The story on everyone’s lips before kick-off was about the absence of Nik Bendtner. The coach said he’d picked up a Man-United pre-international groin strain, so he wasn’t dropped.
We lined up as I correctly predicted yesterday. The team took a bit of time to find our stride. The first real chance came after a stretched pass by Alex Song which put Nasri through on goal only for the Frenchman to be thwarted by a Distin block.
The ball went down the other end where Coleman roasted Fabregas, floated a back post pass in for Cahill who uncharacteristically headed over and wide.
Arshavin and Jack both went close within a short space of each other, the game failed to find a flow. Heitinga and Cesc were both guilty of rash challenges. It was nice to see that Everton had come out to rough us up and they were getting no joy! Alex Song dropped a needless body check in the middle of the park and his passing was well off.
Our opener came after a Nasri 25 yard ripper was tipped wide by Howard, Arshavin picked up the loose ball, cut it back to the free Sagna who had a think, moved a few yards forward and ripped it inside Howard’s near post! A screamer of a goal from an impossibly tight angle!
Everton went close late on in the half when Fabianski came for a corner, flapped… luckily the headed rebound hit him on the back. A timely reminder that a bit of David James lurks beneath.
Half time arrived and it was clear that we were losing the midfield battle and we had to perk up in the second half. Unusually for Wenger he decided to change the team straight away bringing on Denilson for Wilshere. Was this the move of a madman or was this inspired?
Incredibly it was inspired. Within minutes Denilson was giving us more steel in the middle, his passing was far crisper than Jack’s and perhaps the competition for places had given him the boot up the Arsenal he needed. He started the move for the goal with a well timed interception, passing to Cesc, who played a one two with Chamakh and buried it low and hard past Tim Howard. A great start to the half!
Squillaci was lucky not to see red after taking Saha down when he was the last man. Luckily for us Webb was in tip-top inconsistent form and only reached for the yellow card.
Pienaar cut an inviting ball back to Rodwell who fired over from 8 yards, that was a warning shot.
Samir Nasri went on a surging run down the other end speeding past the whole Everton team only to have his shot smartly saved by Howard.
Cesc managed to land himself in the book after having his ankle stamped on by Sylvain Distin. Clearly Howard Webb booked him for last week’s challenge at Wolves.
Nasri and Cesc joined forces to play slip Chamakh in, the Moroccan fired over from 3 yards. One he’ll hope to forget you’d imagine!
Song decided to help out down the other end when he perfectly positioned himself in front of a Saha shot to block acrobatically with his shoulder. Geoff and I both agreed that was an exquisite moment of defensive genius.
Beckford joined the field of play and was immediately played in with a long ball over the top, he cut it back, threw in a pirouette and struck it at the far post where Fabianski was on hand to tip it wide at a stretch. A superb save!
The Polish international went on to deny Pienaar then moments later he flew across his goal to keep out Saha’s curling shot… he was certainly earning his zloty’s today!
His good form couldn’t keep out Everton. A corner was looped to the back post, Saha cut back a header and Cahill was on hand to bury it. We don’t do things the easy way do we?
The game fizzled out and Arsenal took the three points.
Did we play well?
Not particularly. Cesc again seemed well off the pace and his new found love for a rash challenge appears to be catching the eye of referees up and down the country. I thought as a team we became really sloppy towards to end of the half, more down to nerves than anything.
We gave the ball away far too much in the middle of the park, Alex Song being a particular culprit of this. Many people disagreed with me on this front… well, even the beloved Guardian Chalkboards weren’t kind to him today… he made 6 passes unsuccessful passes our of 32, he only won 50% of his tackles, only one of his 4 clearances was successful and sadly there wasn’t a stat for losing the ball when in control. He did make one or two superb interception and his incredible agility and quick thinking was there for all to see with his late block.
We’re winning ugly and I love it.
How did we handle the rough stuff?
Once again we didn’t allow a team from the North West to put it up us. That’s not to say they didn’t try. Watching Cesc stroke the back man mountain Distin after their altercation was quite funny. The equivalent of Manny Pacquiao consoling David Haye after hitting him too hard in a sparring match.
We’ve injected a bit more grit into the team with players like Squillaci and some of the kids are stepping up to the challenge of ‘manning up’. Perhaps Wenger has been putting Yorkie bars in their packed lunches?
How did we defend?
In the main, we defended really well until 70 minutes passed. Then it all became a bit hectic but it was more of a team issue than a back 4 problem. I thought JD was excellent again. I can’t recall anyone getting inside him and thought Squillaci wasn’t at the races today, his experience certainly helps reassure whoever he is playing next to.
