avoided but we couldn't afford to dwell on it. Once again failure to take our chances had come back to haunt us. This time there was no time for self pity. It was obvious Fulham were going to shut up shop now so a big test of character awaited us. Unfortunately Koscielny would take no further part and was replaced by Djourou. Not long after, we almost conceded again as Kamara raced onto another through ball Fabianski came out and made a hugely important save. We were nervy, clearly shell shocked by the equaliser and were gratful to hear teh half-time whistle.
We came out in the 2nd half with a bit more bite. Rosicky saw his volley flash just wide of the post. We drove forward in numbers, the players were determined to get an early goal to ease the nerves. My heart needed one too. Arshavin was the next to test Schwarzer as he dazzled past a few Fulham defenders only to see his snap shot blocked by the Australian's outstreched leg. At the other end we were far too nervous. Etuhu was left unmarked from a corner but sent his header well wide. The danger signs were there for us. Alex Song wasted another chance having done so well to chase down a ball that looked out of his reach but his eventual effort was blazed over the bar.
Fulham threatened to punish once more as Gera's acrobatic bicycle kick went narrowly wide. We neededa breath of fresh air and the boss responded by introducing Walcott and the expense of Wilshere. I had that horrible feeling that we could win this game but just as easily throw it away. Then came a moment of sheer briliance from who else but Samir Nasri. Substitute Van Persie layed it off to the Frenchman who dazzled past two defenders, rounded the keeper and shot on the turn from a tricky angle but as we found out against Spurs, he speicalizes in this area. 2-1 and I was ecstatic. There was a sense of overwhelming relief around the Emirates but we still had to see this one out. Etuhu could have easily equalised but he dragged his shot just wide of Fabianski's right hand post. This was followed up by a volley from Gera which was brilliantly saved from the Polish keeper. The five minutes of injury time were the longest of my life but we held on.
Whatever about the peformance, we got the job done. It wasn't as convincing as we would have liked but we saved ourselves a shitload of critisism and the players also saved themselves a right bollocking from the manager. The defending was far from acceptable. Against the lesser sides, we tend to switch off too often and could have been punished if it wasn't for a combination of wasted chances and some good saves from Fabianski. Song needs to be reminded that he is a holding midfielder. Surely he has already but he couldn't have got the message. The back four has practically no protection when he goes forward. I know Wilshere tries to hold but that he shouldn't have to constantly wonder where Alex has wandered off to all the time. I'm not saying he should sit in midfield for the entire game but pick better times to go forward and limit how many times he does it. Then we'll concede far less goals I'm sure.
As you all know, Koscielny went off in a stretch yesterday with concussion. I heard he's okay, suffered no damage but may need a while out just to get the head right. You need to be careful when dealing with the after-effects. I don't think we'll miss him too much, Djourou will come in and I've been overly satisfied with his performances this season. We should be able to manage.
Now for the player ratings:
Fabianski: 7 - Kept us in the game, good performance.
Sagna: 7 - Solid display.
Squillaci: 6 - Not at his best.
Koscielny: 6 - Was doing well until he had to go off.
Clichy: 7 - Not troubled, got forward well.
Song: 6 - Not himself, will have better days.
Wilshere: 6 - Struggled to have an impact.
Rosicky: 6 - Tried but didn't create as much as he would have liked.
Nasri: 9 - Fantastic, so many words to describe him but yesterday he was close enough to unplayable.
Arshavin: 7 - Always a threat, unlucky not to score.
Chamakh: 6 - Didn't get as much service as he would have liked but could have easily scored.
Subs:
Van Persie: 6 - Set up Nasri's second, getting back to his best.
Djourou: 7 - Another solid display, really pushing for a regular role now.
Walcott: 6 - Didn't have time to make an impact.
