A Case for the Defence

February 9, 2011

Written by Gooner in Exile

Yet again after the weekend result it is the defence that has been called into question, the cries of weakness are again heard and the calls for a return to the glory days of the famous four of Adams, Bould, Winterburn and Dixon. Add to those four Keown and yes we had an impressive back line available. Put behind those legends, the one and only David Seaman and we looked unbreakable.

Fast forward to the current generation, our first choice back four, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, and Clichy, with Vermaelen waiting for permission to rejoin the trenches. I honestly think this defence is one we can build a successful side on. I also believe that in Szczesny we have a keeper who will be one of the best in the world. Suddenly this defence is looking solid, assured and dominant.

The media continue to point to our weak defence for a reason why we won’t be succesful. I think most of us who have seen games this year would agree that Kozzer and JD are forming a good understanding, Kozzer is as fearless as any Centre Back I have seen at the Arsenal for some time, and JD is becoming a considerable force dominating opposing centre forwards for entire games. In Sagna we have probably the best right back in the league and Clichy is becoming a better defender every game (5th most tackles in EPL this season with highest success rate of the top 5 tacklers (78%)).

The team went 4 Premier league games without conceding through January, when we did concede in the league in 2011 it was to a Mason assisted goal by Saha, then came Saturday and our trip to St James Park. Up until then I really believed that we had turned a corner, Szczesny providing confidence and communication to an improving back four, so what went wrong, where did this new found stability disappear to?

We went down to 10 men, but that does not guarantee the opposition a route back into the match, so scratch that as a reason.

JD got injured and on came Squillaci, one change to the back four however hopeless some Arsenal fans think he is (he isn’t by the way) should not cause a problem.

The midfield were asked to defend and dig in……now this is where I think the problem lay and is often a problem for any footballing side, but more often than not for us. Our inability to defend as a team.

I am not talking about the pressing and harrying up the pitch at 0-0, we have done this really well this season, I am talking about when the opposition start to have more possession, and push themselves into our half for long periods. Sooner or later if we are under pressure our midfielders start to give away needless free kicks and so invite more pressure.

This leads to the biggest problem, defending set pieces, this is also why I get annoyed with the criticisms of the defence, as they are not the only ones defending set pieces, watch Chelsea, and you will see Drogba, Lampard, Essien, Mikel, Malouda all doing their jobs in their own box, could you really say the same of Cesc, Samir, Jack, Theo and Arshavin? They will never be able to win a ball in the air against the Premier League giants.

We need to change the way we defend from set pieces, we need to hold a much higher line. For now I’m talking freekicks in the final third, too often we have conceded goals as the players hold the eighteen yard line and just before the ball is struck you will see them drop five yards and invite the opposition into our area and make it very tough for our keeper to come and claim the ball.

Look at the video below, the Newcastle goal and the Chelsea goal over Christmas were the two best examples I could find of this.

For Andy Carroll’s goal the defence takes up position on the edge of the D, by the time the ball is kicked we are already on the 18 yard box, and by the time it has travelled to 10 yards from goal both Newcastle and Arsenal players are in the 18 yard box making it very difficult for Fabianski to come and claim.

Even worse is the Chelsea goal, again the defence hold a position of the 18 yard box but before Drogba has struck the ball we are almost on the penalty spot and the ball can be delivered in to the dangerous area just outside the 6 yard box.

In both situations we would have benefited from holding a much higher line and when I say hold I mean HOLD, not follow runners, let them run offside. For the Newcastle goal if we had taken up residence 10 yards further forward there is no hope in hell that Carroll would have time to reach a ball played onto the penalty spot and stay onside. Again with the Chelsea goal ask yourself whether Ivanovic would make contact with that ball if the line was held on the D, the pace Drogba plays that ball it would be in Fabianski’s hands (hopefully) in a split second, with the whole area free of bodies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znq7tshzDU0

Dropping deep from set pieces before the ball is kicked is a pet hate of mine, I would never allow my defenders to come that deep into my area, it was mine I took responsibility for it, I think Szczesny might just have the confidence to do the same, then we can say goodbye to being petrified everytime the opposition has a freekick in the final third.

