Thanks to the Siberian oligarch’s team conceding a late equaliser at the DW stadium last night the Arsenal travel to Rowsley Street, hoping to go level third on points as long as the Sunderland revival continues at the Looters habitat in the swamplands of N17.
The Etihad stadium is east of central Manchester and is a stadium leased from Manchester Municipal council, the irony of the world’s wealthiest club occupying a council property is not lost on the majority of clubs in football struggling to make ends meet.
The Abu Dhabi owned north western club’s unbeaten run was bought to a shuddering halt by events at the bus stop in Fulham last weekend so the aura of league invincibility has been broken.
Additionally the expected exit from the top flight of European football that preceded the league set back will have some effect on the team dynamic for the Sky Blues on show today, however they still have a 100% home record this season and will jealously guard that record.
The Arsenal have seven wins and a draw from their last eight (the draw being at home against Fulham) so form wise things don’t look too shabby for us.
The main talking point team selection wise will be the full backs for either side. Taking the home team first, Clichy ‘s unavailability and the other first team left back’s(Kolarov) injury means it is expected that Zabaleta will switch from his usual right sided position so that a returning Micah Richards can slot into his preferred right back spot.
As for the good guys, it is well documented that both the first choice and back up for both full back positions are all out injured so we continue with an all centre-back derived back four. As there are no injuries or returnees from injury from the Everton game the back four should be as before, from left to right as we look at it: Djourou, Kozzer, Per (BFG), and The Verminator.
In midfield the first choice trio of Song, Arteta and Ramsey virtually picks itself with front three being Theo, Gervinho and Robin.
Trying to pick the opposition team, aside from their fullbacks and goalie is less predictable suffice to say that there is a wealth of options available to Mancini, however one would expect to see their key man Silva start with any two up front from a choice of three strikers from Aguero, Dzeko and the pyrotechnic, synthetic grass allergic prankster.
The other midfield places up for grabs could see the Ballon D’or candidate S. Na$ri esq show us his skills in advance of his appearances in the Premier European competition as showcased by Channel 5, namely the Europa Cup.
To my mind the strength of the attacks down the flanks will decide who breaks through to score – both sides do not have their ideal full backs, however the good guys will have had the experience of the Everton game operating as a defensive unit whereas the home side will not be settled and have a right back who is not only returning from injury but has a tendency to attack sufficiently to allow Gervinho to exploit any space behind Micah Richards, especially as Gervinho won’t have to assist defensively as the Verminator is no slouch at left back.
Theo’s willingness to track back should afford Djourou a degree of protection so with those two facts in mind I expect some solidity in defence.
With our possession game on song nowadays I believe patience will be required to quieten the home crowd so that a nil nil at half time should get the boos ringing out at the Municipal ground in M11, Lancashire.
In keeping with this season’s motif in match previews, I point you in the direction of Reverend George Garrett a product of 1850’s Moss Side, the inventor of the world first mechanically driven submarine and the possessor of a fine beard-bald head combo.
Down periscope !
Sadly his first attempt at a sub sank (the Resurgam, which weighed in at 45 tons) after a towing rope snapped and his reputation suffered to such an extent that he died in abject poverty at the turn of the century in New York, having emigrated there in order to revive his flagging reputation. Perhaps a salutary tale for the noveau riche of the Premier League.
COYRRG.
Charybdis1966.
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Morning all,
Is there any football on today?
DidIt Towers.
Morning chas – are you changing your avatars daily? What happened to Rory?
evonne – keep taking the pills and it will all be fine 😀
Today is going to be one of those ………. how many hours to go?
Dive, dive, dive.
Superb chary.
“wealth of talent” 🙂
Thank you chary for stepping up to the breach, a very enjoyable read.
Whoever decided that the centre-backs should be fit this season was a wise man and we should all be thankful. I would love TV5 to have the confidence to roam forward from his left-back position like he does from the centre, he didn’t really do that last week but maybe he’s been practising 😉
peaches, Rory was a temporary visual joke.
Even I wouldn’t subject him on other AAers permanently.
Do you like my new one?
TA has volunteered the match report so the rest of you can relax and enjoy blogging with me without fear of being nabbed 🙂
It’s interesting 😛
What time do you need to leave home for the game?
Hey chas great preview – I like how you say “the good guys” when talking about the team etc – it truly is a battle of good vs evil, two different philosophies battling it out. So I think Mr Wenger will really like to win this one… cmon lets do a 1-0 on them! That would be a great in your face from Arsenal result…
I have to say that I think the Rev. Garrett’s beard/bald combo is very clever. He can easily wear his head upside down and look entirely normal.
there i go getting chary and chas mixed up again – sorry guys!
My bro has suggested 11.30. I’m driving for a change.
ETA 1.30, plenty of time to find a parking spot and a couple of pre-match beers. 🙂
Chary,
I get the feeling from your post that you enjoyed doing it as much as I enjoyed reading it. That’s good. Thank you.
Peaches,
Its the “other” Rasp I’m worried about being nabbed by.
Micky 🙂
Chas,
Are you in the away end, or amongst the natives?
Look how clever I am 🙂
BR,
If you are reading, hope all is well.
Away end, Micky. I presume it’s in the same spot in front of which Adebywhore celebrated.
Lovely snow. Hope there’s none on the roads!
Snow!!!!
Something just for me to sit and stare at until 4:00 pm.
Great Chas. You’ll have a fine day with the finest away fans in the land.
Chary – very good post, thank you so much.
Micky – consider yourself lucky!!
Guys, do any of you know if there is a bar with TV at the arrivals at Heathrow?
Morning all,
Micky, I promise to be myself from now on 🙄
Thanks for a witty pre-match chary – simmering with anti manc nuances.
Like every game, this one is the most important of the season, a draw for us will be seen as a victory by most. We need to keep Silva away from the ball and snap at their collective heels in midfield.
It appears they run out of ideas after about an hour if the game is not going their way so I think patience is of the essence. If we go marauding forward and leave ourselves vulnerable to the counter we will be aslking for trouble.
Evonne,
Genius plan. Send a “tip off” to customs with a detailed description of the alleged trafficer. That should buy you aroung 90 mins at which point you appear like a knight in shining armour. A win win solution.
Back up, of course, is the old bomb scare routine. Harmless and effective, I always think.
Cmon you Gunners, hoops, villans and mackems.
Trafficking good etiquette and manners?
Micky – you are not being helpfull!
Chas – avoid eye contact with police, walk casualy, but not fast, pretend to receive a call on your mob and smile all the time
Hi Rasp,
I actually disagree about the importance. A win or a draw would be immense, but I don’t think a loss would be in any way fatal. A win at Villa on weds and we could still be top four at Christmas.
Win both, and we’re nailed on Champions 🙂
Wow Micky, that would make it the CL and Prem double – who’d have thought 🙄
Rasp,
The CL is already nailed on, it is just that we need to ease ourselves gently up the league until our new front man arrives in january. Fact.
Back here for my twice-yearly visit with seasonal greetings to my old sparring partners and wishes for a good game of football this arvo.
Never mind your fit central defenders, whatever you guys are offering to the gods for the continued fitness of RVP seems to be paying rich dividends and he’s the guy I fear most. I’m not a big Walcott fan, he’s very fast, in the manner of a runaway express train but seems to have trouble going sideways, if we let him run he’d probably end up in Stockport or OT depending on which way we kick off.
Don’t place too much trust in our hiccup at Chelski – if we’d have been awarded the nailed on penno at 1-0 I believe we’d have buried them.
If we play the way we can, and with the quality of our squad we should win, especially if we start Silva, Yaya, Ballotelli, Aguero. The imponderables are:
1. Which Richards turns up – the marauding big kid in the playground who tears up the wing and shreds the fullback or the dreamer who switches off and does an ‘after you, Claude’ to the opposing winger.
2. Van Persie – fully capable of getting a wonder goal out of nowhere.
3. Whether Ballotelli, if picked, stays on the pitch for the full 90
4. Corners – we still haven’t quite got it right, either attacking or defending
Anyhow, all the best for a Champs League win and a well-deserved 2nd place in the Prem. Have a good Crimbo.
Bluevalentine
Morning all, popping in & out as family stuff today, but thanks for the kind words and especially BV who, after the vitriol from the last bunch of his fellow supporters, reminded us there is decent banter possible with oppo fans.
The fact I’ve only just started the first coffee of the day is my excuse for not understanding your title for my post Raspers.
Sorry, I’m thick what does it mean ?
Hi chary, sorry, it seems I was being too clever 😦
CB4 = we have no full backs so we will be playing 4 centrebacks
CH5 = city will be being screened on Channel 5 for their Europa league games
Excellent Raspers, no you were clever, I was thick !