Yesterday was made even better as Chelsea could only manage a draw at home to Everton. The Blues are not in a good place at the moment. I always said that when they picked up a few injuries they would struggle. They don't have strenght in depth and this is the first real blip Ancelotti has experienced and he's struggling to get them back in shape. We play them in a few weeks and if we're on top, I'm confident we can take ful advantage. Let's take one game at a time though, we've got a massive game midweel followed by a crunch clash at Old Trafford.
There's not much else going on surounding the club. Wenger did briefly mention he could be loaning out a few players in January. I'm assuming that the likes of Emmanuel-Thomas and Vela will go out in search of first-team experience. The latter has come in for critisism in recent weeks with some suggesting he would be better suited to La Liga. I still have faith in him to produce, he just needs to get the head down and keep working hard. A good loan spell would do him the world of good.
I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday. I hope to be back with a preview of the Partizan game.
Till next time.
The majority of us were relatively optimistic going into yesterday's game and rightly so. Our record at home against Fulham over the years has been pretty good. On Twitter I noticed a lot of people were predicting 3-0 and 4-0 scorelines etc. I was also expecting a win but at the same time I wasn't overly confident because of recent showings at the Grove. Fulham's frontline was down to it's bare bones with Kamara playing the lone role but we have a tendancy to make average strikers look very good indeed.
Arsene sprung no real surprises with his selection. Some felt Van Persie would be picked after the boss recently spoke about accomadating himself and Chamakh but the wait goes on for him to clinch his first Premier League start since August. There was still enough firepower on show to really hurt this Fulham side.
We began brightly, the usual periods of slick passing in and around the opponents box threatening to rip them open. The first real chance fell to Arshavin who had been booed by some idiots in the away stand who obviously think Adrian Durham has a brain. It was Wilshere's free-kick which the Cottagers failed to clear, it fell to the Russian who hit it on the volley but it was straight at Schwarzer. Arshavin looked up for it again as he ran at the Fulham defence giving them all sorts of problems, this time feeding Nasri who failed to make a proper connection with the ball before it rolled wide.
The inevitable breakthrough came a quarter of an hour in when the same two linked up again. This time Nasri who cut inside two defenders and lashed the ball into the top right hand corner. It was a moment of technical class from Sammy. I was literally druling and I think I've watched the replay well over 400 times now. The Frenchman was on his game and was torturing young Matthew Briggs at left-back who was eventually withdrawn. The chances continued to come our way as Song wasted a terrific opportunity to put us well in the driving seat. Soon after Chamakh connected well with Sagna's cross only to see his powerful header go straight at Schwarzer.
On the half-hour mark, what looked like a harmless long ball turned into a moment of needless drama. Squillaci and Koscielny clashed heads, the latter coming off the worst and did well to stand on his feet at the time. Fulham didn't put the ball out of play, nor the the referee blow the whistle as he should have because it was a head injury and they went on to score as Dempsey put through Kamara who finished. It was a situation that could have been so easily avoided but we couldn't afford to dwell on it. Once again failure to take our chances had come back to haunt us. This time there was no time for self pity. It was obvious Fulham were going to shut up shop now so a big test of character awaited us. Unfortunately Koscielny would take no further part and was replaced by Djourou. Not long after, we almost conceded again as Kamara raced onto another through ball Fabianski came out and made a hugely important save. We were nervy, clearly shell shocked by the equaliser and were gratful to hear teh half-time whistle.
We came out in the 2nd half with a bit more bite. Rosicky saw his volley flash just wide of the post. We drove forward in numbers, the players were determined to get an early goal to ease the nerves. My heart needed one too. Arshavin was the next to test Schwarzer as he dazzled past a few Fulham defenders only to see his snap shot blocked by the Australian's outstreched leg. At the other end we were far too nervous. Etuhu was left unmarked from a corner but sent his header well wide. The danger signs were there for us. Alex Song wasted another chance having done so well to chase down a ball that looked out of his reach but his eventual effort was blazed over the bar.
