Today we throw down a challenge to test your Arsenal knowledge. This was our match report from a game in the 2010/11 season – with the names hidden by code numbers. Your task should you choose to accept it, is to identify the game, the opposition and if you’re not already bored, the names that correspond to the numbers in red …. all will be revealed later in the day, have fun 😛
Yesterday (18) asked if Arsène should risk (1) for the visit to the (2) and after 30 minutes it was clear that it was actually Mr. (3) himself that shouldn’t have been risked as (4) was subbed after twisting an ankle. Although (1) wasn’t himself, with passes going stray, he hasn’t had a pre-season and he is obviously going to need a few more games.
This was a big test. (5) launched ball after ball into our box from either (6) goal kicks or the ever boring towel wrapped long throw from (7). This was all hands to the deck and with (8) in goal we had to hope that he would be strong and confident in what will probably have been his last game as the no 1. I have to say that I don’t think he let us down at all, even smashing his head on the upright in the call of duty and having a spat with (9a).
There was an early chance for us to take the lead when a short corner surprised the (5) defence and (10) unleashed a shot that struck a defender and then (6)leg but refused to go into the goal. We didn’t have to wait too long though as (4) slipped a great ball to (11) on 20 minutes and without even breaking his stride, he broke the net with his shot low into the far corner.
Typically, (5) equalised within minutes, as (12) was outrun and outmuscled by one (9a) who then slid the ball to another (9b) who had acres of space to slot it home. Dreadful defending, everyone was asleep.
(10) was having a great game, making intelligent passes and not getting caught on the ball. To have him marking the massive (13) was reassuring. In this form you never know what (10) is going to do next and the upcoming 2 week international break could undo all that was good yesterday, we’ll have to hope not.
Arsenal hadn’t dominated the first half and after the game Arsène felt the team were nervous, so to score early in the 2nd half was definitely the tonic we needed. (14) went on a great run chasing a ball that looked like it was going out of play and sped towards the (5) goal, he found (1) in the middle whose shot hit (11) and rebounded into the path of the ‘onrushing’ (15) who neatly slotted it home. 2-1 up and just over half an hour to play.
(5) worked hard to find an equaliser but Arsenal for the most part were strong in defense. It was still nervy and each time the ball went out for a (5) corner, I covered my eyes but we passed the test. This was full on defending in our area, not having to defend as a team higher up the pitch, but those challenges will still come with other teams that want to pass the ball.
(16) came on for (1) after 70 minutes and immediately added a new spark. (11) didn’t have as much of the ball as last week but was still alert late on in the game where last season he may have given up, he seems to be developing a good engine. I may get to like Alan Shearer after his comments on MOTD aimed at Hansen’s rubbishing of (11)’s performance and hat-trick last week. Hansen is obviously going to stick to his guns about (11), but both Shearer and Lineker clearly disagree. Arsène said at the start of last season that it was (11)’s time to emerge as a great player – his prediction was accurate, but just 12 months early!
(17) came on with less than 10 minutes to go and was unlucky not to score after being presented with a great chance – similar to last week’s, maybe he has a chocolate leg too?
To come away from (5) with three points was a very good day’s work. Unfortunately it looks like we may have lost (4) for a couple of weeks but with Internationals looming that’s not a crisis. Our passing game is awesome and our resilience in defense will make other teams worried oh and that little no 11, he’s pretty good too.
For those of you who enjoy cryptic crosswords, the name of the team we were playing is hidden in this clue:
North Sea pirate next door to street’s local
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
[…] Arsenal Guessing Game […]
First Post!!
was that the game against blackburn?
Hi vishaal, thanks for joining in the fun – we’re not going to reveal the answers until a few more have had a chance to work it out 😕
1=Cesc
2=Blackburns home ground (can’t be bothered looking it up)
3=?????
4=RVP
5= Blackburn
6= Robinson
7= well delap doesn’t play for Blackburn so i guess it’s pederson (i think he normally takes them
8= Almunia
9(a)= Diouf? From memory, then again it has to be him he was a pest
10=Diaby
11=Theo?
