Arsenal sink Eastenders

December 28, 2014

A pulsating London Derby resulted in Arsenal taking the spoils in the East End.

Entrance to the Boleyn Ground

Entrance to the Boleyn Ground

An hour long journey for me from North West London to East London was very eventful to say the least. Throughout the train journey there were lots of Hammers fancying their chances in this game given Arsenal’s recent defensive frailties and the return of the ‘woman beating'(allegedly) Andy Carroll who can of course throw his weight around.

As the team sheets filtered through there were many raised eyebrows at the inclusion of young French midfielder Francis Coquelin having recently returned from a loan spell at Charlton Athletic. However, Coquelin would have the last laugh as many Arsenal fans were left pleasantly surprised come the final whistle at Upton Park.

View from the away end

View from the away end

As the Arsenal fans roared into the ground the game got underway and from the start, West Ham applied pressure and hearts were in the mouths as Alex Song’s strike was ruled out for offside much to the relief of the travelling Arsenal faithful. It was evident that being a London derby this was going to be a feisty affair and it lived up to that expectation as there were many tackles all across the pitch. West Ham by this time were trying to exert pressure but the Arsenal defence stood firm.

Then the turning point. The magician Santi Cazorla’s quick feet bamboozled the West Ham centre backs resulting in reported Arsenal target Winston Reid clipping him to the floor and conceding the penalty. The Spaniard dusted himself down to tuck away the penalty himself sending his compatriot Adrian the wrong way.

santi

The opening goal seemed to give Arsenal a morale boost and it was soon followed up by a burst from the Ox who supplied a low cross for Danny Welbeck to score a second and put the Gunners in a commanding position at half time.

Arsenal could hardly believe their luck but there were still concerns in the stands given the aerial threat which the West Ham posed. Per Mertesacker saved a certain goal and then that threat came to fruition as nine minutes into the second half Arsenal failed to clear their lines and Kouyate gave the Hammers a glimmer of hope. Arsenal lived dangerously throughout the second half despite having the chance to kill the game off with Adrian making two great saves from Cazorla and then Chamberlain’s diving header.

There were lots of disgruntled fans however as Arsene Wenger did not bring substitutions on until the closing stages, a time when Chamberlain was tiring. As the closing moments approached the Arsenal’s goal was under siege; the game became scrappy and another headed effort deep into injury time fortunately landed on the roof of the net.

The final whistle blew and a vital three points were going back to North London which Arsenal can build on heading into the New Year’s Day fixture.

Arsenal now climb above their London rivals and with the transfer window only round the corner, there is a fresh wave of optimism and this result can provide an injection of life into Arsenal’s season.

UTA!!

By @SirAHussain14

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Posted by ChärybdÏß1966

4-1 to The Arsenal. Talking Points.

December 14, 2014

–   CB’s. In a week when Arsene spoke about The Transfer Market, CB’s and Koscielny, up pops Debuchy in the middle to join another RB , Chambers, to stake a claim as a multi-functional defender. Didn’t see this one coming, but memories of very accomplished performances at the heart of the defence by Bac sprung to mind.

–   Bellerin. “Oh Hector, you are a very good player, and aren’t you the one who can go faster than Theo?”. Watching him yesterday and a song popped into my head, and for the more mature reader, you’ll remember the “you’ll never beat Des Walker”. Speed is such a great asset.

–    Ollie and Danny. It’s effective, but I remain firmly in the either/or camp. I believe Danny will go on to become a really exceptional CF, and it will be interesting to see how things pan out once Mesut returns.

–   One Arsene Wenger. Doesn’t matter whether you think we need a new Manager or not, how nice to see the fans getting behind The Boss after the shit he received last week.

–   The Midfield.  Flamini The Anchor behind the aggressively creative drive of Santi and The Ox. This I like very much. Yes I reckon The DM is the one position more than any other where a “Worldy”  would be improve the side the most dramatically, but this formation had really nice balance.

