Well it’s true isn’t it? If you want to beat Arsenal… don’t try and play football, because 99% of the time you’ll get beaten.
I’ve been saying all week that I thought Arsene and his boys were going to shock ManU. Arsene Wenger is just too good a coach to go for any sort of stretch without a victory. After the Fener game, I had a few reservations about where the goals would come from today. Nik has been out of sorts and Arsenal were running low on confidence. I was also having sleepless nights over Berbatov, Rooney and Ronaldo against our shaky defence… oh, and I had worries over that diabolical excuse for a ref, Howard Webb (justified).
The game began at pace, it was pretty gung-ho from both teams. Arsenal deployed Nik up front on his own and he went painfully close twice after Clichy floated a peachy cross into him, and he failed to get on the end of another similar chance. Then Wayne Rooney picked the ball up just outside our box, hit it low and hard at Almunia’s far post… Almunia parried and Berbatov slotted home. Thankfully the flag was up… A few nerves were jangled, but the clean sheet was still in tact.
Arsenal began to get into their stride, EVDS weakly punched a Cesc Fabregas freekick only for Diaby to shoot wide… and then came the moment we were hoping for. The ball was whipped into the box, cleared out by Berbatov to the edge of the box where Nasri pounced maneuvering his body to fire a shot from under his feet… the ball clipped off of Neville and hit the back of the net for our first of the day.
Manchester had their chances as well… Rooney doing well on a few occasions to keep his Premiership tally at 99. I think the 5 minutes after the goal, United registered 72% of the possession.
Diaby managed to break free of his marker and was chopped down from behind… Webb deemed it to be a dive though. What a poor ref this guy is… why does he always get the biggest games?
The important thing was that we managed to go into the second half without conceding.
So, the half time question were this. Could our defence hold out? Could we get another to secure the win?
The second half began at a similar pace to the first. Everyone in the team was mucking in. We hussled, we fought for every ball and every single player on the pitch showed the sort of desire Arsenal fans demand. Cesc Fabregas turned and passed to Nasri who jinked inside his marker and fired past the keeper from about 20 yards with a belter of a shot! What a goal! The boy was on fire!
2-0 up should have felt comfortable, but after the Spurs capitulation, no one felt safe. United continued to show profligacy in front of goal. Rooney and Ronaldo were out of sorts and failing to hit the target on numerous occasions. United’s best chance fell to Ronaldo who fizzed the ball across goal missing. Almunia pulled out a few good saves and his body on the line for a 50-50… which he won, but subsequently injured himself. Fabianski came on to replace him.
My one complaint about the match was the substitutions. Song was brought on to sit with Denilson, then Diaby was taken off and replaced by Kolo. Why do we continue to do this when we have teams on the back foot? It invites the opposition on and usually results in us conceding a goal… and sure enough it did. The ball was played into the Arsenal box, it was headed out to the edge of the box and despite us having 2 holding midfielders on the pitch… plus Kolo… Rafael managed to volley past Fabianski.
Oh dear… we’ve been here before.
Tevez was brought on to replace Rooney and the last 5 minutes felt like an eternity… then the 4th official put the board up and showed 6 minutes! Is it just me, or is it always 6 minutes when it is ManU? What a joke…
What was nice to see is that the players were actually trying to kill the game by knocking it around. We didn’t manage to do a convincing job of it, but you have to put that down to nerves. Finally the ref blew up and it was over… 3 points in the bag, and Arsenal very much back in the title race!
Player Ratings:
Almunia: I thought he had a top game today. He made a couple of tidy saves and I was impressed with his save at the feet of <insert players name because I don’t recall>. It showed bravery and he looked gutted to have to go off. 7
Clichy: Floated a couple of top quality crosses into the box today and did a great job of keeping Ronaldo quiet. He also did an amazing job of not scoring an own goal from an early corner! I thought he had an excellent game as usual and I am sure he will take a lot of confidence from today. 8
Silvestre: Playing against your old club of 9 years must be hard, but I thought Silvestre had a great game. He was strong in the air and tough in the challenge. He was unlucky not to get a goal as well. I think today was his best for the club so far. 8
Gallas: Another great game for the captain. He seems to enjoy playing next to Silvestre rather than Kolo. The captain was getting forward today and also did a good job of keeping a lot of world class talent quiet. 8
Sagna: There has been a lot of criticism of Sagna this season, some of it quite unjust. Today he proved why he is one of the best full backs in the world with a gritty, tough performance. 8
Diaby: Top game from the young frenchman. He seems to thrive in a 4-5-1. He is great with the ball at his feet, he can turn like the best and he is a real threat going forward. I also thought he did quite well from a defensive point of view. It’s great to have a bit of height in midfield. I’d love to see more of him in a 4-4-2. 8
Cesc: He certainly was up for it today. He battled for everything from start to finish. I was really impressed with his strength and I felt he was also trying his best to slow down the play in the final 15minutes. He also set Nasri’s second. Maybe todays performance will convince him that we can compete this season and he can start returning to form. 8.5
Denilson: Arguably his best performance in the red and white of Arsenal. He was a little terrier out there today. His passing was spot in, his energy levels were a lot higher than normal and he looked extremely comfortable on the ball. Could today be the turning point in his season? Can he do that against the poorer more physical teams? I hope so! 9
Nasri: After going missing in action in midweek, Nasri seemed to find his spark again today. He was great to watch on the ball… his weaving runs flumoxing the United defence at times. He also managed to get two goals which you can pretty much guarantee Hleb wouldn’t have got… and that is the big difference for me. With Hleb in the team you’d get nice link up play… which would count for nothing if the strikers weren’t on song. Now we are scoring from midfield, the pressure has been relieved. I think Nasri will be a bigger asset to the us the further into the year we get. It’s a bit early to make Pires comparisons, but here’s hoping! 9
Walcott: Ok… so he didn’t have an overly productive game today, but the key point to note about Walcott is that having him in the team offers you a fear factor. A poor Walcott is more value to the team than an on form Eboue because teams hate to play against pace. It prevents the full backs bombing forward if they know that they may have to catch one of the fastest players in Europe. So a quiet day for Theo, but having in the team definitely contributed to our win. 6.5
Nik: He missed a few great chances today, but what good strikers don’t? The point is that he was there to miss them and overall he had quite a solid game. He is superb on the ball and he held it up really well… he just needs a goal to really kick start his season. I thought that for a 20 year old, playing for the first time up front on his own, he did a great job. Sometimes playing the loan striker can make you look poor… becuase you are doing a job for the team, not yourself. I thought he did well today… and I think he is going to be a top player for years to come. Give him some time guys and you will see how good he can be. 7
Subs:
Fabianski: Did ok with a couple of long balls, had no chance for the goal. 6
Song: Not sure why Wenger felt the need to throw him on… he didn’t really do much for the team. 6
Kolo: Came on and gave us some extra energy towards the end. 6
Conclusion:
So… our season could be back on track. We’ve lost 3 games to weak opposition, but if we can win our next 4 games, we could be in a pretty healthy position. If our bad patch is finished and we can have a good December, there is a tiny bit of hope
The big question that needs to be asked is can this team transfer todays form into the minor games? It is ok motivating yourself for the big games, but if you can’t be assed against Stoke… what is the point?
By the way, I thought the fans were in fine voice all game… well played to everyone at the Grove! I’d also like to thank everyone in the Lion and Lobster in Brighton for making sure the only Spurs fan in the bar sat next to me!
I quote,
Spud: ‘We’ve got a new 60,000 seater stadium being built’
Pedro: ‘Oh really, how will you afford it?’
Spud: ‘We’ll afford it mate, don’t you worry about that… the fans will have a whip round.’
Only a Spud, eh? He wasn’t even joking! Still, it is great to sit with a Spud watching your team put on a master class… today was a superb spectacle… a billion people will feel they had VFM.
So… Can we do something this year?
Let us know in the comments section!
Le Grove is now smart phone compatible!
Pedro
Geoff
I am soooo happy
Tought Nikki B deserves some credit
or thought i should say.Off to do the stadium tour today
Great win and a great post, you must have been up all night Pedro!
It was a truly amazing game to watch.
Blimey Maryland it must be ten past 4 where you are!
I thought that Denilson played so well. There was one ball that was crossed, and Manchester United let it roll, while Denilson sprinted across the box to keep it in, and make another play out of it. I think that summed up our desire to win yesterday.
Not to mention that Clichy took CR right out of the game. Despite the horrific lack of calls for Arsenal, we still came away with the 3 points.
The ref was shocking.
Geoff, I am here in London. I saw the game from secion 119!
I was going to meet up with you and Pedro, but I couldn’t remember where you met up, plus I have no idea as to what you all look like : ).
great,great win!
Well.At least top ten. good post.
Sorry. typing error.
That’s a shame, where is 119?
how did the Beers go down Geoff?
I felt . . . for the first time this season . . . that the Gallas/Silvestre pairing actually worked. They played a pretty tidy game. Gallas played the role of captain. You could see him actively directing traffic, even with Silvestre. That is what you have to have, in order to win trophies.
Like I didn’t have a throat Eve!
well done boys, hope this is a start of a great November run! Bring on Wigan for the youngsters!
Block 119, Upper Tier, Row 2, Seat 781 and 782. We were right above the Man Ure supporters section. Great vantage point on the game.
great write up. finally a blog that gives credit to denilsons performance. he had so much energy and was so brave on the ball. also i thought the icing on the cake yesterday was gary nevilles performance! the guy so was bad and clearly out of his depth. not only is he basically a crap player but he is now to old and slow to kick anyone!
great post Pedro – my only difference would have been to swap your Denilson and Nasri ratings, otherwise good stuff!
Great result- I feel your ratings are a bit generous though. Minus one for all of them except Walcott who was about 6. We still surrendered a lot of chances and were fortunate Utd didn’t score first as they should have. I felt while Bendnter worked hard- in the last period of the game he consistently made the wrong choices with the ball. I agree that Dernilson was good. To me Fabianski looks more commanding than Almunia- his howler picking up the back pass early on put the whole team on the back foot. Defensively we looked better- in fact our GK and defense were on a par with Utd who looked shaky at the back but lazy journalism will leave Van der Saar immune from criticism. Overall with a quality striker we would have been more comfortable- but then if utd could finish the game would have been over before we got started.
Hi guys that was some game. After the Fener game away I just thought this current team plays better in a 4-5-1
Kingsley, he looked like an angry dwarf on the field. He took two shots and soared into the stratosphere . . . old man syndrome. Unfortunately, I know it all too well.
Gerry thats what happens in most games. u need to be lucky
How about the supporters?
Were they sing a lot? haha
For me, Clichy was man of the match yesterday!! Constant threat going forwards, never troubled defending and is finally delivering some top qaulity crosses – arguably the only thing that has been missing from his game. Also had the nerve to make Ronaldo look like a complete muppet!! The true epitome of Arsenal Football club…….
song was the plonker who gave away cheap possession that lead to man utd’s goal.