Fulham threatened to punish once more as Gera's acrobatic bicycle kick went narrowly wide. We neededa breath of fresh air and the boss responded by introducing Walcott and the expense of Wilshere. I had that horrible feeling that we could win this game but just as easily throw it away. Then came a moment of sheer briliance from who else but Samir Nasri. Substitute Van Persie layed it off to the Frenchman who dazzled past two defenders, rounded the keeper and shot on the turn from a tricky angle but as we found out against Spurs, he speicalizes in this area. 2-1 and I was ecstatic. There was a sense of overwhelming relief around the Emirates but we still had to see this one out. Etuhu could have easily equalised but he dragged his shot just wide of Fabianski's right hand post. This was followed up by a volley from Gera which was brilliantly saved from the Polish keeper. The five minutes of injury time were the longest of my life but we held on.
Whatever about the peformance, we got the job done. It wasn't as convincing as we would have liked but we saved ourselves a shitload of critisism and the players also saved themselves a right bollocking from the manager. The defending was far from acceptable. Against the lesser sides, we tend to switch off too often and could have been punished if it wasn't for a combination of wasted chances and some good saves from Fabianski. Song needs to be reminded that he is a holding midfielder. Surely he has already but he couldn't have got the message. The back four has practically no protection when he goes forward. I know Wilshere tries to hold but that he shouldn't have to constantly wonder where Alex has wandered off to all the time. I'm not saying he should sit in midfield for the entire game but pick better times to go forward and limit how many times he does it. Then we'll concede far less goals I'm sure.
As you all know, Koscielny went off in a stretch yesterday with concussion. I heard he's okay, suffered no damage but may need a while out just to get the head right. You need to be careful when dealing with the after-effects. I don't think we'll miss him too much, Djourou will come in and I've been overly satisfied with his performances this season. We should be able to manage.
Now for the player ratings:
Fabianski: 7 - Kept us in the game, good performance.
Sagna: 7 - Solid display.
Squillaci: 6 - Not at his best.
Koscielny: 6 - Was doing well until he had to go off.
Clichy: 7 - Not troubled, got forward well.
Song: 6 - Not himself, will have better days.
Wilshere: 6 - Struggled to have an impact.
Rosicky: 6 - Tried but didn't create as much as he would have liked.
Nasri: 9 - Fantastic, so many words to describe him but yesterday he was close enough to unplayable.
Arshavin: 7 - Always a threat, unlucky not to score.
Chamakh: 6 - Didn't get as much service as he would have liked but could have easily scored.
Subs:
Van Persie: 6 - Set up Nasri's second, getting back to his best.
Djourou: 7 - Another solid display, really pushing for a regular role now.
Walcott: 6 - Didn't have time to make an impact.
Yesterday was made even better as Chelsea could only manage a draw at home to Everton. The Blues are not in a good place at the moment. I always said that when they picked up a few injuries they would struggle. They don't have strenght in depth and this is the first real blip Ancelotti has experienced and he's struggling to get them back in shape. We play them in a few weeks and if we're on top, I'm confident we can take ful advantage. Let's take one game at a time though, we've got a massive game midweel followed by a crunch clash at Old Trafford.
There's not much else going on surounding the club. Wenger did briefly mention he could be loaning out a few players in January. I'm assuming that the likes of Emmanuel-Thomas and Vela will go out in search of first-team experience. The latter has come in for critisism in recent weeks with some suggesting he would be better suited to La Liga. I still have faith in him to produce, he just needs to get the head down and keep working hard. A good loan spell would do him the world of good.
I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday. I hope to be back with a preview of the Partizan game.
Till next time.
Friday, December 3, 2010
On The Brink Of Success, Fulham Preview & More
A very good morning to you all,
It has been quite an eventful week football wise to say the least. I'll try and stick to Arsenal related news, there's a lot to get through and I've plenty of time to do so. Due to snow and freezing conditions, I'm once again stranded in my home but I won't complain. It's nice to have the odd day off and catch up on all the latest news.
