I cannot tell you how excited I was about this game; it really was six year old boy stuff, jumping up and down at Christmas; having just been woken by my parents and told that I could go down stairs and open my presents; we all know that no matter how many presents you get there is always one very special one and this special one was made in Germany.
I am sure there have been far more games worthy of far greater excitement but it seems a long time now that I got this excited about a game due to the signing of a new player, certainly not over the last seven years, how far would we have to go back to find the equivalent?
Anyway, not only did the shiny new toy look great — it worked; in fact, it took very little time for it to show the silky skills we all hoped for by playing a beautifully weighted pass for Giroud to clinically drive home past the helpless keeper.
One-nil to the Arsenal and everything was going to plan, the good guys started stoking the ball around and the gulf in class started to show; Sunderland had a few long range shots but nothing to really trouble Szczesny.
I was mentally mocking Di Canio for his cartoonish Italian gesticulation as we went into the break but I don’t know how he did it but somehow he managed to lift his players because they came out like a completely different team – determined and direct.
I was going to use a bull fight imagery of the beast that comes charging out into the ring, driving towards the matador only for the smarter of the two to step aside at the last minute — but Koscielny was not smart enough and got the team gored with a school boy tackle that led to a penalty and their equaliser.
Game on. Sunderland’s tails were up and they started coming through our midfield a little too easily for my liking. I am sure I wasn’t the only one who started asking at this point, who is supposed to be stopping this happen?
It’s all very well for Flamini to take up the defiant stance of hand on knees, lifting a clenched fist every now and then and shouting: come on boys but it counts for nothing if the opposition are charging through the middle as easily as a hot knife through butter.
We needed a hero and just when you thought you couldn’t praise Aaron Ramsey anymore for his start to this season up he pops to volley home what probably is the best goal of the new campaign, maybe you can think of a better goal, let me know?
So, I now take you back to the Christmas analogy; yes, there is always a big present but there is usually also something that you initially overlook, something hidden in one of the cards, something that you only give a cursory glance at — in this case it was a card that said – Get out of jail free. Because that is exactly what we did when the referee decided to give a free kick outside the area after one or another of their players scored a goal that would have had sites like this going into melt down had that happened to us.
The only thing for it was to score a third, up stepped Johnny on the Spot, or Taffy in the box to stroke home our third and put this game to bed.
Özil came off to great applause for an excellent debut; if I had to sum it up in a sentence I would say that I thought it was a very special Christmas day.
Player ratings.
Szczesny: I am a big fan; he is the right man for the job, he gets better all the time and I for one hope he stays at THOF many years to come. Commanding, stopped the shots that needed to be stopped, couldn’t do much about the penalty, good game. 8
Jenkinson: Özil’s arrival seemed to prompt the majority of the team to take a step up in their ability on the ball; the problem is I don’t think Jenks got the memo: too many crosses that flashed across the box when no one was there. 6
Sagna: I think it was against Sunderland last season that Bacary’s reputation to be able to play central defence first started, it wouldn’t have been the same if today’s performance was his first as a CB. I think we saw today just how good the BFG makes both Sagna and Koscielny look. 6
Koscielny: no excuses, school boy error for the penalty. 5
Gibbs: he just gets better and better doesn’t he, it wasn’t so long ago that there were debates on this site about how we needed an experienced LB – well those days are gone as our Kieran has got the job. We are also fortunate that Baines and Cashley are still around or Gibbs would be another one getting kicked to buggery in an England shirt. 7
Flamini: I think the title of The Flamster is perfect for him, he is a utility player, to be consigned to the bench when Arteta returns but will come on when we are ahead after seventy minutes and Wenger feels the need to shore things up. 6
Wilshere: I have always refused to fawn over the most talented midfield player to come through Arsenal’s ranks in a long time and as such will become Arsenal and England captain but today is different, I have talked about Özil’s arrival prompting others to raise their game, well our Jack raised his game more than anyone else in my opinion; his passing was superb, it was everything good today as it was bad in the week and because of that he is my MOTM. 9
Ramsey: how can the man who saved our bacon not get the MOTM, well, his first half wasn’t brilliant which might sound a bit odd but he has raised the bar so high now that if he isn’t scoring every ten minutes something is wrong. In fairness the first half was congested which doesn’t suit his play as much as a slightly more open game in which he can charge through the middle, although, when the game did open up for the few short periods he certainly was brilliant. 8
Özil: oh my goodness, where do I start, picture a kid at Christmas having just opened his big present and is now jumping up and down shouting, thank you, thank you, thank you that’s just what I wanted. 8
Giroud: you can try and knock him and I have but his goal scoring record will turn round and slap you in the face; he went off at the end but if you look closely you will see the physio mouthing to Wenger that he just got a knock on the knee, the implication was clear that it was not too serious, now I have said that, what do you reckon? Out for six weeks? 7
Walcott: “everyone knows he is shit but he is dangerous shit” How am I supposed to compete with that? Forgot to bring his scoring boots, should have got a hat trick. 6
Enjoy your Sunday.