I thought cesc’s passing was off in the last 15mins as well, he looked very tired and I worry for him considering its still early in the season, tiredness leads to injury and we can not afford to miss him.
Let’s not get to hasty with the, “Manchester United could have won this game 3 times over again, and it was lady luck that stayed our game.” We got the bluk of the nonsensical yellow cards, every ball seemed to go Manchester United’s way, and they consistently got a “random” foul in very dangerious territory . . . plus they got a magical 6-8 minutes at the end of the game.
We had every challenge thrown at us, and I think the boy’s played well.
Yep it was Song that misplaced a pass that led to the utd’s goal
Ronaldo was a joke yesterday. Clichy has ‘ruined’ his career.
Keep it up!
Arse&Nose, I agree that both Cesc and Nikki looked tired. Nik got a few fast breaks at the end of the game, and simply lacked the fitness to out pace a tired Man Ure defense. You could tell that he doesn’t normally play 90 minutes. He might want to hit the treadmill this week.
maryland i agree, the motd and media coverage seems to say that we were lucky, completely ignoring the fact that we created dozens of clear cut opportunities and if Nicky B and co had their shooting boots on it could have been 4 or 5, and what about Nasri’s penalty appeal!?
maryland i know the syndrome all to well myself! i’m like neville without a touch on a 5 a side pitch!still it was so good to see him finally getting shown up for what he really is.
oh……………….my…………………………….god……………………………. I am still floating, what a game, nerves on edge, screaming till my throat hurt, swirling my scarf around at the end, getting so many hugs from so many lovely lovely ”gooner boys”, I even managed to get one of the ‘free’ t-shirt gifts for my nephew – a perfect perfect day for me and hoping for many many more to come………
Arse&Nose that exactly what I said at the time, stupid substitution and that now makes 5 goals directly from his touch, if you’re going to bring someone on make it Djourou.
Arse, that was lunacy that they did not call that. I was across the stadium, and could see that he was being pulled back from the ball. Absolute rubbish refereeing. Rubbish.
Nice post Pedro.
I think Bendtner played up front on his own in the defeat against Sevilla away last season. He surely worked hard and was better than midweek but I must say you assessment is more favourable than mine.
I always felt we would do well against the bigger teams, I predicted the scoreline a few days ago. It is the smaller ones we struggle against. Villa would be a tough match next wknd.
WHIP ROUND!!! dirty spud. any ways forget him.
Yesterdays game was excellent stuff. i told my mates before the game if its
FOOTBALL for FOOTBALL we would win Hands down.
its any wonder teams come out to kick us to death. this win proves that and its only going to make teams kick us even more now.
There is so much stuff you miss when watching a game on the television. I loved it when the Man Ure fans would start to cheer, that the Gooner faithful would chant “shyte” after every word . . . classic. (They tend to omit that from television programming)
Morning all!
Gerry, games like yesterday are always going to provide loads of chances for the opposition… if we’d taken all our chances…we could have had a few more!
Cesc’s passing was a little off at times, but he worked harder than I’ve ever seen him work. His strength on the ball was superb on occasion yesterday.
I haven’t seen MoTD yet… what did they have to say on the game? I bet the were pig sick!
It was indeed a great day Skandi, but they didn’t show when Diaby was felled (MOTD) and we got nothing, for me the Manc should have gone, he was last man, Webb is a disgrace and was all game, a wanker as we all sang!
That was some of the worst officiating I have seen in a long long time. It could have cost us the game, but the lads prevailed. Well done indeed.
Theo was kicked far too often yesterday. How Evra and Ronney escaped without yellows/reds baffles me.
They said we were the only team they’d pay to watch.
Cunts I bet none of them have ever paid.
Pedro
that cunt Alan Hansen was creaming our arse’s
i dont think he enjoyed it
Is it me, or does Rooney look like Shrek?
Geoff it was enough that the challenge was from behind to get carrick sent off. webb is a clown
marylandgunner
welcome to 2008
we have been calling him that for the last few years now
Yeah but the BBC left that one out, Shrek is better looking and has more hair.
What about Carrick punting Almunia in the face. It looked like the only reason Webb pulled a card was because he knew the fans would storm the field if he did not. It was an instance where you could really see he was not calling the game both ways.
What happened to some home field leniency?
Geoff
“better looking and has more hair.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHA CLASSIC
thats 9 mo points up for grab in november. if we can win all those games then i wld say we are back in the title race
We’ve only lost 3 games in the league haven’t we ?
And Shrek makes more money . . . ha! Rooney was livid for most of the game. Serves him right . . . he was shyte.
Villa won’t be easy, nor will Man City or Chelsea. Our next group of games will either make us, or put us off the pace. Prayerfully it will be the first of these things.
there was many times were some one like Denilson could have passed the ball into space for THEO to run on to but instead he went the other way. i couldnt understand it.
Theo seemed to get tied up with defenders all day, and was not exploiting Evra’s slower pace.
THEO didnt track back enough aswell.
but when there was space for him to Run into no one made the pass when it was needed. dont really matter now since we won
We dodged a bullet at one point, when Theo was playing a bit of defense, and the Man U player got around him in the box . . . I held my breath on that one. But Raif, you are right, we are criticising a win. It was a glorious day. Pouring rain, sun, light rain, sun, and then a win. I’ll take it.
The only reason they didnt pass to walcott was because of Evra’s pace matching walcotts. this meant that walcott was used as a decoy……
Guys the plus was the performance and I do believe that Arsene reads le-grove
I wouldnt say criticising a win. just pointing out a few Areas to Improve on.
other then that im really happy with NiKKI-B as he got a full 96 Mins and did well up top by himself. i was hoping for a goal and he would have been brimming with confidence
The ‘fat granny shagger’ song to Rooney is still making me smile every time I think of it.
I’m not that worried of Man City, they are more open than Katie Price
That has to be true, Wednesday’s team was exactly what we asked for and apart from Silvestre and Denilson yesterdays was as well.
But Denilson had a blinder, I said before he can improve but Song will always be shit.
Soon as SONG came on i had my head in my hands.
gooooood morning fellas…
can i find some manc fan so that i can punch them in face for opening big mouth of his?????lols
so now can denilson be loved by the grovers????
Raif, I was there with you. I leaned over to my wife and said, “we need to pray.” We saw him leaving in his Range Rover . . . he looked clueless then. Maybe there is a theme here.
We shld do well against Chelski (another ‘big’ team!,) I’d play the same team but swap Ade for Bendtner (if Ade is fit). Although RvP is special, I think Diaby is a better team player and stronger on the ball, and yes got bags of tricks
It was a great Result and a great performance but what is important now is to carry it on. It is all very well beating the current champions, but will be sadly wasted if we have a shocker against Villa. we have to get consistent and whilst Wenger was right in his comment yesterday that the perfomance and result showed we do have the charachter to win the league. Unfortunately the same can be said in the performances and results against Fulham, Sunderland, Stoke and Hull in that it showed we don’t have the Charachter to win it, and it is those results we need to have no more of all season.
Agree with the Denilson rating, that was his best game so far. I actually thought Cesc was still struggling to regain form, his passing is still a little eratic. His work rate was much improved though.
Song once again proved that he should not be in the squad. Thank god he was only on the field for a few mins, but even that cost us the goal. No doubt he will be in contention next Saturday.
Overall I think Almunia is having a good season…….But I just feel more confidence in Fabianski, I think he is going to be World Class alongside the likes of Cech.
I do wonder if this is going to turn into the season before last where we won the mini league of top 4 clubs but let ourselves down against some the minnows and mid-table clubs
Finally I still cant understand the stadium plans for Spurs. They base the requirement on a waiting list of 20,000 for season tickets, yet those fans are already going but paying on a match by match basis. They dont always sell out now, how do they expect to fill 60,000 seats. I think they need to think more about themselves rather than trying to match Arsenal in all areas……Muppets. Even some of the Spuds I know dont understand the logic.
Denilson looked a lot stronger yesterday, at times man utd players were bouncing off him but he needs to play like this against the stokes and hulls of the league.
Song should be sacked, but wenger likes him and seems to not rate djourou as highly.
Is it me or does it feel like officials in general fear man utd? I watch a lot of football and that includes many man utd games and I’ve noticed that there is a different approach by officials towards man utd.
Anytime rooney,ferdinand and co make a bad tackle they are given the benefit of the doubt. When fergie asked for 6mins injury time he got exactly that.
In the past fergie has had refs changed for his matches, does he and man utd have too much power over the refs and the FA, and should this be allowed?
this is the thing with our team. we can come out and beat Man Utd. and the next game look kinda shite and get a draw. we REALLY REALLY need to add to this Win and go on a Run. it is vital
Le Chump= Howard Webb he was shocking!
Howard Webb was shocking, that verged on being one-sided
Top shout…
We warned you first here on Le Grove! Their 12th man.
Oh, the fickle nature of gooner football blogs!
Oh the predictable comment of an AKB.
Hello martin
martin’s a MANC
Good read Pedro
Evening all
Really good result. As raif said earlier, The Club needs to have a run of wins, all the way to new year maybe. This result must not just be a flash in the pan. For me I would get more satisfaction out of beating Liverwurst. They are getting far to many wins by poxy refereeing decisions, so to beat them would be great.
I watched the replay of their win over WBA & the commentator just said how Gerrard saved the day against Athletico. He cheated for fucks sake.
Denilson was very good I wish he would stop ball watching so much. 4 The Rooney chance he was right next 2 him but was watching Ronaldo. I know it sounds like I’m nip-picking but what if Rooney scored? He’s got 2 learn 2 be aware of what’s around him. Apart from that lack of concentration he was superb.
It’s mad Martin… we’re happy when we win and sad when we lose.
Messed up or what?
English bias, if Gerrard was french he would have been destroyed by the media.
Sometimes when you hear these old pundits/media comments it feels like Arsenal are the black guy standing in the middle of a KKK meeting!
That was a penalty on Nasri. Yes Webb is a prick, I see what you all mean.
Martin has been tin tacked raif.
Denilson needs to play like that in every game, now he’s shown he can. I think the concentration bit will come Metal.
Arse&nose… don’t mention the KKK!
Martin seriously what are U talking about?
Martin
Arse&Nose
too right mate, its the same with all the english players. its a piss take
Geoff I hope so I really want him 2 do well.
I think our next 2 PL games are AV and Chelsea if we beat AV than that Chelsea game is gonna be massive.
Metal is the Roman, I mean Chelski game @ home or away,
so pedro is he going to rest nikk against wigan because he is the only striker with some premiership experience at his disposal for nest two games???//
Hindsight is a great thing but in this economic climate, can you imagine Liverwurst or Top 4 Tottsie building a stadium like Arsenals now. The Club did well to get it built when things were good.
chelsea are playing away
Chav game is away
tony cascarino
is now Creaming our arse’s on sky sports news right now. wanker
Arse&Nose so true so true I watched a YouTube clip and watched JT spit in CT face in the CL final hardly mentioned by the scum(press) just 2 add insult 2 injury he become a nominee 4 the England captaincy and than won it. And U wonder what the reaction would have been if it was the other way round.
