The F.A Cup first round is always a dodgy day… teams pick up magical super powers from their morning bowl of pasta, goalkeepers grow 3 feet taller and poor players become greats… all for a day!
Today, Plymouth played with all the flair and skill of Hull, Stoke and Sunderland combined… they defended resolutely and they attacked sparingly (Still managing the customary goal we gift all away teams at the Emirates). Plymouth done their 9000 buoyant fans proud… and to be honest, it wasn’t an enjoyable first half for most of the home support. I was hoping to see a show of exciting, fast paced, free flowing football that would warm my numb feet in the artic conditions… well, for the first half I was sadly disappointed.
Arsenal kept possession reasonably well, but we still lacked that killer pass that was so prevalent last year. I can’t criticise too much because the midfield were pretty new to each other. Diaby and Rambo started in the middle, Nasri and Eboue started out wide. To be honest, it took me quite a while to work out exactly what formation we were playing… Eboue was almost playing in a free role… I am sure Arsene didn’t give him that role… but then again, you never can be sure when it comes to Arsene and his favourites. The only position Eboue hasn’t played in thus far, is up front… and today, he certainly ticked that position off his list of ‘to play’ with his usual ineptitude.
Fabianski looked like a 8 year who had just enjoyed his first can of red bull… he tore off his line at ever opportunity, he didn’t let a single ball come into the box with out a challenge and he rarely paused for a second when it came to distributing. You know what though? I really like him… he is probably the first young keeper since Manninger to make any sort of impact on the first team, and if he continues to play with conviction and positivity, I think he could become quite a keeper.
Arsenal’s second half started much brighter. Plymouth went close before the ball went up the home end for a corner. Nasri whipped a perfect cross into the box for a fiery RvP to power a header high into the back of the net. It was an easy goal, but Robin deserved it after his hard working performance.
It wasn’t long before Arsenal doubled their lead. Eboue laid off RvP who jinked past his defender firing across the box for Nikki Lime boots to finish. Nik seemed pretty pleased with himself (I didn’t realise he didn’t score the goal until I got home), and I think only Rambo went over to celebrate with him.
Nik seems about as popular as George Bush in an Iraqi press conference of late… I think if I had a pair of pink boots, I’d have thrown them at him yesterday. He was pretty woeful for the most part. I want to like him, but he summed up his work ethic late in the second half when a miss cued pass was fired at the Plymouth right back… instead of Nik chasing it down and anticipating the mistake… he just stood there… the defender made a mistake and let it go over his head…and Nik still didn’t chase it! CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HAVE A WORD!
Plymouth did manage to claim one back… a simple ball was fired into the box… no one closed the finisher down and he powered the ball past Fabianski. Shocking defending against a largely poor team… but we’ve all become a bit numb to stuff like that at the Grove. Whispers of a Spurs like come back sounded out throughout our block… but I was pretty sure we had too much in the locker for that to happen.
Arsenal turned on the style and started to make things happen. The passing, the movement and the belief flooded back into the team… we started to dish out a pounding. Finally the third came… RvP was played in delightfully by Nasri, he latched onto the ball first then dinked it over the keeper who got a touch on it, as the ball came down, RvP let rip from six yards and scored off the underside of the bar.
Vela and Jack came on in the second half to excitable cheers. Both put in a good performance and showed why they are so highly rated. I wish that I had asked Santa for an experience oven this Christmas. I’d put Rambo, Wilshere and Vela in there and set the timer to 3 years… how many of our problems would be solved if I’d just asked for the damn oven?
Anyway, the whistle went, we all left a little bit warmer and a little bit happier… bring on Bolton.