Written by LB
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Thanks for the write-up, LB, I’m going to go through it properly after I’ve watched the game in full.
I just wanted to pass on a nugget from the Sunday Supplement on Sky: apparently, Mark Halsey has a book that is now being serialised in one of the papers, and he mentioned that he and Ferguson were on such close terms that they would regularly text each other. Halsey also went to Ferguson to ask for his advice when referees were considering going on strike after the Mikel-Clattenburg blow-up.
Just how much objectivity can we expect from referees when one manager is treated in such a way outside of games? It just underlines how easy a ride United have been getting all these years and why.
good article but ur ratings are complete shit than walcott in front of goal yesterday. These are my ratings;scz-7,jenk-7,sagna-7,kos-5,gibbs-7,flamini-7,wilshere-7,ozil-7,ramsey-8,giroud-7.5,walcott-5
Great sum up of the game LB.
I watched the game and was very impressed with our midfield they worked hard and Ózil Rambo and young jack will terrorise some defences this season.
One happy taffy gunner in Swansea more to come please arsenal .
Sheep Hagger™
Oh forgot to mention who’s top of the tree
Thanks for the write up LB. Just saw the 12 minute highlights and was delighted with Young Oz. Giroud’s finish was sublime and how can you praise Ramsey enough? From the highlights I thought that Sagna and most of the Arsenal players played to the whistle thus allowing your man to score before being called back for the free. I agree though if it had happened vs us I’d need referred for anger management.
You survived then LB??
LB – great post you silly man, getting all excited about a new player 🙂
I couldn’t find a good stream at the start of the game and started to watch when the Wizard of Ozil was taking the corner. Oh boy, it really was the Mesut Ozil wearing our shirt and taking a corner for us!!! I will never forget that moment, never.
As for the player ratings, hm….I think you were very generous. It wasn’t the best display I have seen, but rather a good, solid performance. We were caught out a couple of times and if not for a dodgy offside and over the line decisions, it could have been a different post today.
But we won, we are top of the League and Ozil is really ours. Happy happy dayz.
Rambo is out of this world; I keep on checking his contract dates in case I made a mistake and it is to expire next summer; but so far so good, he signed the extension in last December 🙂
Jack is great, no doubt about it. I was pleased that he went down a few times after a relatively innocuous tackles – he gets kicked about in every single game, his little legs must be constantly bruised
Thanks for the report!! Hoping to read another one from you on Thursday
you rated Jack higher than Ramsey and Ozil?
stopped reading right there, utter nonsense.
To award MOTM to a player who didn’t contribute directly to the victory other than doing his job, lunacy.
Great match report LB. I can’t believe how quickly Ozil has managed to build an understanding with the other players, its that old nugget ‘football intelligence’ I guess.
Unlike steiner, I am impressed you chose Jack as MotM, it made me think about things, but I still would have given it to Rambo.
steiner … all the players try to do their jobs, you don’t get motm for not doing your job, you get it for doing it better than any other player
Incidentally, for some reason we cannot fathom (could be the description of Theo?), this post has not come up on NN … shame because it deserves a wider audience
Spot on, LB. Cheers. (I was happy at my tiny contribution to the ratings, too. 🙂 )
Ant and me agreed that we’d played better and either lost or only drawn. Still, quality goals will often win you a game.
I still don’t understand the clamour for the ref to show Sagna a red card. Some tosspots like Shearer and Lineker are quite happy to say that the ref couldn’t say it wasn’t a goalscoring opportunity because he put the ball in the net. Same logic applied, Sagna didn’t deny Altidore the opportunity and that’s what the law requires for it to be a red card.
* denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick
//www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/laws/football-11-11/law-12—fouls-and-misconduct.aspx#2YfemuIZqIt10lSV.99
So MOTM can only be given to a player who directly contributes to a victory?
Bejaysus H, some fans’ understanding of a team game is so poor, I despair.
Oh dear, apologies if I’ve inadvertently contributed to the report not appearing on NN.