Well lets hope Did He Do a Dog Poo is injured coz Anelka won’t want to score against the club he made the top 50 greatest of all time
The win for doesn’t mean we don’t need players, we still need a Cana type and if he refuses to play Djourou, a centre back, Song should be sold.
Have a great day Grovers. The Mrs. and I are off to get a tour by Charlie George.
Till then . . . Arsenal 2 – Man U. 1 . . . soak it in.
Maryland
Don’t forget to tell CG9/10/11 that rico from Le Grove used to have the hots for him
Oh my god raif do U have any idea how much I hate him he’s is such a cunt. Why is he even allowed 2 talk about us on SSN? It should be an ex-Arsenal player not this…this thing.
Gnarley, I will make sure to pass that along. Ah, Gooner romance.
errr. im just wondering how denilson can get a 9 yet narsi only a 8 ???
ok someone sack the player rater guy !!
geoff i nominate you as the next player rater !
i felt for sure ade would get an 8 also .. and he wasnt playing
Geoff I agree but will Wenger? If we end up on the TOTT by January will Wenger sign players?
Metal Gear
i dont like him either. his a dick. and its Sky allowing Anti arsenal people speak about us.
its all Sky’s Propaganda Machine at work. they fucking brain wash people into beliveing there shit
also a special note that fabianski came in a did a wicked job !!!
the pressure and pace of that match i worried for him !
being included in the 77th minute in a +6 OT he did stunningly well for 20 minutes !
raif/metal gear
the best way to stick it up these fools is to win The Cup. To beat the reigning England & European Champions with half a team would be giving the Cascario’s of the world the shits.
……& besides I love it when its “us against the world”. Victory tastes sweeter,
Chamon(E)
Ok, I’ve shifted enough concreting gravel to build the Great Wall China today. I’m phucked See you later. Gnarley has left the blog…………………………………………………
I thought I had given him a 9!
Rookie… he might play him so he can get a couple of goals under his belt!
Now you have, good call.
whos this Brazilian striker we have signed a pre-contract with? called Lenny
Should Dudu be bac in the next week or so, because it was 3 weeks from the 23rd october, which wud mean he’ll be bac next weekend?
benno
i thnk he would be fit and in full training but in terms of playing matchs his some way off. i would expect him back some time in December,
but i till you now the BIG ONE will be his First Reserve game. hopfully he comes out ok and with a goal for a added bonus.
i Tell you i mean***
Good overall post but disagree with some of your ratings.
I thought Nasri was the man of the match but Gallas was close behind with his work both in defence on crucial headers (LOL) and his captaincy.
Walcott may have fouled up on a couple of shots but he caused so much space for others with his runs and threat plus if he’d been fed on a couple of occasions he possibly could have had a goal to his credit.
I thought our back line might have been in trouble when with about half hour to go we got a third card but they held out brilliantly so credit there.
Almunia did great until he had to eventually leave the pitch some time after his collision with Carrick’s shin and Fabiancki was superbly composed in all his dealings from then on so we can have a little bit more confidence in the GK department from now on. Toure also did well in his MF position again coming on with composure from the off.
We had as many chances as ManUre I thought but it was a relief to see Rooney and Ron off target today.
Overall a great match. Trust the result made up for your terrible day beforehand Ethan? Hope you’re still in one piece?
Raif, wel the arsenal.com injury page states:
Eduardo
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Eduardo will be back playing competitive football in three weeks.
so considering our striker shortage atm, is it possible he’ll get some game time?
benno , i just dont think wenger will want to rush him. he will be eased in very slowly i think
lads, good performance but am just cant wait when all our injuries are cleared, then i think it will be like having 2 new signings
rosicky and eduardo
but whats this about we signing a lad named Lenny on a free transfer in jan
yeh i agree Raif, i dont want him to be rushed and get injured again, but with the lack of avaiable forwards atm is that an option?
ofcourse it is. we have Nikki B and Vela. if worse comes to worse Theo can play up top with Eboue on the right.
Why was that tosser Gray on Sky yeterday saying that Carrick should never have been booked?
He never got the ball, but he got Almunia, If he done that to a outfield player he would have been booked.
And he must have saw Almunia coming towards him because Almunia was following the ball he just dropped..
It looked worse than the Cech one..
Morning all by the way..
avenell
me and my Mates was also pissed about that. his a right fucking CUNT that Andy Grey i hate the guy
oh yeh i must admit i’d completely forgotten about Vela. Vela and Simpson/Fonte to play on wednesday?
I assume RVP can play on Tuesday too, if he needs a run out!
Hello everyone!
I would like to know Your opinion on Fabiański. Should he become our nr. 1 keeper since yesterday? Do You feel more confident with him in goal? Waht do You think?
And what do You think about our centerback pair- Silvestre and Gallas? Should Kolo be dropped?
Morning All, Top post Pedro,
What a game, what a result – and its so good for all us Gooners, start the week on a high.
GunnerS – he is 20 and on a free, little chap i hear, but rumours are he is pretty good
ave – rvp is banned i think for the cc game
Good morning all, nice read. Well, that was some game, and a well deserved win for the Arsenal. I love the fact that the Mancs supporters went into the game over-confident: apparently we were due to be embarrassed, such was their belief that we were just not up for it, or good enough.
This season is turning out to be an emotional roller coaster in every sense. I like the balance in the side without RVP and Ade, and I honestly believe Nikki B will come good after a successful run in the side, Remember he is just 20 years old. I am not advocating that he replace a fit Ade, but in time, he will be another option, and thus give him competition for a starting spot.
I also thought Dennilson was immense throughout, but a special mention must go out for Samir Nasri, who looked (imo) the best player on the park yesterday, he scored with both his left and right feet, and his close ball control was excellent.
Rumours in the paps today
Arsenal target proven stars Vincenzo Iaquinta and Daniele De Rossi in January
dont belive everything u read Rico
Your right about RVP Rico..
But how many games is he banned for and does tuesdays game count as one of them?
Anyone know???
avenell
3 match ban. and Yes it does count
Vela will play upfront with one of the resurve strikers and maybe Nikki B comming on as Sub as i think his going to be our main striker till Ade comes back
Thanks Raif..
raif – cheeky
– you really think i would trust the tabloid world…. Not a chance, but it would be nice to think the boss is looking for experience in Jan, wouldnt it 
Someone in America is already selling yeterdays poppy shirts on ebay..
No monies going to charities though..
a ban in any of the domestic cups or leage results in a Ban in all them competitions, all aprt from the european games. as thats governed by a separate football body
a ban in any of the domestic cups or league results in a Ban in all them competitions, all aprt from the european games. as thats governed by a separate football body
rico01 yeah i know
ur just useing it as a talking point. 
even tho Wenger said it dont look like he will buy but having said that wenger is a liar so any thing is possible
Rue Fonte is doing pretty well in reserves, and scoring a couple of good goals, it will be good to see a few reserves in action on the bigger stage, hope there is a good mix though..
I look forward to hopefully seeing a midfield of
LJ Coquelin, Bischoff Merida
i just Hope we get a Live link to watch the game HAHA
I thought our CBs looked good yesterday and always thought that would be a good pairing when we bought Sylv. I do feel however that when we come up against the taller attacks we should replace Sylv with JD who absolutely deserves a few starts.
I forgot to mention I thought Cesc wasn’t worth his rating above and although he worked hard and delivered a brilliant pass was only worth a 7. I expect much more from him and hope that will happen soon, especially if Dudu’s back!
raif – where are you in the world ?
I blame Bentner for their goal; he was the person who kicked off second half which ultimately led to the United goal forty minutes later.
How ridiculous, play had moved on so much that their goal had as little to do with Song as it had with Bentner.
It is the Arsenal way to single out one player and victimise him; fifty year old men will remember standing in the family enclosure listening to their fathers moan about Jon Samuels; a trait that was adopted and has remained with some fans longer than others.
Why was Song brought on yesterday? Only if you were there you would have noticed that just prior to Song’s introduction Denilson was starting to tire and was beggining to be over run. Song did what Song was supposed to do, play his part in getting us three points.
I don’t pretend to know how much work goes into running a blog.
rico01
im in london Battersea, formally of Hackney
Like I said yesterday London..
It was Songs fault because he gave the ball away 28 passes before Man U scored..
raif – i thought you were in the uk, what a numpty i am, so i guess your live link we be at the game itself then you lucky thing, i have to suffer the SS pundits, but may do a Keano and turn the volume right down to zero
avenell
its always Songs Fault
Avenell, lol
ave – who was that geezer last night, how rude he was, especially to the ladies
i like to some times turn it off and isten to the Radio but now Bcos of Digital TV there is a delay so what ever happens it happens on the Radio 40 seconds before whats going on, on the tv. so thats a No No now
but i shall speak to u all later on today as im off out
Chao for now
Back at the start of the season some announcements were made about Eduardo and his expected return date was said to be November/December.
What do you think the chances are of seeing him as at least a sub in Tuesdays CC game?
I’m going down for that game and cant wait to watch Vela and Wilshire again, they are pure class!
Rico… that was some seveteen year old train spotter of a supporter..
I put up the stats of Hleb compared to Nasri to show how well Nasri was doing, not to run Hleb down (Iwas praising Hleb up midweek)..
And it caused a riot from the Hleb supporters club..
.
So I got the old wooden spoon out and drew the obvious candidates in…
BLIMEY
http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/310290332?-19387
I like to turn down and volume and listen to music, which at times goes well with our artistic flair.
Grimandi, that is a bimey
A&N, I’m also going to the game and cant wait to see Coquelin and Bischoff, as well.
ave – i left just a bit too soon, you can only judge things on what is real, and the real thing is that on a game ratio, albeit early days, Nasri is more productive, I really like him too, and i try not to forget he only joined us in the summer, bobby struggled in his first season, and we know what a player he turned out to be for us, I think Nasri may a fine replacement for sir bobby…
But who is the Hleb chap you are talking about ave, just cant place the man
THERE IS A GOD AND HIS NAME IS SAMIR NASRI!!!!!!!
oh and hi guys
I’m from Brighton Lion and Lobster is one of my fav’s pubs a friend of mine works behind the bar, I could have come & watched game with u had i known!!!
C’mon tha gooners.. what a match!!! Abou, Nasri, Willy, Clichy, Cesc & Denilson were fantastic!!
Nasri’s almost beaten Hleb total goal tally already hasn’t he!!???
London how long do you think about making a stupid comment before you actually make one? I’m guessing around 3 hours.
