Don’t Panic! All Is Well At Arsenal

April 2, 2012

Here are some results to put the fear of God up you:

  • Losing 2-3 at home to Blackburn Rovers.
  • Losing 0-3 away at Newcastle.
  • Losing 0-1 at Everton.
  • Losing 0-1 at Sunderland.
  • Losing 0-1 at Everton (again).
  • Losing 1-2 at Stoke.

The good news is that none of them are Arsenal results.

The first two defeats belong to Manchester (Surrey) United; the second pair were secured by the Abu Dhabi Oilers and the final two results were achieved by the Neanderthals from N17.

My point being that, in the context of the above results (which are all from this season), a 1-2 defeat away at QPR does not look so bad. Every top club this season has had embarrassing defeats and there will surely be more before this season is done.

The EPL is a competitive league and – literally – anyone is capable of beating anyone on a given day.

Arsenal losing at QPR is now a fact and a statistic, but it does not need to be a milestone. Reading through the comments on AA and elsewhere I feel there has been too much criticism following Saturday’s defeat.

On the day, Rangers played to the best of their ability and we played to 75% of ours. Somewhere in that gap, QPR found the room to win the game and take all three points.

But if you need to know anything about the current Arsenal squad it is that it has repeatedly proved its ability to bounce back from disappointment to confound the critics.

I am delighted that we have the Oilers up next. If we had a park-the-bus team battling against relegation I would doubt our ability to break them down. But a title-challenging Manchester City is exactly what we need.

The Spuds, meanwhile, are away at a confident Sunderland. I fully expect us to win and the Rioters to lose, courtesy of a Nik Bendtner brace, putting us back to a three point lead over the enemy.

QPR?

It was sh*t.

Now we move on.

We are The Arsenal…

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Arsenal: back to earth with a jolt.

April 1, 2012

Few people have wanted to write about our losses this season – there have been too many sadly – and yesterday was no exception. Watching the game on a good stream it was difficult to draw any positives from a lacklustre performance that was more reminiscent of the dark days in January than the recent exciting football we have witnessed.

There were a few shocks. The team selection was strange for a start. It seems that Arsene hasn’t noticed that the team is unbalanced when he starts with Song, Arteta, Rosicky and Ramsey, who out of that four is supposed to run the left wing? Yesterday it was pretty clear that none of them were going to be, which meant that we only had an attacking outlet with Theo on the right.

Why does Ramsey have to start? Why can’t Gervihno or Oxlade-Chamberlain play for 60 minutes and then bring on Ramsey? If Ramsey starts then surely one of Arteta or Rosicky has to be dropped and Ramsey play in their role but Arteta and Rosicky are pretty undroppable at the moment so what’s the answer? Clearly Arsene needs more time to decide but we struggled against Everton away precisely because the aforementioned four started and yesterday the same problem occurred.

Wenger’s post match pretty much laid the blame at the players feet

It is very frustrating because they left us the ball and waited for our mistakes. We took the ball, did not do a lot with it and made the mistakes. At the end of the day that made the result.

Our performance was not good enough to win this kind of game, especially in the duels. They had a little bit of extra special commitment that took advantage of us in some specific positions defensively. Overall we can only congratulate QPR for their attitude and be unhappy with our own performance.

Playing teams that are fighting to stay in the Premier League are always going to be extra difficult to play against but it looked liked one of our senior players had decided to take control of the game all by himself. What was up with Vermaelen? He deserted Koscielny early on in the first half, was culpable for QPR taking the lead and seemed to not want to be a centre-back. In addition Song was finding it difficult to make his Fabregas-like passes find an Arsenal player. I don’t have a problem with Song or indeed any Arsenal player looking to play an eye of the needle pass except when a simpler pass would have done the trick and yesterday there were a few occasions when just passing the ball would have worked better.

Anyway, moaning apart, we started well, but after 5 minutes of not scoring we allowed QPR to get into the game and they went ahead in the 22nd minute. In the 37th minute Robin was fouled just outside the box but the ref allowed the play to continue and luckily Theo was alert and managed a shot that hit the post and rebounded into his path for him to slot home. I always like it when we come from behind but could we push on and actually craft out a win?

We started the second half brightly but were hampered by not really being able to find the right ball for Robin who seemed to be limping. At around the hour mark Robin hit a great free-kick that was pushed away by Kenny and in the next minute Robin is through again but Paddy Kenny makes a great save. The pressure had been building and it did look like we would score but in the 66th minute Mackie skips past Vermaelen and squares a ball to Diakite to score. 2-1.