–   The Ox. Always save the best for last. And exactly what did you think I was going to say about him? Me, blinkered? No, just right on the money J

–   The Match. Five goals, and four of them for us. The early goal to lift the crowd, end to end stuff, and some really nice speedy quality football. It was a good day at the office any way you look at it. We’re set up nicely for a Christmas Push.

Written by MickyDidIt89

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Job done!

December 10, 2014

Well! That was a match to savour! Not sure I’ve ever seen a team line-up with three right-backs playing across the back four before, but it made for an exciting game for the neutrals.

Podolski v galatasary

 

An excellent first half for the Good Guys, you really can’t ask for more than a three goal lead at half-time. Podolski and Ramsey, twice, providing a selection of goals to satisfy even the most jaded of football fan’s taste buds. Could easily have been five or even the six we needed to overtake Dortmund.

Ramsey's left foot

 

Wenger rang the changes at half time, quite rightly in the circumstances, but that left us more than a tad open to attack and Galatasaray certainly welcomed the invitation.

According to the BBC, they had thirty-two attempts on goal, though only seven were on target and they only got the ball in the net once. If they had a striker, worthy of the name, the final score would probably have looked a lot less flattering. A bit worrying in view of the teams we are likely to meet in the next stage, but let’s just enjoy the moment.

Written by Norfolk Gooner

 

 

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

That’s more like the Arsenal of old.

November 27, 2014

After so many indifferent results lately, it was a pleasure not only to to see us reach the knockout stage of the CL yet again, but to see the players play out the game as a unit not as individuals. Both Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund had several key men missing, but one can only play what is in front of you.

There were several stand out performances including Gibbs, Chambers, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla and the phenomena that is Alexis Sanchez. I am sure you can all add to that list.

As I have mentioned before it is nearly impossible to second guess Wenger, and when the team was announced, there were several gasps that Sanogo was leading the line, yet within seventy five seconds, Yaya gave us that all important breakthrough. He reminds me a bit of a raw Giroud. he is strong, holds up the ball reasonably well and like one or two others needs to concentrate on his finishing. Too early to make an accurate judgement on him, but time will tell.

I was pleased for Santi, who has been woefully out of form, and his two assists for both goals were exquisite, and his all round play was excellent..

The Ox continues to impress and was unlucky not to score with a dipping volley, but his time will come.

What can you say about Sanchez. His work rate is fantastic and even if he drops out of the game from time to time he is the best attacker by a country mile,that we have signed for years. There is definitely a touch of Suarez about him, and any top side would want him in their team.

What pleased me the most was that our passing and understanding between the players was so much better than for most of this season, and I assume there were some hard words spoken to all the players after the United defeat.

Fighting for your place,is no bad thing, so perhaps Arsene will be more ruthless, but we will have to wait and see..

Chambers really is a good prospect and though another who is so young has shaken off a couple of bad performances and had an excellent game. What his best position eventually will be, is open to discussion.

The downside is that Arteta has a calf strain and by all  accounts will be out for a prolonged period and that Podolski unfortunately just doesn’t cut it with Wenger on the field, but to be fair to him he gets next to no playing time.

Let’s hope we can now finally build on this result, buy a couple of class defenders in January, but more importantly get a run of several consecutive wins in the league.

kelsey

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Posted by kelsey

Luck be a Lady tonight.

November 26, 2014

This is one of Frank Sinatra’s career highlights (just listen to the arrangement by Billy May and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra). The lyrics tell of a gambler and his relationship to luck and romance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJpGHR6ofus&spfreload=10

Last night City were being humiliated at home by a 10 man Bayern and yet with within 3 minutes two of the world’s most reliable defenders make elementary mistakes leading to a highly unlikely MC victory. True, the goals were well taken but the victory was as lucky as I have seen in many a year. Furthermore, MU’s win on Saturday was secured by a healthy dose of good fortune

Some people say “you make your own luck” which quite frankly is total bolleaux. Whilst accepting that hard work has an influence upon results there is such a thing as good fortune and in Arsenal’s case, bad fortune. How else can one explain the two long term injuries in the only area of the pitch we were inadequately covered? Or the shots to goals ratio or the increasing number of wrong refereeing decisions or the opposition scoring more goals than shots taken or two GK’s out or Giroud not in the squad as Welbz gets hurt or the Ozil and Theo situations or the  …..  you get the picture.