How was the keeper?
In the end, he was our star performer. He pulled of 3 or 4 crucial saves and he ultimately saved those three points for us. The main difference between him and Almunia is that when he’s on form, he’s up there with the best in the world. He actually wins you games. Something you could rarely say of the Spaniard.
However, for all the good in his game, I still fear the bad. Alex Manninger was a super shot stopper, however, he was hugely erratic dealing with those aerial balls into the box. Crosses are a weak point of the team in general, the last thing you need is a keeper who is poor at collecting them as well.
It’s like jumping into an dodgy old taxi after a night out, then hearing the driver say he only has sight in one eye… not exactly reassuring!
There’s a bit of David James in his game, is that good enough for Arsenal long-term? We’ll wait and see… United and Barcelona will exploit glaring weaknesses.
Any other thoughts?
Though not vintage Arshavin, I thought he found his game a little today. He was a bit more adventurous in front of goal and he only made one bad pass. I think he’s going to feel right at home when the winter kicks in and hopefully we’ll see that player of two seasons ago! Another assist might I add?
I also thought Denilson’s introduction was a interesting as he was a bit of a star in the second half. He brought composure and added a bit of calmness to the middle of the park. Jack had one of those game young players do. He’s not going to find consistency for at least another couple of season so we just have to support him. Nasri was also very impressive yesterday, I thought his pace and power really shone through, the hard work he puts into training is clearly paying off.
Finally, you have to love how the weekend panned out. We played the best team out of anyone in the top 4 and won away.
- United drew and should have lost after a dismal performance.
- Manchester City drew again… it’s all imploding over there!
- Liverpool lost and failed to continue their blip of wins…
- Chelsea lost 3-0 at home to Sunderland and Cashley set up Wellbeck for the winner!
A great weekend for the Arse, next up, Harry Redknapp brings God and the rest of the Spurs team to the Emirates.
It’s going to be a continuation of our great form and a slap down to our pikey next door neighbours!
Ratings
Fabianski – 9
Clichy – 7
Sagna – 7
Squillaci – 7
JD – 7.5
Song – 6.5
Cesc – 6
Wilshere – 5.5
Arshavin – 6.5
Nasri – 7.5
Chamakh – 6
Subs
Denilson – 8
Rosicky – 7
Eboue – 10
Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @arsenal_legrove , you’ll read all the goss as we hear it! You could also show your liking for the site in our exciting facebook page!
Mayank – Premiership fans are the harshest critics, ever since he started his battle with Alcohol it’s only been downhill for him.
What a waste.
Keyser, the podcast you and zeus were talking about is by the same Alan davies who’s a comic? Is it an arsenal only podcast?
I am going to spark debate here, but I often see Fabianski coming for crosses and catching them cleanly under pressure. Against Newcastle A 6’3″ powerhuse striker managed arunning jump at him and got to the ball first, Fabianski mistimed his coming for the ball, but not a major mistake, though it did cost a goal. The Saha effort was a decent bit of keeping in that he tracked the flight of the ball across his goal and was in the perfect place to block the header.
When he catches a ball, we don’t notice it, but he is better than Almunia, but that is like saying Haye was better than Harrison!
They migh have been strikers Geoff.
Mayank – Yeah, Up for Grabs Now podcast.
Another super away performance and another picky, downbeat match report.
It’s so obvious when you’ve watched a match sat alongside Geoff, Pedro, because Song comes in for more unnecessary criticism. See what you want to see, indeed.
Walking, Fabianski was on the wrong side of Carrol, he’s 6’4″ tall with 3 foot arms, he should always win those battles. Trouble is he jumps sideways and his timing is bad, maybe he’ll learn, but how long do we wait?
The moaners are out in full force i see.
If you dont give every player 10/10 youre a doomer, if you dont rate Song youre racist.
Ha, ha make that right Gambon!
I don’t think you can call them straight-forward moaners, because they’re usually moaning about other moaners who are being overly negative because they can’t handle the disappointment of having their hopes dashed.
What a freak.
Geoff aren’t you happy with Fabi’s performances. Who’s done considerably better than him? Everyone’s having trouble with the new balls. Even your saviour Hart.
Don’t want to see Almunia anywhere near our club again
There’s a snake in my boot!