Anyway this is a tactical issue one that I think Arsene Wenger and Pat Rice are more qualified to put right, the main reason for my post was to stress that this current defence is not as bad as everyone would like us to believe, sometimes we have to look at the rest of the team (and not just the normal scapegoats) to dig in and help them out on occasion.

Afterall even the great Tony Adams admitted that he had to talk Wenger in the early days to explain that they needed the midfield to provide a screen for them, and break up attacks, they couldn’t do it all on their own either once the shackles had been taken off the rest of the team.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Sunny Times Are Here Again

February 8, 2011

In the course of Sundays blog discussion re the Toon debacle, a committed fan who unlike me, regularly attends games and who felt totally let down by what she saw as a capitulation by the team that day, advanced the opinion that I was too sunny in my acceptance of the team’s performance.

Now leaving aside the fact (if you will forgive the cliché) that I am viewed, rightly or wrongly, it matters not really, as a cup half full man, a Wenger apologist who can see no wrong with the great man and a purveyor of stories of times gone by.

It nevertheless seemed to me that despite the frenzied, put it in row “Z” defending we were practising. What actually undid us was: 1. A debatable penalty; 2 A nonsense Penalty; 3 A volley from outside the area that could just as easily have itself ended up back in row “Z. (remember Mr Rose at the Spuds anyone? and that cool Mr Rooney as a 16 yr old Evertonian perhaps.)

In the last two instances, that single strike was enough to sink us. This time we had three occasions when lady luck could have been a bit more generous, but it seems when shit happens, it happens big time as far as the Arsenal are concerned.

I mentioned during this discussion some famous dark days from yesteryear. Days when we really had come unstuck big time. Leeds, Swindon, Luton, West Ham all infamous days, burnt deep like  branding scars, on the souls of legions of Gooners of  varies ages,  and are now for ever enmeshed in the folk law of our club, that has elevated names such as Gus Ceaser, Don Rodgers and Sniffer Clarke, to infamy in the minds of those who like me were there.

Alongside these now will go the Courteous and diplomatic Mr Barton and poor old Diaby? Whose sending off for a half baked retaliation to a repeat performance, of the kind of tackle that has twice put him out of the game for long periods, (indeed at times we and he wondered would he ever come back, happily he has, but is now viewed with suspicion by a significant portion of our fans as not up for the job) has seen him castigated for being perceived as the catalyst for our so called capitulation.

Personally I felt the absence of the pace and height of DJ was more important as the game was switched by the Toon to an aerial bombardment, which we all know was a problem to us previously, but since the arrival of DJ and Chesney has been largely eradicated.

So sure it was dammed annoying to drop two points  from a position of such strength, was it the end of the world though? What were the net results? Well a draw and a closing of the gap on Man U.  whilst pulling further away from the newly enhanced Chelski. So hardly a disaster and city having played a game more are stuttering at best, should Tevez get injured what will happen to them?

With three home games to come we have a great chance to cement in the minds of the other title chasers the fact that we mean business. Agreed Stoke will be interesting, but we do not yet know which defensive personnel will be available to AW. Hopefully both DJ and Kos, will be fit in which case I see no problems.

Much is made of the Psychological importance of such let downs and the word momentum figures large in the populist presses reports. If this is true, what of the effect on the Mancs to losing to Wolves, invincible’s they aint, and our own loss of invulnerability by the true invincible’s, did indeed take a while to recover from, following Rooney’s dive. So maybe MU luck has run out and they are in for a tough time.

Our players no doubt are smouldering at the injustice of it all, the witch hunt of our magnificent Captain will also I think add fuel to the fire and far from damaging us Psychologically, will instead pull the team together and motivate them to take on the world and win.

So sunny yes I guess I am, why? well in football parlance: football as they say is a funny old game and this indeed, is a funny old season. Saturday was a game of two halves and I prefer to believe that the first half and the marvellous Wengerball that saw us 4 up in 27 minutes is what lies ahead of Arsenal the rest of the season.

In short, I smell sunny times ahead and trophies.

Written by dandan

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Posted by dandan

Why Are Referees Biased Against Arsenal?

February 7, 2011

Yes, you read the title correctly.

I’m not asking IF referees are biased against us. I want to know why they ARE.