We don’t rate Song, I especially don’t and everytime he comes on the team changes and we ship goals, he changes the dynamic, I can’t understand the thinking behind him coming on, if Denilson was tiring, bring on a decent defender like Djourou.
To say you despise people you don’t know is a nasty thing to say, if that’s the best you can come up with, don’t bothe, go and comment somewhere else.
Well apart from Nikki Bullshit giving the ball away so cheaply all the time like he did against stoke city….
It was very refreshing to see an An Arsenal Attacker constantly win Air challanges against defensive opposition….especially United opposition…
Great job Nik…Do try and put the ball behind the net…
Morning David, was that you up most of the night ??
Diaby won a lot of aerial challenges yesterday as well, nearly out jumped EVDS at one corner..
Rico…
Rare footage of Hleb…
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Vur4wdrULY8&feature=related
ave – thats funny, and proves a point, not a goal post in his sights
I accept that I could have chosen a better adjective.
Morning Rico…haha…yes sir…Ive been repeating my comments so far havnt i?
I couldnt sleep!!!!
Im just tooo HAPPY!!!
RULE NUMBER FUKING 1: NEVER PLAY REAL FOOTBALL WITH THE ARSENAL WE WILL TEAR YOU APART!!!
Hi ave, rico – yes it was the late night hleb pervs club yesterday.
None of them had the guts to come on earlier when they would have been shot down by all us joyous fans celebrating the magnificent victory.
I don’t have a problem with them being Hleb fans, but for some reason they are just bloody rude and condescending to anyone who does not share their view and in my opinion contravevne the ‘rules’ as stated on this site. At one point, Pat’ said that women supporters don’t know anything about football and told QoS to ‘shut up’ and he would ‘destroy her’ – a bit unbalanced don’t you think?
David …the trouble was Nikki B did put the ball behind the net and not in it. I can’t believe Pedro’s 7 rating for him !!! he has no positional sense, always gets caught in two minds as to when to pass the ball and invariably gets caught in possession or runs up a blind alley, and I’m fed up with constantly hearing he will be something special. To be something special you need to have a good skill foundation to work on and Nikki B has not got it. Alright for those of you who like him and mediocre talent but I think we deserve better and only by having better calibre of strikers than him will we ever win something again.
Rasp, I read that comment made to QoS this morning, and couldnt believe it. What a rude rude person, and its people like him who give men a bad name…. Thankfully arrogant sexist idiots like him are TOTALLY out numbered 100 – 1, here on Le Grove by Gentlemen, and I mean that sincerely. Jsut hope QoS didnt take it to heart, along with the rest of us girlies (David, trust me, I am no Sir
)
Anyway, I am sure if he pops up today, Geoff or Pedro will Red Card him ..
mark…. I’m unsure about Nikki Bendtner too..
But I would say the improvement we saw from the early pre season games to some of the leter ones was tremendous. In fact it looked like two different players.
And he gave the £30 million pound drug test dodger a runaround on his own yesterday!!
Afternoon Ras..
Havent heard from choy this morning either, hope he is ok, he took some abuse too i think -
Mark…you arent wrong about that mate!!!
I just think he missed chances that not even Ade wouldve missed and thats saying alot!
ave/mark – not sure if you know my views on Nik
Right now i dont see what others see, but that does not mean i am right, had that first attempt hit the back of the net yesterday, we can only imagine what that would have done for him – i get frustrated as he often takes the ball wide, or follows the direction of play, rather than find his own space and then use his attributes to punish the opposition. But Ade does that too, and all too often.
I think, they are trying to follow what Henry often did, but neither have the pace or skill to get into the box, ball still at their feet and then score. BUT, both are still young and Nik being only 20 has time, and I really hope that he soon gets the goals which give him confidence to destroy the opposition….
David – I am not sure that Ade would have scored either, they are both having a tough time, confidence and all that stuff
Gallas/Silvestre – now they would have scored from those chances
I dont like how we are making excuses for Nikki B and his age…How old is Benzema???
lol
Ladies
Rasp, I just saw that post you made
At one point, Pat’ said that women supporters don’t know anything about football and told QoS to ’shut up’ and he would ‘destroy her’ – a bit unbalanced don’t you think?
Just to let you know that was not this Pat. It must have been another one that has started posted
Pat .. It never crossed my mind that it even might have been you last night bud!!
I thought he was 23 David.
Cheers Avenell
I think we have some brilliant female contributors on this site. Might not agree all the time but they always put forward well formed and balanced views. Likewise what I really like is the geographical scope of posters, we have people from all over.
Anyone just see the Fluke Anelka just scored…….Some teams have all the luck, I wonder when ours will start again..
Benzema is one month older than Nikki B!!!
Both 20..
Benzema is just one of those players. He could be at his peak now, there is no way of knowing. And Benzema starts every game for Lyon, who are the best french team by a few miles.
funny benzema has not been linked with us – being young and french. probably that twat of a club president lyon have (100 million wasnt it
They are both 20 and they both play for club and country….Arsene always puts Nikki B on for either Ade or R.V.P so even tho he doesnt start he still has a lot of games under his belt and yet he doesnt score!
pat7
cheers mate .. it did !
Rico
I agree nikb and ade are both at a similar skill level , but what sets them apart is age and salary .
and for that reason 1 must go , and its the one who is older and on more money !
Nik .B has flashes of quality , and at 20 he should be given some more time to develop.
But ade well he is over paid and over rated , over used , and ineffective ..
but he is one of the better strikers in our side .. and does have a knack of being in the right place at the right time to sea gull a goal or 2 !
But neither of them should feature this season .. it should be RVP and a new signing !
rico , i just had a thought .. there’s this striker i dont know if youve heard of him …
his name is david villa
patthegooner – I didn’t think it was you for one minute. Before I became a contributor on this site I spent a couple of weeks learning about the ethos and the people who posted on it and I have always found your comments to be balanced and respectful.
Rico who made what comment to QOS, I can’t find it???
david
ade gets a regular start every time … but then gets complacent . He only shows effort after being dropped !
nik B is still young … and has been brought up to play our natural game – he at least has hope!
Also im sure wenger wont buy any player we know about …
he will get some 23 year old from Brazil
or some European country .. France ?!
It truly is too hard to pick who will be arsene’s next signing .. its almost a waste of time trying to get inside his head to even hazard a guess …
It comes down too AGE – COST – and hopefully EXPERIENCE !
that much i can guess ..
But what position will he search for ? DM – Striker ? defender ?
no one ?
Where is this Pat comment anyone, I can’t find it to card it!
Geoff – check out ‘Pat’ @ 12:12, 12:28 and 12:42 yesterday
It wopuldn’t bother me at all if he became an ex-pat
Geoff it started getting bad at 12.12am last night read the person comments for about an hour!!
oops – that’s this morning, not yesterday lunchtime = 12:12, 12:18 & 12:28 pm
Okay QOS’s honour defended, his comment amended and he’s banned. Well done to all those of you that twatted him last night.
His mummy must have gone out clubbing and left him alone with the computer.
i dnt think you can call Ade complacent…he works very very hard…if anything…he outruns himself…and over passes or over shoots…sometimes…he tries too hard and confuses power/determination with accuracy…if he can just find a balance…he will be the greatest! Nikki B…where do i start?
hi grovers
what a win ! sa-mir, sa-mir !!! that second goal was a cracker … i’ve not seen such a confident shot in recent times from our strikers. i went for a draw and am on my knees for not having faith in the boys.
while we celebrate , let me also agree with some who raised concerns…
our strike force was below par… to the many nikki fans out here… he maybe 20 but if your’e playin for arsenal and leading the attack, you better get the head on the ball, especially when someone has given you the tag of “best header of the ball in the league” . not decisive enough, has a long way to go …. cesc was off colour – too many wrong passes and lost balls – is something worrying him ? he seems to lack the joy …
question : for all the opportunities we created , how many times did we actually test the keeper ?
defense was outstanding… we’ve never worked harder in defense, ever…
i dunno david
but a club of our stature needs better …
if we are to be title contenders i mean !
we should be rebuilding an invincible’s team …
you know what i mean !
villa – bojan ..
Class .. current and future ..
song was amazing ,cant you guys say something nice for once?
I know I’m an incurable optimist, but based on yesterday’s hugely improved performance, don’t you think Denilson could perform the ‘Flamini’ role.
He worked his socks off, was very strong, tackled hard and distributed the ball intelligently. Young players lack consistency, so he’s not going to be that good every game, but the longer we stick with him, the better he’ll get.
ethan gunner:you know what villa and bojan would cost us?That will never happen.If their somewhere we don’t need a extra player,it’s among strikers.Ever single one of them is world class or will be
nah denilson is good cesc cover for me,he was strolling along at one point and gael was forced to close down burgertov coming in from the midfield ,he layed the ball out to ronaldo an rooney should have punished us,flamini would have eaten the ass off of dimitar
lol villa an bojan,like they are gonna improve us,might as well keep the money or buy rio & terry
I agree bergie – the great thing about yesterday was the ‘team’ performance – if one player made a ricket, someone else came in to cover.
Spot On …
first of all congrautlations all Gunners..what a day….its feeling like summer again here in the ice cold north of Norway….:)
but lets remember this Gunners to do as Arsenal do theese days, one will have to be brave both as club and as fans,there will be ups and downs…the last team who changed the game like Arsenal are doing theese days where Brazil back in the 70′s world cup when they come up with the 4-4-2 formation….the world where stunned !!
so i hope that we the Fans will keep this in mind when we stumble against teams of *NO*playesr like Hull,Stoke and the rest of clubs that really arent much more than about survival…and i would sincerly hope theese clubs sometime in the future would be able to rely on theire abilty to play the game instead of destroying allt that the game is about…really i get a good laugh very time such clubs get a result..looks like early christmas for them,and that is excactly what it is a christmas present ,,,because both We and them now its up to share luck.it must be frustrating to be a fan of such clubs ,,knowing that the abilty to play the game simply isnt there ???
back to saturday i wish to congratulate Manch.utd for beeing a true Football club trying to play not destroy ..it was a great game …thank you
and as i always say the league race doesnt start before january and heey we’re in it……:)
have a great sunday All You Gooners.
Tom
denilson had a good game,and the team did well,the last 6 minutes were amongst the worst of my arsenal career though,i did read another blog the arsenal truth saying gael clichy was useless an graded him 3 out of 10 lol
I agree with that Ethan
Villa, Aguero or a punt on Huntelaar.
Also Barry in the midfield and that to me would be enough to really mount a challenge.