We'll begin with Tuesday night's 2-0 win over Wigan at the Emirates. I said I was confident going into the game, we were on the back of a good result at the weekend, Wigan weren't plus they aren't exactly a good side anyway. So nothing less than a win was required no matter how we went about it. The boss sprung no real surprises in the line-up although it was rather strange seeing us line out in a 4-4-2 formation or as some referred to it as 4-2-3-1. Denilson played the holding role as expected, Wilshere was the advanced midfielder while Vela and Walcott occupied the wings. Up front we had two men with points to prove in the injury magnet Van Persie and the vocal Bendtner.
We should have been ahead in the second minute as Van Persie put in an exceptional cross from a free-kick only for the unmarked Bendtner to totally fluff his header. Wigan almost punished us straight away as the promising Victor Moses turned Eboue inside out but his left footed effort could only find the side netting. The Latics weren't didn't play the free flowing football some were expecting. They practically put 10 men behind the ball hoping to catch us on the counter. Carlos Vela missed a glorious chance to give us the lead when he was set clean through by Van Persie's brilliant back heel. I think everyone was expecting him to do his usual chip over the keeper but he messed it up and it went harmlessly wide. We were firmly in control at this stage. Wigan's problems weren't helped when Moses went off with a serious looking shoulder injury. He was basically their only threat going forward. We had two penalty shouts, the first a blatant offence committed by Figueroa, the second from the slighly more innocent McArthur. However we did find the net just before half-time as Theo's corner was missed by Bendtner but Alcarez was on hand to head the ball into his own net. It was a major weight off our shoulders going into the break.
The majority of the Emirates were on teh brink of a cardiac arrest at the beginning of the second half as Van Persie looked to be in pain after being sandwiched by two Wigan players. Thankfully though, he was able to resume play after some treatment. This half wasn't as action packed as the first. We seemed to take our foot off teh accelerator without being complacent, we made sure Wigan didn't get a sniff. There was always the fear though that anything from a simple mistake to a moment of magic could bring the Latics back into it and take the game to the much unwanted extra-time. Just over 20 minutes from time, we made sure of the win. Vela picked up the ball down the left and slid a beautifully weighted ball scross the penalty area which was met by the good old poacher Bendtner who's shot was scrambled into the net. The Mexican could have made it 3 only to be denied by Al Habsi. Theo's pace terrorised the Wigan defenders in the latter stages of teh game but he couldn't find the net despite going close on more than one occasion. The job was done though, we had secured a spot in the semi-finals.
Here are my player ratings following the victory:
Szczesny: 7 - Didn't have much to do but was assured when called upon.
Eboue: 5 - Had a poor game to be honest, Moses gave him a really hard time before going off injured.
Koscielny: 7 - Not troubled really, easy day at the office.
Djourou: 7 - Continues to improve, really pushing for a regular spot now.
Gibbs: 8 - Fantastic, always a threat down the left wing and was solid defensively.
Denilson: 7 - Did his job even though it was relatively easy against an ineffective Wigan side.
Wilshere: 7 - Good game, some impressive through balls.
Walcott: 7 - Pace frightened the life out of Wigan, deserved a goal.
Vela: 7 - Much improved performance, needs to keep on working and will get his rewards eventually.
Van Persie: 8 - Sharpness is coming back, moments of brilliance and staked his claim for a start against Fulham.
Bendtner: 6 - Not at his best but got his goal. Still needs to do more for the team.
Subs:
Eastmond: 6 - Came on and did the job of seeing out the game.
Emmanuel-Thomas: 6 - Didn't get involved, will have better days.
Nasri: 7 - Came so close to scoring after moment of sheer brilliance.