Anywho… Top win and top post, JD is starting to win me over and Nasri is still freaking awesome, he was unlucky not to get a goal or two. Still worrying how we seem to invite pressure in the final minutes of a close match, but we look to be absorbing it better than before. Clichy was more solid than usual but he still get’s caught out once in a while, his side of the defense is obviously our weakest link and teams target it time and time again, wouldn’t be surprised if Candle-wax face switches Bale over to his side in the derby.
I thought the away fans were excellent yesterday. All you could hear was Arsenal songs……
louis, I was being nice but you called me a prick, you think that’s acceptable how old are you, 10?
Gambon I’ll leave it on to remind us of the kids we used to get on at half term.
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/vito-mannone-preston-7555200/
Slim.
The away support is allways better then the home crowd
Come on Kunle… give it up… this isn’t that type of site.
Not really sure why people are always so shocked the away support is louder than the home support?
Gooners4lyf says:
November 15, 2010 at 11:16
Hi boys… any takers of a sexy African man by the name of Kunle?
Geoff needs a hug
Folks, anyone else think we need to go 4-4-2 at home and just get the ball in the box a bit more/more direct. Van p just off Chamakh. Song and Fab in the middle and whoever the 2 wingers are. I reckon 3 centre midfielders is just clogging things.
great weekend to be a gooner. shame the mancs got a point
oioi..
Agree with those ratings and the write-up. Spot on to me (thought Id of upped Sammy a point).
Thing is about Flapy though Pedro- Im not convinced (yet). I made the point last week that the difference between a good keeper and a bad one is on the whole consisentency. Flappy needs to keep doing what he has been doing for the whole season. The odd mistake happens- they all do it. But, a good keeper should earn us points over the course of a season- something which Flappy has done twice recentely. We are too used to our keepers costing us points rather than earning them!
However, if Flappy was a new signing this season- and you hadn’t witnessed all the howlers from before- you’d be pretty pleased with him. After costing us a point against the barcodes- he has come back and repaid it by helping us earn 6. Flappy of yore would of gone to pieces after the barcodes. So, having gone from someone who thought he was complete shyte- the jury’s now out for me. Lets see how he does game by game.
By the way- who is impersonating gambon today? Everything he has said makes perfect sense. Whats going on?
It must be half term.
Michael you can hug me anytime as long as you keep feeding me Cuban cigars!
Nice touch, Arsenal doing something that’s not for themselves for once.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/club-to-auction-poppy-shirts-worn-at-everton?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arsenal-news+%28News+Feed%29
Surfer
I am a sage, this is a well known fact.
Geoff the club do absolutely loads in terms of raising money for charity….
Geoff/Pedro (assuming you share your source) do you have any idea how Wellington Silva is getting on, and who is he training with at the moment?
Engaging write up on the game, Pedro. And I thought very balanced and reasonable comments on your concerns about the keeper. See there is plenty still to say! First rate.
I just watched the Everton goal again and Song gets flattened by Saha, how the fuck was that not a foul, have a look, it’s on arsenal.com
A, but that’s when they put their name to it and they get tax breaks, I know I’ve run events like they do. The poppy thing is different, I just hope they let the cheques go directly to the charity.
I have no idea about Wellington but I am hopeful, then again I was with Vela.
Anyway, I’m off to a meeting and will be gone for a while, have fun!
a good weekend for le arse is bad for the is bad le-grove hence the sensationalist,tabloid wannabe headline…..yea i said and it is so cuz i said it…sue me u cats…tehehehehehehe…when was the last time the arse had it this good and people are still having their little squabbles????????…mayank…somehow i keep thinking your name is or should be maynak….do you own a kayak?
i thought Song was fouled to but none of the players made protest?
I think people are going to put way too much on Wellingtons shoulders.
He is just a kid, hasn’t really done much in his 17 or so first team games, and at this point he shouldn’t be anywhere near the first team.
Denilson played well when he came on, and Samir is becoming a great player, Flappy didn’t play too bad. I don’t what there is moan about really, JD looks better with every game
Geoff, I think you have a split personality!!
Pienaar will be a good free signing for someone next year.
Such a shame that the Nasri run and shot did not result in a goal in the end
gambon same could’ve been said for Pato when he went to Milan.
Wellington Silva looks like one hell of a talent, and in the pre season games he was well ahead of JET, who is pushing for first team inclusion now.
Song got outjumped, see those sort of challenges week in week out in the PL
Webb was talking to Sagna when the corner was taken in the first place!
Anyhoo… BD.. that was a fantastic run indeed, he should’ve chipped the keeper!