There was a change in the 69th minute with Gervihno coming on for Ramsey but QPR were happy to dig in and make it even harder for us to play through them. When that change didn’t achieve anything Chamakh and The Ox were brought on for Gibbs and Arteta in the 82nd minute. I’d like to see changes made earlier when we’re chasing a goal, I can’t see how either Chamakh or The Ox really had time to change the game.

And so it came to pass that we lost our 9th game of the season. We didn’t play very well, we certainly didn’t create enough and probably didn’t deserve to get anything from the game. Was it complacency that led to this, certainly I didn’t think that we would falter in west London. We are still in third though and hopefully will see the weekend out there. The chavs won, the oily chavs dropped points and the scum play today. Seven games to go and still I think there’ll be  some twists and turns on the road to staying in the top four.

I’m optimistic that we’ll return to winning ways next Sunday against the oily ones.

Written by peachesgooner

And the following was written by LB

Yet another one of those infuriating games in which on paper we start as favourites but as the reality of the game dawns we are left with the very same paper embarrassingly crumpled in our hands.

Damn that was frustrating, made even worse by the fact that I have at least ten good friends who support that team, I am going to have to suffer smug knowing looks every time I see one of them. And believe me they have memories like elephants I still find myself from time to time in ear shot of them telling that silly story of oh I was there when John Jenson scored and Impey and blah, blah, blah they won three one if you didn’t know; still, at least they will have a new story to bang on about.

What? You want me to talk about the game? Are you sure? Well, we were crap but some players played more crap than others and I am not going to do the polite thing and just say oh well that was just a bad day at the office and we should all move on and focus our attention on the next game. That my friends makes for a very, very boring blog. Match reports are supposed to be about the opinion of the author, it has to be surely because if it was just about describing the game we could all just go and read far more articulate reports from the likes of Henry Winter.

Ok the game; there were two clear managerial strategies in play: QPR’s was to sit back and wait for us to make mistakes and ours was to play a close, tight, quick passing game in the hope of finding a way round them. The result says all we need to know as to whose strategy turned out to be the most effective.

For long periods we moved the ball around the half way line with all the penetrative thrust of a two month old banana. QPR just waited until we made mistakes and picked us off. And that is the fixture and the match report consigned to the dustbin after one sentence.

Szczesny: starting to believe his own hype, he is taking more and more risks and because of that he will not go the whole season without one major embarrassment. Should have held onto the ball and calmed play down just before QPR’s winning goal. 5

Sagna: a shinning light in a sea of mediocrity. 7

Koscielny: just when I was sitting back smugly thinking, well TA do you still prefer Mertasacker’s slow, giraffe-like style to the lightning mobility of the Frole and the Belgiun, Kozzer goes and puts in a scatter brained performance like that. 6

Vermaelen: Tom you were all over the place mate. 4

Gibbs: time for a change, I expect Santos to start in the next game, we needed attacking nous today and Gibbs left us wanting. 5

Song: you can’t blame him for the lack of chances created, well I can’t anyway. I wish he would be a bit greedier and have a shot when he gets the chance. 6

Arteta: The Spaniard gets my MOTM if one has to be awarded; he at least looked as though it really mattered to him. 7.5

Rosicky: went back to his ineffectual dreadful self, missed placed passes, running into dead ends, poor tackles. 4

Walcott: now you would think that I of all people would save the bulk of my wrath for Theo but even though there was very little space to operate in and his control still leaves a lot to be desired he was not bad, the goal obviously helped but all in all I liked Theo’s attitude. 7.25

Van Persie: service, what service? Isolated for most of the game, not at his majestical best when he got the ball it must be said. 6

Ramsey: we have a problem here, young Aaron is too good to be left on the bench and not good enough to be playing. Wenger knows he would never accept being on the bench for any length of time, he would be off, so the Welshman is shoe-horned into the left wing which as we all saw was no good for him and no good for the team. Yes, I know he is young and yes I know he will improve but this comment is about his performance against QPR. 4.5

I have gone from not caring one way or the other as to whether QPR go down to yelling: open the trap door now and let the bunch of banned words drop.

Written by LB (Not a happy bunny).