Mission complete then. We'd put ourselves in the semi-finals and even better news followed the game as West Ham had hammered Man.Utd 4-0. On Wednesday night, Birmingham won teh battle in the Midlands derby as they defeated Villa 2-1 and Ipswich pulled off one of the shocks of the tournament, knocking out West Brom at Portman Road. We looked ahead to the draw with real optimism. We were more than capable of beating any of the remaining teams. For once I was practically fearless going into a cup draw. It was made straight after Wednesday's games and we were paired with Roy Keane's Ipswich. I'm trying not to come across as cocky but it is a game we should really win with ease. The first leg is at Portman road which commences on Wednesday, Januray 12th with the second leg at the Grove on Tuesday, January 25th. Should we win, we will face either West Ham or Birmingham in the final which will take place at Wembley, a place I'd like to see more of in years to come. I really fancy us to go on and win it, our only enemy would appear to be complacency but to be honest, that shouldn't be a factor. We've got an opportunity to end our long trophy drought, what more motivation could you possibly want?
Anyway looking ahead to the Fulham game tomorrow at the Emirates. First of all and I'm blue in the face from saying this, nothing less than three points is acceptable. The Cottagers are on a poor run of form. It was only two weeks ago that they took a hammering from City in front of their own fans and generally they aren't good travellers. This game also gives us a chance to get one over that cunt Mark Hughes. Usually he comes across as a decent bloke but when up against the top sides, he activates super prick mode. A good thumping tomorrow would do no harm but I'd take any scoreline aslong as it's in favour of us. There are a few whispers going around that Van Persie's showing midweek will earn him a spot while Nasri will supposedly be rested after picking up a slight knock. Here's how I expect us to line out:
Fabianski
Sagna - Squillaci - Koscielny - Clichy
Rosicky - Song - Wilshere
Van Persie - Arshavin
Chamakh
I wouldn't be surprised if we did line out like that. Rosicky has been impressive lately so he deseves to get the nod in midfield if Nasri is going to be rested. Song and Arshavin should also be reintroduced, the Russian occupying the left wing. RVP will probably hover around just behind Chamakh, drifting in and out of midfield. At the back (I almost forgot), Sagna, Squillaci and Clichy will be welcomed back. Some say Gibbs deseves to keep his place but I can't see it happening this weekend. Above is a team capable of really hurting Fulham but we will have to be on top of our game in order to do so. If RVP and Chamakh can link up, then we could see one hell of a partnership.
As for Fulham, I'm expecting to see a line up consisting of the following players:
Schwarzer
Baird - Hughes - Hangeland - Kelly
Davies - Etuhu - Murphy - Gera
Dempsey
Kamara
This is a side riddled in injuries. Going forward you wouldn't expect them to cause major problems but we need to be really careful when defending set-pieces. We're conceding far too many goals from corners and free-kicks lately. We need to be stronger and get tighter to our opponents. Hangeland and Dempsey in particular are very good in the air. Mark Schwarzer has just signed a new contract for the Cottagers and will be eager to show Arsene what he's missed out on, no doubt he will want to make an impression.
Our players know we can't afford anymore silly slip ups, espeically tomorrow because we've got United at Old Trafford after this in the league. Hopefully it won't be the usual heart stopping drama we're so used to be now. Let's get ourselves an early goal and kick on from there!
Now for some other news. First of all Arsene has revealed he won't be rushing Cesc back from his hamstring injury and he's 100% right. I'm willing to leave him out of the game at Old Trafford if it means he comes back sharper and fitter than ever with no problems with either hamstring. This problem has been going on too long and it needs sorting as soon as possible. The boss says he will take advice from medical staff before deciding when to welcome the captain back. I thought you were supposed to take advice from them anyway? Ah well.
Denilson has been speaking about our progress in the Carling Cup. He says:
"I think we can win it this season, and I want to win it this season because for five or six years we haven't won any trophies, but now we are a little bit stronger than last season," the 22-year-old Brazilian declared.
"Last season we lost some big games, and this season we are more experienced.
"We have a great team, we have young players, but quality as well."
He makes a good point there. If we do win this competition, it will install the beleif to go on and win more silverware. Tony Adams was talking about the Arsenal team in the 1980's saying they were a "nearly" side. Then they won the League Cup and from there the trophies just kept coming. I honestly believe this could also be the case with the current crop of players. Also, as the final is in late February, think of the mental boost it would give us in the title race. Let's not get ahead of ourselves now, we need to take each game as it comes and give no less than 100%.