Mr Wenger says he is confident we will have a good season, for him to be correct tonight is a good starting point because we play a fine opponent. Borussia Dortmund are tonight’s victims and are having their worst start to a season under Klopp. They have a lengthy injury list yet have already qualified as winners of the group.   As I have written 3 times about Dortmund in the past 2 seasons – that’s your lot about them!

images

Proper Fans

They can be beaten. This is How: We attack with more menace, defend with greater cohesion And our Luck turns. With those three elements in place we can beat anyone.

No need to go through the team, if you bother to read an Arsenal blog you probably have as good an idea as I do! Instead let us look once again at the midfield …. to Flamini or Rosicky? Should Santi be dropped for Podolski?

If Welbeck is injured it must be better to play Podolski with Alexis central than to give another start to Sanogo.  Rosicky may be less defensively capable but Flamini brings nothing to the attack and Tomas always brings momentum from midfield. We are at home – we attack. Simple. But Mr Wenger will almost certainly disagree and start with the Arteta/Flamini axis.

What a night for young Martinez.  A first home start for the 22 y.o. Argentinian – please let the gods of good fortune shine upon him and give him an error free evening.

Ox to score tonight. You can do it for England now do it for those who pay your wages!

Very Important. How do we influence a change of luck? I have tried changing lucky socks – didn’t work. I have moved my Ganesh to face the TV screen – nothing changed.  Stopped using my lucky toothpaste – nada. Changed my lucky Valpolicella to a so far unlucky Merlot. Stopped eating the lucky cake and am trying various crispy snacks. Stopped wearing my 49’er shirt and gone back to wearing the home shirt. All to no avail.

Have you got any ideas?

COYRRG

Written by Big Raddy

 

 

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Posted by Erik the Red

Did Jack do it for you?

November 19, 2014

We’ve had lots of discussion about Jack Wilshere on this site. Some feel that he has slowed the teams progress down while he’s played himself back to match fitness and others have followed the ‘Jack’s a genius’ tag religiously in the hope (and expectation) that the player we saw with our own eyes all those months ago against Barcelona would return.

This season Jack has been awesome and annoying in equal measure. He’s still a target for rotational fouling by all teams and gets very little protection from the referees. But I wonder if after the recent displays for England – and last night, again, he ran the show in quite a stunning way – there will be a call to protect him. A silent call of course, we wouldn’t want any of our players to be namby pambies but it’s nice to think that Jack could just get on with his game rather than sitting on the turf.

JW

He played some beautiful passes last night and if he can be consistent I know that I’m going to love watching him. His ball for Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal in last night’s game was sublime. It was good to hear The Ox saying how the manager had said that if the players can get into the positions Jack will find them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1VbckKjkxc

Congratulations have to be given to The Ox as well for being in the right place at the right time.

Ball over the top, to feet, to back of the net. Lovely stuff. Can’t wait for Saturday.

I have to admit to heaping criticism on Jack’s young shoulders and I’m sorry to have doubted that he had a place in our team.

Lets have a Jack love-in. Did Jack do it for you?

Written by peachesgooner

 

 

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

There’s Only One ……

October 1, 2014

First things first……

Congratulations to Mr. Wenger on his 18th Arsenal Anniversary. You do not look like a man who enjoys a cream cake and a bottle of Asti Spumante so instead we will take the cheap route and send best wishes.

What a fantastic ride it has been from the DB10 years, through the TH14 years and now onto the DW23 era. Thank you.

