Sorry for the slightly crass headline. It feels right though. Robbie Keane spouted off about how they didn’t fear us, how man for man they are equal to us and how their bench is stronger.
What a joker…
I met my brother outside Kings Cross McDonald’s after he’d drank 13 bottles of beer, I had a lot of catching up to do but there is no doubt his dutch courage rubbed off on me. By the time we’d arrived at the stadium, I was feeling pretty confident.
The game kicked off to a wave of sound, Arsenal fans were pumped which was unusual because we’re not normally loud and even more unusual because early kick offs are notoriously quiet.
The wall of sound didn’t seem to rub off on the Arsenal players. Arsenal in the first half were pretty woeful. Our passing was shambolic, the decision making was appalling and we struggled to hold our shape and play the football we’ve come to expect as standard.
Diaby was awful, truly terrible… I don’t think I have a good word to say about him from the first half. He was holding onto the ball too long, making unbelievably bad passes and his strength on the ball was like watching a 4 year old shoulder barge a WWF wrestler. When Nasri returns to the team, Diaby can have no complaints. His stint in the first team, has in the main, been a failure.
Song was very shaky. Again, his passing was off key and he was making sloppy errors on and off the ball. I think Geoff is right, he does have a Senderos moment in him almost every game. He did grow with the half, that was encouraging.
Even Cesc was having trouble. His game was all over the place!
It wasn’t all bad… despite not being on our game, we were still carving out chances. The first 40 minutes were a great example of playing badly and still threatening. Something that didn’t happen last season.
Our defending was also very good. Almunia had a few iffy crosses to deal with, but overall, he did pretty well. Vermaelen and Gallas were doing a very good job of disrupting the Crouch affect, deciding if they couldn’t beat him in the air, they’d put him off with physical hustle and make sure they always won the second header.
Cesc nearly broke the dead lock, but his passed shot was kept out with a tidy Gomes save. Robin also went very close but was again rebuffed by the hands of Gomes. Nik B picked up an injury and we were nearly exposed by his inability to run when Spurs flew past him unchallenged. Wenger was losing the plot on the sidelines! Eduardo entered the field of play and if I’m fair, it was the type of decision that was needed regardless off Niks injury.
It didn’t take long for Arsenal to chalk a number on the score board. Sagna, who was distributing the ball like he was trying to ruin his opta stats, whipped a dangerous ball into the box… Robin bundled into the box and slotted it tamely under Gomes. 1-0 up… what a sweet moment.
Just as we were all hugging out, we looked up, Robin dispossessed Keane (I think) from the centre kick, laid it off to Cesc who waltzed past 4 players and banged it past Gomes with Thierry like composure!
‘Did that just happen? Yeaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!’
2-0 up, we were in dream land. The talk at half time was about whether it was too early to start sending reprisal texts to our friends of ‘yid army’ descent?
The second half started and a different Arsenal emerged. Crisp passing football replaced the first half’s lack lustre laboured performance. Things just clicked, Spurs looked buried and we began to pick away at them…
It didn’t take long for us to grab our third. Eduardo laid the ball out wide to Sagna, got crunched in the process… Sagna stopped, looked round, the ref waved play on… Sagna fizzed a ball into the box, Gomes spilled, Robin slotted home. 2 goals for Robin, 2 assists for Sagna and certain victory for the Gooners.
If I’m honest, we could have had 6. Spurs were truly garbage, they had nothing in the locker bar the long ball. Top 4? They’ll be lucky to break into the top 8 this season. It was pretty funny to see Bassong go off towards the end, another injury to a defender.
Arsenal missed a whole host of chances in the second half. Eduardo, through on goal, with only Gomes to beat, managed to slot wide. Who’d have thunk it? Diaby went close with a shot back across goal, Gallas and Arshavin also spurned opportunities. As the game wore on, what was important for me was the clean sheet. Almunia was tested on a number of occasions, notably from a stinging David Bentley freekick, to which he pulled off a spectacular tipped save.
The ref blew up for full time, Arsenal recorded a very important win and continued the title push.
So a few things that need to be mentioned. Arsene Wenger needs to be commended for putting out a half decent team in midweek. Sequences are very important in football, an unneccessary loss against Liverpool cold have seen a different outcome today. Look what happened to Liverpool, 3-1 losers to Bolton. I also thought Arsenal paid more respect to the way Spurs played than usual. We dealt with the aerial threat much better than normal… understanding the way the opposition play is key to nullifying their strengths, we did that today. I was also impressed with the way we came out in the second half and that we managed to come out of the first half with a lead.
Oh, and a final mention to the fans, who were magnificent!
Ratings:
Almunia: I wasn’t sure whether reintroducing a keeper low on confidence, to a North London Derby, was a good idea. If he’d dropped a clanger today, Wenger could have found himself with a real dilemma. My worries didn’t come to fruition, he was top draw after a shaky start, making some very tidy saves, especially in the second half. 7.5
Sagna: His passing in the first half was abysmal. Like I said earlier, it was like his was in a competition with Diaby to make the most incomplete passes in a game! That didn’t stop him setting up two Robin Van Persie goals and it didn’t affect his defending which got better with the game. 7
Gallas: Took it in turns with Vermaellen to rough up Crouch and dealt particularly well with Keane. 8
Vermaellen: Took most of the aerial ball challenges and did superbly considering Crouch is officially the new face of Big Green Giant sweet corn. A top effort, a yellow card and a growing affection developing among the gooner faithful. I think I love him… 8.5
Clichy: I tidy game from our tenacious left back. He got forward to great effect today, at one point finding himself alone heading toward goal, but not having the confidence to unleash a Nigel Winterburn rasper! 7
Song: Started the first half like a right lemon. His passing was terrible and he was making alsorts of silly mistakes. The whole midfield was guilty of this, but as the game grew, so did he… by the time the second half began, he had found his game and started to play with a lot more confidence. In the end, he turned in a good performance. 7
Diaby: A very poor showing from our Frenchman of said potential. His passing was erratic, his ball retention was poor and he was messing up all over the pitch. Someone get this man a space on the bench, because he is playing terribly. 4
Cesc: Started in very un-Cesc like fashion, spraying passes around Gilberto on a bad day and failing to get a grip on the game. He did manage to get on the score sheet with a superb powered run through the heard of the Spurs defence, driving home the second. That gave him the confidence to kick on in the second half when he started playing his game. 7
Arshavin: Spent most of the first 40 on his arse, but he was our only real threat. He played much better in the second half, sitting incredibly deep for the type of player he is. He knows how to pick out a pass and his deft flicks leave the opposition baffled at times. 7
Robin: I hope those who stated our Dutchman wasn’t good enough for a central role have put that humble pie in the oven and upped the gas mark. The boy wonder is on fire lately, finishing well and adapting to that central role like most of us knew he would. I think that’s 7 goals so far this year! I can’t fail to be happy about that… what a top player! 8
Nik B: Was having a bit of a shocker if I’m fair… hopefully he’s not out for too long. 5
Subs:
Eduardo: Had a tidy game out wide, guilty of a couple of very easy missed chances. 6
Eboue: The coach loves sticking this guy on. He came on to little effect, but at least he got a run out. 6
Rambo: 3 minutes isn’t really enough to get a hold of the game. Lost his head a little when Bassong fell down injured next to him during a run… he should have powered on, concentrated and laid off the right pass. He froze a little and we missed out on our 4th. 6
So, is it time to talk about challenging this year? Lets wait until the cold weather lands, then I’ll start talking! This time last year, I think it was snowing… are we finally feeling the benefits of global warming? I hope so! Bring on the November tan!
See you in the comments!
Le Grove is now smart phone compatible!
Pedro
Geoff
WHO ARE YA! WHO ARE YA!
SeCOND???
Oh well……!
not bad! ain’t it taig??
boom
Nice post Pedro!!
I only got to watch the game on MOTD so its hard to pick up on the points you made. Sounds like Diaby was sucking arse again! He’s had about 50 chances more than he deserves to show he should be in the 1st team and he hasn’t taken any of them!!
What I did notice from yesterday is that I think we must, must start playing Eduardo as much as we can! His finishing was very un-Eduardo like and that has to come from minimal playing time. We need to get him back to his best before this blip becomes a part of his game!
booya! Slow today…
I was wondering were everybody else was…..could have had a hat trick of hat tricks between 9:20am and 9:24am!!
Spurs were Shit! and my spuds mates didn’t wanna celebrate with me haha
wohooo top 10
nex time taig!!! i’ll make sure i’m first!
Diaby, man of the match!
ahh it’s always a pleasure to beat those tottscum
Woohooo
what does arsenalDK stand for??? arsenalDriftKing or arsenalDonkeyKong
no 1 to give me a welcome speech??? ok then i’ll come later!
I thought that Diaby had a good second half, just as his teammates.
I can only guess DK stands for Denmark?
Would have been nice if united and chelsea had dropped points but still a great da capped by liverpool getting thrashed
wo wo wo!
are we dissing a little bit Cartman:-P.
it’s like… GB great britain!
DK = Denmark!!
thank you oskar
Yesterday Diaby reminded me Of Maradonna in his prime.
His prime as a shamboling clueless drug addict that is.
Managed a decent stream for a change on Iraqgoals.com and enjoyed seeing us put the Spuds in their place.
Great game as you mentioned by our CD but did you see the brilliant tackle by Vermaelen that got a yellow? Diabolical. I hope the ref retracts that when he sees it in slow-mo!
???????????
Harry says theres no difference between us, spurs fan ive seen this morning still agrees with Keanes statement. They really do live on a different planet
Repost!
My thoughts on the game:
Sealed, signed and delivered, its offical Bently is a cunt of enormous proportions and will remain a shitbag forever. The handball, late challenge on Vermaelen, long distance shots etc. Dunno what it is about ex-players such as the Togo Twat and him, I suppose they just can’t stand being rejected by Arsenal.
Rvp/Mr. Arsenal is adapting very well to the new CF role. He has always had the deft touches and the left foot finishing, but like Arsene said after the game, he is a mixture of Henry and Bergkamp. He can both finish and bring players in around him, I can see a golden boot in the long run.
Sagna was brilliant, his pace and crossing set up two goals and he hardly ever had trouble at the back. He even won a header in the box, rare for a full back.
Arshavin was a constant menace for the opposition as he was always willing to run at them. He is ideal as a foil to our passing team and although their wasn’t much end product he ran his socks of for the cause and showed fear in the defenders eyes.
Gallas was very efficient and clinical and it is clear he enjoys playing with a rock solid defender that Vermaelen has become. He won some headers, got some interceptions and all in all hardly allowed a single clear chance to the opposition.
Vermaelen had another blinder. Redknapp before the game said he was available to them as a leftback but they thought otherwise because of already having depth at the position and he never thought of him as a CB. Well Harry, what can I say you missed the fuckin boat mate. When Arsene spends 10+ mill on a player he’s probably got a Truman Show type insight into him. Thomas was absolutely brilliant, he won tackles, out jumped and won headers from the tallest striker we will face and dominated the box. Can’t say enough good things about him.
Song put in a good performance, he was nervy till the goal glut and perhaps a bit out of position at times but the Spuds decided to park the bus early and went route 1 on us so their really wasn’t much for him to do. He is a legitimate first team player in my book now, he brings strength and solidity to the midfield and has added some flair with good dribbling and decent passing as of late. A huge drastic turn around to the player he was at the start of last term, credit to Arsene and the team for sticking with him. Also, I see the team has confidence in him now, he is no longer one of the kids growing up still as is the case with Diaby.
Speaking of Diaby his performance was horrid, he lost the ball many times in midfield and offered nothing going forward or backwards. The team didn’t do him many favors as they were ball watching and not making themselves available when he needed help but that tells me they fully expect him to make the wrong decision and do not have confidence to play along with him. For his sake I hope he comes around, he seems a quiet fellow who knows he has a lot to prove and on the brink of not making it for good. If his decision making improves and confidence is higher I can see a Song like improvement come next term. The question is can we allow his growth to hinder our season.