This week Marouane Chamakh has set himself a target of scoring 20 goals by the end of the season. He's certainly made the right start. Not many players come to England and score 10 goals before Christmas. He has been quite sensational for us and I still can't believe he didn't cost a penny. Now you see why Bordeaux rated him so highly in the first place. They were looking for 20 million euro last year.
The Morrocan was also speaking the Arsenal.com this week explaing why the fans have taken to him so quickly. He reckons it's mainly down to the fact that he gives his all in every game. He says:
"I think the fact that I give everything [is why they have taken to me]," he told Arsenal.com.
"I give 200 per cent, I play with my heart, I've got guts, I give everything I've got. I don't cheat or cut corners, that's my strength, my character and I think that they like me for it."
"Personally, I've never been a great goalscorer, I've never scored more than 20 goals a season, but it's up to the manager as to how he uses his players," he said.
"For me, if I can weigh in with 15 to 20 goals, it would be a very, very good season. Whatever happens I hope to continue my progress, which went really well under Laurent Blanc [at Bordeaux] and long may it continue.
"It's gone really well with the set-up here, I hardly knew anyone when I arrived but they've all made me feel very welcome. It has been easy to settle in and this has allowed me to express myself and that's very important.
"Personally, I'm happy. I can do better but yes, I am happy."
He does make a good point although I wouldn't say he is completely innocent of no play acting. Some of the penalties he earned us earlier in the season were rather dubvious but he seems to have cut that out of his game already and that what I like to see. Players learning from their mistakes all the time.
Well I think I've gone through everything I intended to. Let's hope for a comfortable win tomorrow with the other two dropping points. Have yourselves aan excellent weekend.
Till next time.
It has been quite an eventful week football wise to say the least. I'll try and stick to Arsenal related news, there's a lot to get through and I've plenty of time to do so. Due to snow and freezing conditions, I'm once again stranded in my home but I won't complain. It's nice to have the odd day off and catch up on all the latest news.
We'll begin with Tuesday night's 2-0 win over Wigan at the Emirates. I said I was confident going into the game, we were on the back of a good result at the weekend, Wigan weren't plus they aren't exactly a good side anyway. So nothing less than a win was required no matter how we went about it. The boss sprung no real surprises in the line-up although it was rather strange seeing us line out in a 4-4-2 formation or as some referred to it as 4-2-3-1. Denilson played the holding role as expected, Wilshere was the advanced midfielder while Vela and Walcott occupied the wings. Up front we had two men with points to prove in the injury magnet Van Persie and the vocal Bendtner.
We should have been ahead in the second minute as Van Persie put in an exceptional cross from a free-kick only for the unmarked Bendtner to totally fluff his header. Wigan almost punished us straight away as the promising Victor Moses turned Eboue inside out but his left footed effort could only find the side netting. The Latics weren't didn't play the free flowing football some were expecting. They practically put 10 men behind the ball hoping to catch us on the counter. Carlos Vela missed a glorious chance to give us the lead when he was set clean through by Van Persie's brilliant back heel. I think everyone was expecting him to do his usual chip over the keeper but he messed it up and it went harmlessly wide. We were firmly in control at this stage. Wigan's problems weren't helped when Moses went off with a serious looking shoulder injury. He was basically their only threat going forward. We had two penalty shouts, the first a blatant offence committed by Figueroa, the second from the slighly more innocent McArthur. However we did find the net just before half-time as Theo's corner was missed by Bendtner but Alcarez was on hand to head the ball into his own net. It was a major weight off our shoulders going into the break.