Now if only I had kept my big bazoo shut I could have taken the credit for the title. 😳
Here is my schedule for today.
Barca vs Santos (3-0 to Barca) Live right now at 6:28 am
QPR vs Man U @ 7:00 am
Villa vs Pool @ 9:00 am
City vs Arsenal @ 11:00 am
American Football up next…
Miami vs Buffalo @ 1:00 pm
New England vs Denver @ 4:00 pm
Baltimore vs San Diego @ 8:00 pm
17 hours of sport – It’s going to be a tough old day……………..
Cracking write up Chary. Really excited about today, expecting some fireworks and a win for the good guys.
Citeh struggle to keep clean sheets but expect to score freely, we will not allow that.
Evonne, you can watch LOF on your mobile.
GN5, 17 hours of sport? Bloody hell, that’s stamina.
Welcome to Ernie Whalley. Don’t get me wrong though, the takeover of your club by the Abu Dhabi Government means I wish nothing but failure and destruction to MCFC. But I can still be polite about it!
Nice prematch Chary, especially like your choice of inventor. I’m not feeling too optimistic about today, I reckon we’ll lose 1-0 or 2-0. But I’m praying I’m wrong. I think Shitty will sacrifice someone to man-marking van Persie, taking both out of the equation. And Vermaelen and Djourou aren’t wired to support the wingers, and will feel doubly cautious, whichever combination of Silva, Aguero, Balotelli, Johnson, and the Fat French Twat we are faced with. So if we are to achieve anything in attack today, it looks to me like it’s going to depend on something special from Walcott and Gervinho. Or maybe a surprise sub contribution from Benny or Arshavin.
I won’t be able to watch the match live today, so won’t be able to participate in discussions till after I’ve watched it this eve. Sorry about that.
Thanks 26, if they do man mark Robin he should just go and shadow Silva thus taking 2 of their players out of the equation while we lose only one.
Chary top pre match there.
Best wishes to Raddy and family.
Reckon if City decide to man mark RvP it will be with De Jong as they don’t really have any spare defenders.
Need our back 4 to play as defenders first today and the midfield to think about winning the battle before playing the Wengerball.
There are some good match ups all over the park.
Song vs YaYa
Silva vs Verm
Balotelli/Aguero vs Kos/BFG
Gerv vs Richards
RvP vs Kompany
Should be fun.
Today we must remember is not be all and end all of our season. Yes a draw would be satisfying, a win extraordinary but a loss would not be the end of the world. Rarely are the top 4 positions decided by games against each other it is games against the rest that count.
Nice stuff Chary, i agree the flanks are going to be crucial today. This overhype over City does amuse me, this is a contest between 2 evenly matched teams and the side who makes the least mistakes will bag the points. If we stay disciplined and dig in, we have every chance.
Sharkey – REALLY??? Now you are telling me, you little diamond 🙂 xxxxxxxxxxxx
cheers for the good read chary. All the best BR, hope all is well.
Agree TMHT. the battle of the flanks will determine the winner. Walcott has been on fire and he will cause zabeletta all sorts of problems just like the ox did. We should attack through him at every opportunity because he is reckless (just ask sagna last season). Get him a yellow early on and he will have to let walcott pass through everytime. The runs from yaya must be tracked also, he has a tendancy to maraud into the box. I fully expect them to try and soak up the pressure with a defensive midfield of de jong, barry and yaya and hit us off the break with aguero and silva. I hope a repeat of the carling cup does not take place!
1-2 victory!
actually milner will be in place of de jong
So evonne how are you watching the game? oh that’s a shame you’re going to miss it, bugger. I’d be angry if i missed a big game like this one…oh that’s right i won’t miss a second. It’s not like the game could decide our season or anything! No no it actually is a vital game!
haha sorry couldn’t resist!
Hmmm United win, wonder how that will effect the way City approach the game?
A draw will only put them level, and I’m sure they will want to maintain the gap so expect them to be more expansive than we are thinking.
Big game today, but not crucial as far as our final league position is concerned. Not many sides will get anything from the Etihad this season, so league wise it’s not a must win game.
However, form and confidence wise, it could be a don’t lose game. Getting any kind of result here would do wonders for our self confidence going into the Xmas run.
City are a side who always look like a red card waiting to happen, espescially with players like Balotelli, Zabaleta and De Jong, and also with the sometimes clumsy players like Lescott, Richards and Kompany. The ref could well be a deciding factor today.
Liverpool 2 up in 14 minutes…………..
Hope Agbonlahor and Bent are missing Wednesday cos Villa look awful without them!
Great post as always on this blog. One day I’ll write one to change that 🙂
It definitely is a “how long before the game” day Peaches.
http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2011/12/16/can-manchester-citys-new-money-fix-their-woeful-record-against-arsenal-161201/?
Any thoughts that Bent and Abonglahor have been left out to preserve transfer value in January?
When they mentioned it on 5 Live the presenter started to say “news concerning Arse….. Aston Villa”
Oh dear, I have to disagree with you all in a friendly “we’re all in this together” kind of way.
When you include the benches, I don’t think they are evenly matched sides also, I have a feeling the critical part of our game will be how Song, Arteta and Ramsey manage to open up their defence and supply quality ammunition to our front three.
Having said all that, when I think how against the Chavs we could have been two down in ten minutes then I start to believe in Lady Luck’s part in the whole thing.
The great thing is that we go into the game feeling together and positive, and that counts for alot.
Well done Sharkey for sorting out Evonne.
Great pre match Chary, on par with raddy’s…….
Huge game today, need to get something out of this, I fancy us to win by 1 odd goal if all step up.
Song needs to be massive today, him and arteta are the key players for me, if they keep their midfield quiet and then allow the others like RVP and Walcott to play. I expect Kozzer to keep them quiet, with TV, BFG and JD been solid.
City 2 Arsenal 3
GiE,
That’s what I call “lateral thinking extreme” 🙂
Yikes,
The Christmas tree lights have just exploded.
I’ll take that as a positive sign I suppose.
Agbonlahor is suspended, bent injured.
Well our line up is as above and we all could have guessed it, the interest was more in theirs……..
Hart
richards Kolo VK Zabaletta
barry Yaya
Na$ri Aguero Silva
Balotelli
Still fancy us……..Mancini has played all his aces from the start………
Mancini is smart in playing 4-4-2. They are happy for us to have possession and will hit us on the counter. A lot will spend on wether we can create chances as they will sit deep and make it difficult for us to break through.
Ramsey needs to have a very good game to counter against them parking the bus.
100% on the team….quel surpris?
Great Pre-Match Chary. You have done yourself proud Sir! 🙂
Cannot stay long as I have family visiting at the moment (to watch the match).
Get through the first 20 min unscaved and we’ll beat them. I reckon today Gervinho will announce himself to the world stage with a brace (only dreaming).
0-1 to the Arse!! COYRRG
FGG,
I have a feeling they’ll come at us all guns blazing and try and get an early goal. Weather that storm, and we’ll be at the races.
Quite a weak bench for us.
Come on you Gunners..
Champions League, you’re avin a laugh!
Good start by our away fans
Lady luck has been with us so far we should be 2 goals down.
City are unleashing the dragon, we really need to concentrate.
Great shot from the Gerv.
Come on Rambo
We are carrying a threat which is promising.
We didn’t start great against Chelsea but always looked threatening ourselves which is important.
I’m not watching at the moment, according to the BBC stats, Song got a yellow for his first foul – was that fair or is this ref going to produce a performance similar to the toon game?
Ah what a chance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gervinho and Ramsey are linking up well together.
Walcott has not been in the game so far.
We are looking good on the break, but we shouild be 2-3 down based on the best chances.
Walcott forgot to have his weetabix this morning he’s getting pushed off the ball every time 😦
Chesney, so brave – he definitely had his weetabix
Walcott is doing nothing
Rasp
dowd is the ref that’s all you need to know about cards
Szczensy is our MOM so far while at the other end England`s No. 1 looks vunerable and beatable.
scum have won
Phew, they’re gonna need a cup of tea ……………
Good first half….weathered the early storm.
Song booking daft think we were a bit too eager as a midfield and defensive unit to try and nick the ball. Now we’re forming a good line and midfield is picking up loose ball when we are set. Took us a while to sort out but once we did we looked better.
City have created most clear cut chances but we have created a couple too, a lucky bounce our way would have seen us take the lead. Gerv and Ramsey both finding good space between the lines, need Walcott to offer the same on the right.
Benches will win it but think we’ve both played trump cards.
Looked like Djourou was struggling at end which could mean defensive shift (Kos to RB, Verm to CB and Miquel to LB).
