Chezzer
Sagna Vermaelen Kozzer Gibbs
Rambo Song Rosicky
Gervinho RVP Arshavin
The first half mostly saw Arsenal in control of proceedings. It was a fairly typical performance really. Why wouldn’t it be, there weren’t many changes to the side from last year. Gervinho was lively, but like I’d been told by a few people who’ve watched him, he’s the Adebayor of the wing. He gets into some great positions, but his final ball is sometimes found wanting. He’s only been here 5 minutes, I think we’ll be looking at 3 months before he starts developing and adapting to the pace of the game here.
The worrying part about the first half was the lack of punch we had in the midfield. There were some nice triangles being played, but there was little bite and drive going through the middle of the park. Now, I wouldn’t normally be too bothered at this stage of the season, but we have a tremendously tough schedule coming up and what we saw yesterday is hardly untypical of those players.
All we really had to brag about from the 1st half was a clean sheet and a confident display from out new number 1 (or 13).
The second half started with a bit more zip from Newcastle. The ball got rolling early on when Alex Song, in similar vein to Abou Diaby last year took offence to Joey Barton scraping at his ankles, when the Englishman hit the deck, Song stamped on the back of his leg. Not the brightest move you’ll see in a game, yet not the dumbest thing you’ll see Song do this year. He didn’t get sent off, but the touch-paper was lit…
The next incident came when Gervinho bounded into the box, cut inside his man, looked to have been ever so slightly touched, he hit the deck. Joey ‘morality king’ Barton saw that a pitch crime had been committed, determined to seek justice, he grabbed Gervinho, pulled him up in classy fashion and the hand bags began. Gervinho, miffed at having his nice new shirt mis-shapen by the brutal hands of a racist thug, decided that the best retort would be a deft slap of the face. Enough to shock the brut, not enough to bruise. Gervinho didn’t bank on Barton hitting the ground like he’d been hit by a Hackney riot brick.
The referee saw and sent Gervinho off for ‘violent’ conduct.
Now, some Arsenal fans typically went into hysterics about this whole situation, as usual forgetting to look at the bigger picture. It was only in February that this exact same thing happened with Abou Diaby. Why didn’t we learn? Did anyone tell our players to be extra careful around Joey Barton? Because that’s really what should be happening. We shouldn’t be in a situation where Gervinho is slapping him (Instant red whichever neck of the woods you reside from) and Alex Song is stamping on him.
Where is the discipline and control? Why are we once again talking about 2 dropped points because our players aren’t street wise on the football pitch? Sure, after watching Barton again yesterday, I wouldn’t want him pulling on an Arsenal shirt. Is that because he’s a bad player, no, it’s because he’s part of the reason we dropped two points.
Would I like a player who could rile the opposition into making mistakes? Absolutely. Chelsea have that in Drogba and Essien, United have that in Rooney and Fletcher, Barcelona have that in Busquests and Xavi. Who do we have who the opposition detest? Who do we have who gives us that edge that fires the team up?
No one judging by yet another lack lustre display. 3 points from our last 13 games? It’s not good enough…
A sign of how low our quality has dropped came with all of the defensive players we introduced to hold onto the point. Remember the days when we played better with ten men? When we’d throw everything at a result? We can’t do that anymore… JD and Frimpong and a fistful of desire is the best we can hope for.
The game nearly turned for us in the last minute, JD broke through, he powered up the pitch where Theo was ready to latch onto any ball in front of him, the big Swiss passed it behind his man and with that, the game fizzled out.
The away fans were furious. Normally our most vociferous supporters, they had once again reverted to chants of ‘spend some fucking money, spend some fucking money.’ I took a lot of flack from some sections of the support last week because the Le Grove stance on spending money apparently wasn’t representative, well, if the away fans are on board with what we’re saying, the home fans will be and I’ll sleep easy at night knowing that majority opinion doesn’t rest with Twitter.
Watching our players hugging Barton at the end of the game must have compiled the frustration. Where is our back bone lads? If you feel wronged by Barton, chase him down the dressing room and cause a scene. Don’t hug him. It was the same against Spurs when Song was having a reunion with Gallas and Ekkoto at the end of the game. The whole mind set is wrong. Even Thierry Henry would lose the plot every now and then if he thought he’d been cheated or wronged.
There are some positives to take out of the performance today. Firstly that our defence looked pretty solid, against pretty tame strikers it has to be said, but that’s never stopped us conceding before. We have plenty of strength at the back and there appeared to be good communication between Laurent and Thomas. My other positive was Chezzer. He has great awareness and concentration. He’s also superb at coming out for long balls into the box and crosses in general. That box is his, he controls it, if you get in his way, he’s taking you out. That skillset is 75% of being a good Premiership keeper and we haven’t had that since Jens Lehmann.