On Saturday, at 4-0 up, we saw Phil Dowd do all he could to help Newcastle back into the game. This included:

  • Playing three-and-a-half minutes of stoppage time in the first half because Newcastle were attacking, even though the fourth official signalled for only two minutes.
  • Failing to send off Nolan for a similar (but worse) offence than Diaby’s.
  • Giving a very debatable penalty (the first one) despite there being a host of players between him and the incident.
  • Giving Newcastle the softest penalty in the EPL so far this year (again, from the opposite side of the penalty area).
  • Generally letting Newcastle’s players repeatedly foul Arsenal’s without punishment (Barton and Enrique being the main serial offenders).

In recent games we have also seen:

  • Lee Mason booking Jack Wilshere for his first foul in the game against Everton (after just five minutes), then not punishing Everton players for repeated fouling.
  • Mason, in the same game, mystifyingly ignoring the offside rules to allow Everton’s goal.
  • Mark Clattenburg allowing an Aston Villa goal against us when Carew was standing miles offside and blatantly impeding Fabianski’s view.
  • Clattenburg sending off Squillaci for a ‘last man’ foul 30 yards from goal, but leaving a Huddersfield defender on the pitch for a ‘last man’ foul in the six yard box.

There are many more examples and I’m sure every Gooner can rattle off loads of them.

Too many, in short, to be a coincidence.

At the same time Manchester United get more ‘rub of the green‘ than a self-pleasuring leprechaun: blatant penalties not given against them; physical intimidation of referees unpunished; added minutes always counted in Fergietime if United are chasing the game (like ‘dog years,’ one minute of Fergietime is the equivalent of three ‘real world’ minutes) and clear red card offences ignored.

So the question is why?

I believe one possible answer is a conspiracy among officials. By which I don’t mean that they have been bribed or that they’ve all had a collective bet on Man Utd to win the title: rather that when they get together for their referees’ seminars and the like and talk among themselves, they come to some sort of negative consensus about Arsenal.  And probably about Arsène Wenger too.

If it is a conspiracy it’s a subconscious one, but with obvious roots:

Arsène has a history of claiming that our players are not given sufficient protection. Every time he says this, he is directly criticising not just a particular ref for a specific incident, but every single one of them for the way they officiate week in, week out.

It’s human nature to dislike being criticised and to feel resentful towards the critic.

The referees also read the papers just like everyone else, so they soak up all the anti-Arsenal stories that are trotted out every week (from the utterly contrived Cesc furore this week to the Phil Brown lies and the shameful ‘Eduardo is a diver’ campaign).  You can’t tell me they’re not influenced by this stuff.

Added to that, all EPL refs are British. Arsenal is the most foreign influenced club in the country, both in our predominantly overseas squad and in the way we play football. Culturally, we have less in common with the mindset of the British referee than any other team.

English players like Rooney, Lampard and Terry are known to be chummy with some of the officials once the game is over (I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a lot of Howard Webb relatives with memorabilia signed by the Man Utd players).  I suspect that doesn’t happen with our players (the chumminess I mean, not the dishing out of ManUre tat to distant cousins).

Finally there’s what you might call the underdog factor. We are regularly written up as being the best footballing side in the country. When we play lesser teams I think the refs have a subliminal sense that it’s not fair for all these twinkle-toed little foreign wizards to dance round the lumpen midfielders and defenders in the opposition.

It’s the only explanation I can think of for the fact that we are far more fouled against than fouling, yet we get a higher proportion of yellow cards per foul than any other team. It’s because the officials feel sorry for our opponents.

That’s what I felt happened with Dowd on Saturday. It was evident in stoppage time at the end of the first half when he ignored an appalling off-the-ground lunge through the back of Arshavin from Joey Barton then immediately penalised Diaby for failing to make contact with the Newcastle thug. This was during the well-over three minutes he allowed for added time, even though the fourth official signalled for only two. I’m convinced he played this extra extra time because Newcastle had finally realised that there was a second set of posts up the other end of the pitch and that they were supposed to be attacking them.

It reminded me of when I have refereed kids’ games and one team is getting battered 15-nil. It may be time to blow up, but the losing team finally has an attack so you let them play on in the hope they’ll get a consolation goal.

In a kids’ game it makes you a sentimental old so-and-so.

In a professional match it makes you an embarrassment to your trade.