Didn’t know nasri was that fast with the ball!
gotta love those wiki-pranksters
Howard Webb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Accused by over 3000 people as a ‘cheating prick’[1] Howard Melton Webb (born 14 July 1971[1]) is an English football referee who officiates in the Premier League and has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2005….
A – I’m not an ‘extreme castigator’ of Chamakh – I just don’t think he’s OMFGBRILLIANTAMAZINGSAVIOUROFTHEWORLD. He’s ok. Neither brilliant nor terrible, good at some things, poor at others. I don’t think he’s a liability in every respect, but I do think that his inability to make things happen on his own will cost us if we rely too much on him this season.
Relying on RVP will probably cost you even more!
The important issue is that Webb did not let Sagna get back to mark Cahill before set-piece was taken after calling him over.
Sagna loves teams in blues
Relying on RVP is like relying on Joey Barton to win the fair play award.
Gr8 game yesterday,nothin much to moan about,though am feelin for jack(no homo).I wonder how some ppo in here would rather hav it? I hope we’ll give the spuds the nightmare of their lives.
Weakneses, strengths and the rest, we all agree it was a great away win and a good weekend for all gooners. Bring on spuds to the carnage.
Geoff
I have a pack of 5 nice cigars. Next time I get to the Tavern. I’ll probably skip the hug though!!
Indeed choy. Which is EXACTLY my point – we needed to go out and do a proper job signing a forward last summer, not another bit-part player.
Who would you like to sign Jimbo?
This should be a moan free week on here this week.
Good weekend and results went our way
Difficult to decide if to play JW v the spuds or not, he hasn’t looked himself lately since his ban.
Denilson maybe????????
Stop Bale / VDV will win comfartbly
I’m not conviced by Fabianski
But whereas Almuina probably lost the team three points against WBA, fabianski didn’t lose us three against Newcastle (since the team didn’t get the ball in the net).
Best news is Fabregas (who was worth a lot more than half a point more than Wilshere) scored – Even though he’s been playing unconvincingly/ horribly for a while now, he’s also started getting a lot more attempts in.
He is the team’s 20 goals a season midfielder and if he’s on that form he can drag the team with him.
Arshavin could do the same if he found his form but I’m less convinced about that.
Also shout out to the CBs who fielded almost all the long balls very well, especially first half.
http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/drivetime/blog/2010-11-15/durhams-rant-wenger-really-pride-north-london
Keyser says:
November 15, 2010 at 10:07
People have forgotten what the standard is, simple fact is Fabianski shouldn’t have to make as many saves as he’s had to in the last two games. We still give up too many chances and we’re not as clinical as we should be upfront.
Great point…..
Big Dave I’m not sure we should be worrying about their players at the Emirates! We just need to play our usual game, and piss all over them!
I’d play Wilshere.
Fabianski
Sagna JD/Koscielny Squillaci Clichy
Cesc Song Wilshere
Theo Chamakh Nasri
That’d be my team
Lol, how can he have a pop at Wenger for the Bothroyd thing?
Durham just being a cunt as usual
Arshavin will play
He’s a big game player and someone who can bring you a goal.
Although he’s been playing fatter and lazier, he’s still contributed and if he’s started to wake up he could drive this team towards big wins and maybe titles.
A’s team is more likely against an easier opponents and in big games Wenger has always gone with Arshavin.
I like Koscielny a lot but he’s still a bit lightweight and JD has shown enough recently in the air especially to get the nod, I think.
Denilson might have earnt a start, maybe?
Sakho interset is real, maybe TV5 wont return at all then this season ?
I dunno Chris, I could see Theo playing to push Bale back, and give Sagna some help there pace wise, and if that’s the case then it’s Nasri or Arshavin, and that’s Nasri every time for me….
Spurs at home is not like we’re playing a big team
Big Dave
Durham a bigger one than usual, why us all the time?
Another great read Pedro! We didn’t play far from well but Everton appeared to be worse, so thank you very much.
Watching the chavs go down on their own turf made my day.
For the record I am not a Fabianski fan BUT i have been thinking along the same lines as the point Surfer made earlier….
Lets say after Almunia got “injured” we put Szcesny in goal and he had the performances Fabianski has had…. I think the tone of what the goalkeeper has done thus far would be VASTLY different…
But this whole type of argument is based on an argument I have tried to use many times with girlfriends before ie “can we just forget what I’ve done in the past and focus on the good im doing now? That thing with Carol was a once off i swear”
A
I think any team that comes 5th (a few points behind us) and beats Inter Milan convincingly, is a team to worry about.