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Au Revoir Arsène

March 30, 2012

On 28th August 20011 we lost to Manchester United 8-2. It was the heaviest defeat in our 125 year history. Two of our best players wanted out. We were 17th in the league with 1 point and heading for our worst start in years

The press were scathing

Ollie Holt from the mirror said:

“Liverpool have strengthened while Arsenal have gone backwards”

On Talkshite Adrian Durham started using this slogan when referring to Wenger:

“he used to be good, now he’s rubbish”

The press were unanimous that Wenger had lost the plot

The blogs were worse.

Why did we only buy Gervinho?

Why do we have so much ‘deadwood’?

Why did we waste £16m on Oxlade- Chamberlain from Southampton? We need ‘ready made’s’ not more kids.

Some on here (including me) were beginning to question him.

Most people agreed we had no chance of top 4.

Arsène Wenger had lost the fans, the press and allegedly the dressing room. The board acted swiftly and he was sacked.

Au Revoir Arsene

In a parallel universe, the Board acts swiftly and appointed a new manager. The new man was young and unknown. He acted decisively, and in the little time available, he is busy in the transfer market.

He bought:

Per Mertesaker from Werder Bremen

Andre Santos from Fenerbahce

Park Chu-Young from Monaco

Mikel Arteta from Everton

And took Yossi Benayoun on loan from Chelsea.

He also shipped out Denilson, Bendtner and some other “deadwood” that the fans didn’t want

The fans and press weren’t entirely convinced…..

“who are Park and Santos?”

“Is Mertesaker is a crock?” (Even though some fans had been crying out for him 2 years ago)

“Arteta is not good enough to clean Fabregas’ boots”

But because he was a new manager most were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt (and some time) and because he was young and British the press heralded him as the man to lead Arsenal.

In the first game we got lucky and beat Swansea 1 nil at home with a goal gifted by their keeper.

The next result was a disaster, we lost 3-4 at Blackburn after leading 2 nil. The press and the fans said it was Wenger’s fault as it was mostly his team.

We then beat Bolton and lost away to the spuds courtesy of a handball by Van Der Vaart.

But then we had a run of 8 games unbeaten including the 5-3 demolition of the chavs at the bus stop in Fulham. The press and the fans were now heaping praise on our new manager. “He’s finally got Arsenal playing as a team”. Something Wenger was no longer able to achieve.

Things changed when we lost all 4 full backs and had to start utilising players out of position. The press and fans agreed this was bad luck and anyone would have problems trying to cope with so many injuries.

After a bad spell including 3 losses on the bounce we started to get our players back and results improved. We are now on a 7 match winning streak only matched in Europe by the Catalan diving club.

We’ve set a new Premiere league record by winning 4 matches from a goal down proving our “mental strength”, something Wenger talked about but couldn’t deliver. The fans are now more vocal and the Emirates is becoming the home it promised.

We sit third in the table, 8 points ahead of the chavs and 3 ahead of the swamp dwellers. The fans and press agree; we must not get complacent. We need to stay focused for the rest of the season to make sure we get at least 4th but hopefully 3rd and we need to persuade RVP to sign a new contract.

With a couple of new players in the summer and Jack coming back we may even challenge for the big prizes next season.

Everyone is agreed, signing a new manager was a masterstroke by the Board. He’s rejuvenated the club, the team and the supporters.

The future looks bright.

What a shame that senile old Frenchman couldn’t have done it.

Written by goonermichael

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Posted by Rasp

Arsenal’s new manager

March 28, 2012

Times change, as do football supporters, what was gloom and depression for many fans a month ago, is bright and confident today.

What’s caused this change, have we shipped in all those superstars that were deemed necessary to our survival? Has that awful know nothing, worn out manager left the club, and the vital new assistant manager, you know the defensive coach we couldn’t possibly survive without, has he somehow slotted in seamlessly without me noticing it?

How come the best Tot’s team in years and their shoe in England manager, haven’t built on that ten point lead after having our shower of bargain basement panic signings for breakfast? It had to happen, just had to, didn’t the mega mouthed all-knowing football soothsayer Piers Morgan decree it. Likewise where have the ‘In Arsène we rust’ brigade disappeared to?

Nothing of course has physically changed, it’s just this team of potential has come of age. Uplifted by key players returning from Injury and showing a previously hidden capacity for resilience, they staged a remarkable turnaround  against the self-same Spuds, who when 2 goals ahead on our own pitch in our famously un-atmospheric new stadium, thought it’s all over, it was. 0 – 2 down  became a 5 -2 victory, as the team roared on by supporters who also came of age and finally transferred their pent-up passion to our new home and showed the watching TV world and cynical pundits that Arsène was right all along.