During the second half, as the Newcastle revival grew following Diaby’s sending off (with which I have no argument), it was like Dowd got all caught up with the excitement of the occasion.

For the second penalty you can see him look at the incident, then turn as if to run away. But then the Newcastle player makes a heated appeal for the pen and Dowd stops and gives it. What excitement! Refereeing a game with a great comeback story! He must have been beside himself.

Even the fourth Newcastle goal shouldn’t have counted, given that it stemmed from a free-kick against us for a non-existent foul. But when Tiote belted in the ‘once-in-a-career’ goal that so many players seem to manage against Arsenal, Dowd knew he would be one of the top games on Match of the Day.

Quite what we do about all this, I don’t know. Arsène Wenger has highlighted the cards-to-fouls stats in the past but it doesn’t make any difference.

I fear that until European referees are allowed into the EPL the subconscious bias against us will continue.

If we do go on to win the league this year (or any time soon), we will only do it by playing better than Man Utd or Chelsea would need to do in similar circumstances (because they do not have the built-in handicap of refereeing prejudice).

We need to go out for every game in the knowledge that we really are, to use the cliché, playing against 12 men.

RockyLives

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The Good, The Bad and The Diaby.

February 6, 2011

Hmmmm where to start with this one? Do I focus on the first half; do I focus on the embarrassing Phil Dowd or do I focus on the much maligned Diaby?

Well, the title works anyway, the first forty five minutes were not just good they were great and certainly the best we have seen since Blackpool at the beginning of the season. Newcastle went in at half time having been ripped apart, totally embarrassed and left for dead or so we thought.

The Bad, yet again dreadful refereeing, two penalties for things that only people who wear special 3D glasses handed out at Old Trafford are able to see.

And then there is Diaby, I hope your leg is alright Abou, I hope there is no lasting damage because your school boy behaviour will certainly cost us dearly by way of points at the end of the season. Bit harsh? The man was charged with holding the midfield together, it was his job to suffer the rough and tumble of that heated battle zone and if you are not hurt, you get up and get on with it. I don’t care how close you come to having your leg broken if it doesn’t snap you get up and carry on doing your dandiest to win the game for your team, the one thing you don’t do is get yourself sent off.

I guess it’s decided then — Diaby catches the lot.

How did the match report become to be so painful to write? This was one of those games that at 3-0 you sat back relaxed with a cold beer and gave your poor old nails a rest from the ravages they have suffered in recent past after being viciously chewed while watching one tense game or another.

This was one of those games when a family member could walk in or someone could phone mid-game and you would speak to them in a calm, pleasant tone. What’s the score? 3-0, GOAL, no make that 4-0, Van Persie has just scored again. Yes, of course, you can borrow some money.

How on earth did it go from that to screaming at the telly, chewing my nails like a demon, kicking the cat and generally being horrible to anyone who was foolish enough to come near me?

I just don’t know, I just don’t have the answer.

As for the game, I could mention what a superb pass it was from Arshavin for Walcott to score, I could complement the Russian again for his second assist inside five minutes by way of the free kick that allowed Djourou to score his first goal for the club, I could praise Theo for the wonderful cut back that gave Van Persie his first; or, of course, I could rave about the quality of the cross by Sagna that gifted Van Persie his second goal but I won’t because you can read better descriptions in the Sunday papers by people capable of describing them far better than I, but what you won’t get in those very same papers is something to read that reflects your pain your suffering and your down right hatred of Joey Barton.

Written by London

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Posted by LB

A Dickens of a week…now great expectations

February 5, 2011
Written by Geoff Strong

After a hardfought, but deserved, victory over Everton (no need to spend any more column inches on that one),  our beloved Scrooge Arsène takes his troops to St James’ Park for their 13th match since Christmas. With this workload it is no surprise that we go there with a somewhat depleted squad, major absentees being Nasri and Song, arguably our two best performers of the season so far.

It will be Newcastles’ first home game following the sale of Andy Carroll, how this will affect the home crowd is hard to predict. The club are trying to convince fans that they did not want to sell, however the relationship between fans and the owner has been strained for some time, so I would not be surprised to see some protests. An early goal for us could tip them over the edge.