Yes City look good but we aren’t caving in, we just need to hold ball a bit better occasionally, longer it stays 0-0 more chance home fans getting restless and us nicking one.
Ramsey, Gervinho, Koscielny, BFG, Verm and Sz all playing well. Not enough good service to RvP yet.
Wish we would stop booing Na$ri tho always has a habit of coming back to bite us.
Good half.
We have rode our luck at times but we are playing a top top team away from home so wouldn’t expect us to dominate. We need to be more relaxed in the middle of the park. Arteta seems a little panicked on the ball but that’s also down to good pressing from City.
To be fair to Zabaleta he has marshalled Theo really well so far but Theo has made it easy for him by playing in front of him instead of being on his shoulder. Djourou’s reluctance to get forward isn’t helping either because it means Theo has to fill the drop further back.
Ramsey and Gerv are linking well and both have been good outballs for us. Kozzer has also been outstanding as always.
Szcsesny MOTM so far but you could say he is yet to make a world class save. His block from Balotelli was excellent though.
Great game and our performance just shows how far we have come as a competitive side.
City don’t have many more gears to go through but we could definately improve which is promising.
good call GiE re Djuorou
Our away fans are doing us proud – home crowd should take note.
Damn…………………
I guess Man C have a Silva lining………..
Arshavin coming on lets hope he gets his Arsh in gear…………
Walcott coming off – he will not be missed……..
2 touches from Arshavin both wayward.
What a game this is!
Win or lose you have to love this!
Oh no and now we bring on the Cham……………..
Chamakh to score a brace (please god)
GM – the problem is that Chamakh is in a leg brace…………
Why do we even have Arshavin and Chaakh on our bech – they are both nothing more than planks…….
F…………………………………………..
I don’t think there’s any shame in that. A few months ago they would have slaughtered us. That’s probably one of the hardest games they’ve had. Chamakh and Arshavin need to go for me.
Have we got 4 defenders left?
Magnificient best game of the season.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on a fantastic game of football.
Did everything we could to get a result.
The reorganisation of defence didn’t help, Kos was still in CB mode when the ball was played wide.
Top performance and effort from the lads and it just wasn’t meant to be. City certainly gave us a lot of respect and we were just lacking that bit of quality in the final 3rd.
Disappointed by the result not by the performance.
I think that’s as honourable defeat as you’ll see. Bugger? Yes, but a very good performance. City are very good, and that was mighty close.
Don’t need to buy another striker, TV can play upfront RVP gets injured!!!
I applaud every single player involved in that game. Outstanding from start to finish. We deserved a point but hey ho, u can’t av it all.
If I compare how I felt after losing against Blackburn compared to how I feel after this defeat and you would think we won the league!
Easy to slate Arshavin as I’m sure many will do, but that performance was a joy. 110% effort from everyone. Arteta was AMAZING second half. Gerv showed he is gunna be a class signing. RvP was outstanding second half and plays that lone striker role better than anyone in world football. Vermaelen was great and I thought Mertersacker did well before coming off.
This team has so much bottle and fight. I just hope the players realise how good they were today and take it as a positive and go destroy Villa on Wednesday.
I think our players will take a lot of positives from that. We now only have to visit anfield as far as top teams go. No other team has that.
A great game of football and I thought we were worth a point today, end to end stuff with chances at either end.
Walcott was awful today, he had no end product and in fact, he had not starting product either. Arshavin was poor when he came on and I firmly believe he will be gone come January.
As GIE said, disappointed by the result, but NOT the performance, our MOJO is back and with a bit more guile and luck today, we would have shared the points.
Every week I watch the PL and every week I have to listen to utter dross and controversy surrounding shit games and stupid decisions.
It was a joy to be able to watch a game played with such positivity and effort without it being spoiled by some dodgy decisions or contraversial action.
Gary Neville had it spot on when he said the game didn’t need a ref today.
Proud to be an Arsenal supporter today and proud to be a lover of football. The modern game often leaves me annoyed and unfulfilled, but not Today. Great game and great football,well done lads.
Good performance.
We were undone by the officials.
Two blatant penalties and RvP’s goal wrongly ruled out for offside.
Dowd is a poor, poor ref.
Magnificent it was not but the team showed real heart and never gave up.
A bloody shame that our bench is full of splinters. It is beyond reason to avoid the obvious fact that Arshavin and Chamakh are liabilities!
What a shame that Walcott had a poor game – and just when we needed him the most – too bad, but he will become our hero – one day.
Our bench looks as deep as a puddle offensively. It would have been better to bring on Oxo than Arsh, but there are no exciting options there.
However, apart from the bad officiating, the biggest factor in our defeat was not having any recognised FBs. An experienced FB would normally have been in the position where Silva was standing unmarked for their goal.
Our CBs playing out of position did as well as they could, but it’s not like having real FBs. I thought JD was poor in the first half, but we were worse after he went off and we switched around the defence.
Overall, as has been said, we can be proud of the performance. The biggest disappointment for me was Theo, who just didn’t get into the game.
Great performance & there is a lot of fighting spirit from our boys. Too bad with the result though, we should at least grab a point.
Vermaelen seems much better striker than Arshavin and Chamakh. I guess their time is up.
Today we may lost the battle, but by May next year we’ll won the war.
I’m sorry RL but i have to wholeheartedly disagree.
That was an amazing game of football that passed without controversy.
When Richards handballed it his arm was by his side and he had no time to react.
I’m not sure what the other pen u refer to is but if it was the Toure tackle on Ramsey then he clearly played the ball.
Why not just enjoy the great game for what it was?
Rocky, I agree totally with your comment regarding bringing on Oxo rather than Arshavin, as for for me, he brings much more to the party and he would have hurt City with his pace and directness.
We were game, we tried, but ultimately, City used the space and ball far better than we did and we were found wanting up front today, although Hart made some very good saves as well.
FGG
I enjoyed the game thoroughly and I’m proud of our lads. What makes you think I didn’t enjoy it?
But enjoying a game does not stop me from highlighting bad decisions that affect the result.
You haven’t mentioned the RvP offside… he was level, he scored and the goal was not allowed. You don’t think that had any bearing on the game?
On close analysis the Toure/Ramsey incident was a pen (he fouled after playing the ball); and the ‘ball-to-hand’ rule usually applies when the ball hits the arm from a few feet away, not from 25 yards away. Richards (?) made a hash of trying to play it with his body and turned his body so that his arm played the ball. You generally see those given, but never by Dowd when it’s the away team who would benefit, even though Dowd was staring straight at it from about 8 yards distance.
RVP was offside Rocky
GM
Gervinho was offside, RvP wasn’t – he was level. I’ve watched it about five times.
Did anyone saw Richard’s handball? And that fatty Dowd was only two yards in front of him. Fucking twat!
Very good game of football, Chary said earlier that strength of the attacks down the flanks will decide who breaks through to score and we lose on that one because Walcott didnt have any impact on the game.
Imo we suffers from the injuries of our fullback, because our CB4 today didnt supported the attack enough, and there was no outlet on the flank when both our wingers cut inside.
Rob
Agree completely on all counts.
I think RvP was a smidge offside, remember its any part of his body that can play the ball, so head or chest leaning forwards is offside.
I thought the Richards handball could have been given, for me his arm is by his side but moves towards the ball.
What impressed me most from our performance today was we weren’t the ones play acting, that role fell to Richards (who sure does like a tumble and tried to get Song sent off), Aguero (another whole likes a roll around) and Barry. Some will say professional.
And while we talk about class lets talk about Man City announcing Samir Nasri as MotM on the Tannoy. Jokers!
Not sure the linesman on our back line was going to give us anything second half, he didn’t raise the flag when Richards was blatantly off late on.
I don’t like Dowd, but he managed against his usual instincts to keep 11 of ours on the pitch today.
RL,
RvP was offside.
The reason Richards didn’t have time to react is cos he didn’t see the ball until it came over the head of the 2 players stood directly in front of him. The ball may have come a long way but he didn’t see it until it was about 3 yards from him.
As I said earlier, it’s a joy to watch a game of football for being great without having to come up conspiracy and controversy. Arsenal were not badly done to in any shape or form today. We were unlucky not to get a point, but that had nothing to do with the officiating. There was only 1 chance we had that was ruled offside incorrectly but Hart made a great save anyway.
Have to disagree FGG. I can only call it as I saw it.
Whilst Walcott didn’t get in the game today he didn’t get played in much either. As Rob says lack of support from JD and then Koz being one reason. TV and then Miq certainly helped Gerv out more.