Player Ratings:
Fabianski: I think he needs to slow things down a bit and take a few seconds. Some of his distribution was weak and that wasn’t down to ability, it was down to rushing his play. His overall game though is pretty good. He dominates his area like Almunia should do… he comes out for every cross, he lets the other players know where he is and he takes ultimate responsibility for what goes on in his area. He is also a pretty handy shot stopper. I don’t want to get too excited about him… but I really think he has all the ingredients to become an Arsenal great. 7
Gibbs: He came on for Silvestre in the first half and I thought he put in a great performance considering his age. His defending lets him down on occasions, but I can remember two left backs before him that had the same problems when they were learning their trade. What Gibbs has over Clichy is his final ball… he is a lot more composed in the final third than Clichy and I would suspect he would probably contribute more to the teams goal tally if given a run long term. Clichy is the master though… and Gibbs has a long way to go if he wants to emulate his colleague (I’m keeping ‘em crossed though!). 7
Gallas: Well, conceding a sloppy goal against Plymouth doesn’t get you an 8 in my ratings scheme. I thought he played ok though… he bombed forward on a few occasions and mostly dealt with all Plymouth had to offer. 7
JD: A good come back game from the giant Swiss lad. He is looking to add a bit of nastiness to his game, and I’d agree that is what he needs to do. I can imagine that if JD was an activist, he’d be one of those Ghandi ‘lets link hands’ non-violent protesters… he needs to be more like a May Day rioter… like Chiellini is. He played well today though. 7
Sagna: Your normal bone crunching performance from one of Arsenal’s consistent performers this season. 7
Nasri: Two assists and two different positions. Out wide on the left, he put in a good performance… his quick feet baffle opposition players and his fast passing reminds you of Hleb sometimes. Arsene moved him into the hole in the second half and to be honest, I think he looked pretty good there. I know one of the Grovers suggested that long term, Arsene might consider him there… and it looks like maybe the coach is thinking along the same lines. A good performance today… but we need a few more on a more consistent basis if we are to make any progress in the second half of the year. 8
Rambo: I looked at the team sheet and saw Rambo and Diaby in the middle and I thought… this could be tough, but I prefer to see those two in the middle than I do seeing Denilson or Song. It took a while for the young Welshman to settle in but when he did, he was great. He has a spark about his play so many of the others don’t. Everyone is comfortable giving him the ball, and it is clear why… he will usually return it to a member of his own team, and if he doesn’t it is because he is letting rip with a screamer. A great performance from a 17 year old boy… and a definite selection headache for Wenger. 8
Diaby: Finally he has started taking his defensive duties seriously. It wasn’t vintage Diaby, but it was enough today. He was playing in an alien position (His own), and he was playing with a new partner who is vastly inexperienced. Diaby needs to concentrate on getting the ball from out of his feet quickly and he needs to make more of a nuisance of himself in the final third. He has bags of ability and it will be a real shame if we don’t see him fulfill it at the club. 6.5
Eboue: Right midfield, striker or free role? I wasn’t quite sure what Eboue was doing today… I’m not sure he was either? He played ok, he tried to get involved with all our attacking play and he helped start the move for Nik’s goal (I know…). The shame of Eboue for me is that he has all the ingredients to be a top player… he has skill, he has pace and he has stamina. Application and a set position seem to be missing though… 6.5
Nik: AAaaaarrrrrggggggghhhhhhh! He is so frustrating to watch. I know there is talent their… but I don’t know if he has the right mentality to make it? He seems to be the only player I can recall who thrives on team mates disliking him? Nik didn’t really do much today… he played a lot of 5 yard passes, made a few attempts at silly flicks and he bagged a goal (Oh wait, he pretended to!). He was so ineffective today that he ended up playing out wide on the right towards the end… where he looked ok. I just don’t know what to think of him anymore… proof is in the performance… and Nik ain’t been performing. 6
RvP: I can’t help but love this guy… even when he is infuriating you, he is doing it because he cares. Today he played with drive and passion… he wanted every pass and if it looked like he wasn’t going to get it, he’d throw his body in the way. His two goals were well taken and well deserved. I want him to start showing some consistency, because we are going to need him to start firing on a more regular basis in the second half of the season. He needs to justify his superstar contract and cement his name amongst the European elite of strikers. 9
Subs:
Vela: Caused problems for Plymouth and really livened up proceedings for the last quarter of the game. I hope he gets more pitch time in the coming months because he definitely gives us a different dimension attacking wise. 6
Jack: A fan favourite and a 8 year contract… at 17! It doesn’t get much better than that does it? He came on, jinked past a few Plymouth players and looked right at home. It’s a shame he is so small at the moment… you know, he isn’t as developed as Rooney was at 16… but I still think we’ll find out something about Wayne in a few years. I mean, he was clearly born in a cave… there is no way to prove his date of birth… he’s probably 32. Sorry… Jack Wilshere…. brilliant! 6
Conclusion:
I didn’t mention the seating situation today… but I did notice it… huge blocks of empty seats throughout the ground. Worrying times… which I will cover in greater detail on Tuesday.