Newcastle will be without Shola Ameobi, so I expect they will play a very defensive set up, crowding the midfield with the lone Ranger up front. It is a game where we could really have done with Alex Song. The Toons midfield is combative to say the least and I’m sure Alan Pardew will have them fired up for a game against Monsieur Wenger (remember West Ham). We will have to keep our discipline, particularly after the media attack on Cesc this week.

At home, Newcastle have won 4, drawn 4 and lost 4, scoring 6 goals once and 5 goals twice. Their firepower has been greatly reduced with the loss of Carroll and Ameobi but we have to be wary of Kevin Nolan, and Ranger is one of those quick players that sometimes cause us problems.

In the game against Fulham, Newcastle had Nolan standing in front of the goalkeeper at corners and set pieces. I hope we do not put a player in between, crowding Szczesny, but we have to be aware of him on knockdowns, as this is where he scores most of his goals. If we get this right we should win the game.

Diaby is likely to play alongside Cesc and Jack (if fit) in midfield, with Theo and Andre on the flanks, although I would not be surprised if Nicky starts instead of Andre.

Team:

Another must win game, 3-0 to the gunners, 3-1 if we start pulling off players toward the end and lose our shape.

Come on you reds !

.

Announcement from admin……

Today is AA’s first birthday. The site was launched on the 5th February 2010 and began in fine style with an article written by Big Raddy – Stamford Bridge Over Troubled Water. We’ve come a long way in the last year – 374 posts, 623,000 hits, 40,300 comments and a growing team of authors.

AA has been fortunate to attract some great bloggers and recruited 34 talented writers who have provided a diverse feast of nostalgia, analysis, entertainment and sometimes challenging posts for the site. New writers are always welcome to ‘join the club’.

In the main, we’ve achieved what we set out to do and that was to provide a blog that allowed freedom of opinion without fear of abuse – a haven for those who value the friendship of fellow supporters, who appreciate the written word and reasoned debate, and most importantly, share the passion for our wonderful football club – so good we named it twice.

A big thanks to all those who have been involved. COYRRG

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

David Moyes’s Tunnel Vision

February 4, 2011

Whatever Cesc Fabregas did or didn’t say in the tunnel at half time during the Everton game, David Moyes’s comments on the issue are pathetic.
Clearly he wanted to distract attention away from his team’s latest defeat and their lowly position (15th) in the EPL.

Apart from insisting that Cesc should have been given a red card for what he allegedly said in the tunnel, Moyes also claimed that any fair minded observer would have felt his team deserved to come away with something from Tuesday’s game.

Well, I’m content to assume that his first comment carries as much accuracy as his second: how anyone could think Everton deserved a point from a game in which they were handed a blatantly offside goal by an incompetent ref then spent the entire second half under siege defies belief.

Whatever Cesc said to the referee at half time, the ref did not deem it necessary to card him.

There are allegations in some newspapers that our Number Four questioned whether the officials were being paid. Leaving aside the fact that, in an age of football billionaires, there must be a temptation sometimes by rich owners to ‘fix the odds’ a little, we still have no evidence that that’s what Cesc said.

Yet the redtops have been taking umbrage like a Harlem hooker taking crack. As far as they’re concerned the allegations are fact.

Strangely, when Wayne Rooney left the field in a Manchester United defeat at the hands of Chelsea and mouthed “12 men” to the TV cameras, there was much less furore despite the fact that everyone had clearly seen him impugn the fairness of the officials.

So Moyes banging on about it smells of sour grapes. And of course there’s the hypocrisy. Moyes was charged by the FA in 2007 for implying that referee Mark Clattenburg was biased after a Merseyside derby. Now he’s outraged that Cesc has (allegedly) done something similar.

Cesc should apparently have been red carded for an offence that none of us saw. Yet the cameras catch Wayne Rooney unleashing insults and four-letter-word tirades against officials on an almost weekly basis, mostly without repercussions.

This is what African referee Jeff Selogilwe said of Rooney after the England charmer had sworn at him during a pre-world cup friendly last summer: “I was very disappointed in Rooney because he is my favourite player. He insulted me. He said, ‘F*** you.’ He is a good player when you see him on the TV, but when you see him on the pitch, he just keeps on insulting the referees.”

Quite.

In January Rooney was booked for ranting at the ref in the Spuds-Man Utd game and there are countless other examples of his boorishness. Strangely these incidents attract minimal press coverage, whereas the Cesc story has made headlines all week.