Unknown-1

“I left the Afghan coat in the 2CV”

Right, let’s get onto what will be a difficult game. It would be a tough one had we been on form and given our inability to find cohesion this season  …. yadda yadda yadda.

Galatasary are only in the competition because their city rivals and league champions Fenerbahce were very bad boys and not allowed to play in the CL so the Turkish runners-up took their place.  They like Italian managers and have employed both Mancini and Prandelli over the past season – we can expect a compact, counter attacking team. They have some fine players including the mercurial (read unreliable) Sneijder. In Yilmaz and Pandev they have strikers who will cause problems to our brave lads but as always in CL games at The Emirates it will be the quality of the opposition defence which will determine tonight’s result.

And talking of defensive quality, let’s talk Eboue. Tonight should have seen his return to his real home club but instead poor Emmanuel will be sitting elsewhere. His star has faded in Turkey and as far as I can find out Eboue hasn’t even travelled with the squad. Apparently he has been relegated to the reserves. What a shame. It would have been great to hear “You’ve only come to see Eboue” sung once more at THOF.

Onto The Arsenal. Much is made of our injury record and with good cause. Just a few games into the season and we have already lost 4 first team starters (and Diaby is being rested for tonight 😀 ). It must be hugely frustrating for Mr, Wenger to see his squad depleted year after year. However, as always it gives opportunities for others to shine and a few games for the Ozil/Alexis combo to fire.

With so many midfield and attacking options picking a team is guesswork but  …

My Team:1st october

Hard to leave out Cazorla who is such a marvellous player. Perhaps my line-up is too attacking though Alexis is very good at tracking back and helping the midfield. It will be fascinating to see how the team sets up when Walcott returns in just a few weeks.

Against Spurs Ox had a fine game and I expect him to continue his good form tonight. Last season’s injury robbed him of a breakthrough year; at almost 21 he is on the path to super-stardom and a run of games will convince Mr Wenger that The Ox is undroppable (hopefully!). AW predicted that Ox will be a central midfielder …. we shall see.

I am always loathe to predict a victory but if Arsenal are to progress we have to win tonight. 10 points is the target and given the drubbing we got in Dortmund we cannot assume we will beat them at home (of course we will BR – you doomer), so a win and a draw away plus two home victories will be enough.

A win tonight will set us up for a tough game at Chelsea. It will also give a boost to the fans at the Emirates who are starting to lose the feel-good factor left over from the FA Cup win.

On an Anniversary night Let it be So.

written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Ox to step up?

September 20, 2014

Well, the fans have giving the team a good kicking this week, we can only hope they pass it on to Aston Villa this afternoon.

Unknown

We are always unlucky about meeting a team as they are in good from and today is no exception. Given last season’s miserable performances it was more likely that Lambert would be sacked rather than make his young team into the formidable opponents they will be post kick-off. Fair play to the man.

Or could it be his assistant who has engendered this startling change of form? Keane doesn’t like Arsenal, never has. He does however respect The Arsenal and has been involved in may victories over us. Has he learned from Surralex? I am convinced he has and expect to see Villa play the same way MU did when they could beat us … that is, with violence. Not just violence but cunning violence. Expect the game to start with a flurry of  nasty tackles on our creative players (rotational of course). How the game develops from here will depend upon two things

1. How our delicate flowers respond to a bit of aggressive pruning (just for you Peaches 🙂 )

2. The strength of the referee. Today we are blessed with Mike Jones.

Before discussing Jones may I remind you of how the referee affected the game in our opening fixture last season. Anthony Taylor was so poor he was demoted – deservedly so. Do you recall how he waved play on after a TPIG foul in the area and then when Agbonglahor missed gave a penalty (which they scored)

Where was I? Ah yes, Mike Jones. Last season in 32 games he gave out 108 yellows and 3 reds. Yes, you read that right! This season after 3 games 10 yellows and one red. This chap is card happy. Will this be a good thing this afternoon? The stats do not show whether he is affected by the home crowd as so many refs are. We must hope not and that he continues to brandish yellow each time one of AV’s thugs ploughs through the back of our heroes.

