I hate the year 1856 but I love big names and great games. Ratings and review

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Liverpool started well. Torres went close early after kolo fell over. Shortly after Fabianski made a great double save.

Arsenal looked uncomfortable in the 4-5-1, Nik didn’t have the pace to make it work and Cesc admitted earlier in the week he didn’t have the pace to play in the hole. Why play players in uncomfortable positions?

Torres continued to batter our goal but our keeper continued to keep him out. Silvestre did his best to get a red card by wiping out Kuyt, Howard Webb decided against giving even a freekick. Was he going soft in his old age?

Arsenal offered little going forward, bar a volley that was fizzed wide by Cesc.

Liverpool continued to probe, Torres firing a free shot at Fabianski… who saved again. Two minutes later he saved at the feet of Benayoun… then shortly after Nasri cleared off the line.

Arshavin touched the ball. That point is important, because it took until 30 minutes were on the clock for it to happen.

Arsenal were being pounded by Liverpool… it was like watching a stoic boxer taking a beating… refusing to drop despite the intense bombardment of punches he’s receiving. The beauty of boxing is that it only takes one lapse in concentration for the dominant boxer to be hit by a sucker punch… football is equally unfair…

Nasri cut Cesc in, Cesc beat the offside trap… cut the ball back to Arshavin who bounded into the box in a Freddy-esque manner and buried it in off the bar! Against all the odds… Arsenal were one up! Andy Gray said it was offside, what a oaf. This is why I normally watch the game with 20 people, I can’t hear his boring anti-Arsenal ramblings. Did anyone else enjoy hearing him when it was proved Cesc was onside? Priceless, in a mastercard kind of way…

Liverpool continued to press and hammer the goal, Arsenal managed to finish the first round battered but on top due to a 36th minute flooring of Liverpool.

So, at half time… I’d say Song was having a blinder, Denilson ‘My stats don’t flatter me’ Neves was having another shocker and Arsenal were yet to shift out of neutral… we had to do better in the second half, another half like that could see Fabianski come down with a bad case of ‘shell shock‘.

The first half started, Sagna shanked a cross… Kuyt picked it up, had one go at a cross, messed it up, got it back again and chipped a nice ball to the back post where Torres was to head it back across goal. I hate strikers that can finish…

Shortly after, more back post shenanigans when a testing cross was delivered in… Sagna made a shambles of it, someone got a touch on it and Fabianski failed to keep it out… 2-1… Liverpool took a well deserved lead… were we ready to accept the knock out blow? Were we hell…

Off went Denilson ‘My stats got into a fight and beat up the world’ Neves… and on came Theo… finally, 4-4-2! Finally we looked a threat!

Fabianski hit a low goal kick… so low Arshavin could head it on… Bendtner didn’t make it… but Arshavin managed to pick up the bad clearance… ran on 5 yards, looked up and rifled into the top corner! Amazing goal… outrageous… that is what we paid £17million for!

It wasn’t over though… Nasri was involved in the third with some good interplay with Arshavin…  who was found alone, in the box… there was only going to be one outcome… goal! Arsenal were winning… the resurgence was on…

Liverpool weren’t finished… Torres picked up the ball on the 18 yard box… faked… shifted… buried it… 3-3…

Arsenal gained possession… Song moved forward… played Nik in… Nik finished… the lino flagged offside…

At this moment in time, all I was thinking about was how many times we’d been robbed of the title unfairly… Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for Leeds in 99… Bolton equalising in 2003… I wanted Liverpool to feel my pain!

They went closest. Torres had his header cleared off the line by Gibbs. Nasri hit an inaccurate shot wide when he had time, Theo ambitiously skied the ball… something was brewing, which way was the game going to go?

Arsenal concede a corner… Fabianski punches it out… Theo latches on… powers down the pitch, with Arshavin chasing him… it was 2 versus 2… Theo played a delightful ball into Arshavin, who looked up, and spanked it into the top corner! Big names give you big performances… this guy proves money buys happiness, excitement, and magic. This guy spits in the face of people who believe spending more than £15million on a player only ever gets you a ‘Veron’.