Not at home gambon, and beating Inter was a freak result, those sorts of things can happen.
This is a big game because it’s a derby against against a decent team, but we’re not playing a big team whereby we need to put more steal into it. They can’t defend for shit, we should go on the attack and tear them to shreds
A
Did you give the pre match talks before West Brom & Newcastle, cos they were supposed to be easy games.
And what has theft got to do with anything?
Yeah they should’ve been gambon, but for some reason this season we’ve been nothing like as confident at home against the little teams.
Thankfully though Spurs are neither a little team, nor a big team, so won’t be doing the ridiculous time wasting/sitting back of the small teams, and aren’t as good as the big teams, so we should be fine.
lol my english really has gone to shit in the last few weeks, comes from being tired due to homelessness
I’d start Theo against Spurs – he, like Nik, seems to be one of those players who will be dropped by Wenger at the first opportunity after one poor game, regardless of his general form. He’s been pretty good so far this season, was on fire before his injury, and has done reasonably well since coming back too scoring some nice goals. But one poor game against Newcastle, and he disappears for a bit – why? Why not show the same faith as he’s shown in the likes of Denilson who turned in a whole season of mediocrity and STILL came back for more? A happy middle ground would be nice to find…
bale isn’t quicker than clichy or sagna, he’ll have a hard time as our full backs are aware of the danger he can bring.
i think we’ll smash them, nasri ans arshavin should play and hopefully RvP up front
—-cesc—-
nasri—arsahvin
—-RvP——-
fantastic four
Jimbo I certainly wouldn’t say Theo was dropped…. It’s basically a toss up between Theo, Arshavin, and Rosicky, he isn’t going to play every game.
I’d start him against Spuds too
I hope RVP is fit to play against Spurs!
is gallas injured for them?
i’d be a delight to see him and tat fat cunt kaboul struggling at the back
ekotto can’t defend, bale doesn’t help him and hutton is shit.
we’ll smash them
Bring theo on from the bench. Start with Arshavin and Nasri
Villa have 10 players out and won’t be back until december
I thought Denilson did a good job for most of the second half and its no doubt down to competition for places.
However i did think he had a very poor last 10minutes of the game.
We were under pressure because neither Denilson or Song could keep the ball.
You could already tell the difference with Nasri we had an outlet on the counter attack.
With Denilsong…Everton kept up the pressure.
In the last 10min.
Great win tho.
A – he didn’t play at all, two games in a row.
I wonder if Wenger doesn’t trust him as much away from home, for some reason. I think it was Arseblog last season who mentioned that he thought there was a trend showing him starting home games, and sitting on the bench away.
i’s start with arsahvin on saturday!
bring on theo on the 60th anyway to put them under pressure even if we had the lead, keep them busy.
Fabianski will take time to convince us he’s a long-term solution, but he’s already doing much better than any of us expected, though. He needs to minimise the errors and show us he can be consistent over a whole season, but that can only come with time. For now, I think he’s pleasantly exceeded our (admittedly low) expectations.
Really pleased with yesterday’s performance. There will be times – yesterday was one – where the key requirement is substance rather than style – and that’s exactly what we did. Too many pundits have written us off saying that we’re not capable of toughing out the hard wins. They could do worse than to re-watch our last two games to see that that simply isn’t true any more!
http://thearmchairsportsfan.com/2010/11/14/bacary-breezer-helps-arsenal-to-battling-remembrance-sunday-win/
Can’t see Rvp staring against them, may have to double up on Bale, be intersting to see how AW sets his stall out.
Our home form is not as good as our away, NB52 to come off the bench and score a header like he did few year ago against them
Yeah I know Jimbo, that’s because of the depth in the squad, not because he was dropped.
Both games Denilson came on to add a bit of steel, against Wolves we were working well and only made two subs at the very end and on sunday eboue came on instead as he’s more defensive. if we’d been chasing either game i would’ve expected him to have come on
Got a gr8 stat for u all
MR Roy Hodgson has won only 13 away games in 6 seasons in England
Take A Bow!!
Jimbo,
Who do you drop for him tho ?
Gooby,
Thats the spirit – lets smash the cunts from the wromg end of the seven sisters road
hahah awesome stat kushagra
the rooster is making liverpool worst than last year, it’s epic!
now they sold themselves yet to another yank, whore club.
chippy
83% – Only Petr Cech of Chelsea (85%) has a better saves-to-shots ratio than Lukasz Fabianski of Arsenal. Polecat.