Game wise… well, it was poor in the first half, but be thankful you’re not a Chav or one of those new breed of Man Chavvy’s. They’re waking up a little embarrassed this morning (Especially all the one off plastic Chav’s making their way up from Southend selfishly crowding out my train)!
I really enjoyed the second half, I thought we played like the Arsenal of old… I know it was Plymouth, but if we can build on that in the Premiership… we could start seeing our results improve. I think it is apparent that certain personnel don’t allow our game to flow like it did in the second half… Rambo allows our game to flow as does Diaby (when he plays well)… but Rambo is a too young and Diaby will probably be dropped for Denilson or Song. So I guess we have to hope Arsene has something up his sleeve this transfer window.
The latest rumour has it Arsenal are lining up Rosina on loan… nicknamed Rosinaldo… a flairy, pacey Italian winger who can play on either flank or centrally. We certainly need a wide man… and this looks like the sort of random signing would pull. We’ve also been linked with Upson via a swap deal for Nik B… oh, and we’re after Stephen Ireland of Man City… plus, Theo feels he is not being taken seriously. Well Theo, get fit and start peforming my friend. Being English doesn’t entitle you to a sixty grand a week contract.
Enjoy your Sunday Grovers!
P.S. Just a quick shout out to the Highbury Spy for plugging Le Grove in this months Gooner fanzine!
no guts no glory
michael jacksons on too
sorry my mistake its La Toya
almunias a pussy
hes stuck to his line more than a fly is stuck to shit and when he does come for it he gets a lil kick and wants to go off
if any one kicked jens in the face they’d probably break their foot and jens would spend the next 5 mins arguing with the ref
jens was erratic but boy do i miss him.
wot about robbiekeane’s eq. what was almunia doing that far from his CBs? he was virtually rooted to his line
im beginning to suspect arsene’s judgement regarding defenders and GK. for defenders he just goes for quick athletes and for GK nethin that is cheap
Fabianski comes out too much. I really liked Lehmann and I’m polish!!!!!
gallas was too far over the pitch,he should have seen keane go stand by djourou a player he could outpace an got closer,almunia should have come for it as well
after eddie broke his leg at st andrews it seemed to me that evthing that was shot at our goal went in. almunia was woeful in that period
franchise,there was a curse,the media started the whole get in there faces thing,what they really meant was batter them physically, who are the refs to overpower all the media who sponsor everything,we was shot out the sky by everyone but ourselves, half the league lay down for united, you think liverpool might have done us a favour and tried to play them at least,and big bad villa
I don’t thin I’ll ever grow to like Almunia. Especially after his CL performance against Barca. STandard keeping errors.
what gets me is jens was dropped after 2 clangers last season, yet almunia gets chance after chance, jens must of ruffled some feathers somewhere along the line cos he was out of the door too quick IMO
thats right Pat
a top keeper should never get beaten on the near post twice in a season, never mind twice in one game.
hes a good shot stopper but his positioning is terrible.
And the goal Berbatov scored last season, at the Emirates. A TOE POKE at the near post.
jens made more than two clangers,he broke the whole teams concentration every time we conceded a corner,we already had a problem concentratin on the game
jens made good saves in the cl final too,its just when u lose a keeper you really lose two players,we needed diaby on the bench to win that game
not jens,manuel
Hi!!
Stu-I see that You rate Pavel Pogrebnyak from Zenit. I like him too.Any news on Arshavin front?
Where is everyone gone all of a sudden?
Yes Maciek, i do rate Pogrebnyak but only from highlights and clips and from reading about him etc. Nothing really concrete to support my liking him.
imo he would be a great signing. He can finish with both feet and his head, good at hold up play, good neat feet on the ball and at 25 he has et to hit his peak. Also his height adds a lot.
But alas I know i am only dreaming because he is not a Wenger type buy so im just getting my hopes up really.
Pity the arsenal board wudn’t go into the big brother house for a couple of weeks, might have a chance of siing some players then.
But Jono, when it came to the shopping list what then? They would never buy any food, just keep the money for themselves and the housemates would all die.
Seriously where is everyone gone???
HEEEELLLLLLLOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
C’mon I’m bored off my face here.