That resilience has stayed as has the belief of those doubting fans, now a mood of optimism pervades the Arsenal world, of course nothing has been won yet, except self-respect. But the pendulum has swung enormously to our advantage. True Man city and Chelsea  both feature in our run in, meaning spurs  probably on paper has the easier ride. But this new Arsenal with a fan base and team that has collectively found itself, are  a match for anyone, third place is in our own hands and I shall be surprised if we don’t take it.

Automatic qualification for the CL will allow Arsène to settle his transfer business in and out, without the distraction of an early start to next year’s European adventure.

Financial fair play awaits, our youth and reserve teams are awash with talent,  the odds are stacked in our favour.IMHO a new golden era is imminent and hopefully that goby Piers Morgan, will choke on his own bile after being banned sin die from the home of football.

Written by dandan

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Posted by dandan

What does ARSENAL stand for?

March 27, 2012

The art of Arsetrology

With days to go before our next ‘must win game’ I thought I’d pass the time by examining the factors that have combined to deliver us to where we stand today in this rollercoaster of a season. Since karma is definitely involved, and the footballing gods have stepped in to restore the natural order of things, I have decided to use the mystic power of Arsetrology (the ancient art of using an acronym to explain events) to reveal those factors that have guided our fate so far this season.

Bonkers you may say, but just think about it….. Arsenal, Arsène, Arteta, Arshavin (OK, he’s not everyone’s favourite), its no coincidence, the answers lie in ARSENAL.

A is for Arteta

I have made no secret of my appreciation of the vital role Mikel plays in the team. I am certain that had we not secured his services in the final hour, we would be several positions lower in the league table as it stands today. His reading of the game, work rate, range and accuracy in passing have all combined to make him the lynchpin of our midfield. On top of that, he seems to be having the time of his life and has chipped in with important goals. He took a pay cut to join us – watch and learn Na$ri, this guy has real class.

R is for Robin van Persie – who else?

Apart from the small matter of the 33 goals he has scored for us so far this season, the main and somewhat surprising bonus is that he is an excellent captain and has galvanised the players in a way few thought possible. Mr. Wenger’s habit of making the star player (or should it be wantaway player) captain hasn’t always been a success. Robin has been a much better captain than either Henry or Fabregas. His first thought after scoring is always to seek the player who provided the pass as he knows (and he wants those watching to know) that we are not a one man team. His support of Theo Walcott in particular has been unwavering and probably has a lot to do with Theo’s rich vein of form at the moment.

S is for Simple

Football is essentially a simple game. The technically gifted players we’ve had in recent years have engendered a style that often sacrificed incisive attacking play for clever possession. The new players and dare I say, the departure of some ‘stars’ has encouraged a return to basics. The effect has been to make us more solid at the back, to use width and pace down the wings, to move the ball quickly through the midfield (forwards) and to take a risk once in a while and have a shot instead of looking for the clever pass.

E is for the Emirates Stadium

Gradually Ashburton Grove is beginning to feel like home. I think I’ll always be awestruck whenever I walk up those stairs and emerge to see the perfectly manicured pitch, the sea of red and white and to be reminded that we have the best stadium in the Premier League. What many don’t realise is that without the extra £30-40m income the Emirates generates more than  Highbury, we would be struggling financially. But more than that, the Emirates has played host to some wonderful games recently and the memory of those games is now ingrained in the fabric of the stadium. Visiting teams are beginning be intimidated by the power and stature of the Emirates and as a by-product of that, our supporters have sensed the change and begun to find their voices at last.

N is for No Surrender

Some of us will have found the repeated trotting out of phrases like ‘team spirit’, ‘belief’, ‘mental strength’ etc hard to stomach in seasons when we have capitulated too easily at the vital time. We all now know the reasons for those past failings, but we also know that this crop of players, led by RvP really does have those attributes in abundance. Coming from behind 4 games in a row is testament to the strength of character and the harmony that now exists in the squad. Goal celebrations tell you a lot about a team, and ours this season have been the most inclusive and joyous I’ve seen.

A is for Arsène Wenger

What can you say about the man that hasn’t already been said? He’s been under pressure on and off the pitch more this season than ever before. No-one knows what goes on behind the scenes, but what we do know is that if he can keep the team playing as it is now, he will once again have confounded his critics. Arguably finishing in the top four this season would rank as one of his greatest achievements.