Eduardo missed two 1 on 1’s and I think needs more playing time to hit a rich vein of goal scoring form. He was far from his clinical goal scoring best but his team work has improved drastically and he involves those around him brilliantly.
I feel terriable for Bendtner, I think he is really developing in to a very complete player apart from the finishing. Their really aren’t many strikers around the world that can link up play, win headers, dominate physically and pass as well as him. But then again they can put the ball in the net better. I think in time he will develop that more and more though, I would like to see him play through the middle if/when he is back and Rvp needs a rest. Still feel gutted for his injury though, we are skint without him, Walcott and Rosicky now. I wonder how Arsene will address it, maybe Snoop Dogg will get a drastic promotion.
And finally Cesc Fabregas. For me that is the goal of the season as it stands. Still early days but a rare combination of skill, pace, power, determination, intelligence and finishing. I do not have words enough to justify the performance of our captain and his celebration will last a long long time in my memory. Please never leave us Captain Fantastic, glory will come with us and oh how sweet that will be for you and us both.
And how can I forget Arsene going all night fever on us with his jacket, we were 3-0 up at the time and yet he looked a very frusted man. Rightly so, their was a phase of the game he/we could just feel the team slowing the intensity down and I liked how THIS time he did not want complacency to set in. Also, it was good to hear praise of the defence from the manager afterwards. Job well done Arsene.
Refreeing was terrible yesterday.That cunt bentley didn’t get booked.Even ekotto should have got booked.Vermaelen was class yesterday
Well hello – what a win.
Í don´t not agree with your post Pedro – usually you are spot on but I don´t know which game you were watching yesterday – How Song, Sagna, Cesc can have the same rating as Arshavin baffles me. Arshavin was a passenger yesterday and I´m really starting to think that he is bigger than the team.
I also disagree that we were ,,pretty woeful” in the first half. I actually thought that we were playing quite good without creating to many chnces, but we seemed in control and Tottenham never mustered a chance. Thumbs up to the defence, thought they were amazing yesterday.
Bendtner was playing well yesterday unitil his injury and me and a friend actually counted one mistake from him, a bad pass. Reason we did that was his awful game against Liverpool – Yesterday, he was having a great game.
Diaby – I think sometimes plays for the opposition. I cant really understand why he plays in the team – completly useless and showed yesterday that he
a) doesnt track back
b) tries to run into people
c) can head the ball – I mean how many times has he ,,shoulder” the ball this season?
For me Thomas was MOTM – I heard though that last night Arsenals medical staff where quite worried about him because he was feeling heavy last night. They determined that he was about 70 kilos overweight. Then they had a better look and realized that he still had Peter Crouch in his pocket.
Ohh, and Fulham beat Liverpool yesterday not Bolton – they were buiried.
why the hell did the Verminator get booked??
I thought arshavin worked hard in that first half.To be fair no one really stood out in that first 43 minutes.Diaby maanaged to be our worst player though
They did warn us about Arshavin, goes missing for games. However, he does have that magical ability like Rooney and Torres to be anonymous for periods……. then bang he will hit you!
Because clattenburg is a cunt.He was the ref against city too
Still can’t work out how we finished with the same number of yellow cards.
Agree with Lazers comments about Cesc. We know he’ll return to Spain one day (hopefully years away) but if he hasn’t had the joy of raising a major trophy in front of us, it will be criminal.
Cesc got the ball my himself at kickoff or a yid gave it to him rather, and Livershit got beat by Fulham not Bolton. Harsh review of some of the players I felt Pedro. Spuds parked the bus early on and that is why our play was congested and broken up but once we broke the deadlock their was really no looking back. They had nothing to offer in attack and we were very solid at the back despite making careless mistakes in giving the ball away at times. That’s a very good sign for me.
Merson reckons we should get carlton cole
liverpool lost to fulham now bolton btw!
Great game, great result, great atmosphere. Signing ‘and its arsenal, arsenal fc…’ after the 3rd goal was a quality moment, having the whole ground signing will stay in the memory for a long time
Thought Bendtner had a good game before the injury. Good passing and intercepting, better than he usually is!
Gallas and the Verminator were quality as usual, bang in form at thr moment.
COME ON ARSENAL!!!
Cesc is in the top 5 players in the world with huge room for improvement. Ronaldo, Torres, Kaka and Messi all do not have as high as a ceiling as he does. And out of all of those he is a more complete player and valuable teammate. Maybe just maybe we will be fortunate and his stay at Ashburton Grove is long and glorious like TH14.
Nisanth-
I felt more uncomfortable watching us try and defend against him the other day than i do watching us try and defend Drogba.
I wouldn’t be against a January move for Cole, it would be like revenge for Anelka joining Chelsea and give his World Cup hopes a major boost. However I can see Liverpool or Spurs going for him.
Fantastic job yesterday, I wish we put 6 six past them though:)
On the other hand here is this kid, youngguns claimed we are looking at. This is a game, from the Belgian Jupiler league yesterday. He is 16 years old and is already such a beast. Full international and has better scoring records than anyone I ever heard of. Looks perfect to speardhead our 4-3-3 in a couple of years from now.
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/3797325/
I posted many times and said Diaby do not deserve a place in the starting 11, a sub maybe, because this guy often went sleepwalking. He played one good game out of ten and concentration only lasted 30 to 40 minutes. Yesterday’s game was a perfect example of the type of player he is. He was almost a passenger in the entire first half and Arsenal actually had only 10 players on the field. He was totally lost and when he got the ball, actually rarely because he was not involve, he simply passed it backwards. If Arsene Wenger is a shrewd manager he certainly would have saw Diaby’s sleepwalking but he refused to substitute him. Anyway he hasn’t got a better choice but I am say Merida would have done far better. Ramsey is still lacking in confidence in the first team and he only played good in the reserve team.
He has been in superb form.I don’t think we will sign a players like him.Liverpool could do with someone like him though
Everytime a player comes back another one gets injured.
Morning Le Grove,
Nice write Pedro, TV was my MOTH though and I think the same as Iceland about Arshavin – yesterday he couldn’t pass to save his life and kept slipping over. Would love to have seen him come off earlier
Where on earth does your brother put 13 bottles of beer
No better feeling than watching Cesc nutmeg Ledley King for his goal!:)
Spuds-bunch of cunts they are
That was the best atmosphere at the Emirates i can remember,even coming up the stairs and over the bridge.We were the twelth man.Spurs support was almost as bad as their team.
Very good post Pedro. were those 13 bottles of beer 13oz or 26oz. 13oz is a stubbie/throw down. Anyway back to the footy.
That occasion should be bottled. Grange Hermitage Great crowd taking the piss outa an over deluded lot of spuds.
I am really dining out on this, but with respect to The Title, I really think the performance against chelski will be the yard stick. But let me tell you, as I did pre season, it looks like I’m going to be @ Islington Town Hall in May as they parade The Cup.
They talk of missing modric lennon and defoe.If rosicky and had started they wouldn;t have got to touch the ball
*nasri
nis
Exactly, plus Theo, Nasri, etc
i also beg to differ slightly with ur post, especially on song. he has really improved. not top class but getting there. i agree with lazers valuation. the game was truly a beauty. i can watch the captains goal all day long. his celebration? one of a kind. i think fabulous is trying to tell us that he loves the club and the supporters. WE LOVE U BACK FABREGAS!
i think diaby is being played to increase his confidence and coz he is tall. we dont have many players his height. he needs to be mentally strong to make it, like eboue, song and bendy coz they all had their moments but they came thru.
the defence was TIGHT! clichy amazing, thr two cb’s were breathtaking and the whole team was just amazing. almunia seems to have gotten over the loss of his mother-in law. he didnt have a chest infection guys and the boss allowed him to have a rest.
the boss also threw his jacket coz he couldnt communicate with the players. dont you just love that! there was so much noise and he aint used to that and long may it continue!
the gave i cant wait for is against man shitty. we need to show them who is boss. hope will wilshere will be in the squad. we should beat them 3-1.
That was easily diaby’s worst performance ever..this could’ve been easily 5-0 ( even without dudus chances) if only diaby was warming the bench.the guy disturbs the flow of the game EVERYTIME!!
We weren’t exactly awesome yesterday and still 3-0.They should consider themselves lucky yesterday.
We still have a few problems though.Diaby being the main one
On the other hand , imo Vermaelen was MOTM !! solid as usual!!
with rosicky walcott and bendy all getting better and us avoiding injury, no one will ever convince me that we wont have silverware at the end of the season. but i cant understand why nasri isnt played. miss that boy!
Brian-I am sure Nasri will start against AZ
Did you guys read the real reason why Almunia has been away? His mother in law was killed in a car accident in Spain and he has been comforting his wife ever since. – My thoughts go out for you and you wife Manuel!
A chest infection couldn´t take so long.
But props to Van Persie – isn´t that 7 goals in the last 7 games? He is going to get 25 in the league this year…
cant wait nishanth. he needs to be on the score sheet!
The highlight of yesterday’s game: DEFENCE!! The back 5 plus Song (2nd half) were OUTSTANDING, bar 1 or 2 dodgy moments from Gallas. Vermaelen, on current form, has to be the best CB in the league! He was AWESUM! The sliding clearence in the 1st half, the MULTIPLE times he outjumped crouch, SIMPLY FANTASTIC! Especially loved the way he marshalled things from the back, like shouting at Song to drop back when Gallas moved up. I hope Sagna and Clichy kick-on from these performances as it was arguably the best shift they’ve put in all season, long may it continue. And of course, I can’t forget Él Captain Cesc Fabregas! A special goal and celebration from a special player! Viva Fabregas!
Didn’t Wenger say Rosicky is day to day before the carling cup game??? I hope him and Nasri start the CL fixture if he is available. I have a feeling we won’t be seeing Walcott and now Bendtner till mid-December minimum. That’s a long lay off for both, we need a fit Rosicky/Eduardo in that time to play on the right up front.
IMO Song is doing Ok, but he doesn’t score goals, which may be the thing that ticks his most hardened critic’s box. Sure he isn’t a robot type player that makes no mistakes per game, as per the programing he receives pre game, but he is getting better. I really thing he is starting to fullfil his role as a defensive midfielder. Its Diaby who needs to get his shit together.
What does Diaby offer this team?
I hope to see more of merida and ramsey in the coming month.Diaby has had his chances and didn’t take it
Beating Spurs is always a delight and it may seem churlish to moan about Clattenburg’s non-performance in the light of victory but, on another day, that twat could have cost us. He will surely do so later in the season. Bentley should have been off in the first half. A deliberate handball is a mandatory yellow and his ankle-high tackle on Vermaelen should have seen him off. I saw red cards yesterday for less than this tackle alone. Assou Ekotto’s assault on Eduardo prior to the 3rd goal wasn’t even worthy of a talking to by Clattenburg and he had previously kicked the ball away. I thought Clattenburg was appalling yesterday but in a way I am glad that Celeriac Head couldn’t use the 10 men thing as an excuse. His tactics yesterday show why he has never been able to cut it at the highest level. If Crouch’s head was attached to his boot he might be a decent player, but to rely on long balls up to him as your ONLY tactic?
Wenge should play vela for the injured nik
This could be his chance to shine
But you know what he will do:
Eboue……
Great win, loved it, peace on earth to all, except the spuds. No, no peace for them today, hahahahahahahaahah!!!!!
gnarleygeorge9- confidence is key. he is being played to prove critics wrong and coz of height. his inclusion in the set pieces works against him but he is being played 90 minutes to up his confidence. if he is kept on the bench, his confidence will dip and that is worse than playing badly. the problem is he is scared of making a mistake. he seems terrified if u watch him closely. he needs to be stubborn and believe in himself. thats what bendy, eboue and song did and now we love them. he needs to remember that we dont hate just frustrated coz we cant afford not to have silverware again at his expense.
nice post, diaby was awful, he’s 6 foot 4 and heads with his shoulder for gods sake!!!!!
if only Diaby stopped being so lazy it would be great – he would not run towards the passes and left them so much space that if Lennon was playing Clichy would be in serious trouble…
on the plus side, he made a few useful tackles and was persistent in chasing down a Spud player after an unsuccessful one to make another and steal the ball, he was also unlucky not to have scored, so credit where it’s due…
Arshavin was not a passenger, he is just lacking fitness on par with the rest of the team: reasonably good as the Russian league may be, it’s not the same, plus as you may recall he returned from holidays for pre season looking a bit tubby
it made me chuckle when I went to Barnet game when he took his shirt off: we knew exactly what caused this – old habits, holiday feasts true Russia style with plenty of vodka, etc.
it’s like you would put Adams, Merson of early Wenger days into today’s team
Sooooooooo hungover!!!!