I know some Gooners are worried by what they see as a petulant, argumentative streak in our captain of late, which has seen him spending a lot of time in the referees’ faces.

For me, this is a sign of a desperately committed man who wants to personally drag his team to glory this year.

And it reminds me of the way we used to pressurise refs in the days of Adams, Vieira and Keown – as well as the way Man Utd players still deliberately target officials to make them give decisions in their favour.

It may not be pretty, but if we need to play rough to win something I’ll take it. I also happen to think Cesc’s outbursts are born of genuine desire and frustration, rather than the cynical approach adopted by the Mancs.

So thankyou David  Moyes for sparking the latest bout of xenophobic Arsenal and Fabregas bashing.

Next time remember that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. And what happens in the tunnel should stay in the tunnel.

RockyLives

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No Retreat, No Surrender

February 3, 2011

Written by Wonderman

It was back in August 2007, I remember arriving at my new seat in the North Bank Upper  for the opening game of the season, to a fantastic view of the resplendent Emirates pitch.

Our opponents that day were Fulham,  ‘easy game’ we thought,  except David Healy and Jens Lehman had other ideas. Within 52 seconds we were 1 nil down, you could have heard a pin drop when the ball went in the net. But that day the boys refused to be beaten.

The spine of Lehman, Gallas, Cesc and Van Persie complimented  by the aggression of Flamini and footwork of Hleb  pulled 3 points out of the bag,  by virtue of a Van Persie penalty and an Alexander Hleb goal. Fast forward to the end of January 2008  and we had tasted defeat only once, away at Middlesbrough and even then the squad was robbed of Cesc, Van P, Flamini and Hleb  through our friend injury.

However,  before our very eyes we were  witnessing  the birth of a new paradigm – ‘no retreat  no surrender’ we were refusing to be bullied . It took an injury of savage proportions at Birmingham’s St Andrew’s stadium  to Eduardo to disturb that mental psyche, and it has taken 3 years to regain it.

This season we have the best away record in the league. We have gone to Liverpool, Blackburn Sunderland and Everton and not tasted defeat. Phil Neville was quoted as  stating that ‘Arsenal can’t be kicked off the park anymore’ in mid November . That is some compliment !!

The most emphatic sign of our rediscovered  ‘no retreat no surrender’ attitude was the home win against Chelsea the following month. In that game we were aggressive tactically by imposing our strengths. Walcott not only kept Cole back through Cole’s fear of his blistering pace , but he also defended like his life depended on it every time they tried to attack down that side.

And aggressive physically. Djourou dominated Drogba  for the entire game like never before, whilst Song and Wilshere kept Essien and Lampard quiet whilst Cesc weaved hs magic, it was an unbelievable sight especially as we had been the better team against Man U in the previous game only to return with no points. Our attitude made the most powerful team in the league look powder puff.

Is this a coincidence ? I think not . When you look at what is emerging as our preferred back four Clichy and Sagna are two aggressive full backs who give wingers no peace. I don’t know about you but the look in the eyes of Vermaelen’s first Arsenal photo’s scared me to death  before I even saw him play for us,  but even then, I only had to recall his duel with Van P at the Amsterdam tournament to know his temperament. Who remembers Djourou almost taking the head off a Man U loan player who I think was playing for Wigan at the time, never mind his neutering of Drogba. Kosser has been a revelation for his first season

In midfield we have Nasri who showed Barton what he was about early doors , Wilshere who almost cut Salgado in half at the Emirates cup a couple of years ago, Song  who scraps as much as he delivers exquisite passes, Cesc who gives as good as he gets and Walcott who showed against Chelsea he can deliver in both attack and defence with spite.

Up front Robin is as aggressive as they come and Chamakh has shown he is no slouch.

This season I have sensed a new found refusal to be denied . The key, I think,  is to ensure that the likes of Diaby, Bendtner, Denilson and in fact who ever comes on the field to bring with them our new found mentality … no retreat no surrender once they do that we will not be denied.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

The Sound and Fury of the Crowd- How to Foil a Masonic Plot!

