It has to be said that yesterday not only involved a very poor half from the players, it also involved some very embarrassing behaviour from the fans. I fully appreciate we pay our money to do as we please but to sit out the first half in stony silence then boo at half time was ridiculous carry on.
We started Chamberlain for the second time in a week. At least the manager didn’t try to prove a point by testing him again. We also saw Coquelin return to the side as right back. There was no place for Arteta, Henry or Sagna… All had to settle for a place on the heated bench.
*At this point you have to know I’ve just wiped my nose with something I’d used over the weekend to mop up kebab.
The highlights before kick off were sitting opposite Martin Keown giving an interview and watching the mascot rip a shot past Fabianski in off the bar!
The highlights gave up after that, they stayed in the dressing room with Vik Akers. The first half was a turgid affair. We struggled to find our rhythm. Most of our chances were shots which made a lovely change. Robin teed Vermaelen up for a thunderbolt of a strike that Given tipped over. Soon after the Dutchman had a crack at goal of his own but could only hit the wall.
Chamberlain was doing his part for the defence. He made a superb early tackle to deny Villa a cross. I went on to count a further 3 blocks that half, then I had to stop because he looked too similar to Coquelin from a distance. Still, the point stands, he does help out at the back.
Fabianski was doing his best to show us why he isn’t number one. His kamikaze distribution kept putting us under immense pressure and the punched clearances from crosses had hearts in mouths.
Theo managed to break through on goal, he was kicked on his way through, stumbled and duffed his shot wide. Chamberlain had a go himself, dragging a low shot left of the post. In fairness much of the creativity was going through him.
The first goal of the game went to Villa. We sent Ramsey out too late to deal with the short corner, he was bypassed by Keane who turned, floated a chipped cross to the back post where Dunne was on hand to bang a header past Fabianski. Koscielny really should have done better there.
We had a few more chances after, the best falling to Ramsey when he managed work his way into the box from the touch line, his shot looked like it was snatched away by Given.
We were hit on the break down the other end, Petrov found Bent with a super ball, Vermaelen managed to cover enough ground to make a token slide tackle, the shot beat him, it was saved by Fabianski, but Bent was first to the rebound which he slipped in from a very tight angle.
The all too familiar sound of booing sent us into half time. I never participate and I find it hard to comprehend during a game. I guess that’s where we are though, fans are sick of losing in mid jan when they know they’re contributing to £3million a game. The point for me is that it was only half time. It’s a game of two halves!
Almost immediately after kick off things picked up, it looked like Robin had a header cleared from the line by Ireland.
Ramsey broke up play in midfield, played it to Song who pushed forward, waited, then slipped Ramsey in who was lumped over by Dunne in ridiculous fashion. Let’s be thankful though, that was the only way we’d get a penalty this month!
Robin stepped up to deal with the kick and buried it with precision. The roof lifted, the crowd decided to retire their seats for the afternoon and everyone started to make some noise! The stewards relaxed as well, which helped the game along.
Our second goal happened under comical circumstances, Theo worked his way into a good crossing position after being played into the box by Rosicky, he dodged a slide tackle, he crossed it to no one… carried on his run… Hutton cleared it at Theo and it ended up in the back of the net. Superbly marvelous considering his Spurs ties! Theo then ran to the dug out to do a weird celebration. Not sure what that was all about!
The fabulous 15 minutes came to a conclusion with another penalty, this time when Koscielny picked up a Ramsey (I think) through ball and felt the back of his heals crumble when Bent of all people went for an ill thought out slide tackle. Both Villa scorers had turned Arsenal providers. How very generous. This time Robin elected for high and right and we’d levelled it. Things were really getting rowdy in the home end… ‘we only sing when we’re winning’… never felt so true!
The game still had a few panic moments to soak up. Fabianski made a couple of good saves and had to deal with a few ‘oh my god don’t drop it’ moments. All in all though, we played the 90 out in a professional manner. Watching Robin tell the ball boy to slow things down was amusing, the man must feel his whole life is about educating children!
Arsenal made three substitutes. We saw Arteta join the party which was fantastic. We also saw Thierry and Sagna join. Both came on to electric applause, but what was nice was the applause repeated for Theo and Chamberlain leaving.
