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!
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
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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?