Oh and Vieira as a Squad Player
gallas had maybe a season changing game,if the confidence in him was low before yesterday then it cant be now,or he has rediscovered his focus,i aint the greatest gallas fan but i will say on his day he is top notch
I don’t think we learnt the lessons from the spuds game. In the last six minutes, all we had to do was to hold on to the ball and not take risks, but we gave away possession chasing a 3rd goal. Cap’n Billy did his job though and led from the front.
yep i just think the defenders had more stamina left and the forwards were knackered, no one was gonna score in the last 6,just the most stupid attacking play ever like bendtner doing the hard work then backpassing to van der sar,it was a war
Ethangunner …yes RVP and another striker that is the future not flaffing around with Ade and Nikki. I know I sound harsh to some about these two strikers and have had my fair share of critics … but at least some of you are of the same opinion … we know that when we attack with speed we can beat anybody …even with our leaky defence … because we will always score goals …..the old Brazil principle …….Ade and Nikki both slow that attacking speed down and too many times moves that should end in goals end as wasted products because of them.
Speaking of backpassing- what the fuck were Almunia and Silvestre thinking of in the first minute. Thank god Anderson is useless.
Bendtner was clearly knackered. A couple of times late on, he was approaching goal with a defender on his heals, but instead of cutting across in fron of the defender to get in a more central shoopting position, he went wide and allowed the defender to get back between him and the goal.
Theo and Nasri have both learnt to ‘cut up’ defenders. At worst you get fouled and a free kick in a dangerous position. At best you are through on goal with only the keeper to beat.
I think it is a confidence thing and Nik will improve once he starts finding the back of the net.
he just didnt have the strength to swing his boot properly or change direction
the ref an the lino only blew up for the back pass because of rooney,he made their decision
theo could have made better runs when we were breaking a few times as well,a bit more intent wouldnt have gone amiss
These guys are supreme athletes with amazing stamina, but it has to run out some time. When Cesc and Gallas were being interviewed a good 10 minutes after the game had finished they were both still out of breath – they gave their all and you can’t ask for any more than that.
i think van is the most talented striker at arsenal but i also think he is the most unarsenal of the strikers we have,he is not a team player,he likes touching the ball too many times,he doesnt like cutting it back or passing it,he slows down attacks and is too one sided,his finishing is as bad as any other arsenal striker too
ethan – your comment
David Villa – mme, i have heard of him 
Good move Geoff, that man was a pratt and arrogant twit, anyone heard from QoS today, or choy ??
patg – i knew it wasnt you also, no fear
i remember after the league game at anfield last year they were interviewing carragher 10 minutes after the game an he looked like he was gonna keel over or have an asthma attack
Berkamp you were joking when you said Song was amazing right? You meant amazingly shit didn’t you?
song is my countryman,you english or british or jamenglish have theo,i have song,song is the man,but forget the tottenham game!
Gef – I though Song was amazing too, you must realise though that highest levels of ‘ shite’ can be amazing
Sorry Geoff – i missed a few letters out your name, bloody Wine
trust me,no one in africa knows about lampard or dirk kuyt,but the know about song and the mighty eboue,thats why were the biggest supported club on the planet,if africa had more cash we should put a few arsenal shops around,we would soon be richer than madrid an man utd
Bergkamp, I don’t like Theo because he’s English, I like him because he’s good, Song is shocking, never mind the Tottenham game he caused the Sunderlannd goal and the Everton goal not to mention he gave the ball away yesterday that led to the Manncs goal.
You have to like players because they contribute, see beyond the countryman thing. I hate Rooney but he’s English.
Song came on in the 89th minute against Spuds and we conceded twice from shots at the edge of the box. Thats where he should have been stopping shots. Yesterday Rafael scored from the edge of the box. Song should have been there. Against Fenerbache away Song played Guiza onside about 6times. He is poor at best. Unfortunately he is our only DM tho.
Since Wenger likes Song at CB, he must put him there in training and play all the strikers onside all the time. Therefore, Ade cant stay onside because he trains against Song.
Spuds are 1-1 against 10 men for the second half..
tottenham were lucky,look how they scored against liverpool,everything they hit from a distance either went in or came straight back to them,you cant blame 1 player
No problemo Rico! Bergkamp you actually sound like a good bloke but you are blinded by the Out of Africa thing.
I like Kolo and Ade but Song, oh dear. I don’t even mind Eboue, but only as a right back.
Beckhams english….
lol nah il be honest geoff,i would love to see song do well,as would any gooner,but theres only so many accidents like the spurs game i can take,i think he is talented but unlucky,like senderos,like cygan,unlucky as in these players always seem to be about when mother nature lets spurs score 4 goals out of four chances,an man utd score once with 16!
Piss poor at best Stu is more than I rate him, I think he’s the worst player I have ever, ever seen in an Arsenal shirt and shit my pants when I see him warming up, I just don’t understand Wenger.
Okay Bergkamp, I’ll give you that, I’m off for a bit now, catch you later!
Can’t believe I’m saying this, but Fergie was very fair in his post match assessment yesterday (apart from missing the Vidic/Nasri penalty). He said something like – ‘If you’re going to lose a game, its better to lose to Arsenal in a game where there was fantastic football’
I used to hate the mancs the most, but the chavs and pool have superseded them.
well he wasnt so bad against west ham,and against blackburn last season he did play the ball of the season to put eduardo through after denilson got sent off,in the red stripe cup
- you know, at the beginng of the season i was all for Song and thought he was our midfield/defensive solution…. i based that on the acon’s performance and cameo roles that i had seen him play…
but my views have changed, not because its what i wanted, but because Song has proved time and time again that right now he is not good enough for epl footie, and at 23 years old, i really dont think he ever will be. Justin Hoyte was sold, similar age, but Hoyte never filled me with fear when he came on as a late sub, in fact he sometimes did quite well. Song scares me. and i would rather he was sold, and replaced, even if that meant another Eboue, yes, thats how bad i think Song really is
Rasp – totally agree, posted something similar yesterday, he also said it was ‘Fantasy Football’
oh come off it,we conceded four nearly every time hoyte played
bergkamp –
see thats how bad Song is
bergkamp
your joking about the strikers arent you ?
its last place we need improvement in ??? fuck !
im too stunned to comment . !
yes its been so clinical the last year or so !
bring on the offsides ! i havent seen that flag go up enough yet !
im a hankering for some more !
also it wasnt that song didnt play ok ! but he took out theo – an offensive threat !
and if you couldnt tell we were shaky after that , you obviously didnt see the clean sheet go to shit in the 89th minute !
i dont see an arsenal career for song neither,i think eboue has a future,when wenger decides to stop goin defensive for the last moments of games when we are winning we will never see song again
Great minds rico!
ermmmm we score as many goals as any other team,we concede nearly as many as the mid table teams,why do we need strikers?? what message would buying strikers give to the whole que of promising young strikers at arsenal?? why should theo sign a new contract if arsene buys a Top(more famous not better) striker? ethan
SONG IS SHIT
oh hello im back everyone
ethan,thats the managers decision if he takes off theo,he tells the players what to do,they can only do what they are told,if they are not good enough its down to the manager,so changing theo for song is none of my business
The odd thing about AW’s late defensive substitutions is that he has said in interviews recently that the reason we are conceding late goals (spuds) is because the players start to play too defensively – so why does he take off players who pose an attacking threat and replace them with defenders? – doesn’t make any sense….
Mark – Ade’s one of the fastest (alongside Theo & Gael) in the team and
Rico – Nik cannot get faster, he can however anticipate, read the game better and hone his skills so creates more time. Crouch puts him to shame in all departments IMO.
It certainly wasn’t me at 12.12: that was 1.12 in France!!!! I watched MOTD at 9.15 this morning to find out what humble pie they’d be eating and was quite surprised to find that the reason they probably slate us is disappointment – probably akin to our frustration – with a tinge of jealousy no doubt though. They all agreed we’re the best team to watch!!!!!!
the best form of defence is attack,and spurs were stuck in their own half till theo an van persie went off,and nasri,we only had two players ade & cesc commiting forward,arsene let spurs off the hook,luck and good finishing was also involved
song didnt lose us the game,one player playing shyt doesnt fold a team,where the defenders when the ball came back off the post or back off almunia? thats the real question
FUCK. the scum is 2- 1 up now Bent again
Oh no Spuds have just scored…
Afternoon one and all from sunny yes sunny spain,not been on since yesterday morning so i may be repeating a few things.
Firstly,after wednesday wenger said the boys were physically jaded and the first thing that i was pleasantly surprised about was the determination passion and grit by all the team,and for once gallas being a captain,most noticeable during the stoppage for almunia’s injury.
if every team came out and played attacking football we would be top of the league,but as we know that is not the case.We exposed their vastly more experienced defense as much as they did ours and our defense is the only real point of issue as we still find it hard to keep a clean sheet.
nasri 2 goals with ifferent feet,cesc denilson and diaby all upped their game everyone who started played well though bedntner isn’t the answer up front,though i except he was a lone striker.his 2 headers should at least of been on target,and i don’t think he will make the grade longterm.
Wenger decided to let us all shit ourselves by again making wrong subsitutions,never gives theo a full game and song’s innitial bad clearance started the build up to their goal.
All we need is consistency,confidence surely must now be sky high again,onwards and upwards.
song obviously did what he was told because wenger is still sending him on to do exactly the same thing,so maybe were just not looking properly,although he should have brought down jenas,but then how could we complain about delap
bergkamp – im sorry but i disagree again, 4-2 up, subs waste time and all managers do it, i personally dont think it was a the decision to make the changes, it was about the shite that came on for those changes – had essien, ballack, carrick (he hoofed almunia) nani, anderson (get my drift) the lead would not have been lost – imho
yeah dont get me wrong,luck was still involved,the ball came back off the post an that little runt played on incase it came back off the post,thats how spurs equalised,sagna should have played on as well,maybe he would have cleared the ball,more than one player made a mistake against spurs,every goal they scored from the midfield wasnt closed down,we had 3 midfielders and an extra defender who plays centre mid from time to time on the pitch,so how does song take absolute blame? and wenger should have left theo on an walcott,we’d have beat them 7-1
Well at least we dont have Cacapa in our squad. He just cost Newcastle another goal.
Agreed Rico. I shuddered when AW started making subs yesterday though in this case Toure was composed and had a positive effect but taking off Theo for Song when Theo was still threatening them………………………that probably released two of their players.
nah theo was finished yesterday,right before he came off he couldnt even break with the team,i think he was probably feeling that injury
oh Look at these nice arsenal Cufflinks
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Official-Branded-Arsenal-FC-Cufflinks-Boxed_W0QQitemZ270247902471QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270247902471&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318
Nobody noticed the poor crosses from Sagna? We lacked penetration from the right and thats due to Sagna not understanding Theo.
Geoff,
I think the momemtum was with Man U towards the end so AW was right to make defensive subs and am not sure it was down to Song as much as the momentum of a team in desperate need for a goal. Sure I would prefer JD to play in holding than Song, but Wenger is a strange one
sagna an gael are two of the worst crossers of a ball iv ever seen,occasionally gael hits a perfect cross,but rarely a decent cross,normally useless the pair of them,considering ade is such a big target as well
Patrick7 …Ade may be one of the fastest in a sprint but on the pitch there’s not much fleet of foot and very little fleet of (footballing) mind.
that cunt Tony Cascarino thinks we wont win the league ever again under wenger.
his puting our win down to Man Utds missed chances. what a twat,
bergkamp
iv been saying it for weeks mate our whole team cant cross for shit.