Nice post LB thank you. Without going into any details I think your ratings are somewhat off. No way could Jack be rated as MOTM. If anything it was between Özil, Ramsey and Giroud. I am not saying Jack did not do well because he did but in my opinion there is something about his game(at the moment) that is not right. I am wondering if all of the hype and press reports are getting to him. We need to remember just how young he is and he is still developing. Yet all you here is that he is the savior for England. Frankly fu§$ England! I am just concerned about what he does for AFC and honestly at the moment he has a long way to go. People (press) need to get off his back and let him play. He needs to be able to concentrate on his game and fitness without everything being analysed by the press.
https://twitter.com/tim_lewis85/status/379194597307854848
https://twitter.com/TweetOfLeo/status/379194788865929216
One more thing. After 4 PL games we have gone from a club in crisis that does not spend money to top of the PL 🙂
https://twitter.com/taner1907uk/status/379194892607815680
https://twitter.com/tim_lewis85/status/379190437309067264
I view the player ratings as just a bit of fun – nothing to get too upset about 😕
Exactly Rasp
Just a quick explanation for those who have woken up without their sense of humour.
I award the MOTM to the player who plays better than he normally does: did Rambo play better than he normally does? No. Did Giroud play better than he normally does? No. Did Ozil play better than he normally does? Who knows. But Jack did play better and if you want a simple yard stick, just compare his performance in the week with yesterday.
The ratings are the authors choice,don’t get too upset
Much love
Śhéép Hàggèr
Nice one LB
Jack man of the match? Of course he bloody was. For the first time in ages we saw the real Wilshere again. There was a dynamic to his game that quite frankly makes me salivate.
This team has vast potential to grow and acheive great things.
The speed of our pass and move game will increase, further experience will toughen our players up, and goals and assists will soon start coming from everywere.
We are not the finnished article and there will be hicups on the way, but we have a chance for the title this season
And imagine what we will be like in a year or two.
The Ghosts of the Thirties are Stirring
“For the first time in ages we saw the real Wilshere again.”
Thanks Terry
That is exactly where I was coming from.
Fantastic, LB. Still glowing….. too excited to write, yet …..
The difference between Wilshere yesterday and with England was that on Wednesday he held on to the ball too long as no-one was showing for him – thereby he was caught in possession a lot. The other England players passed the ball like a hot potato to get rid of it as quickly as possible (9 times out of 10 losing possession, but not looking as bad as being caught in possession). Yesterday, players were looking for the ball, so his passing game looked a lot more effective. I thought he had a good game.
I just wish I could find every moron who booed Ramsey and the team last season and stuff this article down their throat. Stupid bandwagoners, why cant they go watch the spuds??
LB: Not looking for an argument, just don’t agree with your MOTM that’s all. As Rasp said earlier, ratings are just a bit of fun, however, if you post them then you should not get upset if people comment on them! Like I said, I never said he did not have a good game….read my earlier comment again on what I said about him. Anyway, more important than this trivial issue (as it is only opinion orientated) I have more concerns about the injury problems we currently have.
One more thing, not being native English, what is a Nonce?
TMHT is trolling nonsense
JanMan
I am not sure where or why you think I am upset; in fact, I am far too happy to be upset. You are, of course, welcome to your opinion and I for one value it.
Think about this, one of the tricks to making a successful blog is to not always write what people expect you to write.
How much conversation do you think I would have generated if I had given Ramsey the MOTM?
Janman
A nonce is a person who molests children. It’s slang that comes from the word nonsense. It is obviously not a very nice thing to be called.
LB: Good point perhaps I misunderstood your earlier comment, “Just a quick explanation for those who have woken up without their sense of humour”
As I said, not being native English some comments do not come across in the meaning that the post perhaps was meant 🙂
“Nonce” OMG!!! thanks for explaining that LB.
Cheers LB, ratings had me howling (with joy). Haven’t yet read the report itself
Dangerous shit…oh dear.
Ozil 🙂
Good afternoon to you all,
As I read LB’s very good post I disagreed with his award of MoTM to Jack Wilshere, I thought it should have gone to Aaron Ramsey if only for the two superb goals that he scored. Later when I read his reasoning, that he gave the award to the player who played better than he usually does, I found myself to be in complete agreement. I got the impression that Jack wasn’t subjected to the level of clobbering that has become the norm of late.
Still no definitive news on Giroud’s injury, will he be fit for Wednesday? Could we see the self styled “Best Striker in the World” play?
Really enjoyed the PM. Thank you.
We are well stocked in MF but this is getting silly – Arteta, Cazorla, Rosicky and Diaby all crocked. ANd yet …. we can still put out a brilliant MF with Ramsey, JW, Flamster and Ozil ….