12=Djourou or Kozza?
13=Samba (has to be after that description)
14=Clichy?
15=AA
16=Wilshere
17=Wilshere (not sure who else, Denilson maybe or even Rosicky?
18= Red Arse? Peaches? Dandan?
Hi oz, pretty good, but you’ve got a couple wrong 😆
I have most of the answers but too tricky to write on an ipad!
Love the cryptic clue
Hatrick….. Theo
You need forensic intelligence for this one, hence Oz’s fine effort. 😛
I have a headache and need some paracetamol!
Re the earlier FT article of Henk Spaan, you can take a lot of that as truth, as it is true that these two have a close relationship and Robin will have told him a lot about how he feels about the team. Obviously, he will have asked Spaan not to quote him on certain elements, but I take it that his views on Ramsey are, sadly, likely to be true.
Have put one on draft for you Rasp you must decide if a vote would make a contribution. I leave it to you.
Thanks dandan, gratefully received.
I hope you are recovering from your accident and Mrs Dandan is in better health.
I’m off to play cricket, have a good day everyone
Enjoy standing in a field all afternoon Rasp 😆
I was at that game and recognised it almost immediately. I was surprised to find out it was before I lost my Arsenal Arsenal virginity.
peaches,
I’ve no idea what you meant when you asked this question this morning? I presume me not understanding it is me being even dimmer. 🙂
“We are the only ones that will always wear the shirt – am I being dim, what does this mean or have you left something out? “
Arsenal Could vever have a poorer , weeker and hopeles manager than Arsene Wenger at this critical moment of their development > wenger is so slow in every aspect and can not keep the pace with Arsenal crucial needs
Bakrima
Thanks for that. I’ve been so deluded. Shame we don’t have king kenny or martin o’neill.
GM 🙂
Bakrima – of course they could, there are 19 of them in EPL alone
this is fecking desperate – I am WAITING to watch a friendly!!
The west end is like 28 days later.
GM – ???
GM. Is that good?
Anyone think either Theo or the Ox will start for England with Hodgson playing such a defensive formation?
BR,
I think he’ll start the Ox with Theo coming on later.
Yikes, forgot me smiley 🙂
Thanks for the post Rasp.
I’m not entering because I’m not 26 🙂
I’ll do a couple of posts if you’re short for next week.
RvP 56 minutes of footie against Northern Ireland 2 goals and 2 assists. Is he ready for the EC? 🙂
TA – na na na na, aren’t you great?? Well, Poland won 4:0 today 🙂
Ok, Andorra can be dangerous too
A clean sheet for Sir Szczesny?
Poland must be favourites now….
TA – oh yeah, you don’t miss a trick, Chesny did well
Of course we are the favourites, pssshhhhh 🙂
chas – I’ve just worked it out, it’s us that always wear the shirt not the players, I was up very early this morning and obviously my brain was not in gear 😉
You never know how a cow catches a hare as the Dutch saying goes… Good luck – hope all goes well and Poland co-host a great tournament! I cannot wait for it to start.
Me too TA, ie hope all goes well and cannot wait! Don’t really care who wins, except for Germans
I was going to say peaches but I thought i may have missed something and ended up looking silly 🙂
Very clever post…I was thinking Blackburn and confirmed it from the cryptic clue.
Thats pretty much all I got though
Thanks peaches, it’s been puzzling me as to what the something was that I’d left out.
Okay haven’t read comments:
1) Cesc Fabregas
2) Ewood
3) Van Persie
4) Robin
5) Blackburn
6) Robinson
7)
8) Almunia
9)
10)
11) Walcott
12)
13)
14)
15) Chamakh
I give up! This post is not made for iPhone browsing.
I should say I was there and remember one of their forwards trying to take a quick throw and everyone else throwing a mental….it was also before I found AA. And I do remember there being a fire drill in the home end.
no Theo scored a hat rick against Blackpool (I think) the week before – it was his first and only hatrick for AFC
And I guess I am 18 !