“Song is shite” he was particularly bad against West ham and I blame him for Clichy’s slip against Tottenham.
sometimes i wonder if we dont practice deadballs or crossing balls or shooting in training,which would also be a reason for panicky defending like we’d never seen a long throw or a corner before
lol maybe song caused the credit crunch an didnt offer matt flamini a new contract too
Reality is though, as long as Theo was on, the opposition will worry about him, Song, well, i would be relieved to see him replace Theo, and pat, agree, Kolo was a good sub, a very good sub – i reckon he will play against Wigan
“Jack of All Trades, Master of None”
thats what our team seems like some times
blimey bergkamp, is there anyon in our team other than Song that you rate ??
In all fairness we havent been able to cross for years. We never really had to. Freddie, Bobby, Overmars, wiltord- they all came inside for shots never went down the line for a cross. Thats just the wat Wenger buys his widemen.
blimey bergkamp, is there anyone in our team other than Song that you rate ??
Mark – I might agree with you on the latter but the reason he’s there so often and the reason Terry et al find him awkward is because he’s so quick besides being tall and heavy. He’s used a lot of that in the team spirit to aid attacks or make them since losing his shooting sights and some of us have noticed his offsides have reduced dramatically.
That said I was one of the crew calling for Villa instead in the off season. Shame RvP hasn’t had his sights either. Roll on Dudu’s return, then we’ll be talking…………..
I didnt even slag you. gowl!! coming out in a while?
lol i rate all the arsenal players,i think on the training ground a bad player would stand out like a sore thumb when you see how everyone is comfortable with possesion of a ball , i just think song shouldnt be a scapegoat,we play the ultimate team game,and when we lose the whole team should take the blame and the manager,one player cant lose a game!
hahaha oops. cant believe i did that. never mind what i said.lol
i know but these are proffesional people, its one of the basics,kickin a ball into an area ,it not exactly as hard as assasinating someone from a mile,i can cross a ball an i dont get paid or practice daily
stu where you going?? you got a big busty girl on the go?
Players these days arent like they were years ago. Some players only play for the money. Back when footballers were paid regular wages, or even less, they were all talented. Footballers nowdays are athletes first footballers second.
Fabregas, Bergkamp, Le tissier(dare i say) are the real footballers. Know what i mean?
Bergkamp – that’s one point I’ll agree on: (Corners, free kicks and) crosses we’re crap at. We get so many chances as we cause defences so many problems that lead to them but can we convert them………………………….rarely.
I thought Beck’s might have taught them something in his month at the club but maybe they didn’t stay back with him to see him practice? I can only guess that AW’s training is all about interplay and doesn’t cover deadball situations and crosses. If it did surely our defence would be better at defending them and our ‘wingers’ better at crossing and our attack at putting them on target. Mind you it’s probably cos the defence is too busy laughing at Ade and Nik’s attempts??????
Spuds out of Bottom 3……
That is a shame, although I dont think we will need to worry about Man City this year, think they may be to far off the pace to recover once they dip into the warchest in Jan..
Pat – maybe they need a rest from supporting the whole of the EPL. Hopefully after a short breather they’ll be ready to carry the load again LOL.
Bergkamp, off course Song caused the credit crunch and how can you think that he is not responsible for not giving Flamini a new contract. Haaa haaa, lol
Villa lost, good, confidence wont be quite so high next saturday
Obama said a change will come,so song will be starting regular soon
- i blame Song for why Reyes Left arsenal.
- i blame Song for David Dein selling his shares to Usmanov
- i blame Song for why Wenger buying the likes of Stepanov & Jeffers,
- i blame Song for the War on Iraq
& most of all i blame Song for why my Xbox broke
i wonder how close to being picked jack wiltshere is
i think that the people who programmed fifa 09 were spuds,they made song rubbish
no bergkamp they are Arsenal Fans
Afternoon Grovers!
London, I didn’t blame Song for the goal?
Bringing Song on this season is having the same effect as bringing Gilberto on last season…
Did anyone read about the 2 Italians were are reportedly interested in?
raif
Top drawer
lol well if they are arsenal fans why is evra the best striker on the game an berba faster than theo
hahahahahahahahahahaha Pedro,see song is as good as Gilberto in his prime,i told you all,now i have back up
bergkamp.
i can tell you what Wenger would say if u asked him how close Jack Wilshere is to the being pickd for the first team
Wenger: Very Close!
I don’t think so Bergkamp… didn’t you say if Song was given a run in the team we’d win the league and he’d move to Madrid?
lol raif you know wat,i should have know that,its spot on,great impersonation
Pedro, I read about theam and got a cheeky comment about i shouldnt believe what i read – would be great if it held substance
London
bergkamp
play Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, its better
Pedro, I hold you in higher esteem than to think that you would have irrationally blamed him. Hope you had a good time in Brighton.
nah pro has gone down hill,i was a serious pro player until a year ago
berkamp,
true but why Song over JD. Someone please explain the mystery or mysery?
lol pedro,i said song COULD ,a year ago if you told me flamini would have been playin for milan instead of birmingham id have choked on my £5 hand crafted afc pie
I love it when people say that Rico… like rumours don’t come true…
De Rossi has been linked on numerous occasions, so I can believe there is something in that one.
Not sure about the other chap… a touch old.
to be honest i stoped playing both of them years ago. i think the last footy game i plaid was when Sol was still at arsenal.
but i got board and thought they cant possibly make footy games any better now days.
the closes thing i play to football is FOOTBALL MANAGER.
i think johan djourou looks ready,he is better than phil because he isnt slow,he is big and he dont mid gettion booked for something proper like he did against fenehbache last week, i wouldnt pick song over him to play centre back ever,never ever,ever,song is too heavy to jump,you play song against teams like
Flamini was a pretty decent player… Energetic, aggressive and versatile. I don’t quite see that in Song yet… he is a bit laboured. I thought he had a great game against West ham though.
So… who thinks Diaby can play next to Cesc?
Cheers London! Brighton was a good crack… the Spud, despite saying that was a good laugh!
Me too Pedro, both i think would be good, even the golden oldie would be better than Song
like stoke,an order him to put his foot in on guys who run round like rambo,you dont tell him play like a cultured invisibe wall
to think we have both the main Center backs for the Swis Natinal Team in Phill and JD
i really hope Big Phill comes back to use actully learning somthing from the likes of NESTA and Maldini
Pedro
i think Diaby can play next to Cesc
Just a thought, didnt someone a long while ago suggest that Rue Fonte was poor when i sid i thought he may be pretty good???
Mme – i think i will be right about him, see, you boys, you know nothing
phil senderos will never be any good for arsenal,just like song,mother nature hates these players,cygan,song,phil….any time they slip or lose the ball its either red card or goal conceded,its bad luck,no matter how good you are if ur unlucky then thats it!
So what are everyones thoughts on the league? Do you think we can beat Chavski? Can we maintain a run? Was the game a one off… or can we expect a good couple of months?
if we decide to keep rui fonte he will cost us £2mill
arsenal always play better without RVP,if he gets injured we will do alrite, otherwise its back to him slowing down the game and taking 8 touches to get the ball onto his left foot
I had a horrible dream on Friday night that Song gave away a penalty and we lost…
Thank fuck that one didn’t come true.
Lets be clear, not even the most tolerant of Song would want to see him take preference as CB over Djourou. As for Djourou over Song as a DM; it is just so hard to say as none of us have ever seen Djourou play there. Don’t give me Birmingham.
On the subject of u-turns. Did anyone see Denilson’s reaction when Song came on yesterday? We dot a glimpse of Denilson’s captains quailities; he barked at Song where he should be, which was next to Denilson with Fabregas just on front creating what I thought was an effective little triangle.
They done their job and we got three points.
Pedro
we can do it if we stay injury free, and not have moments of madness witch lead us chasing the game for the rest of the match
One interesting thing that the train spotter came up with last night was how much Berbatov ran in this game..
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1819794.ece
I hope Red Nose gets on his case..
London, agreed on JD.
We can’t ask for him to play there ahead of Song… because that is the same as asking for Song as centre back… it probably wont work. Plus… if you are going to do that… why not put Kolo there? He is more experienced than the both of them.
On Kolo… what does his future hold?
Bergkamp, I don’t understand. Why will Rui Fonte cost us 2 million if he stays?
poor old kolo
Pedro,
Its all down to AW, his selections, his sub strategy and the players motivation. The matches we played badly he presented a bad team. Trust me, this has always been the trend with Mr. Wenger, he is a bit of an eccentric and prone to stupid selection gaffes
Peddro
the answer to Kolo’s Future is ONE YEAR CONTRACTS in a year or Two’s time
kolo=eboue’s new understudy
rui fonte is on trial/loan at arsenal
Pedro
I think you have just give yourselves a new ‘vote’ thing for tomorrow, and a very good question or two you have asked.
Honestly, I thought we would win yesterday, and said 2-1 or 3-2, albeit it seemed a silly idea, but we are a team who play better against footballing sides.
So we have done with the Hull, Fulham etc kind of games and i think our run for a while pitches us against ‘footballing’ sides, and because of that, i think yesterday will be the start of a little run. I think we will beat Villa and City, get a draw at the Chavs (maybe even a win) and that will build confidence. The teams we have lost against so far will face a different side in the return fixture, added to that we will then have Dudu and hopefully Thomas back, and all will be rosy
bendtner hes one hell of a player
rui fonte is on a three year loan at arsenal and is in his final year i think…with an option to make the move permanent
bloody hell……spuds won again..have they bribed lady luck or what???
as for song i have seen him play well only once that was last season against everton at the Emirates….besides that he has been shit and he will remain shit..lols…sell him in january buy…de rossi, aquilani or alonso any one of them would do for me
great result but somethings to worry about…
walcott…yes, he’s a useful decoy but personally his confidence seems shot again…had two chances on goal neither easy but both he completely miskicked, one with each foot…then he inexcusably strolled after a manc who’d dispossesed him in the box and was advancing on goal…cesc was furious
cesc himself still not right…far too many wayward passes, maybe they do become more frequent as the game wears on from tiredness…but the reverse and pass to set up the second goal was sublime…
shooting…check out the follow through on both of nasri’s goals…the shooting foot accelerates violently through the ball, doesn’t stop at it but ends in a high finish…superb technique , thus the great power of the second goal…my point is how much that stands out from the rest, we are still a poor shooting team from outside.
finally, I for one was HAPPY to see Song come on…he’s not going anywhere, someone knows best!
Pleased to see Song come on? Interesting…
I don’t think you have to worry about shooting technique… we’ve scored plenty of goals this season, defence is the problem.
