… until I started writing the report. I initially thought the performance was pretty garbage. If you took away our 3 goals, you’d probably be less than impressed with what you saw… but then, as I started writing up what had happened, I realised that actually… we really pulled something special off today.
We’ve got 5 first team players out injured, we’ve been playing poorly of late, we’ve just lost our captain, players have been taking pops at each other… plus rival managers! Like Jamie Redknapp said… we were there for the taking today… and we showed a lot of character by not allowing that to happen.
For me, today was an extremely satisfactory result. Arsenal didn’t really excel… our passing wasn’t brilliant and we looked a bit stuffed for creativity at times but how can you argue with an away victory at the Bridge?
When the team sheets when up… I was staggered by the quality Chelsea have at their disposal. Anelka, Lampard, Deco, Terry… the list is endless and the fear I felt looking at that list is the sort of fear Chav fans used to have when they looked at our line up.
Our team sheet contained Song and an out of position Denilson. It was a bit of a make shift line up, but I wasn’t concerned. Song usually plays ok when he starts and he is quite diciplined when it comes to holding his position. Denilson is a useful player… he’ll never blow you away, but he is mobile and he has the eye for a good pass. Both performed admirably today. Denilson was a stand out performer in the second half and Song did his bit. I am still concerned how slow he is, but I’ll talk in more detail in the players reviews.
The first half was pretty poor from an Arsenal perspective. We spent a majority of the half chasing blue shadows but for the most part, we contained them and kept our discipline. Chelsea were pinging the ball round delightfully, but they didn’t have an end product and they seemed to lack creativity… which is like Picasso lacking ideas to put down on canvass, or David pleat running out of stupid things to say… When you have tools like Chelsea do, creativity shouldn’t be an issue. I mean seriously, I can’t remember seeing Deco do anything all game?
First blood went to Chelsea though… and it was courtesy of a JD own goal. Almunia was completly at fault. He gained control of the ball, and instead of taking his time and leathering the ball down the other end… he inexplicably rolled it out to Nasri… who clearly didn’t expect to receive the ball… he lost it… Chelesa laid it off to Bosingwa, who slotted a hopeful ball into the 6 yard danger area… JD made a decision to defend the cross and accidentally played it into his own net.
Mistakes like that cost you titles and for me, Almunia seems to making mistakes all too frequently. He has been consistent for a year… and now he is not. Wenger dropped Jens for making mistakes and put an uncapped Spaniard in to replace him… surely he has to follow precedent and drop Almunia?
We went in at half time and there were many worried Gooners… not least, the fans who had made the trip (You were singing your hearts out and you put the Chavs to shame!). My biggest gripe was the lack of spark. I remember a point in the 2nd half when Denilson just smashed a hopeful long ball forward with no one on the end… at that point, I did wonder where the creativity for a goal was going come from.
It didn’t take long… Van Persie was played in superbly by Denilson, and even though he was clearly offside, he played to the whistle and buried the ball into the top corner. RvP celebrated with parade of high fives for the away supporters… that goal meant the world to him, and as a fan, I appreciated that passion. He may have been offside when the ball was played, but the Chav players didn’t really protest did they? How many times are we on the receiving end of such decisions?
Chelsea looked shell shocked and Arsenal had tasted blood. There was only one satisfactory outcome from today, and that was victory. Not long after the first goal, RvP latched onto a cushioned header from Ade and without looking up, he expertly powered the ball back accross goal under the flailing hand of Cech. We were winning at the fortress that is/was Stamford bridge… it felt great, but we’d been here too many time before to get excited… could we learn from our mistakes? Could we show that we are improving?
Emphatically yes. The boys defended the only way they knew how to… with attacking flair. We desperately chased a third and came close on a few occassions. Chelsea only seemed to have one tactic… fire it into Anelka so he could lay it back to an awaiting midfielder to have a pop… today that tactic didn’t work. The back 4 were excellent and they put in a really solid performance. Keeping Chelsea’s millionaires quiet is no easy feat and I don’t think enough credit was given by the Sky pundits after the game.
We managed to hold out for the win, and every gooner went home with a smile on their face.
This doesn’t mean our problems have been addressed, it doesn’t mean that our squad is good enough and I don’t believe it signals a title bid revival but it does mean that the boys are capable when they can be arsed and it does mean that with the right surgery in January… we could really dominate football in years to come.