Although saves to shots ratio is a silly stat imo
Morning All. Good feeling still. Long may it continue. Off to read the post and later the up for grabs pod…..
it reflects that his a good shot stopper A, and that’s good anyway
Not even that gooby, different teams are susceptible to different types of shots, which have different likely save ratios.
A team who limits the opposition to long shots should have higher save %, whereas a team that limits long shots, but concedes most chances from set pieces or counter attacks should have a lower save %
he’s*
what a fucking stupid mistake
Dave
Surely Theo plays a part in the derby. His pace is tailor made for it. And finally we can put an end to this nonsense from Sky and ‘monkey hands keys’ asking ‘Better than Bales then?’ for every question out his mouth.
Afternoon all,
Good post today lads. It’s been a terrific weekend. Fingers crossed for that we all come back safe and sound thurs/fri for the game that could put us top by 3pm on saturday.
Can’t wait!!!!
If we beat the spuds we’ll go 10 points clear and consign them to just battling 4th…
To be honest if we do beat them and chelsea and utd get positive results, then it really is 3 for the title and 6 or 7 for the 4th spot. City don’t look like a team who are going on a winning streak anytime soon tbh. We rocked them with that 3-0 trouncing. Put them right back in their jewellery box.
Happy days
You will have to question Wenger if he doesn’t play Theo against the Spuds, and ask him to run his bollox off for 65 minutes then replace him with Eboue.
Without Bale’s form at the moment, they would be average at best, and hopefully Bale gets crocked in the International break playing for Wales (I trust they have a game)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPW_mb66Cgo
A
why? a shot is a shot at the end of the day. if he saves shots on goal it includes hearders on CK and FK, shots from counter attacks and long range efforts.
it still makes him a good shot stopper no?
chelsea’s squad looked threadbare last night. Outside a fully fit matchday 16 they have depth of arsenal reserve team bench quality. Teams will have a go now thinking they can score after sunderland’s deserved win. No controversial decisions, nothing! They got pummelled at home, finally. Wahey the mackems
Man U have 2 home bankers coming up so it’s about us now putting a consistent run together for us now to further distance ourselves from 3rd down..
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U_GF71ASRc&fs=1&hl=en_US]
Verbals at work are grand today!
chavski have to go to birmingham next, an under performing team who desperately needs a point. they might take 2 off them chavs.
while mancs, who are still unbeaten are playing wigan at the old toilet, they’ll win imo
it’s a 3 horse race, or a two horse race between us and the chavs, mourinho is better off keeping his mouth shut
He is a good shot stopper Gooby, but not because of stats like that.
RCLS
My m8 was literally in tears when Chelsea lost 3-0.
chavs will play everton home and go to the spud’s in the coming weeks.
i hate those mancs they always seem to play at home lol
anyone notice how before chelsea game richard keyes (c***) said a win would put chelsea 6 points clear of united in the race for title, totally just discounting our great away display at everton, who have not lost in 8… MUG!
Was a great away day performance yesterday. Everton hadn’t lost in 8 and like wolves last weekend i predicted a result we in actual fact bettered. Remember it is november (our notorious worst month) and it didn’t exactly start off that great against newcastle. It’s quite ironic we are bottom of the fair play league and the team looks like they quite relish that.
2 very, very, very big away wins on the bounce. Certainly cannot be seen as soft touches who don’t like it up ‘em in the north on a wet and windy day at the moment that’s for sure. gave as good as we’ve got in the last 2. BRILLIANT!
Ratings from yesterday:-
Fabianski – 8 (Cementing his spot as arsenal no. 1 with fine shot stopping displays. The collection of crosses are much better and looks full of confidence. Training displays being implemented in matches now and long may it continue. One of his biggest critics but, made up for the lad really and deserves to see us through to the seasons end providing no clangers are committed now ’till the window)
Sagna – 8 (66/1 to score for those who fancied a flutter and was a timely goal during a period where we had dominated everton in midfield and were creating chances. Solid at the back for the most part and linked up play well down the right with nasri. Reliable as ever.)
Djourou – 8 (Great follow on from the wolves show and his partnership with squallaci will give wenger headaches when koscielny returns. Wins alot in the air and copes well with the physical demands and pace of the prem. Looks a little leaden footed when caught wrong side and up against pacey frontmen, but didn’t have worry about that today. Solid)
Squillaci – 7 (Quiet, controlled, mature display again from squillaci. Doesn’t stand out a great deal, but that’s because he reads the flow of the game superbly. Wasn’t trouble by pace today but lost it for a 5 min spell when we were under the cosh with 15 mins to go. Another good showing though and a real good bargain thus far.