L is for Lady Luck

Well I don’t want to upset the old girl just as she is finally smiling upon us, but we’ve had some dreadful luck in the last few years. I wonder what odds would you have got for a top 4 finish from the bookies last summer if it had been known that we would be selling our best two midfielders and the rising star destined to take their place (Wilshere) would be out for the season, not to mention the loss of all our fullbacks for a large part of the campaign? The balance is slowly being redressed. We’ve had a slice of well earned luck recently in games we’ve won when not playing our best. Key players are finally returning from injury and the squad looks strong, unified and focused, maybe luck is no longer needed, we have the quality.

That’s my quickly assembled ARSENAL list – the challenge now is to come up with one of your own using the letters of our name to reflect the way you have viewed our changing fortunes this season. The theory also works when applied to the names of our rivals but strangely the associated definitions are less flattering …. I’m thinking particularly of the team that starts with S!

Written by Rasp

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Posted by Rasp

Yossi Benayoun – the Anti-Na$ri

March 26, 2012

It may seem odd after Saturday’s trouncing of Aston Villa to focus on an unused substitute from that game.

But Arteta’s wonder strike, Theo’s returning confidence, Songinho’s transformation into the new Liam Brady and even Johan Djourou’s unexpected solidity have all been well covered.

I want to focus on our on-loan Israeli international because I caught a glimpse of him during the game as the camera tracked along our bench. He was smiling with the other substitutes and seemed fully engaged in the squad and the game.

It struck me what a model professional he is.

Talent-wise I don’t see him as being too far behind a certain fat French benchwarmer. Both players are capable of defence-sundering dribbles, both have an eye for goal and both are nippy, one-touch players.

Obviously Benny is older, but a more significant difference is that only one of them is a greedy, grasping, ungrateful pillock. And I’m not referring to the one who lights candles at Hannukah.

While Samir Na$ri would rather have money than game time (and if you think I’m joking, you should read his quotes from last week, whining about how he played too many games at Arsenal and prefers being on the bench at Manchester City), Benayoun is exactly the opposite.

Yossi said recently that he did not know where he would be playing next season, but would like to join a mid table side so he could play more regularly.

It would almost certainly mean a pay cut, but Yossi doesn’t mind that. He’s 31 years old and just wants to play top flight football for as long as his skinny little legs will let him.

For Arsenal he has been no more than a bit part player this year and we are unlikely to see him in our famous strip next season. But the importance of bit part players is not to be overlooked and Yossi has certainly contributed in a positive way to our season.

For a start, without his 87th minute header to win the away game at Villa we would be two points worse off in the table. He has scored three goals in nine starts for us in all competitions (not a bad return) and has made 10 additional appearances as substitute – usually coming in games with about 15 minutes to go.

Whenever he plays he does a good job and his terrier-like hard work has earned the respect of supporters who, let’s be honest, undoubtedly raised an eyebrow or two when he joined us as a loanee from Chelsea on the last day of the transfer window.

Now that we have most of our squad fit his opportunities are likely to be limited, but earlier in the season, when our usual injury blight was wreaking havoc, we were fortunate to have someone of his ability and Premier League experience to bring on in games.

He even got to wear the armband in one game – our unlucky Carling Cup defeat at the hands of Na$ri and his fellow oil workers – and he made a fine contribution as one of the starting 11 in our 5-2 hammering of the Tiny Totts (he played until the 88th minute).

By all accounts he is a popular figure in the dressing room and has been generous with help and advice for the younger players.

In short, as I said earlier, he is a model professional and if his humility and sense of good fortune at being a professional footballer rub off on some of our up-and-coming young stars that can only be a good thing.

We certainly don’t want the likes of Wilshere, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain and others following the Na$ri path of greed and ingratitude.

In the horrible mess of last summer’s transfer business Benayoun attracted criticism from some supporters simply for not being Eden Hazard or Juan Mata or whichever marquee signing was flavor of the month.

But as a reliable squad player who has played at the top level in the EPL and was happy to do a job for us mostly from the bench, we could hardly have done better.

If he does get the move he hopes for this summer, I sincerely hope all true Gunner will wish him well.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Alex Songinho, He Assists When He Wants: Match Report

March 25, 2012

Having endured the first 60 minutes of the Chavs’ vs. Spuds’ collective attempt to discover the best cure for insomnia, I was extremely pleased to find a half-decent stream to watch the mighty Red & White take on the Villains. I expected AV to put in a performance, partly based on their half decent effort during our last encounter with them in January (FA-cup), and partly on the fact that they have nothing really to play for anymore, which makes these sorts of games a bit of a bonus for them.