Player Ratings:
Almunia: A very poor performance from the Spaniard today. He punched comically early in the game and his mistake was unforgivable at the level he is playing at… I would drop him for a couple of games if I was the coach… after all, if you can drop a keeper as good as Jens… why not Almunia? 4
Clichy: Made a few dodgy clearances in the first half, but after recovering from them… he kicked on and had a super game. He went on a magical run later in the second half but was cynically pulled down by Ivanowhateverhisnameis… which was a shame, because one day he’ll score from one of those runs. He made some great interceptions and played his part in the game well. 7
Gallas: I thought the ex-captain had a great game today. He played in the manner we’d expect a £90k a week defender to play. He looks somewhat relieved to be out of lime light, and his performances will hopefully pick up now he is focused purely on his game. I really hope we keep him in January, because he is a great player. 8
JD: I really felt for him when he turned the ball into his own net… he looked gutted. He didn’t let it get to him though, he put in the type of performance all Gooners were praying for… he really does seem like the solution at the back. WG likes playing with him, and Arsenal fans feel secure with him in the back line. 8
Sagna: A crunching performance from our scary as hell right back. He made some brilliant tackles today and he looked quite threatening going forward. I’m hoping that his form has recovered and we are going to have a good December out of him. 8
Nasri: Quietly effiencient without ever standing out. He helps our game flow, but when he is quiet… you hardly notice him. He is a slow player, so I guess if he wants to succeed at Arsenal he is going to have to find a way of being productive without pace… a tough ask in the Prem, but Cesc turned out ok, didn’t he? 6
Denilson: Considering he was being played out of position, I would say he had a great game. He covered a lot of ground today and he was excellent in the second half. He is never going to blow your mind out wide, but when a player is called upon to take one for the team, and they do it well… you have to give them credit. 8
Cesc: A proper captains performance out there today… he is clearly enjoying his new found responsibility and it showed in his performance… the desire is back and he is pulling the strings again. It’s great to see, and long may the winning streak continue. 8
Song: He played ok today, and just ok… it’s a sign supporter faith that when a weak footballer plays just ok, people say they’ve had a blinder. I think his player tracking is poor and his passing is quite often less than desirable… but he is the best option we have at the moment and I personally believe it would be unfair to expect Rambo or Wilshere to make the jump too soon… He was however, part of a winning team at Stamford bridge, an achievement not to be sniffed at in my opinion. He ain’t no Paddy, but if he can get the basics right, I can deal with him until we have a better option. 6.5
Adebayor: Love or hate him, don’t under rate him (<-It rhymed as I wrote it… I apologise). Ade was the big difference for us today. He is powerful, gangly and a real nasty piece of work to play against. I thought his touch was on today and I thought his work rate was superb. Having Ade in the team gives everyone a lift and it worries the opposition. JT clearly doesn’t enjoy playing against him and anything that upsets that scumbag is ok in my eyes. Good to have you back Ade, oh and nice assist! 7.5
RvP: I still can’t work out what his game is all about… he is a bit of everything… he drops deep, he hangs off the last defender, he shoots, he creates and today he scored two vital goals! I am hoping those two goals will see him head into a purple patch… he is a confidence player; now a fit player and I expect big things from him. He loves Arsenal; although he doesn’t always express that in the correct way… Arsenal is in his heart and I love that. In his post match press conference he was asked what the goals meant to him…
‘This goals weren’t for me… they were for the team.’
I love to hear players say stuff like that and I loved seeing a player as talented as RvP on the score sheet! 9
Arsene Wenger: Ok, one of the Grovers (London) suggested I give the manager a rating. Well, here goes! I thought Arsene played a blinder today. He picked the best team he could considering the injury situation and he out thought Scolari. Arsenal soaked up the early pressure and JD certainly dealt with Anelka and the high balls well. I also thought he did well with the subs. He knew that Chelsea couldn’t fully attack us while we were playing 4-4-2… Usually he would bring on a DM and invite the opposition on, but today he threw Nik on for the tiring Ade and we maintained our attacking prowess. Listen to his thoughts here. 9
Conclusion
We saw out the victory in impressive style and we have a lot to be pleased about. I don’t know why Chavski fans are talking about bad luck… we scored all the goals today, and as for the offside goal…. well, these things happen in football.
So… we head into December after a very odd month. Wins against ManU and Chelsea we slightly tainted by the losses against Vila and Man City. It’s been a roller coaster of emotions this months. Some sections of the fan base may have mixed feelings on the result because victory will only firm up Wenger’s belief that this squad is good enough to challenge for honours. In your heart of hearts, do you believe we will ever win the league with Song in the heart of midfield… I have my doubts… but I am not sure Wenger would agree.
Arsenal find themselves 7 points off the pace and we’ve still got 4 competitions to play for. So enjoy today… make sure you bust out your best victory dance moves in the faces of every Chav fan you know… then look forward to the kids showing up Burnley on Tueday.
Before I go, I would like to draw attention to the England captain and his poor behaviour today. That two footed lunge was disgraceful and you could see the spite in his face when he did it. There is no room in football for behaviour like that and it is especially disappointing that a player with such a big reputation lowers himself to disgusting acts like that…. but who cares, Sags is ok… and Chelsea are in a bit of a situation, ho hum…
Have a merry Monday Grovers… must dash, I’ve just seen a chav scuttle into the kitchen!