Happy Days
p.s. LB is right about MoM. He watched the Whole game not just the MoTD highlights
Splendid write-up LB and a cheeky choice for MOTM.
I would have gone for the more obvious route of picking Aaron – and the blog would have been all the duller for it 🙂
Jack played well yesterday but to me he’s still only operating at 75% of what he’s capable of. As the last 25% starts to slot into place he’s going to be a joy to watch.
BR,
I think we have to stop including Diaby as a mid-field option, if and when he does get fit enough to play three full games on the trot then I would welcome like a new signing, is it ever going to happen? Who knows!
One thing that seemed to pass under the radar yesterday was the return to action of Thomas Vermaelen, only a few minutes of action but it was great to see him back, He could be very important in the coming season.
Hi BR. I watched the whole game too, live on Sky Germany in my Hotel Room in Berlin. German Sky has a great coverage of the EPL and their skysports 2 channel showed the entire game live. Still don’t concur that Wilshire was the MOTM 🙂
I think you’re right Rocky, Jack Wilshere at 75% is pretty good, at 100% he’ll be awesome.
By the way, I believe the tweets with the word ‘nonce’ in are referring to the usage of the word meaning annoying idiot rather than the much harsher prison term as described by LB.
I would not have posted them if I thought it meant the latter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk48b3FBR9c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dI9eagaUm4
LB – I chuckled to myself when I saw you’d given the MOTM to Jack 😆
Evening all, thanks for the write up LB, didnt see whole game only saw MOTD highlights which showed Sunderland having equal first half and better second, and Football First which appeared to show more balance.
I think the key thing in your ratings is the assessment of Koz, Sagna and Flamini.
You are right in what you say about BFG, and also Flamini, he did the organising better against Spuds but that was because the whole team defended so he was organising people who were around him, Arteta manages to snuff out opposition attacks even when he is left short handed. Basically he reads the game like an attacking midfielder so sees the danger better.
OK, I finally managed to see the whole game on Arsenal Player.
And what an enjoyable time it was. Not that it should have been much of a surprise, LB’s write-up said it all.
Perhaps the best part of it was what the performance wasn’t: we have a full-on injury crisis, unmatched by anyone else in the PL (again), and we were very much in second gear throughout (or “a leetel wiz zee andbrake on”), and yet we won with ease and class.
Seeing Ozil was excellent: he just slots straight in, as if he’s been training at Colney for years. His weight of pass, control and vision are exquisite. And it is clear there is a lot more to come from this lad.
There were other quality performances yesterday. I like LB choosing Jack as MOTM, partly because I also thought he had an excellent game (is he the most fouled player in the country?), and partly because LB has long held critical views of Wilshere, so I know it is real when he sees something good in the boy’s performance.
I also thought Ramsey (of course) and Giroud were great yesterday. Olly’s deft lay-offs were especially impressive.
One I think deserves credit is Theo. Yes, he missed some chances, but only one of those was anything other than difficult, and that was his first chance, which is often going to be something of a sighter. Stretching for a header at his height or having a shot at a narrow angle and with a second to shoot is more speculative stuff. He often got into dangerous positions, and played some excellent passes.
On the other hand, the defensive unit had an off day. Kos panicked into giving a penalty (whether or not he touched Johnson, he didn’t have to dive in), and he made one or two other errors. Sagna looked like a full back playing at centre back, and Jenks wasn’t great. Flamini played too far up the pitch too often, Arteta’s positional discipline was missed. Szczesny and Gibbs did fine though.
But none of that was enough to spoil a very good day for our team and our Ozil. Bring on Marseille.
We are top o’th’league, say
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We are top’o’th’league
We are top o’th’league..
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We are top’o’th’league!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWLyTxRXZ1I
Does anyone know where Arsenal are in the table?
I love it how they’re singing this in the U.S. even if the tune isn’t quite right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5xpzcoxP4o
…you won the league in black and white. 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBagq2HnhdE
I think one of the most interesting comments to come out of THOF this weekend was the rumour that Wenger blocked Bendtner going on a loan move to Palace, I suppose we have to assume that he is training and will be playing in an Arsenal shirt sometime in the near future.
Heard a Spud phone in to one of the post match radio shows, listed the 1961 team, then listed the current side. Many ROLFs
i have been evil this morning
I went on other sites and gave abuse to some undermining doom and gloom marchants that were peeing us off all summer. That will teach them 🙂
Morning all …….
….. New post ………