But then late on Gerv had the chance to put it in front of Theo but instead played it to his feet when there was ground to run into and City were retreating, he needs the right service more than anyone else, if he gets it he can be lethal. Good to see him peeved at coming off though, he seemed to suggest he had the beating of Zabaletta to Pat Rice but I can see why Wenger took him off. AA23 may not be everyones cup of tea and in really bad form, but he has more chance of picking a pass, and finding himself in place to score.
Half of me hoped either he or MC could be the hero today.
FGG I agree with your 6:47 comments.
Today was more about the quality of our benche than it was about officiating. I was not happy with JD but we were worse after he was taken off.
In the end result all of our subs were duds…………..
And Ramsey was awful today. Great energy, but didnt offer any attacking threat apart from his early chances.
Hi All,
we dug in and gave a fighting performance, and as many have said, proud to be an Arsenal fan today. But…
It wouldn’t have cost the earth to have a bit more quality on the bench. Why AW didn’t off-load Arshavin and Chamakh in the summer defies logic. And whilst I’ll concede we’ve been unlucky losing both left-backs, Gibbs has always been injury-prone. Baines or Enrique could have been bought. But the right-back situation is poor management concerning the over-all balance of the squad.
We can allow Walcott one poor game, he’s stepped up recently, but I want to see Gervinho step up too.
I’m upset at losing, but more disappointed that we didn’t have anyone on the bench to worry the opposition.
Note to self, don’t go looking at other blogs!
I’m more concern about the back up for our attacking mid/winger than a backup striker.
If Arsene decided to buy in January, I hope he can find someone that can play both as an AM or winger. It will be a big plus if he can play as a strikes as well.. 🙂
*striker
IMO, Ox should be ahead of AA in the pecking order on recent form and could have made a difference from the bench. Frimpong, Rosicky and Miquel are fine squad players but we lack the attacking options from the bench.
When AA and MC came on today I can guarantee that I wasn’t the only one hoping for an AA cross onto MC’s head for an equaliser. Wenger must also have this attitude as seeing as he was the one who bought these players, that feeling must be multiplied by 10. What Arsene needs to learn is that sometimes he might be wrong about a player. It’s time for these 2 to move on and be replaced with younger, hungrier players.
Herb haven’t we been unlucky losing two right backs too? Sagna and Jenkinson?
I think Ox will get his chance to start up at Villa, or at least come off bench.
There will be some tired legs after today so we really need to get the result wrapped up nice and early up at Villa Park.
I agree with that ginger. We have a real defensive crisis for the villa game. Song is suspended and JD will probably be out
Crisis for Villa? I guess we will start Villa as we played before BFG was subbed today. Kos, BFG, TV, Miquel.
As for depth after that its looking bare.
It’s not a crisis.
A back 4 of Koz Per TV Miquel ain’t that bad. If Per is crocked then we may have a struggle. Gibbs is due back over Xmas according to AW so may be fit. Villa were dreadful today and if Bent and Agbonlahor are still out then we should be okay.
Who will be on the bench Ginger?
alongside almunia
To be able to put out a back 4 of Koz Per TV Miquel with 4 full backs and 2 possible CB’s injured (Djourou, Song) shows real depth. It’s ironic that the position we apparently lack quality in us probably our strongest! We need an attacking midfielder/wide player and a forward. If we get those then we are a top squad.
We will have to put youngsters on the bench I imagine. If City lost Richard, Zabaleta, Kolarov, Clichy, Savic and Lescott then they would have a back 4 of Onouha Toure Kompany Bridge and no subs! Yet apparently they have a huge squad.
I’m very very upset we lost today but overall I’m very happy with and proud of the team. We never dropped our heads and we carried on trying right to the end. I do so love our team and we didn’t deserve the loss at all. It was fairly even and we should have gotten a point or even 3. Alas on to the next one and 3 points on Wednesday!
I have to say I agree with RL about RvP’s ‘offside(s)’. It wasn’t IMHO and was just another bad call in a terrible officating display especially from Phil Dowd. Refereeing just keeps getting worse and it makes me so mad. As for Walcott he was fairly quiet today which shocked me as he normally thrives in these kind of games.
Djourou out for 3 weeks is heartbreaking as I thought he was doing fairly well at RB. You never know though Miquel could do a Jenkinson and perform better than expect. I think he’s a very good player 🙂
RvP was clearly offside when he scored.
If any part of the body that you can legally score with ie head, chest, foot, pube etc! Is in front of the last defender then you are off. RvP was leaning forward and was clearly offside!
If ever there was an honourable defeat that was it.
I fully expect us to bounce back with ease. This was a defeat but no morale should be harmed, gave as good as we got. Off to Villa Park to give them a hiding, McLeish continues to get anything but the best from his squad.
Brilliant game of end to end football, where we more than matched them, a fair result was a draw all day long, probably should have been 2-2………..I certainly dont think city deserved to win anymore than us,….
I dont like Dowd, never have never will, he cost us last season at the barcodes ( i will never let that one lie), today he had a bizarre game, some vert strange decisions indeed.
For me mIcah richards was a blantant handball that you will see, for me his arm change direction of the ball and thats enough for me.
On RVP’s goal, by the letter of the law ” any part of the body” was offiside by a fraction but so tight, but then also was silva, his arm was out reached, but that arguement and decision is so thin, wish we could go back to clear daylight, easier to judge, well unless your that linesman when richards is about 5yards offside.
Regards JD, there is other options, depends who wenger would prefer in the middle with BFG.
For me Miquel is more than adequate at LB and for right I would go for Coquelin, actually he would offer an attacking threat from full back which we lacked at times today. So pick your middle two and then the full back needed out fo those two. Gibbs plays tomorrow in a reserve match, so should be back after villa.
Their goal came off the back of the reshuffle at the back, some players were woefully out of position at the time, they hadnt focussed.
Walcott was a peripheral figure today, however i woudl not have taken him off, send him down the middle and bring RVP in behind would have been my tactic………
I thought arteta was sublime and at times majestic today. Song was also strong as usual and he gave his all, will be a miss against Villa, but Frimpers needs games and he wont let us down for sure.
There is a comment above from Rob, about Ramsey that I find incredulous to say the least, watched a different game maybe…?
I thought Gervinho was more effective today, just needs to hone his decision making and he will be a star that is no doubt.
I do feel today was a day for the Ox to be on the bench and hope he is seen more, as I agree with other comments about effectivce players on the bench, so disappointed with AA23 again today.
Although I think our squad is deeper and stronger than most give us credit for, I do believe we need 2 in over the TW. I would go for Vertonghen and a striker who can play in the hole or as the target man……….
I’m proud of our efforts today.
Walcot was a bit of a no show and it was a bit of mystery to me as to why, seeing as he has been doing very well recently. He seemed to make it easier for Zabaleta by not showing for a ball in behind or over the top.
Is Yaya Tiure really the bees knees that people say he is. I ver rarely see anything good from him. I can see that he is a big bully who throws his weight around and has a spitefiul streak, but he’s hardly a dominating force in midfield. He looks pretty unfit as well.
One thing that bemuses me, and it is one thing, is when we took BFG off and put MC on we had the chance to go 3-5-2, ok it would have been bold, but you had Gerv on right who was full of running offensively and defensively, had three CBs on the pitch, could easily have gone Kos, TV, Miquel at the back. Instead we bring Song back into CB and Verm ends up being our most advanced CB (not that its a bad thing).
Its the second time we have tried that now, was it Fulham at home we did the same? But both times Song has gone back to CB.
Wo. Have just finished watching that. As a football fan, what a game, so intense. As an Arsenal fan, I feel pretty much the same as everyone: disappointed to lose but proud at a quality performance. I might hate this incarnation of City but what they have on the pitch is top quality, and our guys almost matched them.
Walcott wasn’t superb but can’t see how Ramsey or Gervinho deserve criticism, both played very well IMO. As did most of our team. Best keeper around, no contest. Kos and Vermaelen superb. Arteta, Ramsey and Song excellent. Van Persie battled hard against CBs and a DM who were excellent. Just not enough on the bench, sad to say.
Harry,
I agree with most of that. Obviously we disagree on the handball, that’s fine. But the offside rule is that the body part has to be something you can put the ball in the net with legally, therefore Silvas arm cannot make him offside.
I thought Arteta was unbelievable second half. He’s played do much football this season but still continues to be outstanding for 90 minutes. I just hope he gets a rest before he gets an injury
I think GiE mentioned Citeh’s ‘professionalism’ in respect to how many of their players made a studied point of running into Song and then falling over. How on earth he got the yellow for simply standing behind Silva is beyond me.
Citeh get little credit for some of their behaviour today, and I’m really not convinced about many of the players that they have paid big money for. Aguero’s top quality, but I look at the two Tubby’s…oops I mean Toure’s, oops again …make that three Tubby’s incl. Na$ri, and ask – is that really what combined fees of around £60-70m, and combined wages of approx £500k per week gets you..??