4 goals… he had successfully eclipsed Baptista as my favourite Arsenal player of all time! ALL HAIL ARSHAVIN!

Sadly… our shocking defence gifted Liverpool a shocking goal 2 minutes later… abysmal and disappointing. What the hey… it was a mighty fine game and 4th was as good as ours if we held on. Cesc managed to put the ball in the net again… but it was offside… Liverpool made a claim for a hand ball… the score finished 4-4.

The slug fest had finished, and a controversial draw was awarded by the corrupt ‘anything can happen in football’ judges.

However, if you want to put a positive spin on a 4-4 draw… Imagine offiside didn’t exist… we’d have won 6-4… damn the offside rule… damn the year 1856.

Ratings

Fabianski: His cock up in the semi final could have ruined his confidence but thankfully he is mentally stronger than that… he was mostly immense today and he deserves a lot of credit. His second half wasn’t the best, but the defence was shambolic. 8.5

Gibbs: I thought he played ok. Considering his age, I thought he shamed Sagna… 6.5

Sagna: Woeful game for a top professional. I’d say he was at fault for 2 of the goals… but anyone is better than Eboue. 4

Toure: Tweedle Dee did not have a great game… He was nervous, sloppy and lost. Not good. 5

Silvestre: Tweedle Dum was even more disappointing… I’d expect more of a seasoned pro. I can’t really be bothered to elaborate, most of you saw. Lets just say if Silvestre was a word, he’d be ‘poo’. 5

Song: Superb performance from our Cameroonian. He was all over the park, jockeying players wide, winning balls in the air and passing very well. He even set up Nik’s ruled out goal. 9

Denilson: You’ve heard about his stats right? They were invited to premiere of Star Trek two nights ago, but refused… claiming to be so famous, they were above that sort of nonsense. Jokes aside, he was awful tonight… an unnecessary pick for me. Song was more than capable of doing the holding role on his own. 5

Cesc: Played in his least favourite position in the first half… and it showed. He really isn’t suited to that role and I can’t fathom why he is put there? Anyway, when we reverted back to 4-4-2, he really started to play, sitting deeper, picking out passes, keeping our football flowing nicely. 7

Nasri: I think that was one of his best away performances for the club. He linked in well with the attack, mucked in with the defence and started the move for two goals. I’ve been harsh on him recently, but only because I know he can do better. Tonight was a step in the right direction. 7.5

Arshavin:

Presenter: Andre have you ever scored 4 goals in a match before?

Andre: No never, only twice in Russia.

Ok, so he rectified his mistake, but it was still funny. The Russian was hardly involved in the first half until he scored his goal, then the second half he came alive when the 4-4-2 began. His finishing was exceptional, his technique was amazing and his goals were beauties. A superstar has landed, worship at will. 10

Bendtner: Atrocious performance from my special friend. I think it’s unfair that he only seems to get a run out on his own up front, it can’t be good for his development can it? However, that doesn’t excuse the sloppy passing and the poor positional play. A bad day for the big Dane… 5

Subs:

Theo: Another player I’ve been giving a rough ride lately. He came on and opened the game up. His attacking presence brought width and space to the game and caused Liverpool alsorts of problems. His run for the Arshavin goal was a bit disappointing… he did that last year… get a new move Theo, please, that one is getting tedious. 8

Diaby: Brought onto protect the lead, sadly there was nothing he could do to prevent the inept defence from leaking another goal. 6

So in conclusion, I’ll take that. This is the point I was trying to make over the weekend… I don’t mind dropping points or losing, providing we give it our best shot. Song was immense today, Arshavin was sublime when given the ball and Nasri was effective and troublesome… why couldn’t they have played against the Chav’s?

Lets hope the coach has learned from this and takes the game to the Mancs… we have the quality to play 4-4-2 Arsene, trust in the team you’ve been telling us to have faith in all year!

We do!