But the best kind of hungover in the world! 3 nil vs. the scum.
Beautiful
song only made a solitary mistake in the first half. true, it was a clanger though. he was otherwise very good first half.
diaby was good enough second half. awful first. deserves a better rating.
rvp didnt disposses anyone for cescs goal. the spuds just gave it to him.
and finally, liverpool lost 3-1 at fulham, not bolton.
Well I am so happy this mornign its unreal. Redknapp, shut you twat, you are jst talking shit along keane!
Jay Emmanuel – Thomas Scored a quality goal for blackpool yesterday, so a massive well done to him!
Happy days really.
A fair report except for the appraisal of Nik B. I thought he started brightly. Was running well, wasn’t getting tackled, passing well (wasn’t giving much away) and looked like he would have had a good game but for the injury. I thought he looked one of our better players in the first 20 minutes when frankly we were woeful…Apart from that, a fair account of yesterday. Diaby, what a shocker. Everyone where I sat couldn’t believe he stayed on. Is AW trying to get the guy confidence? We havce several other better options right now as he’s been awful for just too long npw. He’s had athe chances and blows it every game. The subs bench ought to be his next position, but it wont be…
I cant get over how bad Diaby was, and the worrying thing was he wasnt even trying. Watching at home, the amount of times I saw him standing around when the ball was less than 3 yards from him was ridiculous! And the problem that he causes in a 3 man midfield is, if one player isnt running, Song and Cesc we having to make up for it, obviously it puts more pressure on them and they forced to make mistakes. I would even say Bendtner put more effort in with his injury that Diaby in the 1st half. He did improve somewhat in the 2nd half, but I cant believe he wasnt subbed. An interview with clichy on Arsenalonline mentioned that Wenger gives the players their stats, and I hpoe he sits down with Diaby and has a stern talking to.
I thought Almunia had a shaky game and nearly fumbled a couple of catches but generally managed to hold on. He was more alert though in goals so hopefully his bench time has given him a wake up call.
I thought Dudu would have buried his two chances but just goes to show players need game time to get to their best, hope he gets a few starts now that Bendy is out, and hopefully he stays fully fit.
If Diaby gets a 4 for yesturdays preformance i have to ask what you have to do to get a 1?
Fabregas received the ball when a deflected pass from palacios rolled to him. I was right, I predicted van persie will get a brace.
GO YOU GUNNERS!!!!!!!!!’
I strongly suspect Cesc reads Le Grove. He read Skandibird post, scored and looked at heavens
For me Diaby has to go now, he’s had his chance to prove he can make it and he’s failed. He just isnt good enough.
If Wenger could be more ruthless and sign 2 CMs (sell Diaby and drop Song to the bench) and a top goalkeeper we would be favourites for the league.
As it is we have a shot, but individual mistakes will cost us points at times this year.
I also think Carlton Cole would be a good option, he would be the ‘big man’ option but unlike Nik B he actually scores goals.
ANyone read this article
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1224238/Dont-lazy-I-want-The-Man-just-like-Vieira-says-Abou-Diaby.html
just waking up in pradise, no not my holiday the realisation that once agin the pikey bastrds are shown up for being light years behind us ,TOP FOUR, no fucking chance. i hope they build the new mc donalds stadium because i will roar with laughter watching that shower of shit play to a half empty stadium . hope nasri and rosicky are back soon , we have the potential to get even better ,although more outstanding defensive performances will be needed but like pedro i love thomas vermaalen .
great post !
I do understand frustration caused by Diaby – it is all caused by his attitude, just read the article and he has the cheek to say it is just his style of play…
well, young man, if your ‘style’ causes us to slow down and allows the oppo to come back and you don’t run towards the pass and get overtaken to it, then it is not stylish, it’s plain lazy…
fair dos, he’d upped his game in the second half and was chasing down the opponents more, but Spuds looked dejected at that point, so I will only hold my hands up if I see him doing it right from the off against the oppo which is up for it – talent and ability is there, right attitude would do wonders…
Song does a lot to eradicate the above in his game and that is why we see alot of improvement…
I love TV too
I had the right laugh watching him outjumping Crouch 9 times out of 10, and he got in Keane’s way very intelligently allowing Song to make that tackle…
the last year November month has been highly dreadful for us..
inshallah,hopefully we will come out in flying colours this time
Diaby is a squad player and needs another season. just watching what he does with the ball compared to Cesc. hard to fathom what the boss is thinking. Once Nasri returns game is up for hi but you think that every week and there is is. Song improving leaps and bounds. Think we can do better then Carlton Cole..
fair piece by Lineker:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1224373/GARY-LINEKER-Harry-Redknapp-big-job-transform-Spurs.html
November
UEFA Champions League Home AZ Alkmaar
Barclays Premier League Away Wolverhampton
Barclays Premier League Away Sunderland
UEFA ChampionsLGE Home Standard Liege
Barclays Premier League Home Chelsea
Looking at our fixtures in November I would expect all wins tbh.
If we can win them all we should be top of the Prem and qualified for the CL ready for December…
Hi Pedro, give Diaby a break… Its his first run of games in the team..His ankle was broken when he came to teh club, spent a year recovering, another getting to fitness and is now playing…You need to understand you must give him time. He is going to be a great player even if we have to put up with shit performances for the moment..
We put up with many shit performances when Cesc started playing too..Same for Song, Same for Gallas..
The team has got a goal threat which boosts confidence at the right time… But they lack bottle like Chelsea has… Can they develop it as the weeks go by…Not sure.
If we win this year, it will be more because Wenger got the system and players right, not because of the character.
Wenger made 1000 points 33 games earlier than fergie…
What a Fantastic result that was against our dirty pikey neighbors. The so called pretenders to a top four spot, yeah dream on! Up until the 40th minute, I sat watching with a sick feeling in my stomach, then Bang, all of a sudden relief and I’ve never felt better. I LOVE FOOTBALL, but I LOVE ARSENAL EVEN MORE. That will teach them to run up their mouths, bout who’s got the best squad, I think Song looked better than Palacious, who allowed Fab4 to take the ball off him for the 2nd goal. Defense wise we looked solid, and actually kept a clean sheet for once. Even though we looked comfortable throughout, there’s more to come as there were a few below par performances. Can you imagine how good we could be if everyone played to their potential.
Colonel Mustard,
Diaby is getting picked to up his confidence and/or resale value thanks to number of the first team starts…
by the way, I liked the way our midfielders roughed up Palacios, he posed some threat initially, it’s nice to see kicking back, as Spuds tried to kick the shit out of us with no reaction from Clattenberg…
he redeemed himself a bit with good advantage played for the third goal – hilarious, but should have booked that cunt who upended Eduardo…
thought we were poor in the first half, but apparently we had 6 shots on target to Spuds’ none then
and that was before we scored, btw
hilarious:
‘…Robin van Persie, the scorer of two goals and the man of the match, displayed more cunning than Keane when quizzed about the issue of the gap between the clubs, declining to comment.
His wry grin spoke volumes, however, and betrayed what the Arsenal players think of Tottenham’s latest challenge. It did not need the smile of Van Persie to clarify the matter; Arsenal had done as much on the pitch…’
Ritesh,
So Duaby can still use his injury 3.5 years ago as an excuse, thats ridiculous.
He isnt good enough just accept it.
I broke my leg 12 years ago, am i allowed to use that as an excuse if i dont do my job properly???
Ritesh, When you claim we had to put up with Shit performances from Cesc then your whole argument loses credibility. Cesc, even from when he firt broke into the team was a clear talent and everyone knew he was gonna be a great player.
The same cant be said of Diaby tho. How can you excuse his shitness because he broke his ankle more than 3 years ago. 2 years to recover? Bullshit! He shouldnt have taken more than 5 months or 6 at the very most.
Gambon, broken leg huh? Sounds painful…hope you feel better.
gambon – Depends what your job is, do you play football in the Premiership ?!
Will that retard Diaby ever make me not to mention his name in whatever I type?That wanker has learnt nothing.If Senderos had got that much chances as this over rated idiot,he would have been better than Nesta.
Keyser,so you mean that Diaby can still use that excuse?
Jaguar – Honestly, I don’t think you should join any debate regarding Diaby, you won’t be able to be rational.
..and No, but it can’t have helped his progress could it.
We are talking specifically about that one ankle injury tho. However severe(sp) it shouldnt have affected his performances for 3 years.
And despite being a Senderos fan and not a Diaby one i feel i must point out that overall they have both played about the same number of games for us.
Senderos more towards the start of his time here and Diaby more towards the end (now).
Senderos 105+12
Diaby 82+30
Not much of a difference really.
i wonder had we ost 3 nil if BBK would have something to say, as we won the biggest game of our season he is nowhere to be seen
strange
now that B52 is out (which I think is a shame, as he does give our game something different) I hope to see more of Vela – CL game against AZ (if fit), anyone?
Something has changed at Arsenal.
I noticed it first at the Carling cup game against Liverpool, we surprisingly held on to the ball in the last 10 minutes and played it into the corners to wind down the clock. Sound like common sense, but I haven’t seen an Arsenal team do that for donkeys years.
Then yesterday Wenger threw his jacket in frustration whilst we were 3-0 up. Why ? Because he wanted to get his message to Song and Diaby to sit back and defend the lead.
Both of these incidents are a clear indication that Wenger has finally taken note of our habit of conceding leads and changed the tactics of the team.
A complete change in attitude won’t happen over night but these signs are promising and show us that the team are finally learning from past mistakes.
Stu – Are you you saying Diaby’s progress has been similar to both Fabregas and Senderos ?!
erm….dont think so Keyser.
rosicky in for bendtner and nasri in for diaby
no that is a world class team
vermaelen and gallas are both top class
Stu – Are you sure, because sometimes you get confused ?!
Only when you say things to confuse me.
Afternoon all, lots of disagreements about lots of different sections of the post… but all in agreement that was a great win and Spurs are shite!
I’m off down the pub.
Arse&nose, you’re free to roam… you got spammed for some reason.
Stu – Honestly, I don’t do it on purpose, I just seem to have an uncanny knack for it.
Rosicky in for Bendtner and Nasri in for Diaby
————————————————–
Sounds sexy,the latter would never happen,as Diaby would always start every single fucking match,thanks to the height of that fucking idiot,which he uses only to score fucking own goals.what a fucking mug.
Stu,I am talking about the post Liverpool match Senderos.After that match,he wasnt given any chances.But Diabolical despite performing fuck all every single match,gets the nod over better players.What a disgrace.
Only complaint i have with the post is that Liverpool lost to Fulham, not Bolton…but whatever.
Keyser, seriously, im not confused. You are doing your best to make me tho.
Jaguar – After the match, he went on loan to Milan for a year.
Diaby wont start ahead of a fit Nasri…or Rosicky….or Denilson. He is only starting because noone else is fit to start instead.
Excellent read at 9:56 LaZer, very refreshing.
Afternoon all, great win, great performance, Diaby was woeful again and Song should not be in this team.
The fact that Eboue made it on to the pitch suggests something a little more sinister to me.
When he came on he looked as shocking as the other two.
Cesc seems to have added pace to his otherwise superb game, Robin has become the player I always believed he would, Arshavin makes things happen, but everytime Song gets the ball, I close my eyes.
Enough said.
GUYZ DONT SAY ANYTHING ABT DIABY VERY LOUD COZ THE GUY IS A/WENGERS YOUNG BRO.AND THAT MEANS HE GOT TO BE IN THE FIRST 11 AT ALL COSTS.
hi Geoff I thought song had a good game, maybe if you kept your eyes open
Diaby will make it. He has the most potential out of the lot but he clearly favours attacking more.