Most of the crowd stayed for the final whistle and a roar erupted… the next round of the cup is against Boro’ or Sunderland. We’d have to fancy ourselves there eh? Even if it is away!
Conclusion
I don’t like to tell anyone what to do, but the crowd really do have to start behaving. Sure, we’re not getting what we want in the transfer market and some of the performances have been poor, but booing during the game and at half time isn’t the Arsenal way. It’s embarrassing and it makes for a nasty day out. How must Chamberlain feel? Two games into 2012 and all he knows is a crowd that pisses and moans at every opportunity. What happens outside the ground is up to the fans, but it feels like booing has become a habit and in my opinion, it should stop. We’re in the situation we’re in and making it worse by jeering our team isn’t going to help matters.
On the game, it was absolutely a dreary first half. The important thing is that we came out fighting in the second and the boys have to take credit for that. It’s very easy to curl up and die after going two down in a game, but we didn’t. Robin picked the team up and we came out firing on all cylinders. Ramsey needs to be credited with a super second half. What I like about him is that he never gives up. He might make a bad pass, he might fluff a shot, but he keeps on chipping away until things start happening. Another man who deserves credit is Rosicky. He keeps the ball moving and he was instrumental for the Theo goal. He’s not your world class, all guns blazing centre midfielder, but in the right team he can make things happen.
At the back, I felt Mertesacker had a very solid game. He was cushioning headers, making interceptions and in the main, controlling his back four very nicely. He’s growing into his role at Arsenal and he’s starting to adapt to the pace. He’ll never beat certain players for pace, but he’ll be able to read the game better and snuff out opportunity before it happens.
Chamberlain also deserves a massive round of applause as well. He made some mistakes yesterday and put us under pressure occasionally, but the depth he adds to our attack is impressive. He has natural skill to go around players and he has the bottle to take on a shot or clever pass. I think Robin really enjoys playing with him and as far as I’m concerned, everything is in place for him to become the nations saviour come the Euros. He also managed a full 90minutes without breaking down, which was definitely worth noting.
So, in conclusion, it might not have been the resounding win I was hoping for, but I’d say from a sporting perspective, it was as good as. Coming back from 2 down in front of your home fans has to have an impact on team morale. It tells the players anything is possible now and that there is no excuse going forward. I know the win is papering over the cracks, but we have some of our better players coming back now, so hopefully the run in will be kinder to us.
As fans, we can go over the same old problems in our heads, or we can just accept that we’re not going to get what we want and support the team. Save our protests for outside the ground, or make your complaints online because the club do read them. Protesting inside the ground makes us look ugly as fans. Booing a name when it’s read out is disgraceful. We’re starting to look like the Geordies or the Blackburn fans… and let me tell you, that’s not a good look.
Anyway, that’s my piece said… remember to listen to the podcast I knocked together with Alex Fynn. It covers off all the major talking points regarding Wenger and the reasons he doesn’t spend. It also has plenty of other tasty tidbits you might not have known about our great club.
P.S. We’ll be moving the site over tomorrow which means the sites comments here will switch off at some point. So bear with me for the next few days, but we’re moving for the greater good and the new site does look very smart and the mobile version is even better!
http://theoriginalwinger.com/2012-01-29-video-theo-walcotts-goal-vs-aston-villa-fa-cup
Yoda’s vexed.
chamakh = boomerang
he receives the ball and has to round a man. thats a dribble in my waters.
sagna = taribo west lite
blind squirrels, acorns and all that stuff…
by dribble I understand something a bit more deliberate and by ability to dribble, I understand being able to pull that off 7 times out of 10, not 3…
jeez suga3 your floundering mate, take it on the chin you plank.
squillaci = dr doom
…worm still squirming
Do you watch Chelsea much Sug? Mata has mostly played on the wing. And when he hasn’t he’s basically been a second striker, playing just off the front man. If that isn’t a fair comparison with Walcott I don’t know who is!
koscielny = butt head
fuck that Lurch, this is my opinion, Walnutt is fucking shit…
I am getting a semi seeing AOC play, now that’s a footballer!
inch perfect diagonals, deliberate dribbling and loads of footballing intelligence, vision and precision…
inch perfect diagonals, well weighted passes, Walnutt does not seem too keen to play the ball to him, seeing as he shows him up for what he is…
ok stepping out, it hurts me to see a doom raider taking body blows.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW0haz-n4c8
Sort of embarrassed for you that you don’t even know what position Mata plays! Were you confused by the fact that he was mooted as a potential Fabregas replacement and thought he is the exact same type of player?