Arsenal has build up a phenomenal momentum since the dark PL days in January, mainly based on grit, togetherness, perseverance, and an occasional sprinkling of quality. It is fair to say that the encounters with Pool, NU, and Everton were not the most beautiful games of football Arsenal has ever played, but, at this stage of the season, we don’t care one iota!

However, our game against Villa was very different from our recent incredible achievements as a result of blood, sweat and thunder: there were periods of free-flowing football and, on more than a few occasions, of individual brilliance. In fact, I felt I was watching a game of the Fabregas-era yesterday; you know, one of those where we were in total control from the start, as a result of an early goal. This probably was our easiest game of the season and it is fair to say that the Villains’ lacklustre performance, combined with the early ‘easy’ goal, helped us a long way.

First Half

Arsenal suffered a mini-blow when, unexpectedly, Koscielny could not start as a result of a knee-problem. However, Djourou was ready and fit to take his place, and his mind was instantly taken off any nerves he might have felt, when Heskey planted inadvertently the back of his arm firmly in Johan’s face. Another great example of Johan Cruijff’s fantastically simple quote: ‘Every disadvantage has an advantage, and every advantage has a disadvantage’! JD never looked back and had a fine performance during the entire game.

Both teams started with a formation of 4-2-3-1, with an aim to press early on the opposition’s goalkeeper and defenders. This led to an open start in which Arsenal dominated and created a number of chances. However, AV had a few half-chances themselves as a result of quick breaks, mainly from the right, through their promising – yet disappointing on the day – young talent of Albrighton.

On the 9th minute, Arsenal produced a great move on the right by the almost telepathically aligned duo of Theo and Sagna, and goal scoring machine RvP. The latter’s lay-off reaches Theo who shoots at goal from close range but straight at Shay Given, who is able to parry his effort, albeit straight in the path of Sagna, who then fluffs his shot with his weaker left foot. Arsenal keeps up the pressure and it does not take long before we score.

Most of the pressure had been coming form the right, but it was Gibbs and Gervinho who were able to breach the Villains’ defence first. In the 16th minute, Gervinho, who played quite centrally during the first period of the game, picked out a good run by Gibbs and the latter found himself in the box with a half decent shooting opportunity. I expected him to pass sideways to another player, but he decided to take a shot himself and was richly rewarded for it: 1-0! The goalkeeper should have done better, but one should not look a Given-horse in the mouth, and I am sure Gibbs won’t do that either: his first PL goal, so early in the game, was just what we needed.

AV kept pressing high up the pitch, forcing Szczesny to demonstrate to us the one skill he still needs to improve on: kicking the ball out with some precision. Arsenal, though, managed to pass itself with relative ease out of the Villians’ inconsistent pressing, and a few quick attacks made sure we kept the pressure on our opponent. TV found Theo with a fine diagonal cross and our right-winger demonstrated once again that he possesses a fine first touch, leaving Warnock for dead in a fraction of a second. This time though, it was not to be, as his second touch pushed the ball just a bit too far so Cueller could clear it at the last moment.

The first of three top-quality moments of the game materialised at the 25th minute. Alex Song, who probably has the most complete skills-set in the PL – he can play as a CB, DM, AM; he might even be good as a nr9 or a goalkeeper! – produced once more one of his trademark lofted balls over the top. This time, it was not aimed at RvP but at Theo, who made another clever horizontal run towards the box. His first touch was excellent again and he finished clinically past Given: 2-0!! Some will argue the Villa defence should have done better, but the sheer quality of a) Song’s lofted ball, b) Theo’s first touch and c) his controlled finish were a joy to behold: football at it’s very best!

The second top-quality moment happened on the 39th minute. Song and RvP combined through the middle to reach into the box: RvP seemed to have lost the ball but somehow drags it back from the defender with his left leg, moving it swiftly onto his right, but his shot somehow hit the head of Warnock: it could so easily have been the third goal. It was a brilliant piece of skill by our captain.

Second Half

AV started the second half with a low tempo and similar tactics. Arsenal was able to pass the ball round with relative ease but we lacked a bit of urgency and focus in our attacking endeavours. Gervinho was involved in a few attacks but was no longer able to deliver a precise final ball for his teammates. But the damage was done in the first half, and with the Villains lacking the spirit to start a fight-back, the sun shining nicely, Arsenal enjoying the ‘easiness’ of the game and the supporters singing in unison, we allowed the game to peter out a bit in the second half.