Happy Wednesday Grovers!

P.S. Skandibird sent me in some Arsenal pictures from the weekend, which got me thinking… why don’t we have a photo gallery? If you have any great pictures of games and grounds throughout the season, send them in and I’ll post them up in the photo gallery… check it out here.

Also, if you have any tickets, please let me know, don’t let them go to waste!

1,015 Responses to “I hate the year 1856 but I love big names and great games. Ratings and review”

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  6. irishgunner

    we can beat Chelsea at the Emirates so just need to keep winning and for them to get drop more points elsewhere

  7. David

    Get ure shots on target u silly children…how do they expect to beat chelsea in the FA cup if they play like this?

  9. David

    Im a strong believer that teams that dont even attempt to play against united should get relegated. What a joke

  10. irishgunner

    I PASS this on not as any kind of exclusive but because I can’t remember seeing it elsewhere and I imagine a fair of you were anxious to know:

    Matt Scott of the Guardian was on the radio this afternoon and said he spoke to the player at Wembley on Saturday and Djourou reckons he will be back for United.

  13. nishanth

    Great news irish if it is true.But hez been out for 3 2-3 weeks now.Didn’t get a lot of game time before that.Will be risky.Better option than silvestre anyday

  14. gazzap

    We NEED Johan Djourou. He is a good player in my opinion. I know some dont agree but he is better than Silvestre but some margin. of course we will miss Gallas but JD is the next best thing.

    anyway, wenger might do something daft like play cesc behind a lone striker or use Denilson in midfield, so who plays at centre back is the least of my worries at the moment.

  18. David

    I think Toure is a good back up CB i dont think he should start…Hence i suggest we buy a world Class CB next to Gallas…and another young one like JD for Injuries sakes…

  22. Franchise

    and he scores a few. Lescott and Gallas on paper looks good.

    give me any1 thats how desperate i am. hangeland or lescott or chiellini or bruno alves

    any beastly experienced fucker

  26. Franchise

    just heard that Barcelona have hit the cross bar more times than goals scored by some la liga teams. 8O

    they are 3-0 up against sevilla

  33. maqitlarge

    At least if Man U do us in the Semi we’ll get the pleasure of watching Henry and Chums destroy them, after their Chelsea mauling of course.

  41. kirby

    irish- i remember thierry was asked who is the best trainer at barcelona and he said iniesta he dosent lose the ball he is amazing..

    but hes getting better and better under the radar scary!

  43. Franchise

    i saw it Pedro. thought that was the case just wanted to clarify

    keyser u always taunting bloggers when we suggest players we would like to see that would improve the team

    u might think our squad is good enough but its obvious its not

  45. Keyser

    Franchise – Thats not taunting, just reminded me of the game today, United were poor, Crouch is shit, Chelsea dominated and could have ended up conceding 4, Jo’s a Dick.

    What’s wrong with Yobo ?!

  46. irishgunner

    what I meant Kirby was that a few years ago people were hearing a lot about Xavi and him developing but I never heard of iniesta been thought of as a world beater so to speak, that’s what I meant…….

  49. Franchise

    As in signing Yobo? for me ANC10 would mean that signing African players wouldnt be a wise decision next season

    chelsea would loose at least 4 players if their squad doesnt change and two of those Ess and Mik play the same position. so where would the cover be?

    we would loose Song, Toure, probably Ade if he’s still here. Eboue we might be able to do without

  51. Franchise

    i have noticed that anytime sm1 suggests a player u always make a sarcastic comment about signing some other player.

    i reckoned u did it in protest thats why i said u were paranoid

  55. Ja_Gunner

    Well Barca are so good because most of their players are so tricky..its hard to get the ball off them.

    I mean look at all these close control tricky players.

    Xavi
    Iniesta
    Thierry(tho not in his prime)
    Messi
    Alves

    Even Hleb off the bench

    Yaya Toure also has some skill..this why they are so hard to beat.