The majority of the Emirates were on teh brink of a cardiac arrest at the beginning of the second half as Van Persie looked to be in pain after being sandwiched by two Wigan players. Thankfully though, he was able to resume play after some treatment. This half wasn't as action packed as the first. We seemed to take our foot off teh accelerator without being complacent, we made sure Wigan didn't get a sniff. There was always the fear though that anything from a simple mistake to a moment of magic could bring the Latics back into it and take the game to the much unwanted extra-time. Just over 20 minutes from time, we made sure of the win. Vela picked up the ball down the left and slid a beautifully weighted ball scross the penalty area which was met by the good old poacher Bendtner who's shot was scrambled into the net. The Mexican could have made it 3 only to be denied by Al Habsi. Theo's pace terrorised the Wigan defenders in the latter stages of teh game but he couldn't find the net despite going close on more than one occasion. The job was done though, we had secured a spot in the semi-finals.
Here are my player ratings following the victory:
Szczesny: 7 - Didn't have much to do but was assured when called upon.
Eboue: 5 - Had a poor game to be honest, Moses gave him a really hard time before going off injured.
Koscielny: 7 - Not troubled really, easy day at the office.
Djourou: 7 - Continues to improve, really pushing for a regular spot now.
Gibbs: 8 - Fantastic, always a threat down the left wing and was solid defensively.
Denilson: 7 - Did his job even though it was relatively easy against an ineffective Wigan side.
Wilshere: 7 - Good game, some impressive through balls.
Walcott: 7 - Pace frightened the life out of Wigan, deserved a goal.
Vela: 7 - Much improved performance, needs to keep on working and will get his rewards eventually.
Van Persie: 8 - Sharpness is coming back, moments of brilliance and staked his claim for a start against Fulham.
Bendtner: 6 - Not at his best but got his goal. Still needs to do more for the team.
Subs:
Eastmond: 6 - Came on and did the job of seeing out the game.
Emmanuel-Thomas: 6 - Didn't get involved, will have better days.
Nasri: 7 - Came so close to scoring after moment of sheer brilliance.
Mission complete then. We'd put ourselves in the semi-finals and even better news followed the game as West Ham had hammered Man.Utd 4-0. On Wednesday night, Birmingham won teh battle in the Midlands derby as they defeated Villa 2-1 and Ipswich pulled off one of the shocks of the tournament, knocking out West Brom at Portman Road. We looked ahead to the draw with real optimism. We were more than capable of beating any of the remaining teams. For once I was practically fearless going into a cup draw. It was made straight after Wednesday's games and we were paired with Roy Keane's Ipswich. I'm trying not to come across as cocky but it is a game we should really win with ease. The first leg is at Portman road which commences on Wednesday, Januray 12th with the second leg at the Grove on Tuesday, January 25th. Should we win, we will face either West Ham or Birmingham in the final which will take place at Wembley, a place I'd like to see more of in years to come. I really fancy us to go on and win it, our only enemy would appear to be complacency but to be honest, that shouldn't be a factor. We've got an opportunity to end our long trophy drought, what more motivation could you possibly want?
Anyway looking ahead to the Fulham game tomorrow at the Emirates. First of all and I'm blue in the face from saying this, nothing less than three points is acceptable. The Cottagers are on a poor run of form. It was only two weeks ago that they took a hammering from City in front of their own fans and generally they aren't good travellers. This game also gives us a chance to get one over that cunt Mark Hughes. Usually he comes across as a decent bloke but when up against the top sides, he activates super prick mode. A good thumping tomorrow would do no harm but I'd take any scoreline aslong as it's in favour of us. There are a few whispers going around that Van Persie's showing midweek will earn him a spot while Nasri will supposedly be rested after picking up a slight knock. Here's how I expect us to line out:
Fabianski
Sagna - Squillaci - Koscielny - Clichy
Rosicky - Song - Wilshere
Van Persie - Arshavin
Chamakh
I wouldn't be surprised if we did line out like that. Rosicky has been impressive lately so he deseves to get the nod in midfield if Nasri is going to be rested. Song and Arshavin should also be reintroduced, the Russian occupying the left wing. RVP will probably hover around just behind Chamakh, drifting in and out of midfield. At the back (I almost forgot), Sagna, Squillaci and Clichy will be welcomed back. Some say Gibbs deseves to keep his place but I can't see it happening this weekend. Above is a team capable of really hurting Fulham but we will have to be on top of our game in order to do so. If RVP and Chamakh can link up, then we could see one hell of a partnership.