The problem is having Cesc and Diaby playing together. I think Denilson or Nasri would be a better foil for Diaby to strut his stuff.
………………….Szczęsny……………………
………………………………………………
……………Gallas……….Vermaelen…………..
………………………………………………
…Sagna……………………………….Gibbs….
……………………Song……………………..
………………………………………………
……………………Nasri…………………….
………………………………………………
……………………Diaby…………………….
…….Rosicky…………………..Arshavin………
………………………………………………
………………….Van Persie………………….
If ever Cesc decided to leave, I would be saddened but not worried…because we have Diaby.
Mark my words, he will be one of the finest players and this season may be the one that makes him.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks on here. What happens to Diaby is up to Wenger and I honestly cannot see him selling him just cause of mis-guided views that he is lazy and sub-standard. The facts and stats speak for themselves and so far this season he has done very well. He is an attacking midfielder who can defend well but is being asked to reign in his attacking instints to accomodate and assist the play-making of Cesc. I remember Denilson suffering a similar situation last year and he turned out to be a little gem in the end.
Anyhow, enough ramblings. Pedro, I too was a bit skeptical of Van Persie being deployed as the front man in a 4-3-3 but it seems to be working out great. In all honesty I think as a front man in a 4-3-3 or Second striker in a 4-4-2 in where he is most effective. He’s not cut out for a role on the wings anymore.
Just another defender needed (Sakho please) and we would be near perfect.
…………..Szczęsny/Fabianski/Mannone…………..
………………………………………………
………Gallas/Djou/Send……Verm/Sakho/Silv……..
………………………………………………
Sag/Eboue/Gilb……………………Gibbs/Cli/Traore
………………………………………………
…………….Song/Coq/East/Verm/Djou……………
………………………………………………
………………Den/Diaby/Nas/Rambo…………….
………………………………………………
……………Fab/Diaby/Nas/Ros/Rambo/JW…………
………………………………………………
Ros/Wal/Bendy/Watt/Arsh……..Arsh/Vela/Nas/JW/Diaby
………………………………………………
……………..Van/Bendy/Edu/Vela/Arsh…………..
Please take out diaby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A midfield of Fabregas, Song and Nasri is perfect!!!!!
A midfield of Fabregas, Song and Denilson is perfect!!
A midfield of Fabregas, Denilson and Nasri is perfect!
We need no Abou Diaby, this guy is useless, always giving the ball away. Holding the ball for way too long, does not know when to release the ball, cannot pick out the runs by his team mates, cannot head the ball properly, cannot defend, cannot attack, slow and worst of all scores own goal.
Abou diaby is simply a very LOUSY player. I dont understand why wenger keeps sticking to him and why some of you can support him.
1 good game and 5 average ones and then 3 lousy ones are not characteristics of an arsenal player.
Please someone need to break diaby’s leg or just send him away. He is not even worthy of a place on the bench.
Rosicky will not play in midfield as he would be better off on the right of the 3 man attacking unit. Otherwise he can replace fabregas if wenger decides fabregas needs a rest.
This is a real disgrace why diaby is given so much chance by wenger. I would have played ramsey, wilshere and merida ahead of diaby.
Seriously, diaby does not offer much to our game. Ask yourself, what did he offer us? He is not really defensive minded. It was song that was always protecting the back 4, not diaby. He does not help much in set pieces, as it was always vermaelen, Rvp, and Gallas that heads the ball away. In fact when under no pressure, diaby scored an own goal using his fucking bald head (against man utd).
In attack, he is no arshavin, rosicky, fabregas, nasri or Rvp. Yet he tries to be funny by passing it at the wrong time, at the wrong speed and giving the ball away on numerous occasions. He holds the ball way too much, and arsenal depends on quick passing and accurate passing, NOT HOLDING THE BALL!!!
He tries to dribble but does not have the skills of arshavin, rosicky, nasri and RvP.
So what good is diaby?? He cant help much in defense, he can help much in attack, he slows our play, he gives the ball away, he scores own goal, he seems to be always in his own world. No sense of urgency from him at all!!!!
Frankly speaking, to me a player that plays well for a game (MOTM) and then disappear or did badly in the next few games, does not deserve a place at all. I seriously would give the place to someone that deserves it more.
Diaby, you better watch out. Your time is almost up. You are simply the worst player ever. You are the lousiest player in the whole arsenal first team. Maybe even the reserves or under-18 can win you hands down.
Abou Diaby, if you are seeing this, please do arsenal fans and arsenal a favour.. please ask for a transfer request. You are simply dragging the whole team down with you. Without you we could have won and scored more. You are a liability to the whole team. Please leave!!!!!!
“The fact that Eboue made it on to the pitch suggests something a little more sinister to me.”
Heh, could say the same about you Geoff, you only seem to watch Song, have you got a little crush ?!
WTF????
8 inch knob Says:
November 1, 2009 at 15:04
If ever Cesc decided to leave, I would be saddened but not worried…because we have Diaby.
You have to be fucking kidding me!!
8 inch knob… are you crazy?? Diaby as one of the finest??
This is the funniest joke… I give him until he is 36 years old, he will still be an ordinary player, and never a great player. Trust me…
Maybe if you took your head out of your arse Terry you would see what I mean, clever comment though, well done.
Diaby is what 22, 23, 24?? He is no longer potential, what you see is what you are gonna get.
Keyser I can take that from you, yes, I would like to crush him, in between Diaby and Eboue on the bench.
His shit play started yesterday when he passed the ball out for a corner in the first half, you would have thought Wenger would have told him with Crouch on the pitch avoid corners at all costs. Unless it’s you son!
I expect Terry missed that one though, perhaps he should’ve opened his eyes.
Say no more.
I’d also like to know with all the exciting attacking options at AW’s disposal, he continues to give Eboue playing time in advanced positions?
Dennis do you mean his age or brain cells?
Dennis, see my 14.46 comment, I concur!
8 inch knob,
you should take the “8 inch” part out of your name and replace it with “i’m a”
Geoff – Take what ? All you seem to do is watch Song, it’s odd, he made a bad pass, he also made an excellant tackle to stop Tottenhams only goal threat of the half, bet you wish you could gloss over that.
It’s just very odd, and like you said verging on sinister.
Just reread your 1446 comment Geoff. What are your thoughts on the subject of Eboue then?
Funny Geoff I was only having a bit of fun, but what I did see was Song make a great tackle to rob keane in the first half
I said yesterday, the last time he tackled someone in the penalty area the prick gave away a penalty, did he learn nothing from that?
Yes it was a good tackle, but a risky one, he is supposed to protect the back four from in front, not behind or did you not realise he was a defensive midfielder?
Terry, so was I, unless you have a problem with your own arse!
Read my previous comment for my thoughts on the only thing he did do.
Which is of course what all the Song lovers go on about.
Dennis, good right back, shit anywhere else.
It’s so frustrating to see how well at times we play, but always carrying at least one player, just lately Diaby being the main culprit. Just imagine how awesome we would be without such a handicap??
Geoff – Carlton Cole dived, say what you want, Sorry I thought the defensive part of ‘Defensive midfielder’ mean’t he was supposed to defend, and he did an excellant job, in a game we won.
I don’t get why you HATE Song sOo much, it’s just very very odd.
Dennis, I said we were two short at the start, we still are, if we had an Alonso and not a Song we would be unbeaten now, playing with sub standard players will cost us, they won’t improve.
Geoff agreed about the good RB assessment.
I’m beginning to get truly concerned on the effect this continual playing of Eboue as an attacking option will have on the likes of Vela, LJW and now Merida…. If this carries on leaving those uber talented players on the bench how long before they see their futures elsewhere?
fair enough Geoff just in a good mood after a great win
Fabregas and Arshavin seemed a bit of a handicap against West Ham, for some reason people don’t think they had bad games, in fact they just used that to blame Diaby and Song.
Van Persie missed a point blank header, not much mention of that either.
Cole had his heel kicked from behind, a stupid stupid stupid attempt at a ‘tackle’, dive or no dive if the prick hadn’t kicked the player the referee wouldn’t have had a decision to make.
I don’t hate him, I just don’t rate him, if he tackled further up the pitch and didn’t foul them, he wouldn’t have needed to tackle in the area.
As for Cole, don’t be ridiculous, Song tackled from behind, that’s a foul in itself.
He is just not good enough. It’s more sinister why you like him so much…
God Bless you all on this beautiful Sunday!
I think you guys are being harsh on Diaby, Song and Eboue…I don’t think they could have been so bad and yet we dominate all the matches we’ve played in this season
Because those players have huge amounts of talent and can win games, Song has none and wins nothing. Touché Dennis.
Think how good we’d be if we had better players there them Man!
Geoff – Because he plays for Arsenal, and whether he’s black, white or from another country, they all get the same consideration.
It sounds more like hate, when all you do is sit there waiting for him to make a mistake, so you can post it up on here, odd, so very very odd.
Cole, 6ft 5, a man mountain, dragged his foot so they’d be contact from behind, and went down looking for it, Sickening.
Anyway, what the fuck is beautiful about it, it’s pissing down with rain and blowing a gale!
They all get the same consideration but if they are useless, slow and untalented I will comment.
Especially as Wenger got him a visa on exceptional talent! Fuck look no further than his uncle to see what he’ll turn out like.
You have now said very odd 4 times now, change the record.
hahaha Geoff, it’s beautiful for the reasons you mentioned – rain has its uses, if only to keep you indoors
leave diaby alone. if ur going ti critise him critise his football or the manager for playing him. calling him a retard , wanker etc. for fucks sake get a grip
It’s keeping me in Ok, but I’m taking the missus out tonight so it will get me at some point!
Guys, one thing we must all do is support our players.
Damn_Gallas, I’m afraid I have to disagree with most of your comments. He is one of our most talented players, probably the most technical but he needs freedom to express it.
It’s unfair to categorise the player as a defensive minded player when really his core strengths lie a bit further up the pitch, ideally where Cesc Fabregas is playing. Diaby/Denilson/Song, Diaby/Nasri/Song and maybe Diaby/Ramsey/Song would be a far better balance than playing both Fabregas and Diaby supported by Song.
There is far too much pressure on Song to defend when Diaby and Fabregas are paired with neither player very good at tracking back. But I’m willing to bet that if Diaby was supported better then he would be a far more potent and dangerous goal scoring threat than Fabregas.
It’s also easy to forget that Diaby averages more succesfull tackles than any of our other midfield players.
I’ve followed Diaby since he signed in Jan 2006 and even back then I could he the undoubted class and potential he had. Since then I feel this is his first major season for us and he can only go from strength to strength. Let’s not forget this is his longest run in the side so give the boy some credit.
Our lack of silverware is more down to the negative vibes and appalling that some our our so called fans give the club and players. The know it alls who think it’s easy to just buy a world class player and expect the trophies to follow. The ones who were last season calling Denilson, Song, Bendtner and Eboue shit. These are the same idiots who will be made to eat their own words when they see at the end of the season just how good a player Diaby really is.
I have faith in him and so does Wenger. So that’s all that matters regardless of what you may think otherwise.
What are you his girlfriend then?
Geoff – Heh, as long as you change yours, when all you do is sit there and count the errors without acknowledging the good points, your motives will always be up for questioning.
Alonso would add nothing to our team.
How can there still be people calling Song shit. What planet are they living on.
Without Song, we’d be fucked up the arse well and truly by now.
We all say he has talent, we are all getting fed up with waiting, if evrey player played like him, we’d get relegated.
No geoffrey
Where are you from out of interest?
I’m from Cameroon.
I know you are Keyser, I was asking 8inch, I have him down in Southsea, England.
southsea in portsmouth, uk. yes.
how bout you Geoff?
Anyway, I enjoyed our little chat on Song guys, but I really have to go, catch you’ll later.
We need to take advantage of next PL fixtures,where one or both the mancs and chavs drop some points.hopefully a goaless draw
I’m from London, Bethnal Green but now Islington, have a great day and bask in the sunshine of beating the Scum!