    Etoo can hold the ball up well in Spain(not so sure he could do it in England)

    The last game they lost was a wrestling match..it seems that is the way to beat them.

  56. irishgunner

    Oh ok Kirby, I was just making sure you didn’t think I was a bit thick and only heard of Iniesta in the last two years ;)

  58. Keyser

    Heh, come on, I’m not sure but I think I remember someone suggesting Crouch earlier or something or Kenwyne Jones, we’re not that bad.

  59. Pedro

    Keyser, both have been suggested.

    I suggested Benayoun… I said he was like a productive Hleb and I got laughed out of the building…

  61. kirby

    lol irish yeah i knew who he was but never really see him play untill chelsea barcelona and the 4-2 game at stamford bridge and he hit the post and played well and i thought who the fuck is this guy another barcelona golden boy

  62. Franchise

    Pedro after a while i just wanted to point out to some fuckers there that they are lousy childish hypocrites

    keyser yeah it was nick that suggested crouch and jones, i’ll scold him for that if he turns up to S+B this sunday

  66. Franchise

    i remember when u suggested benayoun, i was one that backed ur judgement.

    arsenal kinda player all day

    his small frame is deceiving

  67. kirby

    chelsea will cause barcelona problems at home but they aint great at the moment anyway, barcelona could finish the tie at home because i think they will score at the bridge

  69. Keyser

    Is the Barcelona pitch really that big or is this some sort of optical illusion, Terry’s going to be knackered after about 10 minutes.

  70. Pedro

    His close control is brilliant… he would have been and addition way back when… he’s too scouserfied now…

    Kesyer, so how long have you had this paranoia issue?

  71. Franchise

    how can I Pedro? i think i made two taunting comments there today. i was busy at work thats why i couldnt blog on here.

  75. David

    I think the thing thats suprised me most about Benayoun is that he is good in the air as well…and he rarely wastes chances.

  76. Franchise

    Irish isnt that sad. they called me Friend Cheese, Fanny boy, Franchine

    and some prick kept asking if they had been disenfranchised translated as has franchise left yet?

    some sad freaks on there.

    their 5mins of fame is over. they aint worthy of a genius like myself

  77. Pedro

    Franchise, I’m impressed by how much hatred we attract.

    A whole community who despise everyone over here… and talk about it all the time.

    They hate us because we are free ;-)

    So… what’s going to happen when Rocky is fit? Where does he fit into this congested jigsaw?

  78. irishgunner

    I thought the Friend Cheese was hilariously stupid ha ha you failed your hazing Friend Cheese :lol:

    I had a laugh anyway ha ha

    Remember Jon Jon that used to be on here? They keep calling him JimJim :?

    They are still on about Kelsey too :roll:

  81. Franchise

    the thing that pisses me off with narrow minded fans is how lowly they think of themselves.

    like ‘We are not worthy to question le boss, Arsene Knows Best’

    he never gets it wrong.

    i asked sm1 there why they thought Aliadiere wasnt at the club anymore and i answered my question saying it was because he wasnt good enough. and i stressed that there is something that actually exists called ‘not being good enough’

    thats it on that :D i hope

  83. Keyser

    It could just be a co-incidence, but then how do you take someone like BBK seriously ? It’s got to get you thining at least..

  86. Pedro

    Keyser, you don’t…

    I think he is just putting it on as a joke… ‘acting tha fool’ as an American rapper once said.

  87. Franchise

    criticizing ur manager, club policy, players etc doesnt make u a bad fan

    calling a player a cunt or saying a player is shite is just soceity for u. i hardly used to swear unneccesarily until i moved to England ;)

    if i say wenger is a cunt there is some intelligent reasoning in my statement… my emotions and vocabulary might mean i use that phrase other times i might choose to say wenger was wrong to play that formation

    the thing is that if u dont get it, u dont get it

  92. Pedro

    Franchise, there is no acceptable situation in life where you just back whatever you support regardless.

    You don’t do it with Government, Friends… or family.

    If you do, you’re just a drone… or extremely weak minded.

