Written by Irishgunner
I don’t know is it because they want to be us so much that they helped us out last night, or is it that they are yet to figure out they are a pale shadow of our greatness? Either way, Tottenham must stop trying to out-pass the mighty Arsenal, instead they should play like Stoke or Blackburn. Oh wait, of course that is right, they did! Maybe they thought Jack Wilshere was the ball and that’s why they kicked him so often…. All credit to Little Jack (who isn’t so little anymore) who kept dusting himself off and getting on with the game.
Aside from all the kicking, Spurs were good hosts though: they let us have as much possession as we wanted, when we struggled to score they handed us two penalties, and then, in the nicest gesture of them all, they scuttled away out of their own stadium so our wonderful travelling fans could get on with the celebrations.
Playing “those lot” is always exciting, but when it comes to the Carling Cup it’s hard to know what to expect. I always expect us to beat them, but we know Arsene likes to rest up for the “fizzy cola alcohol Mickey Mouse” League Cup. So, it was with great glee that we saw him name a very strong squad for the game last night. Rosicky, Nasri, and Wilshere formed a tasty midfield and did not disappoint.
Just how bloody impressive is Jack Wilshere? I’m not one for thanking Bolton Wanderers for much, but that loan spell he had with them last season has done him the world of good. His left foot is majestic, he has an eye for a pass, is composed on the ball, demands possession, and isn’t afraid to get stuck in. Its like watching Cesc again when he first broke into the first team, you really wonder can this really be only a kid you are watching.
Its hard to pick holes in last night’s performance.
Fabianski was poor for Keane’s offside goal, but to be honest I don’t see the point in having a go at him today when it’ll just take up gloating time. Having said that, you can see why Chesney is a bit peeved with the whole situation.
Koscielny had a good game for me. He’s a tough nut and really gets stuck in. I don’t see him as first choice yet but he is a very good understudy and is new to this level of competition. His performances have been up and down so far, but he’ll learn and could prove to be quite the shrewd signing.
Gibbs had a great game again, and its of no wonder Clichy’s performances have upped lately with this guy hot on his heels for a starting spot. Eboue was Eboue, didn’t do much right or wrong. Djourou looked very rusty, he was caught out a few times but considering his lay off, we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. He did make one fine last ditch tackle in extra time.
Denilson played well for me. He got stuck into the dirty work and kept going all night (I’m being nice and not mentioning his shooting….oops). Same goes for Henri Lansbury who is a very game kid and he took up a great position to score the opener. I was slightly disappointed in Vela who I hoped would influence the game more.
We knew Arsene meant business when he brought on AA23 and Chamakh. The Moroccan continues to impress with his work rate, while Arshavin was himself of late – looked off form but still managed to score.
Speaking of Arsene, I wonder just what he was doing on the Blackberry. I’ve my suspicions that he wasn’t getting in contact with Pat Rice at all, why do I feel when ‘Arry checks his phone he’ll have a load of messages like “Ur sh8” or “Who r ya?” Or maybe Arsene was tweeting?
Either way, I’m sure Arsene was gloating to someone. Speaking of gloating, no individual ratings today, we beat the scum and beat them well, 10/10 for everyone, now lets get gloating.
Arsenal News 24/7
Lovely read that LJGSBP(?)
Arsene texting Harry…lol
Wonderful Wonderful Wonderful Irish, I thought I couldn’t feel any better but reading your report made me laugh out loud – which is what I’m going to be doing when I see any spuds today.
hahahahahahahahahahaha
Very good write-up Irish! Agree with almost all of it, though you’re slightly harsh on Eboue. No biggy though.
Was it a bad night for Aaron Ramsey? Wilshere is looking undroppable, so when Song, Cesc, Nasri, Rosicky and Arshavin are all available (like that’s ever going to happen), where does AR fit in? I still think Ramsey is a legend in the making, and if we can keep it all going to Wilshere’s head, the two of them will make for an awesome CM pairing in the years to come. But in the nearer term, more performance like those from LJ will endanger AR getting games once he’s recovered.
All good for us though.
Oh what fun it is to Arsenal win away. Especially against a big club (wish i had sarcasm font ).
Great write up Irish.
Wish I could sms Harry !
It was wonderful that AW decided to play a young team balanced with experience. He must have been scarred by the 5-1. Rubbed out now though…..
A smiley day ahead
Lets enjoy the night, put it to bed and onto WBA @ The Grove. As for that feckin’ wheeler dealer and his mates…..ha ha ha ha
This is good news, he will be 22 when Squilacci is 33!
http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/44015/Blades_skipper_Bartley_is_the_new_Jagielka.aspx?
Let’s hope this defeat will have an impact upon Spurs. An away defeat to a resurgent WHU will end their season early 🙂
Good write up irish, no mention of thomas – you not love him anymore.
I loved it last night, the first half was amazing. Glad wenger put nasris superstition to bed, and glad nasri had the character to over come it. That was the first time i’d heard nasri speak on tv and he came across very well – maybe future captain material. Anyway a well deserved man of the match for him.