There were still some noticeable moments though. Rosicky had a decent effort on target in the 65th minute, and Santos, who had just come on for Gibbs, gave the ball away clumsily in his first minute on the pitch, which could easily have led to a Villa goal. He can be forgiven though as he, naturally, will have been a bit rusty after such a long lay-off. In the 73rd minute, RvP takes a cheeky free-kick from the left, only for Given to just tip it over the bar. In the 82nd minute, the newly-on Ox makes a blistering run on the right into the box, but a last-minute, great tackle by Ireland just keeps the young Englishman from pulling the trigger. I think Ireland just had enough of the ball for it not to be a penalty, so Dowd called it well imo.

The third top-quality moment of the match was left to the very last minute of the game. In extra time, Arsenal were rewarded a free-kick well outside the area, after a foul on Song. Arteta stepped up once again and this time he was successful with a thunderous bullet to the top right corner of the goal.

A magnificent effort and thoroughly deserved: 3-0!!! You won’t see a better free-kick this season.

Finally

Seven wins on the spin, another clean-sheet, a fitter than ever squad, and a real belief our team can go all the way and finish in the top-3 in May. Happy times!

We are in the driving seat and ahead of us are the Manc teams – the new Oilers and Old Bacon Face’s bunch of scrapers – and they are lucky there are most probably not enough games left to catch up with them anymore. In the rear-mirror we can see the sorry-Spuds and if we narrow our eyes with a bit of effort, we can see the old Oilers, the Chavs, catching their breath whilst desperately looking around who they can put the blame on this time. In the far, far distance we can see some ant-like spots that can only be Dalglish’s darlings. Ooh the virtues of momentum!

We are not there yet though – let’s be careful not to become complacent – but if we can keep this good run of form up, then soon we’ll be firmly positioned in third spot. Not only would this make us the top team in London once more, it would also provide a perfect platform for a firing-on-all-cylinders team for next season. It has been a year of transition, with some tough moments and big disappointment, but the road ahead is full of promise and potential, based on a sound foundation of all the things that matter in football: a great squad, a great manager, a financially healthy club with money for one or two more quality players, a great stadium, fantastic support, and a football philosophy based on total football. Class is permanent – long may it continue!

TotalArsenal.

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Posted by Rasp

Chavs v Spuds: Which Result is Best For Arsenal?

March 23, 2012

On Wednesday night the planets were clearly aligned in a perfect pattern to benefit Arsenal.

We got a hard-fought win at Goodison Park, a ground where Chelsea, Manchester City and the N17 Reprobates have all crashed and burned recently.

And while we were doing that the Spuds, with their enduring sense of comedy timing, were dropping two points at home to Stoke and the Chavs were losing at the Oil Refinery.

Even Liverpool got in on the act, going down 2-3 at QPR.

It’s nights like that that make you believe God is a Gooner. (Oh yeah, He is… and He used to wear the No 10 shirt).

Now fast forward to Saturday, and the early kick-off between Chelsea and T*ttenham. What result would suit us best in that game?

Here are the options:

Spuds Win

The up side: if we feel that the absolute priority between now and the end of the season is to secure a top four finish, then the best result for us is probably a Spuds win. Chelsea are already six points behind us and, if we can beat Villa and the Spuds beat the Chavs, the gap between us and fifth place will be a very comfortable nine points, with eight games left to play.

The down side: the Rioters would still be only a point behind us. And a win at The Bridge might be the sort of result that could kick start them for a strong run-in.

Spuds supporters seem to think their final eight games are the easiest run-in they’ve had in years.

With home games against Swansea, Norwich, Blackburn and Fulham and away fixtures at Sunderland, Bolton, QPR and Aston Villa you can see what they mean. But several of those games involve clubs likely to be in the relegation dogfight, so points will be far from guaranteed.

Nevertheless, if the Spuds beat Chelsea the prospect of them pipping us to third place becomes more real and – perish the thought – that would mean the cancellation of this year’s St Totteringham’s Day.

Chavs Win

The up side: if the Chavs mash the Spuds, it’s possible that the Tiny Totts’ season will continue to implode and they will struggle to hang on even to fourth place. One point from 15 would be a terrible return for the Totts and would add even more volume to the sounds of wailing and gnashing of teeth that have been drifting across North London from the N17 slums.