But if you’re still unsure, here’s a Chelski blog that makes it clear that Mata has been used mostly as a winger but might be better as second striker:
http://www.chelseadaft.org/2011/11/chelsea-debate-what-is-juan-matas-best.html
(beavis & butt-head)
oh come on he’s not fucking shit, he’s bang average at worst.
of course aoc is the shiznit.
Can we call that a dribble ? Or am I taking the biscuit ?!
Dunno, what’s going on with the music either.
thats a biscuit, they just stop playing, think you’re leading the witness with that one.
suga’s left the building, people.
Although this post is hoing to bring him back on
have we signed anyone yet? Or will it come down to the wire again? Typically, we lost three games partly because of our inaction in the transfer window. Now we will probably effect a couple of panic signings when it’s all too late.
what happened to that other guy who ‘left the building’ ? think he died on a toilet didn’t he
Keyser,
no, it’s ‘pinball’, very, very lucky…
albo,
he does not really play the same game, I don’t see him as a ‘winger’ in Chav team, more like an attacking all-rounder, something Walcott is not…
Rohan,
don’t you have a homework to do, boy?
Get Gervinho and Walcott to tire them out, then chuck Miyachi and the Ox on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b4S-X40nwA
So what if he doesn’t have the same game? They both play in the same position.
Theo offers us some modicum of directness. Mata more creativity I guess.
I suppose Wenger is off for a day to teach tactical substitutions in Belgium?
No I don’t! Deadline’s been postponed
night girls
don’t get me wrong though . I’d much rather have Mata than Theo.
Really????? Let’s do the math, shall we?
Here it is essentially February and we have a grand total of 0 points for the year. Not almost full points or half points, but zero. Z-E-R-O! Nada, zip, zero. And the money men have said “ehhh, were fine. Thursday night football would be wonderful.” AND you want us to sing their praises?
What ever you are smoking, I sure could use some.
Well, he plays on the wing, which usually constitutes being a winger. Like Walcott he plays as one of a front 3, and if anything by occasionally playing as a second striker might be expected to have even more goals and assists than Walcott. But he’s certainly a very decent point of comparison for Walcott
Either way, he is regarded as being world class and has very similar stats to Walcott this season, despite Theo being regarded as having had a very poor season…
the thing with Walcott is that a team that sits deep renders him completely useless and so does a half decent fullback even as dumb as Traore, given the right coaching…
all he has is pace, there is no element of surprise about him, you just know what he is going to do next…
nite LLR!!!
Rohan – haha, yeah me too!
Villas-Boas undermined by Chelsea’s move for Kevin De Bruyne
http://www.thenational.ae/sport/football/villas-boas-undermined-by-chelseas-move-for-kevin-de-bruyne
====================================================
You have to feel something for the man.
arseplayer’s got a ‘real local’ co-commentating…refreshing…”he is a real star, a diamond”, “init” etc. etc.
albo,
D******n had great stats, even when he was completely wank, and there is more to Mata’s game than there will ever be to Walcott’s…
Theo pisses me off, all talk, we have learned, we are going there to win yadda, yadda, fucking yadda!
how about you shut the fuck up and let your football do the talking?
oh, not much of a talker that way, is he?
walcott’s celebration was silly though…almost deserves suga’s derision for that alone
But Sug – worth pointing out, that forcing a fullback to sit deep because of Theo’s pace can be a huge tactical advantage in some games. For example, the reason Theo is so effective against Chelsea is that his pace means that Ashley Cole can’t risk his usual marauding attacking role, cutting off one of their main attacking threats.