P.S. The amount of Plastic AKB’s we’ve had on in the last 12 hours is amazing (It’s always the same names…). Where have you guys been for the last month? We haven’t seen you? Do you only support Arsene when he is winning? When the coach needed you the most, you weren’t there for him! Win, lose or draw… the Grovers are all here talking things over, it’s a shame your support isn’t unconditional. Tut tut…
well most if not all top class managers read a hell of a lot into stats so i don’t think i’m going to stop looking at them just yet! I do watch the games, but stats back up opinions, although sometimes they surprise you and when you watch a match again or watch the next match your opinions will develop and change.
Denilson actually has very good ball retention, but because he (or bendtner) is this year’s scapegoat/hate figure amongst alot of arsenal fans then notice and remember every single misplaced pass, or time he loses possession, because they’re looking out for it. Denilson often does cross field balls and such like too! He isn’t an amazing passer, but is a good passer. Even if you say stats aren’t everything and aren’t an exact representation of players’ value, which most would as denilson isn’t the third best passer in the prem, you can’t get stats amongst the top in the prem if you are absolutely useless. They can be misrepresentative to an extent and exagerating, but not made up completely out of nothing. No smoke without fire etc
Paulinho – Honestly, truthfully, do you really think Denilson would not even start for a Championship side ?!
marylandgunner
i noticed that about RvP running over to Cesc. i think its a Good sign of Unity and that Cesc has the dressing room
BBK
fuck me is it christmas already!? You’re all caught up in the festive spirit!
Gawd bless us, every one!
Yes, Keyser, honestly and truthfully.
I would be fascinated to see Denilson go on loan to someone like Derby for a while. He would start the first few games cause ‘he’s an Arsenal youngster’, and then get slowly eased out of the side.
I’m absolutely convinced of it. Once he leaves Arsenal I guarantee his football career goes down the toilet.
Him and Lucas Leiva are tarnishing the Brazilian brand, big time.
Denilson is one of them players that wenger will persist with until enoughs enough, alot like senderos, denilson wont be at arsenal in 3-4years time.
Song was an enigma – i have a picture in my mind of him drifting along a yard or so behind the attacker on each Chelsea move – but then Gilberto often gave that impression too and one missed his covering and tackles on first viewing.
Important contributions and some solid performances for Arsenal have earned Cameroonian midfielder Alex Song GoonerTalk.com’s Player of the Month award for November.
How Alex Won The Award
The 21-year-old defensive midfielder started the month with a loss at Premier League newcomers Stoke City. After Ricardo Fuller’s first half goal, French tactician Arsene Wenger introduced Dutch maestro Robin van Persie looking to add some power and class to the Gunners attack. It didn’t happen, and after conceding goal number two, van Persie kicked out at ‘keeper Thomas Sorensen and got his marching orders.
A poor start for Alex, and Arsenal’s inconsistent form didn’t help him. Fenerbahce travelled to the Emirates next and after putting ten men behind the ball for the majority of the match, Luis Aragones’ side forged a 0-0 draw out of a drab game – Robin van Persie came frustratingly close for Arsenal after hitting the upright in the first half.
Samir Nasri proved to be the star of the show as the Gunners triumphed 2-1 over a tough Manchester United team. The Frenchman bagged an astonishing brace after some pin-point Arsenal pass and move work brought a deserved three points home. Alex once again impressed, and caused constant problems to the United backline.
The win against United coupled with drab defeats at Villa and Man City pretty much summed up Arsenal’s season so far. However, after a 1-0 win at the hands of Kyiv, Alex’s season was set to get started – big time.
West London minnows Chelsea hosted the might of Arsenal and it proved to be a tricky but fairly comfortable evening for Alex. After conceding a own-goal close to half time, Robin van Persie came out in the second half and immediately made an impact. His first chance was arguably offside, but Robin smashed it into the top corner of the rippling net and made it 1-1. Then, just 4 minutes later, the Dutchman struck again, this time with a turn and shot, a superb way to win the game and grab all three points.
An improved month for Alex, and there’s surely more to come from the tough-tackling midfield star, Gooner Talk look forward to following Alex’s progress throughout the season.
just thought geoff might like this
It’s also telling that not one Arsenal player has ever been asked about Denilson or ever gone out of their way to express their views on his talent. Also, not one media columnist or pundit or ex-player has said anything remotely positive about him.
At least Song has played for the Cameroon national side and got voted into African cup of nations XI.
Songs another who wont be here long either
JonJon,
I wouldnt say that he persisted with Senderos. Phil played consistently for about a year and wasnt too bad but the second Willi G arrived Senderos’ arsenal career was effectively over. Unfortunate but the truth. IMO Denilson is only playing because there is litle other option and Wenger is blind.
Paulinho – Then I think you’re wrong, he is a kid and if he toughened up a little he’d make a good player and would easily get into a Championship side, I don’t get how people come up with these impressions of players.