Dunno wat everyone decided on Elano, but id bite ur hughews hand off if we could get him on loan to the end of the season, last season he started like a house on fire, got injured and then ended up struggling to get back into the team, possibly down to the fact that he got played at RB in some games, which clearly all us Arsenal fans know tour not going to produce our best football out of postion, especially when your a creative midfielder thats pretty crap defensively being played at RB. plus this season having 3 goals and 2 assists in the league a struggling team in which he has played 9 games of more than 70 mins or the 11 games he’s played 60 mins or more.
In double the game Denilson has 3 goals 5 assists, in 13 games Nasri has 4 goals 2 assists, and in 15 ga,mes Cesc has 1 goal 4 assists…in a team that although having a mare of a season, are still considerably better placed than city are at the moment.
What harm is getting him on loan till the summer, with the view to apermanent move if it works out. He gives us cover for Cesc while he’s injured, can play on the right (no more Eboue
) and means Wenger can get by without having to spend any money.
I dont think we should be trying to be too cheap (getting people in on loan). I cant see that the board would deny wenger £25m net after his 5years of spending nothing.
If he wants experience i hope he goes for Arshavin and Cana, if its kids then Rakitic and Banega….either way a creative mf and defensive mf are an absolute necessity, not a luxury.
Gambon, id prefer to see someone with prem experience come in on loan, such as elano, than go splash 20 mill on Arshavin when theres no gurantees that he will come good to the EPL or adapt to english football, by all means if he can get Arshavin for 12-14 million i think its worth getting him, but i don’t think it would be justified to spend 20 mill on him. The same with Cana, i would love to sign him but i don’t think the reported 20mill marseille want is justified, especially in january when we need players that will settle and adapt quickly.
I find it quite amazing that people are saying Arshavin would cost so much more with the exchange rate against the Euro, will someone explain to me how long the Rouble has been part of the Eurozone?
G’Day Geoff
Have we signed anyone?
i think paying his wages is more of a concern from the rumors geoff !
i cannot see how our wage bill is so high , when so many of our players are average to crap !
its got me fucked !
oh did i forget young too ?
its pretty obvious to me he paid over the odds for them price wise and wage wise prior to seeing there true potential !
how he can think that method is more productive as against buying top class PROVEN experience is also another magical land fantasy tour ive been unable to experience !
With the amount of hair on my head these days. An arse shave would cost more than a hair cut. But then again they use wax these days don’t they. Arseshavin is another of those names like Botham which could be construed as Bottom
…….everytime I think of botham now, I think of Spuds
Morning Gnarley, morning Ethan, I think our wage bill is so high because we offer average players huge salaries to join and shocking players huge salaries to stay, it soon adds up.
It would be cheaper to sign a star and get 4 great years than an average kid then wait 4 years for them to be any good, play one good season and leave.
Then Wenger gets a pat on the back for making loads of money but if you add it up, he actually hasn’t.
One day the powers will suss that one out.
Why doesn’t he just sign Arsewaxin, & sell Song & Bendtner & get Upson. Why not just do it instead of procrastinating (spelling)
If we got rid of Song, signed arsewaxin & Upson then The Arsenal would have completed a sack, crack & back deal
I can only dream of that happening, but he’ll never sell Song.
The Arshavin rumours hot up, Wenger is saying he doesn’t care if his new signing is cup tied…
I can see it all now. We sign Arsewaxin, who then scores the winner in the F A Cup semi against Spuds who coulod have had him. Sometimes these things can happen, or even he scores a hatrick against spuds to send them down. Chamone to that one.
I thought Fabianski looked better than Almunia and should get a run, with him in the team I felt much more comfortable when they attacked. We were miles more composed at set pieces too.
Gnarley…..
That is some vision…..did you have a dream too mate?
The Mirror says it’s a done deal Iceman. I always believe the Mirror, don’t you?
You know it Geoff…..Your trusted friendly newspaper is what that is…….
I think the cup-tied comment gave something away……..
You know it Geoff…..Your trusted friendly newspaper is what that is…….
I think the cup-tied comment gave something away……..Hold on….that could be Alonso……….
He never goes back for a player though does he, it’s all part of his sulky phsyci!
NEW POST!
Something better than nothing right Geoff……….
IMO He will shine at THOF!!
just sent an email about the cardiff tickets… so chuffed i can watch Arsenal in my home town.. my girlfriend got me one of those match break things aswell for the west ham game so after seeing no live arsenal for 2 years I get 2 matches in a week !!!
would be so sweet if a new signing was unvailed at one of those matches!