Granted Theo isn’t the best weapon if you’re facing a ‘Birmingham under Macleish’ style, 11 men defending deep behind the ball, but we don’t ONLY play teams like that…
albo,
no, it’s not Theo being effective, it’s making their player ineffective, which kind of makes is a 10 v 10 game, plus, more often than not, Cole simply owns him…
how about you shut the fuck up and let your football do the talking?
oh, not much of a talker that way, is he?
——————————————————–
And yet he has pretty much the same goal and assists tally as Mata…
Dunno. The last couple times we’ve played Chelsea, Walcott’s been fantastic. He likes playing against their ageing backline.
besides, again, he got owned by Armand fucking Traore, remember?
Sug – that’s bullshit I’m afraid. It shows you have absolutely no interest in the subtleties of football tactics. Go read some Zonal Marking and learn a few things, then come back and we’ll talk!
albo,
once again trying to be patronising, do me a fucking favour and change the record, will you?
‘subtleties of football tactics’, yawn…
I could not care less about Zonal Wanking, I can only tell from my perspective: pinning back Cole does not make Walnutt ‘effective’, as he does very little apart from keeping him occupied, and Cole eventually deals with whatever Feo throws at him, so they kind of nullify one another…
and there is not a lot of teams that play with enough freedom against us that Theo can be used to keep their FB at bay either, plus, these teams normally beat us these days…
Walcott isn’t that good at football and he for some reason makes me really angry. I don’t know why. It may be because of the “i deserve better but I don’t know why ” sort of expression, body language/ impression that he has I feel………..Adebayor,Denilson,Bendtner,Michael Owen and even Gary Cahill has it. I mean it seems like that to me.
nuudles says:
January 30, 2012 at 11:21
Reus scored again yesterday, we really missed a trick in not going for him. He is very quick, excellent on the ball, great passion, brilliant finish and he is only going to get better…
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What are you on about? He played for Dortmund as a youth. And he turned down Bayern to sign a transfer back to Dortmund, his hometown club …… missed what trick? There was no damn chance.
Of course booing your own players isn’t likely to make them play better-its doing the opposition fans job for them- but it is understandable-how else does the message be got across?-That continually losing against moderate opposition simply is not good enough. The context of this has to be appreciated-
Who believes Wenger’s line about not needing players because of those coming back from injury? Only Sagna will add to the team. What about Gibbs, Diaby, Wilshere, Santos? If we get half a dozen games from all 4 by the end of the season it will be a bonus.
Is it not incompetence to do nothing at this point?
After selling off our 2 best attacking players last year and not replacing them,this team IS in decline by any standard-when non qualification for the ECL stares us all in the face and is rightly described by the manager as being a disaster-and the management of this club from the owner to the team manager-have no solution to the squad being demonstrably understrength-and do not even attempt to find a solution in the transfer window. We have one competent goalscoring forward FFS.
The team had lost the last 3 EPL games and were 2 down at half time. You can’t really expect anything else with the playing strength we have available-perhaps we shouldn’t expect to beat mid table sides at home anymore?
Its looking like the current set up-its transfer and salary policies especially are looking like a recipe for non-achievement-and whether Wenger stays or goes things look likely to get a whole lot worse before they get better-and a few boos are in fact only the start.
Goo morning
Pedro,
May I suggest to delay the new site’s opening?
It’s deadline day, and things might be going on, so maybe it’s not the best timing to take the site down and start the new era?
And a word about the late discussion yesterday,
I think positioning myself as one of the doomers and Arsene’s leading critics is fair enough, and it gives me the right to say wanting your team to lose makes you the worst kind of supporters
Really nothing can justify that
Blimey, I agree Pedro’s stance towards Arsene is too soft for me, but there is a whole world between that and wanting your team to lose. What is the matter with you people?
Don’t agree with Pedro on the booing critics, but he makes a fair point. I don’t agree with him on that either, I can understand where that came from by fans who just had enough, but you can’t say he’s talking bollox ……
Wanting us to lose is counter-productive to say the very least. I appreciate what people are trying to get across, which is that somtimes you need to concede a few battles to win the war, but the reality of it is, we need to finish in the top 4.