How would you explain Joe Kinnear wanting to take him on loan ?!
Adebayor, you used to be John, what happened?
Im confused geoff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“How would you explain Joe Kinnear wanting to take him on loan ?!”
Oh yes, Joe kinnear, that great footballing luminary
He’s a next door neighbour of Wenger so has been brainwashed by the man himself for the last decade. I wouldn’t pay too much attention to him.
Denilson is just not aggressive enough Keyser, not pro active enough. He waits for something to happen and is content to stroll through a game giving the impression he’s dictating play when he’s really just shifting responsibilty.
Wenger will gradually ease him out and try and save face. Cause we all he is Wenger’s special project.
Fergie has already arranged the signing of a young Serbian free kick specialist for £3m. I wonder what the odds are that Wenger wont actually get anyone of note in the transfer window.
Who is Michael Shields?
Sorry – who is John ?
Agreed Paulinho, wenger will buy a DM and when rosicky comes back there will be no room for denilson, wenger will ease him out and sell him to ‘let him pursue his career’ which really means ‘ ive give you a chance and your not good enough so fuck off to newcastle’!!!!!!
Isn’t Michael Shields the liverpool fan who got arrested? Might be wrong there.
Paulinho, i’ve never heard of him but Pepe is wearing a t-shirt saying “free Michael now”
Wiki him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not you JonJon, Adebayor had a previous name and it was John, I let him on, I hope he isn’t a trojan horse! I guess we’ll find out.
Colins John of Fulham ?
John, for someone who has written many mean things about Le Grove over the last few days… you seem awfully keen to get on?
yes Jon Jon, …”I feel feel Denilson is a fantastic player with a great future, but we’re a little bit congested in there in now with the players I signed due to his shitness.. but I digress, he’s a fantastic player.”
Oops sorry Pedro, I’ll let you sling him off the wanker.
Everyone deserves a second chance geoff, he may have seen the error of his ways!!!!!
I’ve surrendered to the fact that Wenger believes Song will make the cut at Arsenal, and although he didn’t do much to justify Wenger’s faith in him, he did no wrong either. He didn’t win the ball too much, but he kept hassling and pressing the Chelsea players, passed much better than he usually does, and provided a bit of height at the back.
Except Song…
avenell, Songs second chance has long gone.
Ok John or should I ay Sean, I’ll give you another chance, don’t let me down.
what are you talking about, song is a player of exceptional talent,
he didnt even need to come through the reserves hes that good
he doesnt need any chances hes an exceptional player who is 1st on the team sheet because of his exceptionalness.
Xabi is playing the “holding role” against WHU tonight. Will be interesting to see if he does well without Masch behind him.
At least now he’s in the first team he won’t be playing tomorrow night!
ha agree to disagree massively there paulinho, i think denilson will play for brazil within 18 months!
Surely Song will have to play tomorrow night seeing as JD, gallas and Toure are all injured. That only leaves Fish and Song for CB. Unless Hoyte plays there but then who will play RB?
Song will have more chance of playing for brazil in 18mnths,
he’ll qualify with a exceptional talent passport.
Paulinho – Hah, the world’s awash with football luminaries it seems and fonts of knowledge, which pundits were you thinking of ?!
I doubt you could brainswash Joe Kinnear I’m pretty sure he’d tell anyone to go fuck themselves after a couple of minutes heh.
At least he’s taken time out to actually watch and properly study some of the players and hey they might not be good enough to challenge for top premiership and european honours but he seems to be pretty keen.
Agression can be worked into a game, considering you’ve got an extremely pro-active Fabregas next to you, you’re options aren’t as varied, you talked of the Tottenham game, but has he had any good performances in the Carling Cup ?!
The only real test of a footballers limtations are actually if he plays the games and even then you can work around them, like United do with Carrick, Chelsea with Deco, Liverpool do with Alonso, before you start I’m not comparing them.
Heh, maybe you’re right and Newcastle will end up in the Championship next season taking Denilson on loan.
So what is new Grovers?
Anything exciting on the news feeds?
A tribute to Geoffs favorite……
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mTa8U0Wa0q8
“How wonderful life is when your in the world”
Hi pedro,
apparently we are lining up bids for elia of twente and giovinci of juve
but its all rumours and theres no solid base to it all.
so i dont believe it
its all paper talk
Never heard of Elia and I wouldnt want to buy Giovinco. We have enough young attackers as it is.
A, Denilson very well might play for Brazil within the next couple of years. After all, central midfielders are not there strong suit.
Gilberto, Emerson, Kleberson, Mauro Silva, Edmilson, Cesar Sampaio, Lucas Leiva, Anderson Polga. None of those players are getting into the hall of fame.