I spent some time in Gosport, I love that area, genteel!
Geoff you forgot yourself and praised Song during the game yesterday. lol
Afternoon all: I found this humorous piece on the tiny totts news stream.
‘Against the old enemy, it seems we can come up with ever more creative ways to lose. I remember a good few years ago sitting right at the back of the Paxton with a precious ticket watching them take us apart. It was near the beginning of the Wenger era. At the finish, the mood around me was surprisingly philosophical, beaten by a better team on the day, therefore in some measure we could deal with it. But since then, we have games when we are on top but are then destroyed by breakaways, cup semi-finals, we watch them win the league on our ground, we score four but concede five. Now we have the 11 second goal. Utterly pathetic, like watching the primary school team give the ball to the big boy who’s better than everyone and runs straight through’.
my pleasure London. Glad you enjoyed it.
Fucking hell Michael, I was drinking!
I always give praise when it’s due, I just wish we had better!
I’m off now! Have a good’un.
When Gazidis started, I hoped he would force the club to spend in obvious need areas: central midfield, goalkeeper, etc.
Now I just wish he’d overhaul Arsenal’s training and medical staff.
Bendtner out a month, which will surely become two.
Walcott, Denilson out long-term with “back problems.” Eduardo and Rosicky still struggling to play consecutive games…
Getting a leg-break like Nasri is one thing, but so many of our injuries seem preventable…
People like to talk about how tasty our lineup will be when everyone’s fit, but I don’t think that’s ever gonna happen…
Diaby and Gourcuff, both are 23,both play in the same position,one footballistically inept.
We should send some of our medical staff on loan to AC Milan. All their players are basically fossils yet never seem to get injured. Someone one here once told me that they have special preventative measures for dealing with injuries.
Man shitty on the back foot in the early stages.
After reading up to where you diss Diaby and Song I realised you must be a habitually drunk like your brother who drinks 13 bottles of beer and goes anywhere. Were I to drink that much I would not only be unable to do anything but I would’nt want to either. Any wonder there is so much violence?
As a drunk, no wonder you could not see good plays of Diaby or Song. I thought Diaby held his own with fewer mistakes. Song positioning and disrupting Spuds was fine. Reading your blog is boring. Stick to being abusive coz you cant analyse.
Does Gourcuff play in a midfield 3 ?!
I dunno if that would work Stu, part of the reason Milan’s ‘Lab’ works soo well is because of the league they play in.
I don’t think it’s the preventable injuries that have hedl us back, it’s because of the ones that aren’t, 3 broken legs in as many years, Rosicky’s misdiagnosis of a rare injury to sustain and Fabregas’s ligament damage, alongside Walcotts shoulder dislocation, it’s not just because they’ve spent time out, it’s how much strain it puts on the rest of the squad while they’re out.
Denilson played loads of games consecutively to cover, just like Song is now, they might not be the best of players, but it just shows you how stretched we are when even our squad players are feeling the strain.
If we can get enough of them back together, like we seem to be doing now, say if Eduardo, Rosicky, Vela and Nasri can come back together, then Walcott and finally Bendtner, we’ll finally be able to do some rotation aswell.
In Italy they stop play and give out cards for the slightest touch as far as I can see.
Off topic
I’m glad Brown is getting sacked and hull are going down but that ref yesterday gave 3 big calls against hull and they were all wrong. What a cunt
shitty are knockin’ the door here. i have a feeling birmingham won’t last long. crap…
stu its different legue which alot less physical,i feel the reason why song has been doing so well is because he keepsit very simple he just stays in front of defence and just goes for short simple passes for the most part yes he goes forwrad but i does not forget his defensive duties he is the best footballer and he does try to be,diaby however tries pull of the intrycut passes and he just cant do it,he hold on to ball trying to smart in stead of passing it or kicking it into touch,he could be a good dm player if didnt try so msmart all the time
Whatever about it being a slower league but the defenders in Italy are dirty bastards too. They hack attackers down like nobodies (or is it nobodys?) business.
And because of their players ages it makes it all the more impressive. All our players are mid 20s and so many of out players get injured a lot. AC have a whole squad of late 20s and mid 30s yet rarely get any injuries. It cant be just because they league us slower that their players dont get injured.
Shay Given having a top draw game.
So far Shitty are looking very ordinary, half time and still no score, if anything Given has been the busier keeper.
almost dropped the ball right at feet of the oncoming bham player there zeus which was poor, but did make an amazing save earlier
Why is Steve Macmanaman in the crowd? I thought he was supposed to be playing for liverpool legends right now?
Shitty are appaling to see…CRAP CRAP CRAP
Still basking in the glory.
And we beat the scum with 10 men. Diaby doesn’t count.
Brum Penaltyyyyy
GET IN COME ON SCORE IT!!!!
save
Birmingham have a pen
OMFG!!!!!
WTF?????
given saved it fuckkk
Given is class………
Given, what a keeper, great save.
Given saves a penalty. Not a gr8 kick it must be said.
Poor shot from McFadden.
I really can’t believe we lost 3 points to City…..
If only we had them points now. Along with the 2 lost at West Ham………
Nearly Jerome,….
On this showing could our kids take on shitty at eastlands in the CC?
McFaddens a cunt anyway. I want neither of these teams to win for differing reasons.
birmi are starting to play well
City are much better at home then they are away. Our kids will have a tough challenge to beat them in the CC.
zeus imo they definitely can and they can definitely win! City really aren’t that good
Stu – Whatever about them hacking players, it rarely happens, it’s more shirt pulling and sly trips, you’re not even allowed to raise your leg near someone else. It might not be just because it’s a much slower league but it helps a hell of a lot.
I actually want City to win……ever since that Birmingham thug injured Eddy…..I hate Birmingham….(It was part of the reason we never won the title in 07-08.
And the other thug Ridgewell injured Theo with a needless follow through….
So I want City to beat them….hopefully they go back down to the championship even though they will have 40mil to spend in January….
So just for today I say go City!!!!!!!!!
I’m going to prove once and for all that Robbie Keane is a numpty! Here is a comparison of their squad and ours.
World Class Internationals-
Us= Van Persie, Fabregas, Rosicky, Arshavin
Them= Modric(maybe at a push)
International Starters-
Us= Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Senderos, Djourou, Eboue, Song, Nasri, Vela, Ramsey, Walcott, Bendtner, Eduardo, Fabianski.
Them= Corluka, Palacios, Krancjar, Keane, Pavlychenko
International Youth or Bench warmers-
Us= Diaby, Clichy, Gibbs, Wilshere, Merida
Them= Crouch, Defoe, King, Woodgate, Jenas, Hutton
So in conclusion, Arsenal players going to the World Cup= 15 (at least). Spurs players going to the world cup= 5 at the most.
Pretty sure if that was presented to him he may have to take back his rediculous claims.
Pavlychenko isnt even a regular starter for Russia. He only started at the Euros because Pogrebnyak injured his knee before the tournament kicked off.
Walcott and Fabianski should be back for it.
I would play:
___________Fabianski______
____Eboue–Senderos–Silvestre–Gibbs
________Merida–Coq–Ramsey
_____Wilshere–Bendtner–Vela
That team should be good enough to give City a game!!
I was being as generous as i could to them, if Russia and Ireland don’t qualify it will only be the English players and Palacios that go.
Maybe Walcott from Bendy?
Ireland probably wont qualify. Not enough quality….unless they bore the fuck out of France and sneak through.
***for not from lol
What channel is out CL match against Alkmaar on?
Yeah France should have to much, but Domenech is a clown so he might find a way to mess it up.
ireland can’t beat france. they lack quality
Evening all
Stu, its on ITV, probably the main channel – but I think its also on Sky interactive
Sky 2
My team for Alkmaar
………………..Al………………………..
Eboue……….Gallas………Vermy………….Clichy
…………………..Song……………………..
…..Cesc…………………………..Nasri……..
..Asrhy……………..RVP……………….Eddy…..
Yeah Rico, its on SS2 but seeing as i dont have that im hoping its on either ss1 (which i doubt) or setanta.
Stu it’s on sky sports 2, not on itv unfortunately.
bendtner is out for a month
Just checked Stu, We are on Sky Sports 2
Bummer, sorry Stu
claptongoon – good
Not in England Stu, if it’s on SS2 it can’t be on any other channel i’m afraid
ITV are shit. Have not bought 1 Arsenal game this season.
They have bought 2 Chelsea,2 Man Utd ones and 2 Liverpool ones.
Liverpool on ITV thi week
Its taking the piss Tbh
Maybe it will be on setanta ireland then. If i have to watch us on another stream i will lose my mind.
The Dippers are on ITV, I so bloody hope they lose against Lyon – If they do they are almost certain not to qualify
Bye Bye Rafa, Rafa Bye Bye………….
Stu, you can pop round at watch it at my house….?
I want Liverpool to draw against Lyon so they will still go into the last 2 games trying their hardest to win. At least that way their premiership form will suffer.
If only i didnt live so far away Rico…
With all the money Tevez is surely raking in why hasnt he gotten his neck scars sorted out. Its like melted cheese all over his jaw.
city score?
No zeus. City are shit and cant score against Brum.
0-0 btw…just to be sure to be sure.
I don’t Stu, I want them to get thrashed, all confidence beaten out of them, I hope they lose every game they play – I even hope they finish below the spuds !!!
That is Liverpool bottom of the league and spuds just above them
he doesn’t want to stu, says they’re part of his identity etc
0:0 FT
Yeah Stu I want Liverfool to draw iwth Lyon as well..
We want them to be still in with a slight chance when they play Fiorentina on the last match day….that way their players will get no rest and we can ambush them the following Sunday…
Liverpool play Fiorentina on wednesday the 9th of December.
On the same day we should be playing Olympiakos(hopefully with the kids because we have sealed 1st spot)
Our senior team can rest up and destroy them on Sunday the 13th of December
It is a shame Stu, but the offer is genuine….
Well thats fair enough Rico. If they are out of everything then they might stop us from winning the FA cup. We cant win the treble without he FA cup.
A, thats a stupid reason.
How many st8 draws for shitty is that now? haha
Ja – what a great pre Christmas present that would be
I believe you too Rico…
Stu, Tevez had the chance to get his neck scars sorted out he chose not to saying it was part of who he was..
In Liverpool’s CL group..here is where it stands
Lyon 9
Fiorentina 6
Liver 3
Debrecen 0
If Liverpool and Lyon draw…and Fiorentina beat Debre
It will be 10 9 4 0
Then lets say Fior and Lyon draw and Liver beat Debre
It will be Lyon 11 Fior 10 Liver 7 Debre 0
So on the final day Liver will have to go for it and try to beat Fiorntina to get to 10 points…however there chances would still be slim because they would have to build up goal difference…
So with Fiorentina on 10 and Liver on 7, Liverpool will have to try and go for it…so their best players will have to play and play hard….but most likley they will fail.
So after we can ambush them 3 days later.
That might leave Liverpool in the Europa League and if Rafa was serious about it he would probably end up winning it because all he can do is win cup competitions.
Ja, I would just rather see them left on 3 points on wednesday – we will ambush them in any case
@ Ja no need to run these scenarios, LiverFool has absolutely no chance of winning in France. There not good enough for a draw either
Stu, and how much would we all hate to see him and them win anything, its getting near Christmas and they just need stuffing
Agreed Rico. Lets just hope Debrecen beat Liverpool and Fiorentina so they can get into the Europa league instead. Sorry for doubting you..
Stu – don’t be daft
Its only when we see they could end up with a cup it all comes clear, I hate the B***ards and just want them to get nothing!!
This has inspired me. Im going to compare our squad to the teams worth comparing ours with Chelsea, Manu and Liverpool-
Us= Van Persie, Fabregas, Rosicky, Arshavin
Chelsea= Drogba, Ballack, Lampard, Terry, Cech, Essien
Man U= Rooney, Van Der Sar, Vidic, Berbatov
Liverpool= Torres, Gerrard, Reina
International Starters-
Us= Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Senderos, Djourou, Eboue, Song, Nasri, Vela, Ramsey, Walcott, Bendtner, Eduardo, Fabianski.