February 2, 2011

Written by Carlito11

En route to meeting Peaches, Rasp, Chary and Harry pre-match I popped into “Drayton Park” Pub for a pint to find it had a majority Evertonian clientele.  Some friendly good-natured banter ensued- mostly at Liverpool’s expense but when we came down to the serious matter of the night’s game we were all able to agree – the first goal would be crucial and make it very difficult for the other team to get a result.

The game started off with plenty of pressure from the Everton midfield and we struggled to get our passing game going. A yellow card for Jack in the opening minutes for what looked an innocuous challenge – this set the tone early for a refereeing debacle – stifling his ability to get stuck in and Everton had the upper hand in central midfield for large parts of the first half – mainly through Fellaini who was everywhere.

The referee, Lee Mason, has a  surname that lends itself well to conspiracy theorists. He managed not to book blue players for similar or harder tackles than Jack’s and when he allowed Louis Saha in a clearly offside position to pick up a ball played through via a deflection off an Arsenal player and score the stadium and players were incredulous. When the big screen played the full replay including the offside pass the place went ballistic! Mason was forced to consult his linesman whilst the crowded howled and bayed but then allowed the goal to stand! Could we pull off a result? The doomers who sit by me informed me that Everton hadn’t lost this season when getting the first goal.

In truth the outlook at the end of the first half was bleak, an injury to Song, Jack tamed by the early yellow card and staunch defending by the Toffees could have left us with the familiar feeling at home this season that it was not be our night. But a sense of righteous anger prevailed and rarely before have all the spectators at the Emirates been so united and galvanized in their support of the team with every call the ref made being called into question, and for once it was wholly justified.

26May1989 summed it up beautifully in comments yesterday (and I believe he is a qualified referee):

“Don’t let anyone say that was anything other than offside. Under Law 11, a player is offside if he “gains an advantage” from being in an offside position. “Gaining an advantage” is explained in the FIFA handbook as including “playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position”. There is even a diagram (diagram 12 on page 107 of the Handbook) that fits the position Caldwell, Saha and Koscielny were in perfectly.

As for the rest of Mason’s performance, absolutely woeful. Playing an advantage? No, won’t bother with that. Booking Arsenal players for minor fouls? Yup. Not booking Everton players for cynically stopping an attack? Nope. Missing a number of fouls on Arsenal players? Sure.”

Second half – the boys come out early to roars from those already in their seats. With the crowd united and decisions going against us, time flew by without enough chances for us but not many for them either. Diaby came on for Song in the second half. I feel the man is a kind of anti-Fabregas: where a simple pass is open he opts for close control and riskily taking on opponents- fine qualities in an attacking midfielder but a worry when shielding the back four. Nonetheless we started to exert more of a grip on the game.Tomas Rosicky was having an ineffectual night and was replaced by Arshavin in the first of 2 excellent attacking subs by the manager , the other being Bentdner for Jack.

The breakthrough came with 20 minutes to play. Fab4 was driving the team on, as he had been all game, and aimed a through-ball which deflected off Rodwell into Arshavin’s path. Showing no doubt he calmly beat Howard from the 6 yard box to cue relief, celebrations and a feeling that although everything was against us we could triumph!

Soon after our mercurial Russian enigma restored hope. Van Persie swung in a peach of a corner which was met emphatically by Koscielny and thereafter we displayed grit and confidence to hold on, bar a scare as Rodwell headed a corner just past the post in the dying minutes.

Much of the media today will focus on Moyes comments that Fabregas should have been sent off at half time for comments made to the ref.  Firstly, what a great smokescreen for defeat from Skeletor. Secondly, with that performance drawing allegations of bribery from even the meekest and most fair-minded fans around me, Fabregas would have had to be struck dumb not to have an angry word. An enquiry into the ref’s performance should ensue but I have a feeling that the press attention will mean our captain is under the spotlight again.

So today is a day we can bask in the feeling that our team can fight for a victory against the odds, that we have a genuine 12th man and that Arshavin is back. Team spirit and righteous anger can defeat even the most determined Mason!

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Enter the Toffees

February 1, 2011

After a less than impressive showing in the 4th round of the FA Cup on Sunday the Arsenal host the Toffees at Ashburton Grove tonight in one of a seemingly interminable series of “must win” league fixtures. After two helpings of Yorkshire pudding the FA Cup will now allow us to sample some jellied eels at Brisbane Road.