Clichy – 6 (Usual flair served up by gael. Runs up and down the line all day. Has a couple of good bursts to the byline followed by wayward crosses. Good interceptions and solid up until some point where he gets raped by widemen, doesn’t clear with conviction, then almost/ends up costing us a goal. 1 Calamity was averted today by his team mates. Still a weak link in the back 4 for me..
Song – 7 (Good block and played well in patches when we’re on top. Didn’t get forward as much today which, was a relief. Gave the ball away on occasions, but another solid display from a loyal player. Part of a new look arsenal that actually fancies it if your up for it.
Wilshire – 6 (Displays like today’s will happen with jack. He’s 18, but started nigh on every prem game for us. Will do better and will have learned a valuable lesson today where cahill and heitinga stuck to him like flies to shit. Got a couple of knocks, got back up and got on with it.)
Fabregas – 7 (Wasn’t vintage, but actually gave a pretty good captains performance today. Gave it about a bit in midfield with his tackling, ticked us over with the ball and his vision, scored a cracking goal and roused the troops well. Looked a little unfit still and passing was a little sloppy, but gave all he could today and looked an arsenal captain and not like he was on holiday ’till the summer.)
Nasri – 8 (Arsenal’s best player this season so far without any shade of doubt. Linked play well in the final 3rd, dribbled past players, took on shots, tracked back. Loving the form he’s in at the moment, aswell as his song. Another who looks like he isn’t afraid to get stuck in.)
Chamackh – 6 (Pretty much dominated by distin and jagielka, but worked hard as per and was the right choice striker for today’s trip to everton. The games where he is vital with 1 up top, who wins things in the air, hold it up and bring your midfielders into play. Missed a sitter again, but can have no complaints with his contribution so far)
Arshavin – 6 (Usual away day performance. Not really involved, a couple of off the seat moments and speculative drives. Worked a little harder than what he usually does and again got another assist. If you’re one who wanks off over the stats arshavin is probably worth 30m at the moment.)
Bench:
Denilson – 8 (Came on for Jack at HT. Brilliant in the holding role with song later on and was more positive that usual with his passing and runs forward. Great interception in the build up to the 2nd goal and buzzed about everywhere. Love the curly perm performances. Hope I never see the corn-rolls again!!)
Rosicky – 7 (replaced arshavin who again was poor. Did well in holding onto the ball and playing in the triangles as we ran the clock down before everton put us under the cosh. Another good sub by wenger when it was clear someone who isn’t afraid to jump for headers and make slide tackles whilst still offering a creative outlet was needed as everton turned the screw.
Eboue – N/A (Came on for chamackh after everton had grabbed a goal at the death. Nothing more than a sub to waste time and congest the midfield. Don’t think he even touched the ball twice in the 5-7 or so minutes he was on.
Jimbo
Who would you sign up front?
What, in January?
Suarez would be a good shout – the right mix of footballing ability and eye for goal to fit into our team.
Why do we need a striker in january?
Robin Choco leg, you should be writing the reviews. That was actually good, positive too.
We don’t, and certainly not at the price Suarez would be! If Benzema was being flogged on the cheap though I’d snap him up in a heartbeat, regardless of our dearth of attacking talent
Theo lovers should know by now that the boy is a one trick pony and we should look only to bring him against tired legs. If Theo had started against Everton we will have effectively been playing with 10 men from the get go.
Theo > sub
bent > sub
I think we may well need a world class striker.
January aint a good time to buy though.
Bent confident?!
I’d be wary over Suarez… £40mill for a Dutch league striker is a touch pricey. Not to mention I saw him miss some sitters the other week.
I’d take Benzema and blatantly Elmander…
I’d love to have taken Ibrahimovic… he’s a top striker and would work well in our system.
The Bad
A late rally again papered over a generally lacklustre display from Manchester United. It’s almost as if United have been lulled into a belief that they only have to pick up their game in the last 15 minutes and results will flow. It is a dangerous game to play. Unbeaten they may be but seven draws is worse than four losses – how many people would be lauding that record?
Elmander…….surely u are joking.
Ibra is a joke. No big game bottle. A Serie A bully.
Since we are dreaming why not sign Sergio Aguero, its about time he fulfilled his potential at a big club. If they let Torres go for 26m that wou;d be the price range for Aguero too I think.