So we’re here, disappointed but not surprised. Sure, we’re one game in and the season has 37 more games to go, but I think we’re in a bit of a pickle. The team you saw on display yesterday is what I’d call a strong Carling Cup team. That side is the one we need to win the Champions League and work extra hard to make it to 4th spot in the League this year. Currently, we’re the best part of 3 first team players down, two of those players were our best and it appears we’re no nearer replacements.
Wenger can sit there with a face like thunder, but our players lacking bite isn’t a new thing. We’ve seen performances like this loads of times, difference is, this time, we don’t have Cesc or Nasri to bail us out. Jack is a warrior but he’s not mature enough to deliver us what Cesc has been on his own. Rambo is a super talent, but he’s not going to erupt this season. Give them the chance to learn their trade with great players, don’t throw both of them in at the deep-end and pray it all works out. The rest of our midfield is all a bit samey… what can you say about Rosicky bar good technique?
My biggest fear at the moment is Udinese on Tuesday night. I’ll be there and I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I’ve never had such low expectation going into a season and nor have the people I’m going with… and let me tell you, the people I’m going with used to be serious AKB’s. People say that the predictions were we’d finish outside the top 4 last year… not with the fans. Maybe with Tim Sherwood and Robbie Savage, but not with the people who knew we had one of the best players in the world captaining our side. I’m concerned this year though.
First priority is the Italian job. Arsenal finished 4th on a whim, Udinese finished 4th and it was a glorious moment. The momentum will be with them and we’re going to need to pull out all the stops to make sure we take a decent lead into the away leg.
What can Wenger do in the next few days to inject a bit of belief into his players? Wait and see… there’s still time to make an impact on this squad and for the manager to spend some f*cking money. Whatever happens on Tuesday, we need to get behind the team and give them all the support we can, save the chants for after the game if they’re needed.
P.S. I find it incredible that any Arsenal fan can take Gary Neville’s piece in the Daily Mail seriously. A player who’s been at a club that has consistently splashed more money than almost anyone over the past 20 years to earn success telling Arsenal fans they should back a manager who won’t spend any? Do me a favour… That’s like listening to millionaire who lives in Notting Hill lecture you on socialism.
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not normally a fan of such dross, but this one did give me the tiniest of goosebumps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lXAZJ28s1rU
ginger and an AKB.
poor kid.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/silicon-valley-the-anatomy-of-a-cuttingedge-startup-2335404.html
And the buyout in Cesc’s new Barca contract is…….130mil
rohan,
little did gene roddenberry know that his ‘beam me up scotty’ would become the impetus for immortality and interstellar travel.
Well done, Barca. You prised away the jewel in the crown – and captain – of a notoriously tight club and rival for practically nothing: payments spread over years which you will probably not even bother to pay.
And all for a player you don’t even need.
Not only that, you disrupted this rival team’s pre-season, exploiting their managerial incompetence and infighting, and even managed to get them to dance to your tune and delay the announcement until it suited you, at the same time making that club show complete disregard and disrespect to their fans through lying to them point blank in a tv interview.
By giving the money in instalments, you have enabled the manager to get out of spending the money on a top-class replacement, as he can now claim that he doesn’t have the money yet, thereby weakening them further. This is on top of the fact that realistically, it is too late for them to sign up a top quality replacement.
If that wasn’t good enough, you jewed up the player himself, forcing him to forgo his 4m quid loyalty payment, and no doubt offered him substantially less pay than he is currently on.
Great business. Your Chief Exec should be suitably rewarded. He effectively bought the player for half his market value and screwed up a rival and treated them like a bitch
haha Lurch
Cant blame barca if our boards inept,we are managed by losers.
Moray
Spot on. Summed up perfectly. Come to think of it, they are a model to follow the twats.
btw did anyone watch madrid barca yesterday…i mean i have been following la liga since years now…this is the first time since 2007 that real madrid dominated barca completely…i mean madrid had a better possession, better shots on & off the goal…barca on ocassions looked like a normal team…
it looks like they have passed the peak…they still are a top top side…but i think barca has had their share of spoils, they have no where else but to go down from here on!!
Amit, I didn’t see the game as I’m in Australia at the moment and all important things seem to happen in the middle of the night here, but it sounds like the Jose magic. We have the Wenger magic, which is like Paul Daniels to Jose’s David Copperfield
“I’ll be presented as a Galatasaray player by Thursday”, claims Eboue
****
WOOOHOOOO.
aMIT
You do Barca a disservice. Madrid started like a house on fire but they didn’t capitalize on it. Madrid has also had a proper pre season.
Messi has had 1 training session after his shit Copa America.
No Xavi in the starting lineup also. Madrid has closed the gap for sure. How much, we will have to wait and see.
Barca are due their comeuppance…I think Jose can beat them.
madrid will get brushed at camp nou
Something that’s bothering me, if we ended up giving Cesc away for the price that Barca wanted and not the one that we demanded, why didn’t we sell him to them in May?