If Lucas Leiva can play for Brazil, then there is hope for Denilson. Won’t mean jack though. An old age pensioner could feed Kaka and Robinho and stroll around. Denilson would love it. Made to look good again
Keyser
I was thinking of the likes of Paul Merson. Pundits cut from that cloth
Giovincos contract runs out next summer, hes refused to sign a new one so juve would have to sell for cheap in jan.
Elias a winger from holland, supposed to be a crowd pleaser and hot property, apparently wengers been watching him since we played twente but iv never seen the lad so i cant comment
Why woudnt Gilberto get into the Brazil H.O.F.? he helped them to the world cup and is their ol=nly player to win the Premiership unbeaten. Thats good enough in my eyes.
Well since Elia is a winger than Wenger will definately not buy him.
Stu, he’s a decent player but nothing earth shattering. He will go down as a decent player who performed an important role.
All mediocre central midfielders for Brazil have been carried by their exceptional attacking talent and great centre backs. Just because a player is part of winning team it doesn’t mean that much.
Gilberto has probably been the most succesful of that bunch but my point still stands; playing central midfield for Brazil doesn’t mean your that good.
Paulinho – Your point stands because it’s vague, wide ranging and all encompassing, Heh.
What would be earth shattering for a Brazilian Central Midfielder ?! How many players in World football aren’t made to look good ?!
no holding midfielders are earth shattering, and all are made to look good by the attackers in front of them! Gilberto was a massive massive player for us in our invincible season, and there are few holding mids in world football who would have been able to fill that role as well as he did!
‘You think Song is the crappest player to ever wear the Arsenal shirt… id go as far as saying he has more ability than Flamini will ever had, hes strong a good tackler, a good header, and gives us a balance in midfield that weve missed this season. You might not like his haircut, his laidback look or even his nationality but he put in a good performance next to Cesc. You will see more of Song next to Cesc this season mark my words.’
It’s comments like the above that I was talking about earlier… I mean honestly, he must be on a wind up? Or thinking, ‘If I say I like a player Wenger likes, everyone will think I am a genius like Wenger’.
What a muppet.
Paulinho, I understand what you are saying… like Brazil rarely have a great goal keeper because they don’t need one!
I think Gilberto is a super player though! He was no Petit, but he had his benefits… mainly playing next to Paddy.
A, I think Mascharano is earth shattering as far as holding midfielders go… so is Essien.
Ok Pedro, put him back in the hole then, I let him out. I’m off for a while.
That was from earlier Geoff… someone else.
Essiens a machine, hes the only chelsea player id have.
Essien is quality wherever he plays, he isn’t necessarily a holding mid, he’s basically superhuman and an amazing attacking mid too! Mascherano is quality, but no better than the makaleles and gilberto “invisible wall” type holding mids. The likes of mascherano, essien, gattuso just stand out more because they run around kicking people, rather than having a big influence on games but without people noticing it, like makalele and gilberto.
Also, dida was rated during his peak in italy as one of the best in the world, on par with buffon, i think he even might have won the keeper of the year award, yet the british press do all they can to claim every keeper who isn’t english is shit and flaps, especially african or south americans! Cesar is quality too, though not dida class. Brazil have as good keepers as us, if not better, though that isn’t saying much at the moment!
Dida did have one amazing year, but he was never regarded as on par with Buffon.
He’s been dropping clangers his whole career… there have always been questions over his ability.
Hunterlaar’s supposed to be joining Madrid in January according to some reports.
i’d have mikel too jonjon, absolute quality. Though essien would be amazing. I’d also have joe cole, be a decent reserve for nasri, and bosingwa and ashley cole would be decent back ups for clichy and sagna.
Julio Cesar is a good keeper, as is Fabianski for us but Fab is still raw and will be a great keeper in a few years. He should be arguably be our no.1 right now, all things considered.
African keepers do tend to come flapping more tan others. I can only think of 2 african keepers in Kingson (of brum) and Kameni, both of whom are flappers but Kameni has good reflexes tho.
haha! J.Cole a reserve!
Anyone got the link for the vid of Lampard and Anelka sulking/losing it at the full time whistle ? I’m sure it was posted up but I can’t find it now.
Keyser, it has also been suggested that Huntelaar will snub La Liga and the prem clubs for Bayern Munich. Huntelaar even said that he wanted to play in the bundesliga.
Although it does seem likely that Real wpuld bid for KJH to replace Ruud.
in 2003/4 dida won italian goalkeeper of the year, beat buffon to it…. I was told by an italian chum of mine that at the start of dida’s career at milan, and now at the end of it, last year or so he’s been calamitous, but there were 3 years he was considered in italy to be just behind buffon and casillas in best in the world stakes. Even Casillas, who’s only equalled by Buffon in the world gets stick from the british media claiming mistake prone etc
Kameni’s good, doesn’t get maybe the recognition he deserves..
I just saw it on NewsNow, I don’t know how much Real Madrid have been spending lately but they could probably outbid Bayern.