I think its very interesting whats happening in our central defence, the pecking order is starting to take shape. Kozzer was awesome again, for me his two strongest games are when he’s deputised left side for TV. Maybe squilli will be starting right side when TV is back.
Another mistake from fab2, and a lot of bitching from chezzer, quiet Mannone is just getting on with it – Almunia is firmly our No.1. Wish that chez had kept his hole shut, wenger doesn’t cave in to the demands of players, especially unproven youngsters.
Gutted for gibbs, i hope it isnt another meta but it sure looks like it.
Denilson was fine in songs absense, our squad is looking immense, so is our injury room.
Cant wait for WBA home, hoping Nasri is ok for it.
Way hay hay, lets get some serious gloating going here.
In our shadows you will always be.
Your hearts are full of pain and jealousy
Sad totnum, sad totnum
You’re never going to win the premier league
In our shadows you will always be.
Your hearts are full of pain and jealousy
Is that Longfellow or Wordsworth?
Both huge Gooners….
Good result against the scum. Gone to some of their websites and they are claiming it doesn’t matter to them because “they are Champions League team now.” Ha!
How did Gibbs get injured? Did a spud player went in with his studs up?
Koscielny is the best signing in the whole premiership. Strong, intelligent, tireless and always expecting the opponent’s next move.
Great write up. I have written to Spurs asking that when they produce a DVD of last nights game can I have a copy. Might be a long wait. Hahaha
Morning all,
My face is aching with this wide grin I can’t wipe off 🙂
The excuses I’ve heard so far from ‘them’ are:
We played a young side – so did we
We played an inexperienced side – well if you developed young players like us instead of paying over-inflated prices for crap, they wouldn’t have been inexperienced
Nasri dived – no he didn’t
The ref was crap – at last a true statement. Gibbs was not offside and would have scored. Keane was offside and shouldn’t have scored. He let them kick Jack throughout the game. They should have a lost a player with 2 yellows for persistant fouling.
BTW, if any Spuds try (as some have with me) to argue they had the more youthful side, so of course we were going to win, some figures: the Spurs starting line-up had an average age of 24 as against Arsenal’s 22.9. The finishing line-ups were Spurs 25.5 years and Arsenal 23.8 years. Even ignoring the keepers (ours was six years younger than theirs), their outfield team was always older than ours.
And yet they were still played off the park.
And Rasp, on the ref (who was appallingly bad), there was also the nailed on penalty when Assou-Ekotto pushed Lansbury over. Plus neither Caulker nor Bassong were even booked, still less sent off, when the extra time penalties were given, and by rights, both should have been red carded.
As with Bolton, we got the worst of the referee, and yet it’s our opponent that whinges and whines.
26. I love a stat like that. Going to pass it on right now.
Hi 26m,
Thanks for the stats. I know a player can be done for persistant fouling, but when a team persistantly fouls a player (Jack) the ref should take their captain to one side and say “look, the next time any of your team fouls player ‘X’ I’m going to give him a card” It’ll never happen, but it would stop the kind of targetting that is always directed at Cesc too.
Agree 100% Rasp, as we say week in, week out, English referees are just utter shit. The sooner we ship in some foreign referees who actually know the rules and try to enforce them, the better.
That’s a very good point, surely EU employment law precludes any job being offered to British citizens only?
In cricket, the umpire will talk to the captain if say a bowler is appealing frivolously and tell him that he will take the bowler out of the attack if it continues. It is then up to the captain to control his own player. Sin binning has been brought into Rugby quite successfully and technology is used effectively in tennis, cricket and rugby. Why is football still in the dark ages?
Correct. Not that that’s going to have any impact on the FA or the referees’ association.
Mkenya Halisi 10.57. Very well said….
Kozzer really does seem to read every single move that an opposition player makes !!
Sin binning is the rule change I would most strongly advocate: too often, a foul deserves more than a yellow but less than a red, or a referee is reluctant to give a second yellow. Adopting sin binning would allow for more appropriate punishments.
Wenger suggested years ago, before tennis adopted it, that football should have a rule permitting a limited number of challenges to referees’ decisions. There’s still a good case for that, as well as of course goal-line technology or (as in cricket) rapid TV referrals. The game’s flow has to be maintained but 99% of issues can be dealt with very quickly, so that shouldn’t be a problem these days.
As for the role of the referee (or umpire) in actively managing a game and not just waiting for an offence to be committed, many of us see how it works in cricket and both codes of rugby. Although football’s pace means it is more challenging than in those other sports, there is plenty football can learn from them. And the best referees do talk to the players during the game, Collina for example.
Afternoon all, great day to be a gooner; here’s a clip of the Arsenal away support saying goodbye to the Spud fans last night:
May26,
Great stuff, you should write a post on the subject.
The thought has occurred to me – just haven’t had the time. Soon, promise!
I didn’t realise there was a fire drill at the Lane last night I thought they were leaving because they are snivelling pack of rats, racing to get off a sinking ship.
What a brilliant write-up Irish – loved every word.