GiE,
I thought we would go 3-5-2 aswell but tbh with the way TV played in the last 15 minutes we were pretty much playing that anyway.
It shocks me that people are trying to pick holes and issues in the performance. Apart from the result, I don’t think the team did anything wrong today. You are never going to get 11 players playing 10/10, but today was as close as you could get, espescially in defeat. I would say that only Walcott Chamakh and Arshavin could have played better in the time they were given, and even that’s harsh on Chamakh who did ok when he came on.
SS,
It does if you have a short sighted management team who throw money at players with a big name. If you run a club like Arsenal do and a manager who can spot players like Arsene can then that could buy you football dominance.
Like you all, very proud of the team.My £50 dream is over and i will just have fund my trip to Munich in May from my own resources. If we can keep the squad together and add one or two new faces, we will definatly win the league next season. What a great club we are.
I’m not upset by that at all. i’ve got a wicked hangover which helps too. I though we played very well against a team that is so far ahead of the other mancs
Only back for a moment, but thinking about the lack of quality on our bench is frightening, when you consider how many players we must have in the “red zone”.
Just about all, me thinks.
But I’m not miserable, because the unbelievable quality of our jan signing will more than compensate.
great game of football, congrats both to Scarf Ace and Arsene who sent out two teams who could play great football and who wanted to win.
I thought we (City) just about deserved it. We squandered a lot of fine chances in the first half. You’d have put your mortgage on Aguero to nab that one-on-one. Richards might/should have had two.
From where I was I couldn’t tell whether RVP was offside. I don’t think the Richards thing was a penno, he saw it late and turned.
It’s a curious game where both sets of supporters thought the referee (and linesmen) shite! Most of the City fans around me thought he gave as many bad decisions against us as he did against you.
Nasri for M-o-M was peculiar, presumably for Sky’s benefit. I thought Kompo was imperious all afternoon and Zabs, playing on the wrong side, neutralised Walcott. and managed to get forward and hit the post. Barry got through a tremendous amount of work. And Silva was Silva. Though he nearly let us in the clag with a couple of give-aways at the end, when he was obviously tired. Someone posted about Yaya and they are right. He’s overdoing the Mr.Angry/Playground Bully thing at the minute.
If it’s any consolation you are a miles better team than Chelsea who clogged their way to victory against us last weekend.
Keep up the good work. Always and enjoyable and a balanced read.
I find it strange some of you guys think that Richards did not mean the hand ball. In my eyes it was a blatant hand ball and the ref had a perfectly clear view. If that had happened at the other end most definitely a penalty.
Although we lost I was pleased about our approach, and most certainly were not outplayed. Only criticism was the shallow bench.Arshavin and Chamakh have to move on
FGG, fair enough, although never heard that rule quite like that, although i do think the whole is a joke, always took it as any part of the body. I do wish they’d go back to daylight……….
For me both goals should have stood as that what football is about neither were goal hanging situations which is why the rule was invented for.
And agree about Arteta, probably was the best player on the park in 2nd half by quite some distance………..
Oh and one thing I forgot to mention. You can be proud of your magnificent support, best singing/most noise at Etihad this year. Sounded awespome and I was down the other end in the Colin Bell. Home crowd was very quiet most of the time, just shows how nervous we were. Funny, back all those years when we were shite it didn’t matter we just sang our heads off.
SS – I was listening to a report on Irish radio and they said that Citeh’s millions have bought them some players that are “a bit” better than Arsenal’s. They said for the money paid you’d be expecting double the player but its not the case. Says a lot for us and our management or little for Citeh’s and their’s however you want to look at it.
Nice one Bluevalentine, i so enjoy a friendly debate and some banter……..For me a draw would have been fairer, not sure you carved out much more than we did to be honest, but it was a great game of football, to be sure…..
Welcome back BV
Well played to your lot – you probably shaded it on the day but it could easily have been a draw. Our lack of FBs was a big factor but there’s no questioning the quality in your side.
Nasri MoTM was just a stunt by the club to wind up the away supporters. A bit childish in my book, but of no great consequence.
Yes GiE, we have been unlucky with our right-backs, and as much as Jenkinson has huge potential we really needed a back-up for Sagna who can perform consistently every week. Jenkinson at 18 should be our third choice. Back up to the back up. It would have made more sense to have kept Ebouie than Arshavin.
Realistically we are out of the title-race before christmas, and we’ve fallen further behind Tottenham. We have CL football right now, but unless we win it, we may not have it next season.
The way we have recovered has been brilliant, but we shouldn’t have been put in a position where we had anything to recover from.
Fifteen games in and we’ve lost a third of our games. Is that good enough? Not for me.
Blue Valentine – Can we have Balotelli and ye can have Almunia?
Best away fans, and that was without GiE!
Good to hear from you BV. Fair and balanced as ever.
Off now.
Nite all.
Irish – no offence to BV, but thats one of the few Arsenal players that I’d swap for Balotelli. He has some truly magical moments…just not enough them.
Then you throw in his bility to implode at any moment…and I think swap for Almunia, Chamakh or Arsh…yeah. Swap for Miquel, Coquelin….naah 😉
Welcome Bluevalentine. How refreshing it is to have friendly balanced banter. Reminds me of the good old days. I for one hope you win the premiership (if we can’t. I still havn’t given up hope) over your Red neighbours. My hate for the Cockney reds runs deep.
Last thing. Hope you had a good day out Chas.
BV,
Always good to hear the pov from the other side. Interesting what you say about the ref, for me, he was as good/bad for both sides and didn’t affect the outcome of the game, though some may argue.
I think Yaya is a quality midfielder who was asked to play a more conservative game today due to you starting with both Balotelli and Aguero. For me, his best position is as the most forward of a midfield 3. His runs from midfield are difficult to pick up and he can go give his side go forward with his power. I don’t think he’s the best midfielder in the PL as had been suggested by some Sky pundits (anyone heard of David Silva!?) but he is certainly a top player.
I thought Kompany was outstanding today and not for him we would have at least a point I think. Belgium will be a force in the euros with Vertonghen, Vermaelen, Kompany and Hazard and would be an outside bet.
I understand what you say about Chelsea scraping the result against you and it’s something that I think this new Arsenal side has over the sides of old. We have come from behind or drawing a lot this year to get results and we have a team that is capable of nicking results, something we couldn’t do before.
Tbh, for the sake of football I don’t want City to win the league. I just cannot see it being a positive thing for the game. But as for Today’s game, it was definately game of the season thus far and had Real and Barca been involved it would be top shelf material for years to come!!
Hey BV…quality post (auto paste!)
It was me who made the comments about Yaya. You agree that I was right about how he’s playing/acting currently. Whats the longer term view or general view on him…? I notice he is not talked about in anything like terms that Silva or Aguero are..so I wonder, just how good is he..??
I’ve seen him do some good things, but he often seems to be labouring under his own weight, and struggling for fitness. If he does burst forward….you can almost count his return to station in minutes rather than seconds. I remain unconvinced.
On balance, as well as we played, I do believe that 1-0 was a far result. We had good chances and should (imho) have had a pen, but you spurned a few as well. On another day it might have been 3-2 to you’s…so I’ve no complaints overall.
MoM – Agreed, Kompany by some distance.
It does make me chuckle to think of City’s strong foundations (arguably?) being built on Kompany, Richards* and Hart ie three of their cheapest signings.
Today you could include Zabaleta as well
*Richards as a youth product
GIE,
The away fans didn’t clap Hart, in fact they were giving him abuse from the moment he came out for the second half. I think my memory must have been from a while back. We had a right dick behind us, moaning about how poor we were the whole game and how he knew better than the players. Real shame.
Shame Tommy’s effort didn’t fly a little further left or right of Hart.
Na$ri man of the match was the second funniest moment of the day. Funniest moment was the Citeh fans chanting up behind us, “Gary Neville is a wanker, is a wanker” and all of the Arsenal supporters joined in.
Upwards and onwards.
fgg…If you do not want City to win the premiership, apart from Arsenal, who do you want to win it (who is capable)
If city don’t win the league then the mancscum will. I don’t see how that is good for football either ginger. They play shite fooyball and are cheating little tossers with an alcy manager who is a spoilt little brat who needs a slap.
12 points behind with 22 games left!
We could have caught United in the space of 4 or 5 weeks last week had we not been awful. The amount of challengers makes it far more difficult, but ruling anything out at this stage is ridiculous! United lost 6-1 at HOME to that side we played today. We were about 16th 10 games ago, it’s a funny old game!