We welcome the return of Big Phil. A player I have always liked – not Arsenal quality but a top bloke and one of Peaches faves. Alongside Vlaar he makes a fine CB partnership and with two quality FB’s Villa have become very difficult to break down. Especially as they have a busy midfield with Delph showing just why he was so highly rated as a teenager at Leeds.

Upfront, they rely upon pace which is not good news for BFG. Breakaway goals are an AV speciality and we can only hope the lessons of Tuesday night have been learned. We cannot afford to be too gung-ho.

Arsenal:  Please, please play Oxlade-Chamberlain today. I don’t care who gets dropped, we need his energy and drive.

The difficulty as I see it is how does a player recover from a bad bout of form without playing? Ramsey is one of our best players but of late has been completely anonymous (apart from scoring two vital goals 😃 ). Can Mr Wenger drop him? Can he drop Ozil?  Of course he can but will he?

Can Sanchez play twice a week given the amount of energy he expends during a game? Or Welbeck, who has covered more ground in 3 games than Giroud does in 6.

This is a tough team to guess but let’s try

 Villa 2014

I am excited to see Chambers get a run in the position he was bought for. Once again we have a powerful bench though lacking in defensive possibilities

Being in the Midlands the food I associate with Villa is always a curry – so I will choose one of my favourite dishes, a Daal Makhani. I read that one of the best can be purchased at the Sanskrit in Stratford Rd.. Add in a Paneer Marsala and a few breads and you are assured a veritable eating extravaganza.

images

All it needs is a chilled Lager

Birmingham is home to a host of famous drink and food brands. Typhoo tea, Birds Custard, Bournville cocoa, Cadbury’s chocolate and HP sauce all originate in Brum.

Can we win today? Of course. Our team will be desperate to absolve themselves after the Dortmund Debacle. If it goes tit’s up it will not be because of lack of effort. We have attacking talent in spades, our defence will be augmented by the excellent Gibbs, and we have a fine record at Villa Park

COYRRG

written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Arsenal’s Weak Spots

September 10, 2014

Last night Aaron hobbled off with an ankle injury, and although we won’t know until later the severity, it made me wonder about our vulnerability to injury.

At the beginning of last season, I would have said the areas of most concern would have been injuries to Theo, Ollie or one of our defensive pairing of Mert and Kos.

During the season, we witnessed the meteoric rise of Aaron, and by the end of the season it could be argued he was our most valuable player. By valuable, I mean an injury to this player having the biggest negative impact to our overall play.

I think we have covered the CB pairing with the arrival of the phenomenally talented Mr Chambers.

Ollie is now covered by Welbeck as well as Sanchez, and to an extent both can play both Left and Right providing cover for both Theo and whoever is the best Left Sided option.

It is actually very difficult to isolate the weakest spot, as we simply don’t yet know how the new side will settle down, and who will ultimately play where and in what formation.

Ozil is as yet far from the pivotal player we anticipate he will become, and I’d say it is possible he becomes the most irreplaceable only if he becomes the fulcrum in the middle. If he continues to be deployed more from the flanks, then I don’t see him as being especially irreplaceable.

Again, it is very hard to assess the key players up top. Either Sanchez or indeed Welbeck could emerge as Key Men. Of course, Ollie could return rejuvenated and become a Must Player.

Overall, and it’s difficult at this early stage of the new look side, but Aaron does appear to me to occupy the “most essential player” slot right now, although overall when fit, Theo still shades it for me.

The other day, a chum asked me who I saw as our most valuable player this season. I answered Theo, but went further to add that my biggest single wish for the season was that either Mesut or The Ox would emerge to challenge Theo for that particular honour.