My Setanta connection just fucked up right now, during a Bellamy shot that I think hit one post and I don’t know if it went in, Liverpool need to lose, they’re luck has to run out sometime.
Chary, there is a link on goonertalk but I cant get it working. Still worth a try though.
http://goonertalk.com/2008/11/30/video-anelka-lampard-lose-their-rag-as-gooners-celebrate-win/
yeah stu to be fair keeping in africa is pretty embarrassing, the african nations can be hilarious for goalkeeping errors. Though i think egypt have an absolutely brilliant keeper, and kameni is quality. Nigeria have had a few decent ones though mistake prone
yeah keyser my setanta has fucked up too, glad isnt just me
Keyser, Bellamy hit the inside of the post but didnt score.
those videos are embarrassing, goading or abusing opposition players outside of the ground just shows the “fans” to be complete and utter bellends. I’m ashamed to be associated with idiots like that as an arsenal fan
Keyser….Bellamy’s shot hit and post and rolled across the open goal, very close but not close enough.
My setanta gone. WTF!!!! They are shit, this is the third time its happened to me when im watching something.
im ringing them now to complain,
A, I think it was a kid… you can forgive a 15 years old for being immature.
Keyser, how is my point vague? It was pretty simple and to the point. You don’t have to be a top player to play for Brazil in central midfield.
Dont know whats going on on yer end but my Setanta is still perfect, well as perfect as it can be without Arsenal playing.
JonJon…Try removing the card and replacing after switching the box off and then on again.
yeah i know, it sounds like a kid, that’s the saving grace, hopefully he’ll grow out of it, still embarrassing though, and for there to be an article seemingly celebrating the videos….
Workrate. workrate. workrate. Is the reason why we won.
When thinks are going poorly (and we were sh!te in 1st Half) the only way out is to work harder.
Arsenal palyers have not being doing this for the last few months. Surprsing how just closing players down can get you results – just as Stoke, Hull, Fulham.
So it ws refreshing tosee Arsenal players closing down the opposition, not giving them time of the ball. This lead to an increased desire and confidence. To win anything this seaon will require balance of hardwork and great passing football. Our players may have learnt something yesterday.
And mines down chaps!! Let us know if it comes on….
what idiot brought up Song’s nationality or haircut Pedro??
Retarded blogging whoever it was.
By that token we ought to have hated Lauren Kanu and Bak, but funnily enough noone does, could it be because they played really well and showed passion and determination? It’s a tough one…
Cheers truth, but it aint back on,
yours rubber ducked as well hugh????
its a liberty, at least its the bindippers id of been going potty if it was us,
Heh, Thanks, It’s back now but I think it’s half time and the adverts are on.
Paulinho – It’s too simple, what do you need to play in Central midfield for Brazil then ? you must have to have some qualities, no player in any great team is ‘carried’.
Im back on
Half time
typical
speaking of song – i thought he looked very different yesterday, there were never moments where he looked like he was just strolling around, he seemed focussed at all times, rather than just chilling!
Apparently its a fault at their end.
I agree A,
song looked quite comfortable, not the greatest performance, but he did ok.
fair play to the lad,
i’m usually giving him stick but credit were credits due,
If yours ain’t working Jonjon try 954.. ..
Setantas back but it’s not good!!!
A…..Maybe Song is laying off the hard stuff!
Song wouldnt be out of place in a Malibu add. You know the drink. Just imagine it, Song sitting down at the training ground while all the other players are working hard, then just as he is handed his outragous wages he lifts up the drink and says “seriously easy goin”.
Whooooo hoooooooo
yeah same jonjon, he was actually ok. That is the thing i noticed most though. In all other games there are always moments where song looks like he’s not paying any interest in the football going on around him, and just on a sunday stroll. Saturday he looked like he had a new drive, it was good!
LMAO Stu, i can imagine the dressing room before a match,
wenger giving a team talk, the rest of the team are working their joints, and songs smoking his!!!!!
Avenall, their bouncing mate their bouncing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seb, it was Gooner Chris from ACLF. Le Grove is clearly a racist website if we don’t like Song… nothing to do with a complete lack of ability that 90% can see. Playing the race card when you can’t make a decent point is pretty weak.
Song is good at headers… on what basis. I’ve seen him fluff headers on numerous occassions, in fact… wasn’t he at fault for a goal due to a poor header?
A good tackler… compared to who? If he is talking about Flamini, again, it’s not even worth arguing with someone who can say that.
How does he give us balance? There is no way Flamini and Song even compare… and I don’t understand where this, ‘Flamini lacked ability’ comes from. It’s bollocks. Ancellotti signed him to replace Gattuso… are we saying that he is a bad judge of player?