To back up Exile and Rob, and to indulge in a bit of classless “I told you so”, I did predict that Djourou and Vermaelen would offer little support to their wingers. And so it turned out, though fair play to TV, great attacking runs when he switched to CB. In fact, the goal came from one of the few times before we went behind that a full back (Kos) did get caught out of position by supporting the attack.
And to back up Ginger, I thought Dowd and the linesmen had a very good game today (God, it sticks in the throat to say nice stuff about Dowd). The Kolo thing definitely wasn’t a foul, got the ball first, only looks like two separate things on super slo-mo. Would have been very harsh on Micah Richards to give a pen when he had zero time to react.
As for RvP, I thought he was just offside – bloody close though. On decisions as tight as that, you have to have a bit of sympathy for the officials. But as I say, I thought they got it right.
Evening all,
Super game of football, a draw would have been a fair result.
Theo still has a lot to learn. Coming onto the pitch smiling and joking with Nasri and congratulating Hart when he saved his shot is not what the fans want to see. Fair enough you can be professional buddies the rest of the time but during the game it must be out and out, no holds barred, everything for the cause – and he didn’t give that today.
I don’t think my old mate Chamakh touched the ball when he came on.
The defining moment was when Djurou went off and the back 4 was reshuffled. In hindsight it would have been better to have left the original 3 where they were and told Miguel to play RB and thern perhaps the confusion would not have been cause that resulted in the goal.
Herb I am still unworried about Spuds. Yes they are up on their like for likes and at this time last year. 6 points up on like for like, but they have a lot of tough away games in the next half of the season and their run of games has been very easy since they beat us.
Newcastle
Blackburn
QPR
Fulham
Villa
West Brom
Bolton
Stoke
Sunderland
Hardly the best teams in the league and I would fancy any of the CL hopefuls to win most of those as they have done.
They have to play Liverpool, Man City, Us and Chelsea away.
They also have the return visits of ManUre and Chelsea at their place.
On the other hand we have played all our CL rival matches away apart from Liverpool. So City, United, Spuds, Chelsea all to come to our place in the new year.
I would have liked to keep Eboue too, unfortunately there were too many dissenting voices in the crowd I fear for him to continue with us. Which is a shame as he always gave 110% on the pitch for us.
As for Arshavin, I still hold out hope for him, form is temporary class is permanent and all that. He is a mercurial talent but nothing is going for him at the moment, i just hope he can rediscover that spark as he could make such a difference to our team if he could relight those twinkle toes.
Losses don’t worry me, its draws i can’t stand (especially against weaker sides). I always look at that graphic for the season after CC final, 5 draws, which could have been 5 wins and 10 more points in the bag, then we would have been on a roll, instead we rolled over.
I can see this team picking itself up after todays defeat and blasting Villa away on Wednesday, do I think last seasons team was capable of that reaction….no.
I said the other day that I thought it was too early to gt excited about our position in light of the fact that one or two more injuries may be hard to take. I would say that the whole squad is now in the red zone and we have another hard game in 3 days.
The injuries to the BFG and Djourou are not in themselves critical, but with Song facing a one match ban also, we must come through the Villa game and Boxing Day without any further injuries – a tough ask.
VCC/GM
I suppose it depends on what you think is the biggest crime, buying the title or having an alky manager and playing shitty football (I thought they played quite well going forward today, personally!)?
I just don’t see how a club buying there way to the title is good for a game that is looking to introduce financial fair play. Surely the 2 contradict each other?
SS – I like Balotelli, think he’s the making of a top player and is a right character. Having said that, he’s a mad bastard who could wear on people’s patience.
Man of the match shirt…
http://twitpic.com/7v5bxy/full
Hi FGG,
I wonder what the result would have been if the tables had been turned and we’d taken our pick of any 4 City players we wanted in the last couple of years. I can’t give them any credit. They are worse than Barca and the transparent compliments that Mancini has been paying RvP are just the beginning of more attempted financial bullying.
Re who we’d prefer to win the league if we can’t do the fairy tale thing this year, I’m 100% with Ginger. Welcome to decent Blues like BV and all that, but it would be terrible for the Abu Dhabi Government to buy the league under the guise of one of the game’s established club names. Just because there is romance attached to the name MCFC, and they play some great football, and anyone breaking up a cabal seems to be a good thing, it would be appalling for City to be champions this year. (Though that is precisely what they will be in May.)
Since the same goes for Chelsea, and Spurs would be too annoying in terms of banter, it would have to be United or Liverpool. The scousers aren’t going to do it, obviously, so sorry, but my least bad option is the Purple Nosed One’s crew.
There, that should have Chary throwing a chair through his computer screen……….
Injury to BFG?
Since when…..I thought it was as per the Fulham game just sticking an extra body on up front and him being the replaced one.
As for the Red Zone it can go f*** off, i’m sick of hearing about it, i understand for young players like Jack and Aaron, they are still growing into their bodies, but if the likes of Mikel Arteta can get through the effort he does then so can everyone else, anyone 24 and up should not be worrying about bloody Red Zones. They should be rolling their sleeves up and cracking on, I’m sorry but I think it is a convenient Wengerism that came to truth for Wilshere and now is talked about constantly. I don’t hear any other managers moaning about it and I don’t see it effecting that many players.
Most if not all our injuries come from impacts. Djourou has played how many games this season and did his groin today, bad luck or was he in Red Zone too?
GM 9.35. Sat on the fence again..??
Why don’t you just stick your neck out and tell us what you really mean
😉
Other options are Chelsea (just the same as City.)
ManUre, surely you cannot be serious, you want this shower to win it rather than City, no matter what the case might be.
GiE,
I cannot be sure he was injured, that was just my assumption. He was certainly shot and could not run any more.
I know you’re knowledgeable about the technical side fo the game – are you saying that you don’t think injuries are more likely when the players are tired?
As for Djourou, he is injury prone – his record proves it. I don’t have the stats, but suspect he has rarely been fit for more than 10 games in a row – similar to Gibbs.
I’d choose Citeh to win it simply because I could then deride it as a ‘bought’ title.
Utd – again..? No way. I’d rather see Chelski win it than that !!
Night all….
26may1989. Boy o Boy, never thought I would hear a Gooner want the ManUre to win anything. I’m flabber………………………………………………………..beside myself.
Just the mention of Gibbs name makes me roll my eyes.
Even when he’s ft and playing, he leaves me cold. Rarely have I seen a young player play with so little energy, passion and emotion.
I’ll leave it there.
Anyways, night all.
SharkeySure…..You have given me back my sanity, i agree, I would sooner Chelsea win it than the ManUre.
Rasp my question is more why are they tired?
Of their bodies are that stressed they shouldn’t train this week, light massage and stretches. But why doesn’t that happen at other clubs why can the likes of Evra pretty much play every game.
Wengers fitness methods prolonged not shortened the careers of our famous back four.
For me the Red Zone was used to show that players are not covering as much ground and therefore need time to recover or suffer from exhaustion, Wenger used it to convince Jack he shouldn’t go to U21 tournament. Do I think his injury stemmed from being in Red Zone possibly but as I said he is young and it’s more of an issue.
It doesn’t matter anyway, the team that wins it this year are only going to be keeping it warm until next season when we win it and decide not to give it back!
If Man City are the best this country has to offer both in financial clout, and on the pitch, then our team, minus 4 full backs and our best midfielder, has nothing to worry about. We are match for anyone in this league right now. We are a new side who can only improve, and improve we will.
Sharkey, on a football banter level, you’re absolutely right, City would be the easiest non-Arse option to deal with.
But the reason I’m with Ginger in not wanting that to happen is what that means for football. It just debases the whole thing, shows that any scumbag dictator or oligarch, with control of a nation-state’s natural resources, can pump up their ego by just throwing a billion or two against the wall. Each time it succeeds encourages another scumbag to follow suit. Just look what’s happening in France, Russia and Spain. Sounds pompous to go on about morality, I know, but that’s honestly the way I feel about it.
I made a comment about a month ago that this team has started a month behind those of old due to the lateness of new signings etc. we went through November, usually a time for injuries and dropped points pretty much unscathed. If this theory is correct then my worry is that December could be our November eauivalent. I just hope we can beat Villa Wednesday and get through December with very few injuries.
Thanks GiE.
If a major number of injuries are caused by impact, then the likelihood is still increased proportionally to the amount of time on the pitch. I know you don’t agree, but I believe that injuries and fatigue (for whatever reason) have been the main reason we have got close but fallen at the final hurdle in recent years.
Re red zones, some players have more stamina and are less-injury prone than others. It’s up to managers and coaches to see how they look in training in order to make judgments. All we can do is guess based on the slivers of time we see the players during matches.