We simply can’t afford to miss out on all that money.. You think signings are scarce now? just wait until we have a considerable slice of our revenue removed.
Wenger will not last much longer, and i don’t think the Kroenke will just sack him because of a few more losses, he might however sack him because of empty seats.
You really want him gone? Stop going to the games and stop watching them on the TV. Then Kroenke will act, and it’s far better for Arsenal than us suffering more defeats than we need to.
This is a sport, the objective is to win.
People are right though to say, yesterday’s win did little more than paper over the cracks. Just wait a day until the window closes and no stars come in, It’s only going to get worse before it gets any better in my opinion.
We need added quality and we need it today. The players coming back from injury will definitely help us, but will they be enough? will they even stay fit? I wouldn’t risk the season on it. We need 4th place.
Morning….
btw…wots d dreaded “P” word?
Morning all.
Gazidis talking complete bollox, No transfer gossip, last day of the window.. Depressing..
Iffy: It’s paedo…
Oh and here’s the link for Gazidis.. City are Jealous of Arsenal.. Oh right Stan, is that the way it is? Everything’s OK then!
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/299135/-Manchester-City-are-jealous-of-us-Arsenal-chief-s-amazing-claim
goonerboy says:
January 31, 2012 at 04:51
Of course booing your own players isn’t likely to make them play better
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Just throwing this out there, the players were booed off at half time and came back to score three second half goals.
Blackburn get booed all season but beat man u.
I dont see you can measure the effect of booing on results, might make a difference, might not.
But one thing I do know is that it lets the players and managment know how you feel.
I also know its every fans right to boo. If as a fan you want to be silent and sit back and think of England while wenger shafts us, that’s up to you too.
I dont believe another fan should moan if we do boo. We are as close to Everton on points as spurs, it’s a disgrace
Great – have we bought another youngster? just what we need!!
Its funny how Wenger and Arsenal players have all started talking the same language… All I see in arsenal.com nowadays is how the team believes in each other, how great the spirit is within the team and blah blah blah…. its one thing not being able to win trophies and playing crappy football, its something completely different to coach the players on how to lie and how not to speak whats in your heart and be politically correct!! Its a fucking sport… if you cant win something you are a loser…. spirit, believe etc are for church not for football field!!
Bade- If board told the media after the man u defeat that if we lose three more games they would have to consider wengers postion, would you want us to lose those three games? I know I would.
*the board
What a load of absolute fucking bullshit by Gazidis.
Gambon..
this statement is the most worrying apart from the shit he’s talks about City..
“I don’t disagree that it’s important. But we do things based on a value system. We’re about creating star players, not about buying them.”
yes gambon, lets see who is smiling at the end of the season.
Never heard so much shit to come out of Arsenal as i have this season.
Joy! A Watford defender and a 400k Youngster is what I wake up to …
How about Pato and Fellaini or something?
You are entitled to your opinion Pedro, but I believe that you are wrong to insinuate that people should just sit on their hands and watch idly as their team, you know, the one that they pour not only their hearts and souls but their hard earned monies into, collapse yet again before their very eyes. You see, that last bit, that’s what entitles a person to their opinion. That opinion can be expressed any way in which they deem fit. It it means cheering, doing and saying nothing, or even booing, then that is their right as an expression of their opinion.
One of the great things about being a fan is that we are entitled to freedom of choice and expression. I don’t mind saying that I don’t like it very much when someone tells me that I’m not entitled or supposed to express myself in a manner that may differ from their own. That makes us humans and not drones.
Football brings out the passion in us all. I’m not preaching anarchy, but I am preaching the right to voice an opinion, even if that opinion offers up dissent, for reasons that are valid. Fans pay to sit in a seat, they also pay to be entertained. When the end product fails to live up to reasonable expectations, fans have a right to voice their opinion and yes, sometimes that means voicing their displeasure.
What happened at The Grove against ManU was long overdue, long overdue. As surprised as I was to hear it, I must admit that I was equally pleased. The fans are speaking up and saying its not okay to put out a mediocre product on the pitch., not on my dime!
The fans are speaking and its not disrespectful, its about time!