I watched the game in a bar in New York where, inexplicably, I was the only Gooner but there were half a dozen noisy Scummers. I arrived late so missed Lansbury’s goal. Then I had to sit through all the ridiculous noise when Keane scored his offside goal. Suffice to say I gave it very large when we scored goals 2, 3 and 4. But by goal 4 I realised I was cheering purely for my own benefit: just like their pathetic cousins in N17 the Scummers had quietly slipped out of the bar and disappeared into 7th Avenue.
Happy day.
Just seen a blog report that Gibbs’ scan has revealed only bruising and no break, but the Verminator is probably still not ready to return.
That’s good news Chary – he was really good last night.
And much as I want the Verm to be back as soon as possible I really don’t think we need to rush him back early with the form that Kozzer is in and with the promising start Squelchy has made. Kozzer was outstanding. What a brave, intelligent player he is.
It’s only an unofficial source R Lives, but fingers crossed it’s a genuine one.
Agreed that we have no worries playing Kozzer and the Squid.
Have you seen that Vela has been banned from the Mexican squad for six months for his involvement in an after-match party.
Good news for us, I reckon. Part of the problem with Vela last year was that he was always travelling half way round the world for Mexico internationals, which is hardly the best way to cement a place in the first team squad.
If that means his availability is improved it’s good for us – although he has to step up to the plate this season.
Especially now as we are so thin on the ground striker wise.
Thats it ….. The Squid ….. love it chary, was that of your own making or did you pinch it from somewhere else.
Agree about Kozzer, he was really brave last night, one of those scummy thugs ran right into him and laid him out 😦
Hi Peachy, it’s not one of mine, but for the life of me I can’t remember where I saw it.
It might have been on the National Geographic channel.
I agree very good news for us. Plus there is strong rumour that Vela’s partying has had an effect on his play which is why AW has held him back. Hopefully he will realise that being a bit player for the remainder of his career is a waste of his outstanding talent (see Bentley/Pennant etc) and knuckle down.
I feel that not enough emphasis has been placed upon Samir Nasri’s performance. He was superb last night and as Captain led his team well. His form this season has been a revelation – long may it continue. I have been saying for some time that Nasri will be the main man at AFC when/if Cesc leaves and at the moment he is showing why we paid so much money for a relatively unknown kid
Big gap…filled !!
The good news about Gibbs has been confirmed.
If anyone has got anything they fancy writing up for tomorrow can they email me. Thanks
Evening all,
Still all smiling? Course we are 🙂
I forgot to have a go at David Bentley but that’s a bit pointless and tired now – we know he’s cack.
What’s this about Vela getting a six month ban from Mexican national team?
Nice post Irish. Everbody had a good game I thought apart from maybe Djourou, I know it’s early days but at the moment I would be very worried about playing him again. Jack should’ve got MOTM IMO, ran the show and that ball for the (not)offside Gibbs would’ve made Fab proud. Koz is this years TV…Well impressed. Its a good day to be a gooner
Not heard about the Vela thing. Would probably be good news for his Arsenal career though.
It’s gone quiet, its gone quiet
It’s gone quiet at the Lane.
It’s gone quiet, its gone quiet
It’s gone quiet at the Lane.
It’s gone quiet, its gone quiet
It’s gone quiet at the Lane.
Still plenty of gloating time left.
London – good to see you still gloating 🙂
On Vela, Mexico through a party in a hotel after a recent win over Colombia, most got fined but Vela and Juarez got bans and are ruled out till March 8, can’t help but think that suits us a lot.
Don’t get too carried away about that Mexico ban, from the report I read there is only one Mexico game during the six month period.
Ho ho ho, the Chavs are losing 3-1 at home to the Geordies. The Chavs have a weak side out but it still has Anelka, Terry and Kalou in it. Crossed fingers…..
Hi P&R
I have a post for tomorrow if you need one? It’s topical so tomorrow, that said if anyone else has written something I will happily stand back anyway I will put it in drafts.
So, the Chavs are out of the fizzy cup; take a bow Sol. 🙂
Terrific game at Stamford Bridge.
Still have a warm glow after last night and the ribbing given out today
Does anyone know when the draw is?
It’s saturday at noon I think.
No doubt we’ll get the manks at Old Toilet.
Hi London – thanks, it looks like its yours 😉
Can you y’all post it just in case it inspires a picture
Great to see Chelsea and City go out, and now Liverpool are losing to Northampton at Anfield. Just a shame United recovered against Scunthorpe!
If Northampton hold on there’ll only be us and the Mancs left in out of the so-called top teams.
…making it even more gutting for the Spuds. They would really have felt they’d have a chance in this competition, which was always their only chance of silverware this year.
Another 12 minutes left in extra time for the ‘dippers to come through though, R Lives.
Personally, I’d say Villa are more deserving of being taken seriously than Liverpool, even if they can overcome the might of the Cobblers.
oh well, 2-2 in the dippers game. Pennos maybe ?
Dippers out !
It all looks good to me, good night.
I believe the League Cup 4th Round draw is made on Saturday afternoon.
New post ……