Chelsea= Ivanovic, Carvalho, Cole, Deco, Anelka, Kalou, Cole.
Man U= O’Shea, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Nani, Fletcher
Liverpool= Bennayoun, Mascherano, Voronin, Skrtel, Agger, Insua, Johnson, Aquilani
International Youth or Bench warmers-
Us= Diaby, Clichy, Gibbs, Wilshere, Merida
Chelsea= Belletti, Alex, Sturridge, Malouda.
Man U= Carrick, Foster, F Da Silva, R Da Silva, Wellbeck
Liverpool= Babel, Reira, Kuyt
So in conclusion, Arsenal players going to the World Cup:
Us= 15 (at least)
Chelsea= 15 (at most)
Man U= 11 (at most)
Liverpool= 10 (at most)
Looks like we have the most internationals playing for the major countries in the premiership. I like it!
What the fuck! Andy Gray and his bum chum Fat head Keys showing replays of the spuds goals against us in the 4-4. WTF is that about!
i feel that anyone qwho does think chelsea will not up there up may is deluding them selvs and evon though manu are without rinalndo they still are winning games and are not playing that well,chelsea do have edge over use when it comes to experience but will have tope they dont pickup too many injuries as they cant buy in jan, i feel both manu and chelsea more experienced midfielders than use but i feel we have more attacking options
Sven – have you missed off a few International starters?? Rooney, Gerrard, Carragher?
Carragher doesnt start for England (retired). Rooney is included in the world class department and not the int starters to avoid double counting and so is Gerrard.
And Ballack being nominated for World player or the year and Cesc not is just a sick twisted joke.
oops, missed Gerrard there, sorry…
That’s just Sky Stu, they hate us… I nearly chocked yesterdya when I heard Andy Gray say that any other ref in the PL would have sent Bentley off!! Darn right they would and look at the soft red cards that were given out yesterday… Its a disgrace…!!
Carragher doesnt play for England Rico…
Anyway I just watched some highlights and those pundits still write us off…
They say until Arsenal win on a cold Tuesday night…they cant see us as contenders…
So I guess they figure its a 2 horse race then…
Fuck them I hope they eat their words a couple months down the line.
Oh – and yesterday Pepe proved he is not as good as we all thought he was
Since when has Carragher been an international starter? I’m leaving him Giggs and Scholes off completely as they retired from internationals and for this are irellevant.
Gerrard and Rooney etc. are in as World Class
Sorry Ja
I want the press, paps and Sky to write us off, and may they do it at their peril..
I feel this is our year, Song will be recognised as a hero come May, but don’t anyone tell Geoff I said that
Off for supper – great to chit chat you guys
Dunno what Andy Gray is talking about, using his little computer thing makes it look like we are playing the same formation as Liverpool? So Diaby is a holding midfielder now is he Andy?
The story so far…
Forgive the over-interpretation, but compare to the equivalent 10 fixtures last season, we are scoring an average of 0.7 goals more per game, conceding 0.3 more goals per game and winning 0.7 more points per game.
That puts us on track for 115 goals for, 49 goals against and 101 points
I wish
Actually i thought that was quite interesting viewing. He was explaing how in the 2nd half we defended the lead differently from the year before. He was quite complimentry to us. Keys is an idiot though, he’D have found it easier explaining his theories to a packet of crisps.
Errrrrrrrr!
Ok, Richard Keys and Andy Gray are officially the worst two football pundits!
Looking at Drogbas goal where he is clearly standing offside. “We don’t want linesmen to disallow goals like that”???????? Errrrrrr, yeah we do because he was offside Richard.
Bye bye Rico..
Paul, thats because the crisps wouldnt ask pointless and meaningless leading questions. Keys is just as thick as hey come. He knows nothing about football.
Not sure about that Sven, going to the world cup we should have currently
Cesc
VP
Bendtner
Vela
Theo
Senderos
JD
Then depending on qualification
Gallas
Sagna
Clichy
Nasri
Diaby (if he gets in the squad)
Arshavin
Song
Eboue
So we’d have 15 max, can’t think of any others?
Liverpool have
Reina
Agger
Degen
Johnson
Skrtel
Aquilani
Babel
Gerrard
Mascherano
Riera
Kuyt
Torres
Voronin
So 12, 13 if Ukraine qualify
Chelsea
Cole
Cole
Terry
Lampard
Ivanovic
Ballack
Alex (if he makes the squad)
Bosingwa
Carvalho
Ferreira
Deco
Malouda
Anelka
Drogba
Zhrikov
Mikel
Essien
so 7, 17 depending on qualification
Utd
Brown (if he makes the squad)
Neville (if he makes the squad)
Foster (if he makes the squad)
Ferdinand
Vidic
Carrick (if he makes the squad)
Hargreaves
Park
Rooney
Evans
O’Shea
Nani
Utd really don’t have many do they? Will be advantageous to them come the start of next season, alot of their players will be well rested
Yeah, stu. He’s a sarcastic bastard as well. Grey needs to brush up on his computer skills.
The worst thing about Gray and his computer is watching him struggle every single time pressing the wrong buttons and making things look over complicated…
Yeah theres a few that can be argued, completely forgot about Hargreaves, Park and Zhirkov! Can’t see Wes Brown or Neville making it and Evans is Northern Irish. Pretty sure Alex isn’t in the Brazil team is he?
Was also basing our numbers on maybe Gibbs and Wilshere. If bridge or Cole go down this season Gibbs is in for sure.
If Rafa is smart ..he will try to buy Pavlychenko in January…they need better backup for Torres than …Voronin,Babel,Ngog….
And I am sure Pavy would gladly leave Tottenham because there he is 4th choice behind Defoe, Crouch and Keane…at Liverpool he would be second choice and also they could play Torres and him together sometimes to take some pressure off Torres.
I am not saying that I rate Pavy…but surely he is better than all of Liverpool’s backup strikers…
well i dont its such good thing having international players because most times they always come injured,vela has played more games mexico than arsenal
I’m feeling good! the away game isn’t till April, maybe we could lift another cup at the shite whole???
Evenin All…
great weekend….and what a poor display by manciteh….all this talk about the big four ??..to me it seems that instead we should be talking about the big three…
of course wit Arsenal miles ahead of anyone else..”
tom
I would like to hear A’s views about how Given is shit when compared to Almunia.
Jaguar mate
if it hadnt been for Given..citeh would have lost without a doubt…he was actually very good…
tom
lol Jaguar that’s definitely what I said.
Given today made an absolutely world class save, he also very nearly cost his team a goal by spilling a shot he should’ve either caught easily, or got a proper hand on it and knocked it away. Sums him up, saves goals with amazing saves, but also costs the team he plays for goals
I think thats the point Tom. Sarcasm at its best.
You really dont make sense A,Given whereever has played has been brilliant and has been consistent than Almunia or even Reina in that regard.Everyone is prone to the odd mistake,and Given too is,but Almunia has had some embarassing bloopers than Given.So your take on Almunia being better than Given smacks of hypocrisy or toeing the AKB line.
I have nothing against Almunia.My one and only concern in our team is ,well every one knows it.
No Jaguar he hasn’t he’s cost every team he’s played for goals and made mistakes, but made up for it by making loads of top class saves as well. He’s anything but consistent, capable of doing amazing things, but makes more mistakes than most as well. I wouldn’t want a keeper like him at the club.
It’s incredible the way the media portray different keepers, imo Given and Gomes are very similar. Both are capable of amazing saves, but make mistakes, but with Given noone ever talks about his mistakes, just the amazing saves, and with Gomes they just call him a clown, talk about his mistakes ignoring the amazing saves he does, like the save from Cesc yesterday.
Neither are keepers I’d want at the club though.
Givens mistakes are because of an error in judgement most of the time. Almunia makes them because he isnt that good. Not his fault really but still not acceptable.
I agree with jaguar given over almunia any day !!
Given is anything but consistent, that was even highlighted by Mourinho in his pre match notes to his players when they were leaked before their game against Newcastle a few years ago, it instructed players to watch out for and try and take advantage of Given’s inconsistency and lapses of concentration!
Waheeeey Merida is on La Liga doing studio commentary for the Malage Valencia match. Those Bastards had better not try lure him to Spain. Dirty cunts!
Given is not immune to criticism and havent had any bloopers like Gomez,who has been a clown in almost every single game he has played.I would never agree with you on the fact that,Almunia has been more consistent than Given.The only decent season Almunia has had was the 2008-09 season.
I agree Stu, I’d rather we have someone who’s better than both, but i don’t believe there’s be any difference for us over the course of a season between someone who’s consistently average, and inconsistently superb.
I prefer Fabianski to both anyways!
Given was the reason City drew their 2 previous games imo. He parried shots straight to opposing strikers. Thats goalkeeping 101, simple stuff that he constantly fails to do. I won’t even mention his chaotic interventions during corners.
Gomez is underrated imo. Apart from his first season there (when he was literally like an outfielder in goal) he has been pretty god for them.
Fabianski is better than Almunia,but is a shot stopper by all means,he is highly susceptible against crosses.
Given would have made a great short term signing while fabianski gets greater expierence imo!!
Against united Given let a shot creep inside his near post because he thought it was going wide. Granted it took a deflection but it wasnt a late one to wrongfoot him. Thats a mistake right there.
Gomez is actually a better shot stopper than Given, but is awful when claiming corners.
Meridas got a wierd face.
How many mistakes has almunia made stu a few more than given i bet!!
Given was at fault for 3/4 of United goals if I remember correctly.
I really don’t rate him.
France should play Hourau against ireland. He’d give Given hell during crosses and is guaranteed at least a goal.
Given pulls off so many world class saves because every team he has ever played for has always had a shit defence so he always had plenty to do. On the other side of that tho is that he is more likely to make a mistake.
I agree with most of your report but have to take issue with comments on Song and Sagna’s passing in H1 – Song had a 93% pass completion accoring to the Guardian chalkboard (admittedly all three misplaced passes in H1, so perhaps just 86% in H1) – and Sagna didnt do much “harm to his Opta stats) with an 89% pass completion rate (even distributed)……Song, Cesc and van P were all outstanding
Dont take that tone with me, im not defending Almunia Reggie.
Yeah Stu, that was poor, in Ireland’s last game Given was at fault for both goals too, there have been a fair few city goals he should’ve done better with this season as well, but he’s made alot of spectacular saves too so gets hyped
Has Hourau played for france yet. Dont know how he is doing this season but last season he was brilliant for psg.
You are getting a bit shirty stu how many shandys you had tonite!!
What game was that A? I really dont know..
reggie i very much doubt it, I reckon given has cost more goals than almunia this season, and certainly last, though he’s also saved many more that would’ve been unsavable for most keepers
A didnt almunia make some bad errors when he played for spain as well!!
Apologies reggie…but no shandys here.
So who would you go for if we are to swap Almunia with another GK,A?
So you would rather have almunia over given then chaps!!
The Italy game stu
Almunia has made far more goal costing mistakes than Given this season. Im basing that purely on Almunia tho because i dont remember any of the goals scored against City.
Perhaps lager and lime then stu
Givens is clearly a better keeper than Almunia.
Taking opposition keepers performances against The Arse, I would have definitely signed Friedel as a stop-gap. Or Jaaskelinen
None of our keepers will save us points. Almunia’s shots to goals ratio is dreadful.
Ask El Tel
Almunia looked solid enough yesterday, I liked the way he chased and caught the ball he spilled early in the game and was catching most of the balls – neither Fabianski nor Mannone can do that, can they?
still, on the paper Given is a better keeper and I just can’t believe we missed out on him for this kind of money…
Given is quality and cannot be judged by his mistakes he made playing for Newcastle – what can you do if you play behind shit back 4? IMO Given delayed Magpies relegation by a season or so
The Cameronasi header is debatable because he was unmarked, but it was Givens near post. Gilardinos goal wasnt Givens fault because it was put back across goal and away from him. It was just a good finish from Gilardino.