    Life is all about examination and dissection… that is how we improve and move forward.

  95. irishgunner

    Pedro – Saw him play in the Milan Derby but not enough to comment.

    Franchise – Stop calling Arsene the bad word :cry:

  97. Supergunner07

    @ franchise, i totally agree that if a CB is bought, it must quick as well as dominant in the air simply because our CB are exposed to alot of 1v1 defending the counter-attack. We only had 3 players in the centre of the box for the last goal yesterday when we were leading so better positioning is needed when we get into such good position

  99. David

    If thats the case then You’d agree with me that Bendtner is shite. And so is Denilson.

    Id been saying it all along but somehow its only recently that its been a revelation.

  103. irishgunner

    I was only joking Franchise – text doesn’t translate well, it was meant to be a whingy voice but how do I convey that ha ha

    Away again I am off, night all.

  107. gnarleygeorge9

    Now I know there are some people on here who understand advertising/promotion so they will be able to give more detail, but the ￡17m that Arsenal outlayed for AA23 would have paid for itself already.

    He has “single handedly” got us back on course for CL 009/10, so there is ￡20 million plus, the undoubtable extra interest now in Russia, shirt sales, etc. Home games will surely be full to the brim, which means more product sold on the day, i.e food & drink. Sales @ The Armoury. The list goes on.

    So Le Prof go & get some more high profile signings :)

  108. ethangunner

    GG9

    precisely , you have to spend money to make money.
    and looking at the likes of nik b – ade- denilson -eboue -bitchslap etc .. there is plenty of dead weight to off load freeing up funds also ..

    not to mention senderos and possibly a few who might leave also !

    the boss better get his cheque book out this july !

    or we will be back in square one , facing another year of uncertainty .

  109. Geoff

    Gnarley he didn’t cost us that much, I bet we paid £11 plus 4 in add ons, but you’re right he’s already paid his way, you wait till you see the shirt sales next season.

    This is the problem though Wenger wants to bring them in and grow them, that way he gets all the credit, great for him, boring for us.

  110. kelsey

    Morning Lads,

    I may be repeating what others have said,but we are a top flight club,and the expectation of the fans is immense.if we were all Fulham supporters it would be a different scenario.How many games do you think vela,Ramsey and wilshere will get next season with second hand players to learn from.Not until Wenger changes his policy ,which he should have started 4 years ago,we will always be the Tim Henman of football, the nearly team.The frightening thing is he now so obsessed with his own beliefs he is blind as to see where improvements should be made.the money is there,but he just wants to prove a point to the detrement to the supporters and the club..

  111. charybdis1966

    Morning Geoff – that’s where I think Wenger’s ego is coming in. He always delights in pointing out when we play a young midfield and we do well. He’ll say “when you look at our midfield their average age was 21 and they showed great mental strength..blah, blah lblah”.
    He shouldn’t be delighting in that, he should say that the team does well because they are all quality regardless of youth.
    Because he can’t take credit for players who are class that comer in he feels a little redundant if they shine – like Arsh did on Tuesday night and will do in the future.

  113. ethangunner

    kelsey

    i still think the board are reluctant to spend !
    like i said many times , i remember quite clearly PHW stating that wenger is a football clubs dream , he spends little money on transfers and for the most part gives them a return each season ..

    if that is hillwoods mindset , and he’s the leader , you can obviously say they are just as bigger tight wads as your making wenger out to be .

    by wengers tone on the chev’s and man U , i notice a touch of jealously RE : the high spending of the above teams .. talking about spoiling the game , etc …

    i think its better to become a dynasty in that vain , then buy up all the young talent and make them grow old on the bench ruining careers .
    which ever way you look at it Arshavin has helped this club retain members for next season and gave the fans a bit of faith …

    he was a 1 man wrecking ball the other night and just shows you how much he was missed V’s the chev’s …

    Wenger’s time must be close to its end if he makes any more fuck ups like this ..

    4 a club of our stature 5 years with no silverware is way too long !

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