Song is complete shit, not even a pub player, as for Djourou not playing as a defensive midfielder, he started at Arsenal as a defensiive midfielder!!!
I would be pleased to see Song to come on, but only with the half time oranges
blazon – you are right, he is not going anywhere, i take it you mean, anywhere in football…..
Ha, ha, ha Rico, he’d probably give them to the other side accidentally!
Another Song debate?? lol. u see Geoff I’m not alone
i remember reading an article in the summer and jd said he could take flam’s role. Why not give him a go? He looks comfortable with the ball.
Defence is the problem………so says pedro,and he is so right.All our beautiful football has to come second to building a no nonsense defence first and foremost.All teams that win trophies have a basis of a good defence.
There is no one in our present squad who fits the bill as a defensive holding midfielder,and someone was slating rvp earlier that he basically disrupts the flow of the team.Rubbish i say,on his day he is our best striker,his problem is his head which i thought he had sorted.
You’re not alone Mandanda, Bergkamp is also an African and of course a Song supporter, now there’s two of you!
http://www.transfermarketweb.com/?action=read&idsel=27275
is it real?
Geoff, theres a Song there……….
Just the two of us………
bit unfair on Walcott.
His run, sorted the second goal out, and he played well, I thought.
Gr8 for Fabregas and a few others to have the week off now, until Villa, lets hope the kids do well.
Diaby needs to play in that game.
Lenny the brazilian striker was reported yesterday as signing on jan 1 georgian
maybe ade is going out on loan to charlton
Geoff, how about London? I’m mixed actually
Kelsey – trouble is he’s normally in the sickbay on his day; the rest of the time he’s preparing for it or resting from suspension…………..
Agree on the defence though. Maybe we’ve got a good pairing now with JD to come in facing taller attacks?
Give Song a break Grovers, not literally. It’s sounding like the Eboue treatment. He just needs to be put back in the reserves for a (possibly long) while ’til he come out as the finished article; he’s still young! AW rates him for the future!
He just winds people up on purpose, maybe he’s from South London, that would explain it! Mandanda is part of the mix from Africa though!
from now on we stick with our 4-5-1….I cant wait till dudu gets back
As for Walcott….I loved to see the matchup between him and Evra…but unfortunately Cesc passes kept gettin cut-out and denilson refused to find him when he was clearly through….i thot he held his own very well against the france full back…and im thinking he needs more tough opposition like that!
hehehe ure funny Geoff I’m as African as Obama. Now u know who ur future PM is
AW also rated senderos as a future captain and persisted with him for longer than i can remember
I might not agree with you but I will fight for the right for you to say it.
Kelsey – You CANNOT be serious! LOL.
If you dislike the idea that I disagree with your Song witch hunt you can always ban me.
No one needs banning… some like Song, some don’t… there is no need to fall out over it.
London, touche
I thought he did well against the Hammers… he just isn’t good to bring on late in a game… and I would prefer we bought in that position if he is the best option we have (bar Denilson).
I think its all a bit of fun. I still like the blog and its authors Geoff/Pedro, u guys do a great job on here. I just find it amusing when, sometimes, Geoff resorts to accusing me of lacking objectivity when I disagree with his views on Song or when he thinks he pretends to know all about my racial origins from my pseudo-name. I just find it hilarious. He reminds of a character in Joseph Heller’s Catch 22.
U are my bro Geoff, touche.
Patrick i lie not,ask anyone who knows the history,Wenger really rated Senderos when he bought him,and considered him a future captain…..Geoff/Pedro
Evening all!
Still smiling over yesterday!!!
Thought Wenger and Fergie made some complimentary comments about each others teams and that was refreshing to hear for a change.
I wonder if Ronaldo is still in Clichy’s back pocket!
I don;t know if many of you are aware that man u last game before the munich air crash was at highbury and we lost 4-5
Kelsey, well said on RvP… Arsenal fans can’t stomach a striker unless they score every game, every chance.
David Villa would annoy people after a while because he, like most strikers in the world… is not as good as Thierry.
Although his stats are pretty amazing this season! 10 goals in 9 games?
Just for the record Geoff, I am from Islington which as you should know is not in South London.
Touché Mandanda my little African, good luck with the PM bit. London ban yourself if you don’t like it. Song is shit.
pedro…
“I don’t think you have to worry about shooting technique… we’ve scored plenty of goals this season, defence is the problem.”
yes, but…that’s a generalisation…what kind of goals?
in our three losses this season so far we scored one against stoke,one against hull, none against fulham…all three inferior teams who played ten behind the ball and packed the box against us…they can only get away doing this because they don’t fear our outside shooting, and for good reason…if they had cause to they would be forced out and thus create openings for our passing game…
so i say my point re nasri and his shooting is very relevant…only he,walcott,rvp,eduardo and occasionally cesc threaten in open play from outside the box…not enough…denilson, for example, can’t shoot from outside to save his life…
oh, I left one out who also can…100% in vollyied goal attempts…SONG…lol
hey you lot still goin on about song,song is potential,potentially somewhere else in january,potentially playing next week,lets just see what happens eh,but lets not get personal on the kid coz he dont pick the team!
blazon only 5 isn’t that enough in a team capable of scoring from outside the box.look at the defence.how many goals have chelsea conceded all season….4 the same as us against the spurs.imo far more relevant.
Blazon… there is difference between not shooting outside the box, and not having the technique to do so…
They are the most technically gifted players in the Prem… they know how to shoot. They might not be shooting enough outside the box, but they are still getting goals… and how they get them is irrelevant.
I would agree with Kelsey… 5 is enough, realistically, there are more.
i dont care how the balls goes in the net,if its in its in,its how we keep it out that counts,if we could cut down the amount of corners and stupid free kicks we concede we will concede less without improving our defending drastically,like against stoke,why give away throwins when your better of conceding the corner
Evening Wrighty! Missed you comment… Clichy just called me, he said he had to take ronaldo out due to his back pocket becoming so damn greasy!
pedro…
doesn’t alter the logic does it that if we posed a more numerous threat from outside in those three games they would have been forced out and we might then have scored those goals we strived so desperately for the way we do best, inside…sunderland too, same thing.
you also say ‘technically gifted’…wouldn’t you agree that crossing the ball is a specific technique that is required at this level? and that our two excellent full backs are woeful at crossing despite the fact they were acquired and are played to a great extent for their attacking prowess?
love your blog, a great joy…thank you.
Blazon, I think you are being unfair… Sagna and Clichy both whipped in a couple of great crosses at the weekend. Their primary job is to defend and I think they do that really well… anything else is a bonus. The fact they were both in the Prem all stars team says it all with regards to how good they are.
As for shooting outside the box… well, it’s not an exact art is it? There is no team that draws players out due to the threat from outside the box. If you have two rows of 4 sitting back… the second row will prevent shots… I was at the Hull game, and we were just hussled with physicality and good football… I don’t think the answer is as simple as long shots.
Taking chances, defending better… playing a little more direct… stepping up and motivating yourself for the poor teams.
Those factors are more important to get right.
Evening Pedro,
There was an interview today in the paper today with Ronaldo’s ex-missus (shes quite hot by the way;)) and she says that he likes to shave off his body hair.
I wonder if Clichy kept winding the greasy one up by saying that he could see some chest hair.
Wrighty, I heard that Jimmy Bullard touches players bollocks in the freekick walls, and he tells them what he is going to do to them in the showers!
How funny!
Ronaldo is a greasy wanker… but he has game… and I admire that.
Pedro,
Jimmy Bullard is quite funny. I’ve met him a few times in boozers around where I live and he’s quite comical.
He’ll remember me I’m sure! One night for a dare I went out in a full flowery granny dress and he asked me if I was gay! I said that I dont go for Ray Parlour wannabe lookalikes and he pissed himself and bought me a drink.
And no, he didn’t get my number! LOL
Bergkamp
ermmmm we score as many goals as any other team/
why should theo sign a new contract if arsene buys a Top(more famous not better) striker?
well 1stly the theo reply … He’s a right winger .. and until he bangs them in with regularity
for us he will remain there for probably 3 more seasons to come …
and as for we score as many other goals as other clubs , well have you seen chevski’s goal difference ???
As for other clubs ? sorry if i have higher aspirations than you, but 2nd place is just the 1st loser !
meant to add…your points that we have ‘enough’ shooters and score ‘enough’ goals holds up fine in games where the opposition comes out and attacks us like saturday’s great game…
but we have to play as many if not more of the ‘other’ teams…those are the games we all fear, the ones we should win and sometimes, sadly, don’t…not winning those games costs us more in the end than the others.
if you want to play up front or in the midfield for a team like Arsenal you should be able to pose a credible shooting threat…i.e. strike a ball hard in open play at or somewhere near the goal HALF THE TIME…that’s all, that’s a threat…nic can’t, ade can’t, denilson can’t…
yes, i know we have defensive problems…but i see improvement there recently and then there’s January…but are these guys going to learn to shoot by then? and anyway acknowledging one problem in a team shouldn’t mean ignoring another.
blazon
good points id also say the defensive problems are a myth !
whilst you have sagna and clichy always pushing up with no midfield cover of course its looks like the defense is lacking ..
the real problem is gallas and the wing backs push up too often to compensate for our poor strikers!
like i said when our strikers start doing there job everyone else can do theirs !
Ethan, what on earth are you still up for, what is the Time in Thailand?
cant sleep .. had some issues on saturday .. 4am
its been tough !
and no comment
Mind you from memory, Pattaya never sleeps so it cant be that bad
pat
glad too see at least arsenal are benefiting from my suffering ..
if we can string a few wins together , it should get us up to the transfer window ..
(but if things go too well he wont spend anyhow)
and loose steam in the home straight like last season ..
ha ha ha!
so we are still doomed either way
good boys go to heaven , bad boys go to pattaya
I think if we can get 7 points from the next 3 games I will be more than happy.
Still dont think we will win it, but those views may change dependant on Jan. My gut feeling is he wont buy as it will be percieved as him admitting he got it wrong
That is a fair assesment of the place. I lived out in Hong Kong for two years upto the handover so we made a few visits over to Pattaya. The one thing that always amazed me and I felt sorry for them, was that familes had been duped in going on Holiday there.
I love the place but I am not sure I would take the family there on Holiday. certainly a eye opener.
yeah me too i agree !
chelsea are just going too strong , it will take a mammoth effort and concentration for us to get 3 points each week .. Like most are saying here .. we can beat teams that attack us ..
but its the shut down teams in the mid table and below we are still coming to terms with ,
we cannot seem to break them down , even with superior players …
im hoping better strikers will take there chances .. and break teams down by scoring 1st ..