As for Fulham, I'm expecting to see a line up consisting of the following players:
Schwarzer
Baird - Hughes - Hangeland - Kelly
Davies - Etuhu - Murphy - Gera
Dempsey
Kamara
This is a side riddled in injuries. Going forward you wouldn't expect them to cause major problems but we need to be really careful when defending set-pieces. We're conceding far too many goals from corners and free-kicks lately. We need to be stronger and get tighter to our opponents. Hangeland and Dempsey in particular are very good in the air. Mark Schwarzer has just signed a new contract for the Cottagers and will be eager to show Arsene what he's missed out on, no doubt he will want to make an impression.
Our players know we can't afford anymore silly slip ups, espeically tomorrow because we've got United at Old Trafford after this in the league. Hopefully it won't be the usual heart stopping drama we're so used to be now. Let's get ourselves an early goal and kick on from there!
Now for some other news. First of all Arsene has revealed he won't be rushing Cesc back from his hamstring injury and he's 100% right. I'm willing to leave him out of the game at Old Trafford if it means he comes back sharper and fitter than ever with no problems with either hamstring. This problem has been going on too long and it needs sorting as soon as possible. The boss says he will take advice from medical staff before deciding when to welcome the captain back. I thought you were supposed to take advice from them anyway? Ah well.
Denilson has been speaking about our progress in the Carling Cup. He says:
"I think we can win it this season, and I want to win it this season because for five or six years we haven't won any trophies, but now we are a little bit stronger than last season," the 22-year-old Brazilian declared.
"Last season we lost some big games, and this season we are more experienced.
"We have a great team, we have young players, but quality as well."
He makes a good point there. If we do win this competition, it will install the beleif to go on and win more silverware. Tony Adams was talking about the Arsenal team in the 1980's saying they were a "nearly" side. Then they won the League Cup and from there the trophies just kept coming. I honestly believe this could also be the case with the current crop of players. Also, as the final is in late February, think of the mental boost it would give us in the title race. Let's not get ahead of ourselves now, we need to take each game as it comes and give no less than 100%.
This week Marouane Chamakh has set himself a target of scoring 20 goals by the end of the season. He's certainly made the right start. Not many players come to England and score 10 goals before Christmas. He has been quite sensational for us and I still can't believe he didn't cost a penny. Now you see why Bordeaux rated him so highly in the first place. They were looking for 20 million euro last year.
The Morrocan was also speaking the Arsenal.com this week explaing why the fans have taken to him so quickly. He reckons it's mainly down to the fact that he gives his all in every game. He says:
"I think the fact that I give everything [is why they have taken to me]," he told Arsenal.com.
"I give 200 per cent, I play with my heart, I've got guts, I give everything I've got. I don't cheat or cut corners, that's my strength, my character and I think that they like me for it."
"Personally, I've never been a great goalscorer, I've never scored more than 20 goals a season, but it's up to the manager as to how he uses his players," he said.
"For me, if I can weigh in with 15 to 20 goals, it would be a very, very good season. Whatever happens I hope to continue my progress, which went really well under Laurent Blanc [at Bordeaux] and long may it continue.
"It's gone really well with the set-up here, I hardly knew anyone when I arrived but they've all made me feel very welcome. It has been easy to settle in and this has allowed me to express myself and that's very important.
"Personally, I'm happy. I can do better but yes, I am happy."
He does make a good point although I wouldn't say he is completely innocent of no play acting. Some of the penalties he earned us earlier in the season were rather dubvious but he seems to have cut that out of his game already and that what I like to see. Players learning from their mistakes all the time.
Well I think I've gone through everything I intended to. Let's hope for a comfortable win tomorrow with the other two dropping points. Have yourselves aan excellent weekend.
Till next time.
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