Written by MickyDidIt89

 

 

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

………. and Leicester

August 31, 2014

For those who are new to the Emirates or do not go to games the “and Leicester” refers to a terrace chant sung to the tune of Land of Hope and Glory

“We all follow the Arsenal,

Over land and sea ….. and Leicester

We all follow the Arsenal

onnnn tooooo vic-to-ry.”

Why Leicester? Well, in the old days Filbert Street was an awful experience on a wet Wednesday evening; muddy pitch, poor facilities at the ground and very physical opposition. The club moved to the Walkers stadium in 2002 which has been re-named the King Power stadium and this is Arsenal’s first visit to the King Power (as far as I can find out!)

Until a few years ago I liked Leicester. Decent club, well run, loyal and vocal fans  – then they signed Robbie Savage.

I have a mental top ten of the first people to be executed when the world finally sees sense and makes me World President. Savage has always been up there – not at the top, but always there or thereabouts.

Perhaps my affection for Leicester stems from my admiration for one of their stalwarts who became an Arsenal legend …. Mr Frank Mclintock who captained  LCFC to two losing FA Cup Finals before coming to Highbury and captaining our ’70/71 Double team.

Leicester had a fantastic season in 2013/14. Winners of the Championship with 102 points! The season could hardly have gone better but now they have to find out if they can survive with the Big Boys. What do you think? They haven’t spent big just adding experience to the squad and relying upon the abilities of the team which brought them promotion.

Unknown-1

I like the Schmeichel son. He may be a smaller version of his brilliant father but he is nonetheless an excellent keeper whose career path is interesting. I wish him well but hope he has a stinker today. We also have a chance to see another old boy in Matthew Upson (injury permitting). There were high hopes for him when he signed for AFC in 1997 (￡2m at a time when a million was big money), he struggled and was sent out on loan until finally settling at B’ham and then West Ham. Given Upson is now 35 y.o. we must hope he plays 😃

The Arsenal:  A result today would see us go into the 2 week International break (FFS!) unbeaten. which for a team that has hardly got going is excellent.  It would be churlish to say we are not playing well as qualification for the CL, a home PL victory and a draw away at Everton is a very positive return, but let’s be honest, we have not exactly performed to the heights we know this team can achieve.

I see the problem like many others. How does Mr Wenger want this team to play? I love to see technical players passing intricately all over the pitch but sometimes I would like to see a player put his foot through the ball. Only Flamini seems capable of doing so and for that reason I am hoping to see Podolski’s name on the team sheet. To be fair, the Ox is also a man who can get “physical” with the ball.

Why? Because when going to the Midlands it is important to have “thrust” and we have been lacking in this department so far this season. Giroud sometimes gives us a bit of power and his loss could prove costly, we must hope Mr Wenger has a contingency plan (could be a forlorn hope).  Artistry is all well and good but it must lead to goals.

We have conceded three in 4 games – the defence looks solid., still a little suspect at set pieces but otherwise OK. The return of our CB pairing brings more security as Chambers, good as he is, is not at the level of Koscielny.

My Team:

31st august 14

Now this may be heresy but  when Ramsey is playing I would rather see Ox or Podolski than Cazorla. Santi may well be a wonderful player but especially away from home I would like to see us play a stronger left sided player who is less likely to venture inside. Let Santi come on as sub and provide the type of pass he gave Ramsey last saturday. Podolski adds some strength to a small side and he scores, something we need to do more of.

Big Raddy is going to try and find foods from the region of our away games, so let us start with the humble Pork Pie. Leicester is the birthplace of the pork pie and Melton Mowbray is the zenith of art of pork pie manufacture. Apparently there are 15 Indian food manufacturers in Leicester and  I could easily have chosen Red Leicester or Stilton cheese but there is something about the pork pie and the artisans of Leicester City F.C. It just fits.

Unknown

If I am honest I will be disappointed should we not get at least a point today but yesterday’s results show that nothing can be taken for granted. This much I know – Leicester would be cock-a-hoop should they beat us.

COYRRG

written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

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