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!
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.