Some people just talk crap…
To be fair pedro I think flamini lacks ability, but makes up for it with sheer physicality and drive. He doesn’t read the game particularly well, have brilliant technique, or great ability on the ball, but his engine is just so incredible that he manages to do a job in that role. I doubt he’ll be the long term replacement for gattuso though, they’ll get someone better eventually. I don’t think he was the future for us either, he never had the ability to become a top top class player, not that we currently have someone better but we would eventually. Wenger himself said Flamini wasn’t even second or third choice at the start of last season, he only got a run in the team because of injuries
I don’t buy that at all. He was a good passer, had a decent shot on him and he could tackle. No one pushed him around and if he’d stayed at Arsenal, we could have done some serious damage this year.
He had great technique, you can’t play football in a semi successful Arsenal team without it…. whatever you think on the Flamster, he is a better player than Alex Song.
Liverpool have had all the play and I swear West ham have had the two best chances, I wish they had our sort of bad luck..
yeah of course he is, 3 or 4 levels above song at the moment. Gilberto was in an even more successful team and had very average technique and passing too. Yeah noone pushed him around, but what made him a very good player for us were his physical attributes, he’s pretty average in pure footballing terms.
those watching liverpool, gerrards air shot lol
Keyser
long as it stays 0 – 0 im happy
So when we started there was a blog called Eastlower, it was one of the biggest, his site is very AKB, so much so we’re not in his blogroll! today he has 7 comments.
A couple of days ago he wrote a story with this headline – Song and Denilson, Arsenals worst ever midfield?
And his first comment was ‘For fuck’s sake, what a cunt’ Now why on earth does he bother???
We don’t let worthless cunts like that on Le Grove, that’s why we all have fun, we are fans like you guys and gals. People that leave comments like that aren’t, that comment was left by a pervert from Thailand, so many of these pricks just go on blogs to cause trouble.
A. – Saw that, Heh.
raif. – Thats it though they’ve been completely jammy all season, keep getting late wins.
You don’t play in one of the most successful Arsenal sides of all time with poor technique. What are you basing your technique assertions on?
I think technique critquing is a bit of a fallacy… it’s like when people say English players have bad technique… it’s simply not true. You don’t get to Champions league finals with poor technique… it’s not possible. To play at the highest level, you have to have superb technique… especially at a top 4 club.
Keyser – ive said once, twice a million times. Liverpool are the luckest Team on the planet.
its either a Penalty, or some lucky shot from Steve Fucking G
Geoff, the guy who wrote an article on ‘how not to fall in love with a prostitute’?
I don’t think he has ever written anything sensible on any blog.
Geoff,
how long has le grove been around???
If Wenger reads and compiles all these stats, he would also read Songs stats, how slow he is, how bad his passing is, how many goals he gives away, so how the fuck does he justify keep playing him then?
I’m off now so catch you all later Grovers.
About a year and 2 months JonJon.
That’s him Pedro, named after a nasty sneaky fish.
i disagree pedro. Arsenal are the only club who can’t have players without exceptional technique, except for the centre backs and holding mid. We’re the only english club who play the sort of football that requires that technique. Other english clubs traditionally are just very powerful, and largely boring. The rest of europe hate us (england) for making the champs league so boring, especially with chelsea and liverpool, and even utd when they got to the end of the competition like against barca played “anti-football”. The only english players who have the technique to play for arsenal are rooney, joe cole, and theo, ashley cole, and maybe ashley young too but he’s crap in other ways. Those english players apart (and wilshere of course) technique wise we’re absolutely embarrassing compared to the rest of the world.
Cheers pedro,
thats not that long really and to say you guys get around 1000comments most days is remarkable,
Whoevers watching the Liverpool, there’s that impending sense of Dooooom building..
A, I disagree on the part where you say Theo has great technique. Sure theo is a good player but his touch is way below the level of J.Cole and Rooney. Even Cashley hasnt got great technigue. Its not that English players have bad technique but more that they are not at the typical European levels.
boa morte is a complete waste of time nowadays
i hope westham snatch it, gerrard own goal
Boa Morte is a mug. How did he do tha bad.
It’s all over..!! hahaha.. West Ham were dodgy there in the last few minutes.
yeah theo is far from perfect in terms of his touch, and below the levels of rooney and cole, but he has the raw ability to develop that and his technique is still better than 99% of english footballers when fully developed! I disagree about cashley, watching old videos of games when he was with his, he really was a fantastic footballer!
It’s because we bring kids up very differently, play 11 a side matches on big pitches far too early in a player’s development, whereas in every other country they play 6 a side and futsal type games until they’re much older, develops the technique much much more. It’s also why our kids coming through now are technically superior to every other english club, because wenger brought in the european training techniques and that is just starting to show
Whats wrong woth the pool fans? Its not like they lost to Hull at home or anything. Being disappointed is one thing but they are just over the top. Where are the RKBs?