I would reggie, just, but i don’t think either would make any difference compared to the other in terms of goals conceded, but i’d rather consistent averageness than very inconsistent spectacularness!
Fabianski Jaguar! In reality there aren’t any keepers who would be available and wouldn’t be a big risk, Akinfeev is the much hyped one but coming from Russia you can’t have any idea how he’d do in the prem
How many times has Given played a blinder against us?
Akinfeev would be amazing for us A. He is a great in the making. We should snap him up before United do and have us regretting it.
Reggie, nothing all day for me. Im clean as a whistle.
Anytime we didnt beat Newcastle it was probably because of Given….that bastard!
A;I cant believe you would have big al over given it just does not make any sense!!
Stu being unmarked doesn’t stop it being a mistake, it was an absolute shocker imo! I’d be furious if an Arsenal keeper did that, it’s worse than the Mannone shocker against West Ham in my eyes! Second goal more debatable but I’d like a keeper to do better though he was wrongfooted
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/3618518/
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/3618920/
Peter Cech was from a far inferior league than the PL/La Liga/Serie A/Bundesliga.Enough said.
Almunia used to be the safe option. Wont make any top class saves but wont cost you any stupid goals. Since he started making mistakes he has become a huge liability imo.
Cech was playing in the french 2nd division…..wasnt he. I think he was.
A,
Fabianski looked OK vs. Liverhoof, but I still reckon he is another Dudek in the making – good shot stopper + terrible decision making + genetic lack of ball catching ability = liability
fuck me, it was so typical of Dudek, he would never ever catch the ball in some older PES games
Almunia is the best of the lot, Fabianski is a good backup but nothing more – frankly, I would keep Almunia as no.1 and nurture Szczesny until he is 25 or so, then give him no.1 jersey with Fabianski still a no.2…
You seem to be a bit aggressive tonite stu, you sure you have not taken anything then!!
We need proven EPL quality.
How manyInternational keepers have come into the EPL and done well.
I would look at Joe Hart or take an ageing keeper to cover whilst Fabianski gets experience
Stu he might be but far from a guarantee, he could well flop, he’s another who’s made mistakes, won’t know how good he is until he plays in a proper league.
lol Jaguar, nuff said, cos if one keeper has come and made it from a poor league, it means that every keeper in those leagues will automatically make it?!
Whilst we continue t score 3 a game, we can survive with the GK’s we have
and oh, Boruc may be available shortly, he may be worth a shout, he is a Lehmann like figure, very vocal and a fighter – much better than Fabianski imo…
Raddy Joe Hart is shocking imo!
Reggie Given’s had plenty of blinders against us, those are the games he’s awesome in, where he’s under the kosh and goal being peppered, making wonder save after wonder save. Playing in the same game in our goal he wouldn’t be anything like as good.
In the prem the only gettable keeper i’d be happy with is rob green, consider him very underrated, though he makes mistakes too, as all in our league do. I just want Fabianski fit and playing regularly, I expect him to become better than any of the others in the prem, he’s very talented, just a bit hot headed and inexperienced.
What goal keeper should we try and sign in jan? any takers anyone
Manuel Neuer.
Does any one rate the burnley goalie jenson, is it i think, big strong fucker safe hands as well!!
raddy imo we shouldn’t try and sign one, fabianski should play as soon as he’s 100%, and any money should be spent on a sub dm, and another centre back, before we think about a keeper, unless there’s someone amazing available.
not another manuel stu!!
Reggie, i swear. I am alcohol free.
I dont want either of Hart or Boruc. FYI we also bought Almunia from a shit team. He was 2nd choice at Celta Vigo..a team who were relegated to the 2nd division the summer we bought Almunia. How shit must that mave made Al at the time.
as I suggested above, Boruc is one of the ‘gettables’, then again there will be no need to nuy one if Al maintains good composure – looked reasonably well yesterday whenever he had anything to do…
I would sell or loan out Mannone and promote Szczesny to no.3 though – the latter has more raw talent than the 3 other combined…
Mind you looking around i cant see much GK talent anyway
*buy
This one is different Reggie. His idol is Lehmann and if you watched him play you would see Lehmann mkII.
He is a crazy fucker who pulls off some amazing saves…still very young tho. Played for Germany in the summers u21 tournament. He was rumoured to be joining Bayern but it never happened.
Who does he play for stu?
There is no telling how Chesney would do if he was to play in the first team. I havent seen much of him but e doesnt look the biggest and we all know forwards in the prem love to chellenge the GK.
Talent wise tho he is obviously one of the best but his 1 game against WBA isnt even nearly enough to go on because they arent a physical team by any means.
He is Schalkes 1st choice.
He shot to fame
against Porto in the CL. Make at least 5 amazing saves.
Stu Szczesny is a giant! Or you mean width wise??
Neuer is the man Utd are supposedly closing in on after realising how shite Foster is according to the papers last couple of days, not that that means anything!
Would you take foster A?
lol hell no reggie, though it’s close between mannone and him
Yeah i mean width wise.
Adler said he wants to play for united. (i looked it up)
Germany have a lot of good keepers imo.
I thought you would say that A
Whos Adler when hes at home!!
Rene Adler. Bayer Leverkusens goalkeeper.
Mannone is better than Foster any single day.
Stu your knowledge of german fussball is second to none!!
Heres one vs the other – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85iGrCMUzXg&feature=fvst
Neuer is fucking class. I’d take him in a heartbeat
I would take em both Stu big and strong just what we need!!
Stu, Szczesny is 6 foot 5, that is quite a frame – yes, he is still lacking a bit of upper bodu strength, that is why I’d say we should keep Al as no.1 until Szczesny is 25 or so – when he fully develops he will be as good as VdS, mark my words
I just dunno if there is any point in buying another young GK, I would be tempted to buy a stop gap one only if Al proves to be inconsistent…
SUGA3 I hope you mean a VDS in his prime, rather than the frail old man utd have between the sticks currently!
Fabianski is better than Almunia imo, he can be keeper until/unless szczesny becomes the bollocks!
*body strength
SUGA
Is chesney as big as that? hes fuckin massive how old is he?
Yes, to confirm i mean strength wise with Chesney. He is a tall fucker for sure.
yep, I certainly did mean that A – Szczesny is class in the making, very confident and communicates well with his back 4 – real shame he broke his arms, he’d be a no.3 by now otherwise…
VdS just turned 39, so he may be excused for an odd mistake, as he won them a few games IMO…
MU ‘killed’ Kuszczak and that is a shame, as he was great for WBA a few years back, SAF must be kicking himself for giving Foster (who is shit) game time ahead of Tomek…
How much do you think on of Adler or Neuer would cost?
**one of
reggie,
he is 19, so may be excused for being built like a boy, certainly works hard to change that
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojciech_Szczesny
just to compare, according to Wiki, VdS is just half an inch taller…
Not sure Samir. But neither would be too expensive imo. No more than any other wuality keeper.
A,
Szczesny will become one of the greatest keepers given the chance – he just needs games, games, games…
and I am talking games against the real opposition, not kickabouts @ Shenley…
So much for my knowledge on world football i said not many quality GKs about? i cant see further than the arsenal!!
Even then i missed out chesney
just watched it again
hilarious to hear Nige being lost for words after Cesc’s goal
Good thing you arent a scout then huh reggie.
Stu are you trying to be like keyser huh instead of a heh !!
No im not. ‘Huh’ is more of a question, whereas ‘heh’ is apparently a variation on ‘ha’ or ‘lol’.
does anyone see a future for Armand Traore? with clichy still at a young age can’t see him getting a sniff for years……
…..i really rate the lad.
huh,heh whats the difference?
yep, Traore should be given a shot on the left side of the midfield against weaker opposition, he looked all right on the left for Pompey…
……i just explained the difference. duh!
Honestly i dont see much of a future here for Traore. I dont think he is better than Clichy or Gibbs at left back and isnt particularly good with the ball.
His only future with us is as a sub at best imo. He is really fast and has a great cross tho.
Carlos I rate him too, reckon he’ll step up to be back up for Gibbs when he takes over from Clichy, who’ll probably get sold.
SUGA3 I’d have him in the squad to do what Eboue does on the right, come on late in the game and add defensive cover for the full back, but not starting there. He’s basically a left sided Eboue, quick, powerful and direct, but no real end product and poor ball retention
Stu you are getting a bit stroppy now? and dont take that tone with me young man!!
it’s left back after left back at arsenal. why can’t we do the same in the centre back department! I think with the next 4 years Gibbs will become 1st choice for arsenal and england with Armand Traore competing closely…..
hate to say but i can see clichy hopping on the madrid bandwagon in the not so distant future. he’s been at the club since 2003 and could pull in a health transfer fee…. £19million?
watching MOTD – missed Shitty’s game 1st half earlier and gotta say Brum were stopped by Given alone…
left sided Ebowie – now that is quite accurate, both have quite a cross on them too
I don’t think Clichy will be sold (or so I hope) – breaking up the Band of Brothers proved to have dire consequences in the past and selling him any earlier than at 28 would be plain stupid, as he is one of good spirits in the squad…
at 28 he can go as a true legend and with TH14 like blessing…
‘MOTD apologises for lack of goals for the reasons beyond our control’
Clichy hasn’t stood out in the last 2 years for me. i hope his game picks up, otherwise Gibbs or Traore certainly deserve a chance.
Clichy should stay for another 2 years and leave when Gibbs becomes undisputed first choice.
We have either embarassment of riches as in Lb(Clichy,Traore,Gibbs),mid(Fab,Arshavin,Nasri,Rosicky) or dire lack of players as in CDM.When are we ever gonna have a balanced sqaud?
The problem with Clichy and players like him is that once his pace goes he will be a pretty nothing player.
He doesnt really have good positioning or any other defensive qualities. Its his interceptions (because of his pace) that make him good.
I can see clichy leaving for either spain or italy next season and gibbs cementing his place at left back imo
True,Stu.Its the same about Walcott as well.If not for pace,he wouldnt have been any good.
Yes Jaguar. Walcott is in the same boat. The only difference with Theo is that if he can get a goalscoring nack(sp) then his loss of pace wont be as damaging. Not sure tho…he doesnt seem great at scoring so far.
Barca,would probably come up with a bid of around £20m,for Clichy,which will be accepted.Clichy would suit the Barca system better than the lazy duck Abidal.
Walcott is a good finisher providing he plays in his natural position which is either up front or just behind a target man!!
Walcott is not a winger/right midfielder!!
Mr.Wenger is at fault regarding this.Eboue,Song(to an extent),Denilson, Diaby(FFS),have all been victim’s of his weird square pegs in roun hole policy.
As of right now Walcott is a rightsided forward. Neither winger nor midfielder.
Can you honestly forsee Wenger playing Theo in the central attacking role?
Eboue i would agree with Jaguar and maybe Diaby but not the other 2. Denilson is a centre/defensive midfielder, as is Song. But Diaby was played at left midfield by Wenger to develope his left foot. Honestly i doubt Diaby kicked the ball with his left foot the whole time he was played at LM. Hardly Wengers fault Diaby refused to improve that aspect of his game.
That looks slightly confusing. *Eboue i would agree with, Jaguar.
If an 18 year old playing upfront could score against a full strength Chelsea side in the CC finals, he wouldnt fare bad than Wenger’s love child Diabolical,even if he plays as a goalkeeper
If AW played him in the same way the scousers played michael owen a few years back then you would all see what theo is made of!!
If a player refuses to improve,what is the manager supposed to do?tell him to eff off.So who is at fault there,Stu?
Wenger is stubborn Jaguar. He wants to Diaby to come good so keeps plaing him…thats the best explanation i can come up with.
The way we are all relying on RvP and eddie to get thru the season without injury; theo might have a chance to play that role as eggs are eggs i cant see robin lasting a whole season without breaking down,eddie included as well!!
I tell you what Stu we are in for a very long wait for Diaby to improve cant, see it myself!!
Nor can i reggie, nor can i. Apparently Wenger can tho.
What can he see that the majority of us fail to realise!!