Our opponents tonight are Everton, who’s club motto translates to “Nothing but the best is good enough” and their semi-official nick name is “The people’s club” as given to them by the present manager. David Moyes being another dour Scotsman in charge of a multi-league title winning north western club(Everton have been Champions of the old First Division nine times although in the Premier League their best finish has been 4th) – it would be interesting to learn just why they see themselves as “The people’s club”; I can only imagine it’s some slight on their red neighbours at Anfield for having a more international fan base.

Further in the past Everton have also been called the “School of Science” although the physical and bludgeoning style of play they adopted to win their last honour, the FA Cup in 1995, saw them given the tag “The dogs of war.”

Everton will be arriving in London on the back of a draw against the “Bus stop in Fulham” in their FA Cup tie (the day before our game against Huddersfield) where they were without their top scorer in Tim Cahill. Having been on Asia Cup duty on Sunday it is doubtful if he will play due to a combination of jet lag and fatigue which will probably rule him out. “The Bus stop in Fulham” team having been busy in spending cash in the January transfer window in such a manner as to make their Chief Exec’s claim on breaking even in the near future seem even more ludicrous than usual.

Cahill has scored 9 league goals this season, with the next highest number of league goals being 3, scored by Seamus Coleman, Mikel Arteta and ex-Leeds Jermaine Beckford. Cahill aside Everton’s strikers have failed to score consistently so one would expect them to continue to struggle in front of goal without their Australian spear head.

Aside from Cahill the Toffees will have no absent first teamers with the departure of Pienaar to the Stratford Wanderers being the only major change the opposition will have to make to their first XI from the return fixture.

Back then Arsenal prevailed with a 2-1 win in November, a victory which though hard fought was more comfortable than the score line suggests as the Everton goal was scored in the 89th minute.

In the league Everton have drawn their last two games and beaten the aforementioned Stratford Wanderers in the game before; they now sit 14th in the table, with an overall 5 wins, 12 draws and 6 losses in all league games. By way of comparison we are in 2nd place due to 14 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses.

An enforced change to Arsenal will be the loss of the Squid for one match due to his red card on Sunday; however it was highly likely that our current preferred centre back pairing would have started tonight anyway, namely Johan and Kozzer as the congestion in the top 3 spots of the Premier League allows us no leeway in terms of potentially dropped points.

On the assumption that Sagna is recovered from the concussion suffered in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final against Ipswich last Tuesday I expect him to start tonight.

As one of the joint second highest scorers in Everton Coleman will be a threat down Everton’s right flank and it is for that reason Clichy should be recalled as Gibbs looked a tad rusty on Sunday and in any case Wenger should play his first choice left back.

Similarly Leighton Baines at left full back for Everton has rightly gained praise for his performances and we’ll need Sagna to be on form to nullify his attacking threat down our right flank.

Another midfield threat will be Jack Rodwell, similar in some ways to our own Jack Wilshere who I expect to line up against him as he is in fine form. Marouane Fellaini will use his considerable height and strength to snuff out as much of the attacking play coming from our midfield as he can so it’s important we send out our first choice XI, meaning a midfield of Cesc, Jack and Song with as front three of Robin, Theo or Arshavin (being brought in due to Nasri’s hamstring injury) and Bendtner.

Yet another potential sticking point in midfield will be the obdurate Heitinga who tops Everton’s yellow card count with 4, closely followed by Fellaini with 3 yellows and 1 red.

For the above reasons I expect us to line up as follows:

Subs: Almunia, Arshavin, Chamakh, Eboue, Gibbs, Denilson, Diaby

Inclusion of Denilson and/or Diaby in that mid field would seriously weaken our engine room in the face of a hard-working, although technically less gifted, Everton midfield.

Your humble scribe will be at the game behind the goal at the clock end shouting/cheering himself hoarse having lubricated the throat with the prerequisite quota of peronis at a bar in the vicinity of the stadium beforehand.

With hindsight it can be argued that a shade too much rotation took place on Sunday and we were slightly lucky to get through to the next round however I expect our first string to focus their minds on keeping up the pressure on the team, managed by our “friend” with the whiskey infused proboscis, that play in Salford.

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Posted by ChärybdÏß1966

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