Well, whatever the censored minority might say, I’m glad you two have a policy of monitoring posts, and that you filter out people who just want to stir up trouble. I can do without losing my rag every day reading stuff from people who can’t accept the rules here and who want to make personal attacks. And who quite often are talking nonsense.
I think there’s a pretty good range of gooners in here, and most are prepared to stand up for their opinion – the difference is, we don’t have to call people that disagree with us a cunt or rage about their opinions. Gooners and Grovers (who are all gooners) have views about the team that are every colour of the rainbow, but we are all red and white ultimately. Who wants to live in a one-colour world – or blog.
I know Stu, they are top of the league and have only drew at home, its not like they got smashed 5-0 was it.
Fans are fickle
A, i still disagree that Cashley has one of the best techniques of english players. His passing technique in particular is pretty poor, always hitting it behind the intended target.
Cheers JonJon… We thought we might get up to 50 comments a day one day… but a thousand was almost unthinkable. It’s 24 hour blogging these days… which is bad for my health!
What was the score chaps?
Did they draw last week at Anfield aswell ?!
Carlton Cole’s offside decision was shocking but he went from like 3 yards onside to 2 yards off in like a split second so the linesmen do have it tough.
0 – 0 Pedro
Well said Seb… what I love nowadays is that if an idiot slips through the net… everyone just ignores them.
0-0 so we’re 8 points off liverpool, so at worst will be 5 once we batter them following our smashing of wigan!
Well said Seb,
we are all gooners and we wouldnt be fans if we didnt have an opinion, calling someone names isnt the best way to back up an opinion either. its just attention seeking.
Excellent news. I really don’t rate Liverpool.
Has Torres been playing this year?
If we get within 6 points of the leaders by xmas and bring in some players, including the injured, we’ve still got a chance you know!!!!
A… English teams are no more boring than the foreign teams.
Liverpool are painful to watch when they are nullifying teams as were Chavski… but ManU are a joy to watch as are Arsenal.
Gerrards last mnute attempt at getting a penalty didn’t work this week!! knob!!
Hes a cheating git!!!! straight out of the school of eboue
Just had the highlight on of yesterdays match on ChelseaTV and there were 2 commentators, 1 neutral and 1chelsea fan. The Chav said that Bosingwas cross was amazing and undefendable. He must have seen a different cross to me and when Van wasn’t offside he was in utter disbelief, speechless and it was great. Those Chavs now know how it feels.
The games on again on ATV, just started.
Stu… did they say about Terry’s superb tackle on Sagna?
Isnt this a cunt. I recently got in a sky box. I have all the movie channels, sport channels etc etc but for what ever reason there is no ATV. I have Celtic, ManU, Chelsea and Pool TV but alas no Arsenal. The FA must decide what channels go on it.
Well John/Steve/Adebayor, you couldn’t be trusted and no one read your childish comment.
1000 comments a day would suggest le grove and it’s readers are not in a minority.
If we moderated out people who disagreed… we’d have a pretty boring comments section.
3 knobbers out of 10,000 readers today isn’t bad… I shouldn’t complain.
Stu… ATV is part of setanta, get that and you get ATV
Avenell, no they didnt. They are just focussing on the goals.
I like the Gallas/JD pairing, i think it is what weve been looking for.
Do you think wenger will go buy a CB now???
I think he’ll be getting a new keeper though. Definately, and a DM maybe a proper winger, if theres 3 signings it’ll be for them positions.
JonJon, he wont get a keeper… I’ve never heard him rave about a keeper like he raves about Fabianski!
I think he’ll sign a versatile midfielder and a centre back… well, I hope he does!
Anyone know anything about this Witsel?
Right, I am knackered!
Have a good night Grovers!
just watche the bindippers 2nd half. They are shite really I think we’ll overtake them to save my £100 bet.
yeah i agree pedro, fabianski is incredibly highly rated by wenger and he won’t sign anyone to come ahead of him. the fabster will be first choice by february!
I think we’ll be looking at a big powerful midfielder, and a big powerful defender, and possibly an attacking mid/winger depending on where we stand with rosicky by then. It’ll all depend on whether there are suitable players available though in mid season.
We’ll never go for a “proper” winger, not had one since wenger arrived and won’t until after he leaves, though proper wingers as such as few and far between these days, unless we want a stuart downing!
nite pedro
Wouldn’t you call Overmars a proper winger? Or do you mean someone who will literally just hug the touchline and cross it?
nah overmars was more of a forward playing on the wing, came inside alot made runs centrally etc. Yeah mean as in a traditional style winger, gotta be right footed on the right, left on the left and not allowed to move further in field than in line with the edge of the box, job just to dribble and cross sort of thing! Overmars and theo I’d say are similar styles.
The highlights are on Setanta, like everyone else they didnt show JTs tackle. And that limelight seeking twat of a ref Graham Poll is a fixture on the guest couch. I thought refs were supposed to be anonymous not on TV shows.