Hi Raddy, yes you are 18 … again 😆
The best bit is that I wrote the match report 🙂
Secret Match Answers – Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal
August 28th 2010
Players
1. Cesc Fabregas
2. Ewood Park
3. Chocolate Legs
4. van Persie
5. Blackburn Rovers
6. Paul Robinson
7. Pederson
8. Almunia
9. a. El Hadj Diouf
b. Mame Diouf
10. Diaby
11. Theo Walcott
12. Koscielny
13. Samba
14. Sagna
15. Arshavin
16. Rosicky
17. Wilshere
18. Big Raddy
Koscielny is the defender (12) outmuscled I believe….
Are 9a and 9b Dunn? Or Roberts? They had two Robinsons but at gk and RB don’t think it was them.
Got to think 10 was Djourou, but marking Samba reassuring….oh how times change….must be Song surely?
VanBasten (back in Nov11)
“And I still think Arsenal are the most beautiful club in England. At Man City and Chelsea, they will never have that class and style.
“Arsenal have the most amazing stadium, they have a style of play, they have a beautiful shirt – in every way I consider Arsenal as the ultimate football club.
“It is the club where Robin belongs.’’
Van Basten in March 2012:
Van Basten added: “The Arsenal squad has to be bigger and stronger. That will never guarantee trophies, but it will increase the chances.
“Robin must get the feeling Arsenal will have a squad this summer which can compete with the best teams in England and Europe. They cannot turn around and tell him they are selling the best players, like last summer.
“They have a gem like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but at the top of European football you also need experience.
“So they need a few players of more maturity – and then you can get Robin to stay.”
Morning all.,
I watch these friendlies, and will watch The Euros with not a care in the world about the outcome of any game, but I do watch entirely with the good of Arsenal in mind.
From last night.
Hazard..can’t see him being worth 30+ million. Fellaini in the more advanced role is Diabyesque. I like him very much, but could he resolve our lack of creativity and goals from that position? mmmmm, not sure. I think I mean… No.
Vertonghen. Well I have been saying we should snap him up for two years. LB, CB and DM. Nice. I noticed the that to me he virtually ignored Parker in the end of match hand shakey stuff. Team mates? Didn’t look like it.
Ahoy GiE,
Just off for a top up coffee.
Interesting from Van Basten. The most recent quote was March, so we have Podolski since then and he fits both criteria. I’m guessing he meant one more experienced player as well. Then what position?
Any signing has the “can’t sign anyone better than we have” camp out in force as this type of signing would inevitably hinder somone or others’ progress.
Micky,
What does your last sentence mean? Are you talking about the people who take the p*ss out of Arsene because he said, ‘signing a player would kill the development of another player’.
Last thought from last night’s game.
I wonder how Theo is thinking. Is he losing his first team birth for Country? Where is Arsene going to play Podolski and Ox?
Happy Jubilee,
The Queen is a Gooner.
Did Arsene really say, ‘that’s not to incite you to war?’ ?
Chas,
I wasn’t thinking of Arsene, although that quote is alarming.
It is whenever I suggest this DM, its met with what about Frimpong, Coquelin, Jack and Ramsey. Same with an AM suggestion, what about Jack, Ramsey, Diaby and so on.
I’m sure people were delighted when we signed DB or TH despite it upsetting some young Gun.
Hope Rocky weren’t at the shopping mall in Toronto yesterday.
Ahh, I see.
To me signing someone better than we have, by definition, must make sense. :~)
I think Micky that the Young Guns then are not what we have coming through now. Although its always good to sign fresh faces.
However I think the signings have to be where we are short now (in terms of ages) and the signings last summer of Arteta, BFG and Santos brought a maturity (ok maybe not Santos as he plays to his own samba rhythmn). So £30m+ for the 21 year old Hazard seems silly when we have Jack and Ox plus Ryo, M’Villa at 22 is the same age as Frimpong and Coq but what we really need is someone closer to Songs age. The question is how you do that without upsetting Song. Very different if you’re either of the Chavs and have the desire to pay £130-150k per week and not play them.
What has surprised me most recently is certain elements of fans bashing Wenger over Arshavin, undoubtedly he was a success when first signed and fans were wishing for his signing….signed at 28 for £15m was a bit of a bargain. But now he is used as an example of poor transfer deal, 3 years later and with a loss of form.