One of the good things about our side is also one of its weaknesses: the first XI is incredibly settled now, which is the main reason we’ve recovered this season, but as Rasp says, we run risks of overworking some of these guys. Let’s hope Wenger & Co get their judgments of each of the players right.
There are plenty of positives from todays performance GiE, I’ve only heard it on 5-live, All the commentators said it was an end-to-end thriller, we just lacked the necessary quality to break them down, and didn’t have anyone on the bench to change that.
Take your point about Tottenham’s run of games, let’s hope it works in our favour in the reverse fixtures.
“end-to-end thriller, we just lacked the necessary quality to break them down, and didn’t have anyone on the bench to change that” – sums the game up nicely for me.
By the way have seen someone on twitter criticising BFG today I personally thought he had a very good game and his reading of the game allows him to compete with the pace that City had up front today.
Even at the moment where he shadowed Aguero across at the end he left him with an impossible angle from which to score but put himself close enough to prevent a pull back into the danger zone. He is as under rated as Kos was last season IMO.
TV5 on the other hand is getting better and better and looks to want Alex Songs DM shirt. It’s a nice option to have in there as I think he is aerially stronger than Song and would allow the CBs to stick tighter to their men without committing to win the high ball.
I disagree that we lacked the ability to break them down today. We could easily have scored 2 or 3 on another day.
As for the injuries, these are always inevitable, but the reason you have a squad is so you can deal with them. At the moment certain areas of our squad are not quite where we would want them to be, but I remember United having to play a back 3 of Fletcher, De Laet and Carrick away at Fulham some years ago! Sometimes injuries are impossible to cover. This matches in with the Cahill argument, yes we would love to have 5 or 6 top quality centre halfs, but what happens when they are all fit!? There has to be some sort of pecking order within the team and that’s why the youth system exists. For me, we need only one striker and one attacking midfielder who can play wide and we are a complete squad.
😆
Someone just posted this on twitter:
AFB89 Anthony Baptista
I saw Gervihnos sister in town earlier
GiE,
I totally agree about BFG today. The fact he was playing against one of the trickiest forwards in the world today in the form of Aguero, and was never in too much trouble, just shows how good he is at reading and dealing with the game. You don’t see many CB’s as slow and immobile as BFG at this level and therefore he must have something else to allow him to get 70+ German caps. I thought he was solid today.
Hi FGG,
I don’t disagree with your assessment of need 1 striker and 1 attacking midfielder – although a multi-positional midfielder would be better IMO – the creative/attacking midfieldre will evolve betwen Jack and Ramsey in time.
The fact that most of our significant injuries are in the back 4 positions is bad luck – but it always seems that they pile up in one particular area for some reason.
I saw a side to Theo I didn’t like today. It was a poor performance by his recent standards (which have been good) but his ‘I’m a superstar’ act of buddying up to the opposition and throwing a mini strop when he was subbed tells me that he is getting too big for his boots and may not be the team player we need in the squad.
That may be a little harsh Rasp,
Theo has always seemed a bright, down to earth kid. He obviously knows Hart and Richards from England duty and may have been close to Nasri when he was at Arsenal. When he came off he had just had a decent shot and played a great cross I to RvP who was judged offside, so was probably feeling that he was just starting to get into the game.
As for the midfielder, Diaby and Wilshire are still due back so for an attacking midfielder who can unlock a defence is needed. Arteta, Song, Diaby, Rosicky, Frimpong, Coquelin and Wilshire give us enough cover for the other midfield positions.
Diaby due back? Story of his career. Let’s draw a line under him and Arshavin, and get someone new in.
Walcott: no problem with a minor strop or respect amongst competitors from different teams, so long as he tries hard. And he did, just was too much for him today, no shame in that. He might have felt annoyed at the feeling that he would get his best chances against a tiring defence.
Ok, Just having seen the MoTD……..
100% no arguement, end of, van persie was onside, freeze framed lined off. He was in line and no part out sticking from Kompany.
100% penalty against Richards – even Hansen agreed so must be as he hates us.
Overall we didnt deserve to lose……..Need to beat villa, or this defeat will feel worse……..
Hi Harry. Have just looked at MOTD coverage of those two incidents, and I think Dixon and Hansen are plain wrong on the Richards handball: there is simply no way that Richards could have reacted to get his hand out of the way. If that had been given against an Arsenal player, I’d have been outraged.
The van Persie one is harder. Yes, on slo-mo, van Persie is just about level with Kompany on the far side of the pitch. But the linesman gets one look, no replays, all under pressure and requiring instant reactions. I don’t see how they can be criticised for not getting each and every marginal call right in those circumstances. By comparison, when I see goals like one of Yakubu’s in that disaster at Ewood Park, when he was two or three yards offside and just a couple of yards away from the goal, then I get very pissed off, those are easy decisions that should be called every time. But these ones, no, we can’t get too stressed at the officials for these.
Interesting order of priority from the MOTD editors: which match to put on first, QPR vs United or City vs Arse? Let’s go for United as usual, regardless of the biggest match being the other one. Good call, lads.
Did they put the mancs on first? I suppose it was because they played earlier and went top. I’ve given up watching those twats anyway. especially as they have the red nose c++t on as well.
26 only an assumption but could it be the running order dictated by a commentator saying “united go top”.
As for the hand ball I think he moves his arm out. Would have been harsh but for me he moves it away from the body.
I have no problem with Theo touching hands with Hart after the save it’s about respect, I was once patted on the back by about five of the opposition for a save I made to deny them a goal. Thought when Nasri and Balotelli were joking Theo was getting all serious then a smile broke out which annoyed me slightly.
As for having a strop good why shouldn’t he. Or why should be be content with being removed he probably thought (justifiably) that he was just getting the beating of Zabaletta. He thought he had more to give so hopefully he will come out firing against Villa.
You lot are too reasonable: why can’t we just stoke up this “the media loves United” conspiracy theory and just enjoy it? Pah.
Fair dos re the handball. I see it differently, once the ball flicked off Ramsey’s head five yards away from Richards, it became ball to hand for me, and clearly so.
Anyway, much more to the point, Villa looked absolutely rank against Pool today. Please let Richard Dunne play as badly as that on Wednesday.
And that Heskey is their only attacking ‘threat’, 26.
Herb, I take it Agbonlahor and Bent will be out of the equation? I kike that short Irish lad they have, Albrighton, he’s very decent. But Alex McLeish is working his magic on Villa, and making them worse than they were in the first place. Maybe he’ll get two Brum sides relegated in successive seasons.
What an acievement to put on his CV!
I think Agbonlahor was suspended today and Bent was ‘injured’ (though a Villa fan on 6-0-6 said he’d been caught on camera christmas shopping).
Yeh, wouldn’t mind Albrighton at the Emirates.
Manchester City vs Arsenal Highlights-
http://vimeo.com/33879445
http://vimeo.com/33879445
FGG
So the consensus from MOTD is that RvP was level…
Not “clearly offside” at all.
It’s a tough one for the lino, but my point earlier was not about slating the lino, it was more about the fact that we would have had at least a draw if it had been called correctly.
Thanks superarsenaltv
I have just re-watched the RvP goal several times. By pausing at the moment the pass is played it’s clear that Zabaleta (?) is playing Robin on – in fact, Zabaleta’s left leg is closer to the Citeh goal than any part of RvP (let alone any part of him that could score).
A very tight call, but 50% of the time that goal would stand rather than being incorrectly disallowed.
I don’t particularly blame the lino – it was a hard call to make. But there was supposed to be a rule about level = onside, and about giving forwards the benefit of the doubt. Didn’t happen in this case.
FGG – please take note.
Rocky, what goes around comes around. Both the offside decision and the handball could have gone our way but we could also have been 2-0 down in the first 20 minutes.
It’s all water under the bridge as the score was 1-0 and remains 1-0.
— Next up Aston Villa.
Gn5
True.
I was just taking issue with FGG being so dogmatic about the fact that it was offside when, in fact, it wasn’t.
That said, I don’t buy the ‘what goes around comes around’ thing. We have been on the wrong end of bad luck (and bad decisions) for a few seasons now.
What do you think that performance/result signifies for the rest of our season…?
Arsenal defender Johan Djourou joins injury list
Djourou has started just six Premier League games this season
Arsenal were dealt another injury blow on Sunday when Johan Djourou limped out of their 1-0 defeat at Manchester City.
The Swiss defender was forced off just a minute after the restart, adding to the club’s problems at the back.
Manager Arsene Wenger believes the reshuffle is what ultimately proved costly at the Emirates Stadium.