FFS,I cant wait anymore to see that fucking retard Diabolical improve.We have given him more than enough chances to improve,and he hasnt.I would stick up for those players.who despite their limited skills,show an attitude to get better(eg.Eboue,Song,Denilson,Bendtner),not for fucking retards like Diabolical who are hell bent on showing off their fucking retarded skills than helping the team,which would eventually undo us.
I have never abused a gooner in a similar fashion before.Cole is a cunt,Adebayor,he is even worse.Shitvestre,I would rather blame Mr.Wenger on recruiting that waste of space on a fucking two year deal,when Pires wasnt offered the same.
I feel Diaby is even worse.
jaguar agree 100% about the great robert pires should have given that guy anything he asked for,since he left i never realised what a great player he was for us, more of a legend than dare i say t.henry!!!
Thats me done good nite chaps!!
i usually agree with most things here at le grove, but your criticism of song is not warranted. the lad completed 94% of his passes and shielded the back 4 well whist holding his own defensively in midfield. probably his best game this term.
Evening all!
Vinny, even the most ardent Song fan wouldn’t say that was his best game this term…
Arsenal didn’t play anywhere near their best football against spurs and spurs had nothing in the locker!
He played well in the second half, but the whole team was pretty poor up until the first goal.
Another couple of bad results and I am hoping that Triffic will start to unravel. His complaints that he heard someone swearing behind his dug-out is amazing in its naivety. He calls the bloke in question a mug. Consider the abuse that is aimed at Wenger every time we go to Spurs and the deafening silence coming from Twitchy where that particular chant is concerned. Add this to his cuckoo-land interview here he claims that Spurs are as good as Arsenal and that every goal was rubbish and his slating of the Arsenal fans impatience with some poor passing and the word mug sits more happily on his head. He’s just a) trying to deflect attention from a truly woeful performance by him and his team and b) angling for a large cash input in January from Levy so he can cream off his customary 10%. After all, it’s not cheap to live in Sandbanks, his son needs some more skin-tight, shiny trousers and the ongoing legal fees to stave off interest from the Inland Revenue and the Police must also be expensive.
Goonerbeall, if you can’t handle your booze without getting violent… I feel for you. Most of us can though… sad little man.
If you thought Diaby had a great game, I reckon you’re on something… probably slightly stronger than booze.
If you thought Diaby had a great game, I reckon you’re on something… probably slightly stronger than booze.
______________________________________________________
Any day.
Not sure I agree with that Pedro, up to the first goal we’d played well, not our spectacular best, but had created chances, totally dominated, and they hadn’t had a look in. I thought Song had played pretty well too, and dominated Huddlestone, Palacios, and Jenas.
I’ve just been reading around the blogs, there was an article that claimed Diaby haters missed what he was actually doing… and he really had a good game.
Dear oh dear, trying the win the ‘I am the best fan’ competition is still alive. I remember reading some claiming Denilson was the best defensive midfielder in the Prem last year… that article felt similar.
I like Diaby, but there was no defending his performance yesterday, he was terrible and he’ll be dropped at the first opportunity when others become fit.
Reading articles about his hidden game is laughable…
Also disagree about Diaby Pedro, second half he was alot better, but first half he was the worst player on the pitch imo, and wouldn’t have been surprised to see Nasri come on for him at half time if he’d been fit. Did seem devoid of confidence, I fear for how the crowd are affecting him getting on his back, it’s starting to feel like another Bendtner/Eboue situation from last season
I thought he was very erratic for the first 40 minutes A.
I thought the whole team was really, a lot of bad passing going on and not much cohesion.
Spurs were terrible and I don’t think Song was really taking control of the midfield, they were all mucking in… it was a unit display, which was definitely encouraging.
The second half was superb though… loved it… Spurs had zero character…
Sorry that wasn’t aimed at you Pedro, that was aimed at the blokey who said Diaby had a great game!
A, the crowd weren’t getting on his back… there were groans, but they weren’t getting on his back.
He improved in the second half, but lets be honest… that wasn’t going to be hard was it?
The whole team improved.
The point is, he played no where near the level we know he is capable of…
I dunno about that Pedro, there was the terrible corner he gave away, but that apart he did little wrong, and constantly won the ball back off the Spuds midfield and broke up their play.
Anyone else watching MLS?? Standard is so so so bad!
Ahhh right…
What did you think of Arsh?
I missed the corner he gave away…
Yeah Pedro but groans are the same sort of thing, not booing, but they will effect the player. I thought it was noticable too, fear for how it’ll affect him because he’s so dumb! There was one situation where the crowd groaned because he stood off someone, and two seconds later he went steaming into someone doing the complete opposite, but giving away a foul
I was gonna day Pedro – I thought he was poor…. Bit of a worry, though I think he’ll come through it. He started off better than he has been recently I thought, he was more involved anyways, seemed to go looking for the ball and really wanted it more, had more touches, worked harder off the ball too, but it just wasn’t quite clicking for him.
The corner was when he tried to knock it back to Almunia with the outside of his right foot, but managed to really lace it, from around the centre circle too so a fair way up the pitch!
A, it’s a tough world out there and if he’s not performing, it’s very hard for the crowd to button up… especially when people perceive him to be lazy.
I think fans see these players earning horrendous amounts of cash and not doing the business and they want to let them know the level is not acceptable.
I can understand that…
It didn’t do Eboue any harm, he seems to get more love than anyone these days!
So man city are coughing & spluttering @ the moment I see.
Howdy,
Sorry I’m late to the party, didn’t get to see the game yesterday and wanted to watch it before commenting.
firstly, Geoff – I don’t see how on the performance yesterday you can lambast Song and Eboue; Song made one ridiculous error in the first half but then played a blinder – the error came about from trying to be clever with an outside of the foot pass and I don’t think he’ll do it again. Eboue came on and played probably the pass of the match to Ramsey – it was fantastic and I genuinely didn’t see him put a foot wrong the whole time he was on.
As for the rest of the game, obviously great result but for me the biggest thing was the centre backs. Teams have come and played with 10 men back as Tottenscum did and then hope to launch it to a big man up front. Previously, it has worked on occasion and you often felt that Toure and Gallas just weren’t suited to dealing with those balls. In comes TV and suddenly we’re challenging and winning the first ball and we have someone there instantly for any knock downs. As someone brought up on the Adams and Bould era it was a joy to behold, the fact we then play silky smooth Wenger-ball as well just makes it all the better.
Finally, you’ve got to love how much the result meant to Cesc and RVP. They know that spurs are the old enemy and they have that ingrained loathing that all arsenal fans have, brilliant to see that in Cesc’s celebration.
I thought Arshavin was ok yesterday… like you said, he worked hard.
He sat very deep at times which was interesting. He was more about involving others yesterday than playing for himself.
Eboue does now because he came through it, though if he makes the odd mistake the crowd can still start it up again. I’d disagree totally though that it didn’t do him any harm, Bendtner too, both of them were completely useless at home for a good few months, but much better away, where they were under much less pressure as their every fuck up wasn’t groaned or shouted at.
Diaby made the most tackles again with 9, Cesc, Bends and Song all made around 6…
A, we’re not unique… that’s the nature of the game now.
I still don’t think Bendtner has been delivering enough and I don’t think Eboue outside of right back is very good…
Yeah I agree about that Pedro, he did ok actually poor is a bit harsh, but he was a long way from his best. I’m looking forward to the midweek game, hope the media ask about vela and rosicky at the press conference, or they’re back!
Really frustrating Bendtner getting injured, up to then he looked very very sharp, our best attacking player imo, real pity for him
Out best attacking player in the last few games?
What do you base that on?
Not last few games Pedro, he’s been injured! In yesterday’s game, up to his injury he was our best attacking player imo, picked up the ball alot and kept driving infield making space for others, and distributing it very well, looked very sharp, total contrast to how rusty he was in the league cup
I didn’t think he looked too great yesterday…!
Still, I’m a massive fan! It is a shame he is out… I still reckon he’ll get 15 this year!
Right, off to bed, have a good one!
You too Pedro, night
http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org/files/2008/04/persing.jpg
do people realize the game in hand,has been put back even futher now due to the carling cup
I think I like the fact the game in hand is even further back……the players should play as if they only have 37 games to play….
You never know that game in hand may become very handy.
Can you imagine a scenario where winning that game gives us the title?
Well I doubt it will be put off that far but still its an exciting thought.
Robin van Persie wants to be part of Arsenal’s revenge mission against Manchester City in the Carling Cup. ‘Nice,’ he grinned, when the Gunners drew City away in the quarter-finals.
‘I want to play in that one. We fancy winning it and I’d love to play. If the boss decides to let me play, I’m happy.’
Song is a yellow card away from suspension. We have Wolverhampton, Sunderland, and then Chelsea coming up I think
Bendtner will be missed. He adds a whole new dimension to our attack. Height, a bit of directness and technique. I hope Walcott recovers before the Chelsea game so we can have some options off the bench.
Morning all
Yon, I think Nik’s injury may just open the door for Vela – personally I won’t miss him too much..
Another silly international break too in November, no game on the 14th 15th weekend
hey morning rico!!! its been a long time
Hi Cartman, I have been around the last few days, Its good to be back – you are you doing?
i’m ok!!! and u??
Tip top thanks
Reports this morning that Rio could be on his way from Manure…
Also, Upson is available for £15M in January….
So me reckons Upson will go to Manure…
Bassong is out for a month for the spuds, good, lets hope they leak more goals
Song should have picked up a yellow in our west ham game..so that he would miss the liverpool match…
as pat says,now he is one yellow away from missing next match with wolves,sunderland,chelsea in line
i guess nasri..will fill in for a game in central midfield for song
Denilson, Walcott, Rosicky, Bendtner, missing long term and still we seem to have enough right now. This will be the perfect time for Nasri to pick up where he left off from and slot in to the first team. The only place I do not think he would be utilized properly though is as that midfield cover for the back four ie the Song role. We need a DM and I still hope we go in for Chamakh, if we had him right now he would replace Bendtner’s height and link up play without skipping a beat. Wenger has pots of gold saved up as he resisted the urge to splurge in the summer. I guarantee if the injury crisis worsens he will loosen the purse strings for an impact making player in Jan, perhaps experianced cover in key areas.
Or Coquelin and Eastmond will get a run of first team action, you never can tell with Wengs I suppose.
Slow Monday. Wheres everyone
Anyone have seen this one?
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenalisation-special-spirit-of-highbury
@bsnb – We have been sleeping after a very enjoyful weekend. I drunk my heart out and could not believe the spuds who bragged all week and could not deliver the results. Even their coach claimed our goals were scandalous.
ANY UPDATE ON ROSICKY’S, WALCOT INJURIES PLEASE?
Morning all!
Rico, talk about loyalty eh? A bit of bad form, then binned!
RvP is spot on as well… lets make sure we have a team capable of winning out for the Man Shitty game.
Oh, new post!
pedro mate, i was not praising the team performance just songs. his tackle on keane was superb cover defending. i`ve watched the game twice and think song and vermaelan were easily 2 of our best on the day. for mine the sooner rosicky and nasri are available the better. then diaby can go back to the bench and cup games.
Interesting you should say that Vinny… Diaby made more successful tackles than Song… Bendtner and Cesc only made one less…
I’m a bit perplexed that you can say Song was in your top two for the day? Spurs had nothing all game and were very weak in the middle… Robin scored two, Cesc had a great second half and the full backs were pretty good.
Now Mick is at it:
http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/wolves-fc-news/2009/11/02/mick-mccarthy-says-wolverhampton-wanderers-can-shock-big-guns-97319-25068078/?
Pedro Says:
November 2, 2009 at 00:11
A, we’re not unique… that’s the nature of the game now.
I still don’t think Bendtner has been delivering enough
=================================
Well well well….
pedro,lets agree to disagree. if song hadn`t made that save early it could have been a different afternoon. it might sound arrogant but i expect cesc and robin to play like that or better every game. especially with arshavin there to free them up and vice versa for him. diaby made a couple of good tackles but as usual his passing and decision making was poor and he gave up possession like an academy player. i think song has been a revelation this season compared to last . i was happy with the performance of the team in general especially the clean sheet.
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