Great Chas.
I remember a documentary about some delegation of Frenchies being wined and dined at Windsor. They sat down in The Waterloo Room!!
Arsene scrounged a ticket to that gig as well.
GIE,
As LB said, everyone is 100% correct with hindsight (paraphrased).
I haven’t watched the friendlies they really don’t interest me, I will watch the competitive games. Recently the England side has shown a distinct lack of technique and it appears Roy has recognised this and is going for a pragmatic approach. I watched an ESPN classic of England v Holland in Euro 96 on ESPN, the way Gascoigne was knocking passes around was a vast difference to where we are 16 years later.
GM,
In which position would you sign a first team starter?
True Chas….it’s the most annoying thing used by football fans to critique, they seem to have the inability to go back and put themselves in the shoes of the decision maker at the time.
GM’s still dreaming of Keira Knightley. 🙂
Too true Chas.
I was so excited at the arrival of AA. Remember going to his debut game against Sunderland.
Where did the verb critique come from? I’m sure when I was younger it was only used as a noun.
It seems to me a way of avoiding saying you are criticising!
Ooops, meant GiE. Talking of which though, my children were watching a Pirates of The Carribean dvd last night. Oooo she looked goooood
I bet you wish you could bend it like Beckham, Micky!
Being an Aussie,I watched our boys V Denmark.
Bendtner was ok,but Eriksen was who I wanted to watch.
He was,overall,pretty quiet,but a few glimpses of his talent came through and were just brilliant.
He looks to be an Arsenal style player already.
His back heel to set up Agger was just phenomenal.
I’m not sure how much he’d cost,but it,I reckon we’d be mad not to find out.
Reading some comments from him,he really is a switched on young man,too.
Think of an anti Hazard.
Micky, I’d go for a holding midfield player. We were really shown up when Arteta wasn’t playing last season. If Frimpong and Le Coq are good enough, they’ll get a game.
Just imagine where we’d have finished last season if we hadn’t signed Arteta.
Perhaps we should have signed Parker. Hehehehe, as henrychan would say.
Chas,
I think I’d agree. In line with what Van Basten said, and also so that the young pretenders would not be held up, I like the De Jong rumour.
I still have no idea who my first choice AM is for next season though.
Mick,I just told you…Eriksen 🙂
Micky in answer to your question I don’t know.
Probably on wing as I think we are short, especially with Theo a year to go, a holding midfielder and a right back. Sagna is 28/29 and it’s a big gap between him and Jenks so someone around 25-26. Oh and while im at it a centre forward and an attacking midfielder.
But as I said earlier who will it upset in the first team already?
Interesting, Scott.
I think Big Randy also likes Eriksen.
If I had to go for only one more signing, I’d like more steel.
Scott who does he play for now? I only ask as I have no idea…..
GIE,
If players are going to be upset at new signings, shouldn’t we f*ck them off anyway? They should be pleased if the squad is strengthened.
GIE,
So you want half the team replaced? 🙂
Eriksen is with Ajax…Arsenals little brother lol.
Cruyff reckons he’s one of the best he’s seen at that age.
If you can find it,check out footage of the back heel…..you’d almost sign hm on that alone!!
Ok,maybe not quite,but he is a world class player in the making.
Only joking, of course.
I’m off camping for a couple of days (Dennis help me).
See you in a bit.
If It was up to me,the two positions I’d fill first wold be DM and CAM.
I’ve given you my vote for CAam,so Eriksen and then any one of De Jong,Capoue or M’Villa for the other.
A few others to top us up,but they’re the two big ones for me.
Chas,
Totally agree. Have a great time. Pac kthe arm bands, you are going to need them!
I googled Denmark v highlights 2012 and YouTube footage came up.
Scott,
Australians make the best recruiters. Ask Oz!
Yip, DM and AM are my hot spots. Just wait for the cries of treading on the Aaron/Jack toes.
We need depth,and it may take Jack a fair while to get back to his best.
Morning all
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