“We suffered because we had to shuffle the defence. We cannot just bring someone in, we have to move players,” said the Gunners boss.
Arsenal confirmed last week that left-back Andre Santos had been ruled out for three months with ankle ligament damage.
Fellow full-backs Carl Jenkinson, Kieran Gibbs and Bacary Sagna are already out injured.
Gibbs is still recovering from a hernia operation he had last month, while Jenkinson is out with a stress fracture to his back.
Sagna broke his leg in a defeat by Tottenham in October and is unlikely to return before January at the earliest.
When asked how close any of the players were to returning, Wenger said: “At the moment, not very close unfortunately.”
Thomas Vermaelen has started the last two game at left-back, while Djourou played on the opposite flank.
The latest injury blow leaves the Gunners with just four fit recognised defenders, all of whom are centre-halves – Vermaelen, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci.
Ignasi Miquel made just his third Premier League appearance when he came on to replace Djourou.
Rocky,
The reality is that every supporter feels that it’s only their club that gets the bad luck and poor decisions.
Hopefully that result will make AW realise that we are paper thin and we need to go fishing to reinforce our squad.
It was downright embarrassing to see the dross that came off of our bench. How many terrible games does a player have to have before it becomes obvious that he is below standard?
I would far sooner have our youth on the bench – that way we would, at least, be checking out our future and not stagnating with our past.
I think we do get a bad rub of the green. When I saw the offside and the replay it looked off to me. I haven’t watched it again so I can’t change my mind nor can the lino.
I’d rather have Henry coming off the bench than arshavin any day. 20 mins he could still do damage
gm
Also true.
But knowing that, with the right decision-making, we would have at least drawn the game should be some solace to the team and may help their confidence in future games.
Where are you at the mo?
GM
I bet he re-signs TH14 this January.
If he re-signs TH14 it’ll be for 6 weeks top as he is supposed to be back in US mid February to March isn’t he? I doubt we will match his RedBulls salary to keep him longer.
I really enjoyed the game and generally we accounted for ourselves very well and no doubt with Djourou going off wholesale changes had to be made in our defence formation and there were chances for both teams.
Ramsey gets so much stick on one particular site that it makes me sick.he has yet to find that clinical final touch to convert chances and the same applies to gervinho(who had a great game and his work rate was fantastic)and of course the inconsistent Walcott.
Chamakh is a non entity but our litte russian gets a lot of blame for being out of form, but he is barly getting any game time and one can’t expect him to get involved in a cameo role playing in such a high tempo game.
Miquel did his best.VermaelenmSczeney and Kos (apart from one misplaced pass when he was playing out of position) were immense and generally the problem is now two fold.We are literally running out of defenders and as stated months ago the options in attack are not scoring, apart from RVP.on a regular basis.
I remain positive as all of the top 6 will continue to take points off each other, and to secure a top three or four position we need to add in january.
A good overall performance which just needs tweaking.
Interesting that Robin wasn’t offside (if the lino had been on the other touchline he would have called it differently) and it was the clearest handball you ever could see. 🙂
peaches, shock horror, I’m working this week and haven’t got time to look for photo links. I’m sure you and Rasp have it all covered anyway.
Kelsey, I agree with you that it’s all about the points the top 6 take off each other. I posted a couple of weeks ago that there are hardly any points being dropped against the lower teams. (That said we lost 2 at home to Fulham, Lpool 3 away at Fulham, Spuds 3 away at Stoke and the Chavs 2 at Wigan in recent games)
The game yesterday was a scorcher and it tells you something about us when Hart was the MOTM.
Morning all. Like all you guys on here I have watched the replays to death.
IMO = Stone wall hand ball, I called it at the time and have no reason to change my thoughts.
26may, if that had happened at the other end the lino/ref would have called a penalty.
I remain positive after that performance. We need to purchase,certainly one striker, and maybe a wide player in January = sorted.
If any one is in doubt about the hand ball decision = have a look at the pictures in the Sun. Conclusive.
ludy luck wasnt with us, as others have said it could have been 1 or 2 calls either way. I think the game showed 2 things:
1) need to have some different options available on the bench if we need to change the game – sorry Chamakh and Arshavin time is up.
2) technology for those very marginal calls is needed more than ever – big games like these need accurate calls, expecting reliable offside calls with the speed of the action and when we are talking whether part of the attackers body is offside is madness. The options to get reliable calls in cricket / rugby / league is putting football to shame.
bah – really wanted us to win that game but we gave them a good show. Oh well rant over – have a good day people.
Morning all,
Thinking ahead to weds. Villa had a far more demoralising defeat yesterday, and we really ought to go into the game tails up after that performance. I also think this team is considerably less vulnerable to the kind of emotional post CC collapse we saw last season. Frimpong will be right up for it and I’d love to see The Ox unchained.
Im with you Micky bring on the FrimpOx!
Pat,
Beasts the pair of them. All will be well.
Morning all
New Post …………….
Couple of points before I plod off to commune with my City mates. Irishgooner – I live in Ireland too; don’t put too much into RTE’s take. Most of the sports guys there are Manure to the core – they even represented the 6-1 as “a bit lucky” and kind words about MCFC are hard to find.
Secondly, I know we take flak, understandably so (I’d have done the same if say, Everton or West Brom came into a fortune instead of us).However, fact is we did and we needed, for the sake of the plan, a good team in a hurry. The other side of the coin of what fans of other teams called “financial bullying” is that their managers and directors knew we were cash rich and screwed us into the ground . It’s a given that players up for grabs were tagged with a two tier price, one for City, on for everyone else. Yet we still had to buy – what did you expect us to do, stick with the appalling Danny Mills and lazy Steve McPointandshoutyman in the spurious name of “fair play”?
I don’t get to live games much these days (can’t afford the travel) but whenever I go I’m struck by the same air of whimsical exuberance City fans always had; you know, a “Can’t quite believe this, wtf, let’s go along for the ride. Yes, and somehow we know it will all end in tears and the tears will be ours. Meanwhile, stick on that Yellow Brick Road” sort of vibe.
And in this I’m discounting the very young kids who may become success junkies a la Cockney Reds. And the 10% of pure nutters who are attached to all football clubs, the fleas on the elephant’s back (or, in our case, the camel’s, I suppose). I apologise for any who invade your excellent site.
VCC
Who knows if you’re right about what might have happened the other way around? All we can judge is what did happen and Phil Dowd (a referee I’ve disliked in the past) saw exactly what happened and made a judgment. And I think he made the right one. The referee has to decide whether the player has handled the ball deliberately, part of which means looking at the position of the arm and whether it moved towards the ball. And looking at Richards, I don’t see that one can say it’s deliberate.
But more generally, I certainly agree that over the past few years we haven’t had the rub of the green, far from it. In fact, last year I wrote a whole post on the subject of luck and how many of our problems stemmed from pure bad fortune, eg more hit woodwork than anyone else, worse refereeing decisions, worse injuries. This season has been better but I still say we’ve been robbed of six points by unforgivable refereeing in the form of clear errors: van der Vaart’s handball before his goal, the failure to award a penalty when Walcott was fouled vs Blackburn, allowing two of Blackburn’s goals and failing to award a penalty against Newcastle when Barton grabbed Gervinho by the throat or for the trip before that. These weren’t marginal errors, they were easy decisions the officials got wrong and for which we suffered. Until we get six points back on the basis of bad decisions in our favour, I’ll stick to saying we’re owed some luck.
That might have come in the form of Richards being punished for handball but to my mind it still would have been a bad decision!
Back again despite my best intentions! This site sure is addictive. Just seen SharkeySure’s post asking me about the long term view on Yaya.
Basically, there are 2 Yayas, depending on how Mancini use him. One is the resolute DMF, where he slots in beside Barry or just ahead of DJ, his Barca role at which he’s pretty good, clears up a lot of lose ball and takes the pressure off the back 4 – important when we are playing good sides or especially when we play Richards and Kolarov who aren’t as defensively disciplined as Zabaleta – Clichy.
Then there’s the other Yaya – the one Mancini wants, the rampaging CMF who, ball at feet, makes rampaging runs towards and into the penalty area and causes chaos, unstoppable by sides with poor CBs Sunderland, Blackburn, Man U minus Vidic (hehe).
I don’t think Yaya is one of those naturally fit people – although in the earlier part of this season he was better in this respect than last. The last few games he seems to be carrying a knock which is slowing his gallop.
Overall, he’s been pretty terrific. Scores imortant goals too.
But lately, as I said, he seems to overdo the playground bully thing, more concerned with payback and giving someone a retaliatory dig or slap than is good for his concentration.
Thought I should also say that a City-following mate turned round at half time and said “If Carlsberg made 0-0 draws”
My…
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