Secondly, if he’s so injured that he couldn’t play pre-season, then how has he passed a Barca medical.
Wenger just can’t stop lying can he.
Gazidas really is a shit negotiator, that cunt had 3 years left on his contract, we didn’t have to sell him, pricks.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2011/08/15/2620501/we-will-pay-arsenal-29m-for-cesc-fabregas-not-40m-barcelonas
29 million Euros. That’s what it took. 29 fucking million Euros. Unbeleivable. And Rosell comes accross as smug about the whole thing. Who wouldn’t? They just fucked us over over one of the best midfielders in the world with 4 years left on his contract…
Cannot feel any lower with this shit
Dial Square says:
August 15, 2011 at 08:31
Cannot feel any lower with this shit
———————————————————————————
Jaw-dropping incompetence from Wenger, Gazidis and PHW. Jesus Christ. I can’t stomach another cheap buy or fucking teenager after this shit. No fucking way. Someone must answer to this
I thought 16m for Henry was a steal too. I remember at the time being shocked we let him go for so little a sum. It might have something to do with the astronomical salary we had put him on. Maybe we did the same with Cesc?
Actually, it seems Cesc has been a bit of a prick about the whole thing. Wenger is a guy deeply in denial. I’m not even sure he knows what is going on any more. He says that Cesc is saying long after he’s already been sold. It is odd to lie about something when you know you will shortly be found out.
A team with balls would have relegated Cesc to the bench. Even the Spuds have managed to hold on to Modric. And his animal DNA…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaD1SUEz19I&w=425&h=349
and anyway, Geoff, Wenger must have known ALL season that Cesc would want out. Yet it seems we had no strategy to a) Defend ourselves from Barca’s wolves or b) Find a timely replacement.
I just hope his fucking legs are gone as you suspect. That is the only way we can retain any respect out of this. Otherwise, we just look like the second biggest mugs in Europe.
I just hope his fucking legs are gone as you suspect. That is the only way we can retain any respect out of this. Otherwise, we just look like the second biggest mugs in Europe.
———————————————————————————-
Fat fucking chance of that happening. Wenger over-used him. He’ll excell at Barca, no matter what anyone says. He’s a special player. We’ve all fucking seen him at his best for fuck’s sake! Do people really think he’d be relegated to mediocracy at Barca!? We are the biggest mugs in Europe right now, no fucking doubt and Sandro Rosell will confirm it this afternoon with his smugness about the deal… The real question is what will Wenger do to appease the supporters!? The smart money’s on him twiddling his thumbs and coming to his “one solution fits all”… Buying a fucking teenager!
So the London looting has hit The Emirates
Hey, cheer up Dial. Your cricket team full of Yarpies is winning
Cesc Fabregas had one decent season with Arsenal. The team was based around him for 6 years & it won zero.
As geoff says, his legs are shot.
Still bitter gnarley???
@moray: i hope what you say is true…but it seems to me like the magician / wenger is losing the plot…he has created an illusion and seems to have caught himself in it…the next 2 weeks will determine wenger’s fate…there are 3 things and if they happen wenger is on his way out
1. wenger thinks his team is good enough for this year and does not buy anyone…not even a CB
2. arsenal are thrashed out of the CL by udinese, which is quite probable….its a 50:50, udinese are a tough team
3. arsenal lose at home to liverpool
if the above 3 happen in the next 15 days, wenger will be under a lot of pressure….hope i am wrong though.
@zeus: yes agreed that barca were not completely prepared..in fact the commentators said they had played a lot less in pre season…but then its their complacence and overconfidence to have taken things lightly…madrid looked like a strong team and very organized…but in any case it will be interesting to see what jose has in mind…
Why would I be bitter. We’re winning the 500cc; just won the Tour de Frogland & r a Kiwi fruit from winning the Rah Rah WC.
I just thought your lot winning cricket may make you happy, but obviously not.
Posted this earlier when most of you were sleeping:
AMATUERS THE LOT OF THEM. Well done Slient Stan you useless, limp prick. Until Wenger, Gazidis and the rest of the board go nothing will change, infact things can only get worse.
Cesc…you are a dissapointment, instead of being a man and doing the honourable thing you let your cunty Barca mates speak for you, nowhere near a legend, in reality another merecenary with no loyalty. You wont be missed, my boy is already calling you Voldemort (you know who) and his jersey is in the bin. Shut the door on your way out, softcock.
Cricket’s a girls game, I told you that before Gnarley, still we are better at it than anyone else so it’s something…
Ange well put, may I add dirty horrid spick cunt to that sentiment?
Geoff
You are number one @ cricket. Where have all the curry eaters gone from here
You may, but you forgot greasy and cocksucking
Gervinho is a slapping tart. I can see him being another Denilson
Overwingle or what ever his name is would have been better