Scoring 1st is the key in those games ! and our strikers just are not clinical enough
arrr you only have to go over the hill (pratumnak hill ) and go to jomtien !
its like phuket on the other side of the hill ..
restaurants galore ..
and a very clean beach with all the family activities ,
plus i think most euro’s are used to seeing red light districts .. i live 10 km’s out anyhow ! got a big 3000m 2 block here .. id prefer a rural setting ! its only 15 minutes drive to the red light area , but its good for the lad to stay away from it … i agree ..
well im going to do something unprecedented and have a couple of shots of opal nera and try to sleep !
catch ya pat !
GREAT POST! i enjoyed readin it and agreed with all of it! Spurs think they’ll have a new stadium better than ours…. pffft i laugh at them! C’MoN ARSENAL… HERES TO WINNING THE LEAGUE!!
See you later Ethan, I always used to find that crazy Thai Whiskey would wipe me out for the night, although it did usually follow about 20 bottles of Heineken
Thought it was a nice post to read but i disagree about ur walcott eboue comparison
how can u make out eboue doesnt have pace, and an off-form walcott is usually just plain annoying because at least when eboue is off he tackles back well
sorry to be so negative but the eboue-bashing annoys me
I actually like Eboue, but I definately prefer him at RB,
I am not a fan of him starting on the Right Side of Midfield, but if a game is won and we are trying to shore up the width, then I have no problems with him coming on to replace Theo.
I still think that Chelsea aside, he would probably start at RB for every other team in the Country
bit harsh on Theo I think, he was just as important in the creating of the second goal as Nasri & Cesc were with that run drawing away Ferdinand…
ferdinand wasn’t drawn away by theo, vidic followed him, ferdinand was just trying to show cesc onto his left foot expecting him to shoot, and just did a really shit job of it as well as not noticing nasri running straight through the middle!
theo did have a very poor match, though he could have been through had clichy and diaby executed relatively easy through balls to him when free. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t get the ball much but when on it he looked lost, whether it be because he knew evra was probably the first full back he’s come up against who he wouldn’t be able to just burn off, or the injury hampering him, but he didn’t look happy. he also gave the ball away two maybe three times in very dangerous positions in our own half stupidly.
I agree with the player ratings completely, though thought Diaby was very poor for first 15-20 mins, then just snapped out of it and played very well. The start worried me, he couldn’t control or pass the ball to save his life, looked ade-like on an off day!
absolutely awesome performance, and lets hope the younguns repeat the sheffield utd performance on tuesday, albeit possibly without the likes of Bendtner. Be interesting to see what role Bischoff plays, and maybe a shock inclusion of eduardo!
I guess the issue for Diaby is that he has to settle when he get’s in the pitch, part of the problem for his is that he’s such a utility and is used in a different role every gameday that he’s got to mentally boot the ‘how the play in the hole’ disk or the ‘left wing’ disk and that just takes a bit of time on the pitch.
How long is Van Persie banned for? two more games?
ethangunner,if you believe theo is naturally a right winger then thats your choice,theo will say he is a striker,arsene will say he see’s him as a striker eventually! when we bought him he was a striker!
i dont wish to change style,i know that our defence can never be great playing our style,it doesnt mean we should keep being careless,conceding soft free kicks in dangerous crossing areas ,an once again like i said against stoke defending the ball an putting it out for throw ins when it was goin out for a less dangerous corner! like i said theo is the next great arsenal striker!
oh and ethan dont question my aspirations,i spend fortunes in hope and i dont want an afc sugar daddy to buy david villa,theo is the next great arsenal striker,if he plays the wing for 3 more years he should leave,thats my honest opinion,him and vela ghave no future if arsenal sign a new striker
bergkamp Says:
November 10, 2008 at 12:12 am
ethangunner,if you believe theo is naturally a right winger then thats your choice
its not my choice its le bosses , if you dont remember wenger stated he would play more of an active role over in the favored right position this season and he had the power to make it his .. take his chances etc.. .. whilst elevating vela too the strikers role this season …
however theo is very effective on the right and id prefer him any day over eboue there ..
and i like pat dont mind eboue if he is played as RB replacement ..
but i cannot see him being happy long term with that arrangment .. and im sure soon unless theo gets injured eboue will lose form and eventually become surplus to requirements .
like gilberto – senderos before him …
and i can question your aspirations because you told me arsenal are on track scoring goals like every other team !
so if i cannot question them , when your happy with mediocrity dont answer to begin with ..
because im well aware of how many goals we’ve scored this season ..
and its well off par from challenging for the title race !
and i also know who scores important goals ! winning goals .. and it has been from people like nasri and gallas ! vela and theo .. not the strikers .. or about 50 – 50 the strikers ..
they should be the bread winners of the goal department .. you only have too look at recent games like man U and nik b to realize we are NOT well equipped in that area ..
and if you cannot see that then thats your choice also ..
First time i’ve been on a pc since the game. I had a great time watching in a bar in Tokyo. quite afew japanese gooners and some expats. and some dirty mancs as well. after the final whistle a japanese manc (wearing an old white manu shirt with smith on the back) tried his best at being a hooligan by shouting and throwing something then running away up an escalator. funniest thing I’ve seen for ageｓ ｂｔｗ ｔｈｅ ｒｅｆ ｗａｓ ａｎ ａｂｓｏｌｕｔｅ ｃｕｎｔ．
the only chance I get to come on and I:m all alone. anyway I:ve read loads of the posts and we:re all happy!!!!!!!!!. Hello ｆｒｏｍ ｊａｐａｎ． ｔｈｉｓ ｋｅｙｂｏａｒｄ ｄｏｅｓ ｍｙ ｈｅａｄ ｉｎ． ｃａｔｃｈ ｙｏｕ ｌａｔｅｒ
Walcott did not have a good game; BUT, he kept their defense occupied. They were frightened of him. Fear sometimes is just as important. His run across the box caused panic, resulting in Nasri free to pick his spot. Even if Eboue was playing at the top of his game, he will not be given the same reapect by the opposition.
With our limited resources and experience, I feelthat 4-5-1 is our best line up. Brentner may not be the best, but we will have Ade and Van Persie to choose from. Van persie can be great in that position. He like walcott will frighten the opposition with their reputation. Mind games down in the pitch is important.
My major concern is that this team thens to get over confident against the smaller teams, hence does not work as hard. If we can keepthis up………………………………….
A new teacher starts a new job at a school in Liverpool and, trying to make a good impression on her first day, explains to her class that she is a Reds fan. She asks her students to raise their hands if they, too, are ‘Pool fans. Everyone in the class raises their hand except one little girl.
The teacher looks at the girl with surprise and says: ‘Mary, why didn’t you raise your hand?’
‘Because I’m not a Liverpool fan,’ she replied.
The teacher, still shocked, asked: ‘Well, if you’re not a Liverpool fan, then who are you a fan of?’
‘I’m a Gunners fan, and proud of it,’ Mary replied.
The teacher could not believe her ears.
‘Mary, why are you a Gunners fan?’
‘My mum and dad were born and raised in Nth London, so my mum is a Gunners fan and my dad is a Gunners fan, and so I’m a Gunners fan too!’
‘Well,’ said the teacher, in an obviously annoyed tone, ‘that’s no reason for you to be a Gunners fan. You don’t have to be just like your parents all of the time. What if your mum was a prostitute, your dad was a drug addict, and your brother was a car thief, what would you be then?’
‘Then,’ Mary said, ‘I’d be a Liverpool fan.’
I think Walcott did more than ‘ok’. For the 2nd goal, walcott dragged the utd defence out of shape, which gave room to Nasri for his shot.
Walcott is improving his off the ball play really fast now if Cesc is willing to impart some football brains to him…
Cruel
your more than correct to say he is improving , and wenger will keep him on the wing until
his apprenticeship is over .. but nasri has just as much chance of being made into a striker as theo has …
in fact i think that’s the way le boss thinks ! if nasri was already in the box , he would be more than capable of being the next TH14 .. its still early days , but he has the best eye for goal of any in the arsenal ranks . and im sure arsene is starting to see it !
OK!I think team was playing in team and did well what they should do with the team like MU.
If you you saw Walcott tooked the MU defender runned follow him to gived a field for Nasri to score the second goal,means every one had tried as a teamwork and they did how they good at to strike then cause to good defend .
Of course if RvP,Walcott and Bendtner need more sharp to score gold not to spend too much chance otherwhy the result will be like game was with stoke,hull and Fullam.
If Nasri is not sharp enough to score goal then how was the game should be with MU in last saturday?
Nasri eyes ‘French’ title
Samir Nasri has warned that Arsenal’s French stars are determined to win the Premier League title for Arsene Wenger.
The winger grabbed both goals in a 2-1 win over Manchester United on Saturday which takes the Gunners to third.
He said: “It’s an honour to play under Wenger. It seems like a French team, the manager is French, we have African players who speak French. We can definitely win the title.”
…….so why would they not read Le Grove
You beaudy. Sir Fur-on-Tongue is whinging now.
http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/8775058/Playing-away-doesn
Barcelona still struggling to fill Nou Camp
10.11.08 | tribalfootball.com
Barcelona’s free-scoring form still isn’t attracting the big crowds to the Nou Camp.
Pep Guardiola and his players could only attract just over 58,000 to their 6-0 rout of Real Valladolid on Saturday – the fourth worst attendance of the season.
So Hleb’s cameos aren’t getting the juices going with the Catalans
He is a wimp anyway.
wot eva floats your boat george ..
but that wimp almost won us the title last season .. well got us closer than any other year of disappointment…
tell cesc he was a wimp , because since he’s been gone you could say the same
about the boy wonder himself …..
evening all
Hleb is a wimp, who can’t get a game in the barcelona team. Hows that for you.
eeerrrrr Barcelona isn’t exactly devoid of talented players george..
I’ll tell you this for a fact he would get a game at arsenal every week .
Adebayor is the best striker @ the Arsenal, with more assists than anyone @ the Club.
Adebayor is the best striker @ the Arsenal, with more assists than anyone @ the Club.
So whats your point gunner, are you sayingBarcelona are better than Arsenal?
Kleb was subbed on from the weekend game at 75 minutes. thats a token gesture in my books
yes if you really believe that i pity you ..
ive noticed you really cant spot a class player it it hit you in the ass with a cricket bat
now youve confirmed it …
He we go, I knew the feel good factor couldn’t last
Morning.
Was that a reference to the cricket GG ?
Morning Raddy I’m feeling smug still!
Just watched a re-run of Saturday, and it was great watching when I know the result !
I’m not sure Big Raddy, it was your little maties comment. I think it was referring to a donkey being hit by a cricket bat
great to watch the highlights each day, still a bloody great result!
How rude of me
Evening/morning
evo/Big Raddy/Geoff
How’s it going folks……….
Man did I get the prediction spot on or what……..
What a game….What a second goal……….
NEW POST
ice
me too, I was predicting something special pending or all those @ The Emirates just after the Fenerbitche game.
I think a non-theatrical on form Eboue is better than an off form Walcott. Theres less pace but better passing and buildup, plus he offers better defence on the right.