Ibrahimovic is over rated Pedro.
Give me Benzema on the cheap any day, Wenger could make him into the player he promised to be a year or two ago.
Pedro
Ibra was about £60 million. could you imagine Arsenal paying that much for anybody. Arsene would want to put a team together for that. I’ve never really watched Suarez apart from the WC so I wouldn’t really comment. I’ll take Jimbo’s word for it though.
Yep agreed Pedro, Ibrahimovic would be absolutely sensational for us. Wouldn’t ever happen but nevermind!
Benzema could be pretty awesome
zeus where would aguero play for us? Would have to be a replacement for arshavin
But in the end we won’t sell RVP, hence there will be no new striker!
My pick would be for Benzema, but it seems Mourinho is starting to get him back on track a bit for RM after last season’s relegation to the bench.
Bendtner is better than Ibrahimovic ffs. Ibra is an overrated piece of shit who if arsed could be great.
Limestone what gave you that impression? Mourinho has pretty much pushed Benzema out to the periphery – he’s only started one league game this season, played much more last season
GM, I think Milan got him for £35mill in the end?
He’s not overrated Zeus, he’s a top, top striker… massivley underrated in my opinion.
Zeus, Elmander is the new Bale… fact.
If RVP get’s injured over the National break then he has to go, he’s the EPL’s biggest crock besides Hargreaves.
Rohan Ibrahimovic is an amazingly talented footballer, and his goalscoring record and all round game/touch/vision etc is absolutely fantastic….
He’d be incredible for us, although it’d never happen
Love the Elmander jokes…. I would rather have Sol Campbell up front thanks
Last season in a bad season where it really didn’t work out for him Ibrahimovic got 16 goals and 7 assists in 23 starts.
Why’s everyone having a wank about strikers all of a sudden.
In my opinon we’ve plenty of fire power in
Van Persie, Chamackh & Bendtner.
Then there is:
Vela, Emmanuelle-Thomas, Walcott, Wellington Silva (Jan)
Unless we are selling Vela or one of the first choice strikers then there will be no movement for front men whatsoever…
Other than a top, top class goalkeeper and another centre half of prem quality (Still very much fancy Gary Cahill as a future arsenal player) to combat vermaelen’s injury. I’d say the squad is alot better then we actually give credit for.
I’d shed no tears in letting almunia go and promoting szczhesny to no.2 and mannone as 3 when he returns off of loan.
A, ‘Bent confident?!’ –
Bendtner is also as a back up. They are not the finished article yet and I hope their admirers can see that.
Zeus, I like Aguero with his short back lift but is he not too short for the EPL? You still discount Lukaku? He could be da bomb!
Ibra is a tit that will cause problems on and off the pitch.
Talented he may be but he’s a lazy facker. We can’t have two lazy players on the pitch!
Pedro
hahahahahahaha. ONE GAME, ONE…………and all of a sudden Bale is the new benchmark.
We all need oxygen to live, oxygen needs Bale to live.
And regarding going missing in big games, this season he scored the only goal of the game yesterday in the Milan derby, scored against Juve, last season for Barca he scored two against us, scored against Athletico Madrid home and away, and Seville, and got the only goal of the game against Madrid
Rohan
Your love of HRP is inexplicable.
Confident it sounded like you were talking about Darren Bent, that’s why I was confused….
Neither Theo nor Bendtner are the finished article yet, both will improve a lot. Having said that both are more than good enough to start for us
Elmander’s goal was pretty special though.
Zeus, Rohan has been taking LCD and hanging out with the hippies at Uni… bear with him…
confident
Something often overlooked about Aguero is his power. I don’t put much credence on the talk of the need for height. He is an top marksman to me, and he has power akin to Tevez’s due to his stocky nature, terrific lower body strength coupled with some Messi dribbling class.
The closest we’ve seen to Romario.
I’d take a fit RvP over him every day of the week. Most importantly, he is a cocky bastard who everyone hates.
What’s LCD? Isn’t is LSD??
Rohan, you need to stop exaggerating about Bendtner !!!
Problem is RVP is not available every month, let alone everyday!
I would take Chmakh over him though.
Rohan, I forgot you weren’t cool…
LSD is so 1972…
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/LCD
A
Serie A bully, Ray Charles could score against us, come on look who was in goal, Atletico while being Barca’s bogey team are hardly a top top side…..okay I’ll give you the Madrid goal, but the Sevilla one no chance. He scored one of many if memory serves me right.
Lol, Bendtner better than Ibra, of course he is.