That’s clearly a good thing. The Spudders began crowing very early this season and finishing outside the top four would be like teaching them a cosmic lesson.

And we would all get to celebrate St Totteringham’s Day. Hooray.

The down side: three points for Chelsea would keep them only six points behind us (or even closer if we fail to beat Villa) and would ensure that there was still a three way battle for the third and fourth spots.

The Draw

Up side: if we can beat Villa, the draw is not a bad result at all for us.  Chelsea would be eight points adrift of us and our lead over the Totts would have extended to three points.

Both sides will have gone in to the game feeling it’s a ‘must win’, and for neither to do so will be a psychological blow.

Down side: unlike the two “win” scenarios, the draw deals less of a savage body blow to either of our main rivals for the Champions League spots. Although they would be disappointed, but sides could portray the result as a part of their recovery process.

Of course it goes without saying that whatever the result we would also like to see a mass brawl, multiple sendings off and some major suspensions.

Conclusions

If we can continue our recent form – and I don’t see why we can’t now that most of our squad is fit and we have the twin weapons of confidence and momentum – then who gives a flying fandango what those other, second rate London outfits do?

But if you pushed me to plump for one of the three possible results it would be a Chelsea win. I just never want the Spuds to get anything and, if they miss out on Champions League this year, I will spend all summer laughing.

What result do you think benefits us the most?

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Winning dirty – Match report

March 22, 2012

“We had a very strong start in the first 20 minutes, 30 minutes, dominating the game.  We didn’t take our chances and then Everton came back into the game. They became stronger and stronger and we became weaker in the second half, especially. Our link play was not good anymore.  I felt it was a psychological circumstance. We just wanted to keep the result because it’s so important at the moment. But Everton played very well in the second half.”

Those post-match words from Le Prof pretty much summed up the game. It was a fairly tense affair, in which we opened with waves of attacks and stifling pressure applied to Everton whenever they had the ball, before they fought their way back into the game with tigerish tackling and in-your-face pressing.

Everton would say they were unlucky to lose, citing a Drenthe goal wrongly disallowed in the first half for offside.  But then we had a perfectly good penalty call turned down in the second half, when Drenthe clumsily bundled over Rosicky on the edge of the box.  It looked a penalty at first glance and so the replay showed.

So on big calls, it was even (Gary) stevens for gripes against the officials. But the Toffees fans were sore about three poor offside decisions on the trot in the first half, and from that moment they decided the officials had it in for them, so even when good decisions were made later, they were met with howls of complaint. They shouldn’t have felt so aggrieved, most of the decisions were fine, and we were the victims of a big, bad call too.  And Tim Cahill was lucky not to get sent off; he seemed determined to add to his collection of red cards with a series of dirty, late challenges that betrayed his Millwall pedigree, and showed he’s not really up to playing in central midfield.  So I wouldn’t say that Everton were robbed in this game, they just didn’t turn their hour of dominance into clear chances.

One of the defining features of the game when we were doing well was the extent to which the newly-restored Aaron Ramsey supported van Persie up front.  Between them, they were able to carve out a series of chances for one another, with cushioned headers dropped back into space and sharp first-touch passes.  Ramsey completely fluffed the first chance he had, slicing a pass he received on the penalty spot and which he should have buried.  On other occasions, Ramsey’s efforts were on target but were blocked by Howard or defenders.

Van Persie ended the evening with the strange feeling of not going home with a goal against his name, and truth be told, wasn’t at his glorious best, but he still tested Howard on a number of occasions.  He hit the base of the post after Kieran Gibbs nodded down a cross-field ball from Alex Song.

But it wasn’t one or two touch passing that won the game, it was the simplest goal that we’re ever going to see and from an auxiliary attacker, Vermaelen, getting the crucial goal directly from a corner. In the 8th minute, from van Persie’s cross, Verlamelen rose above four 6-foot-plus Everton players, who bizarrely remained rooted to the ground while the smaller Vermaelen out-jumped them to nod the ball in.  The vulnerabilities of zonal marking were on display, with no blue shirt guarding the back-post, and a gaggle of defenders blocking off any chance Howard might have had to clear the cross.  With a traditional back-post defender, Vermaelen’s effort would have easily been cleared.

After the initial phase, in which we completely dominated the Toffees, we ceded control of the midfield and became inefficient in keeping possession.  Everton were able to overrun our midfield, and created a fair number of openings, but despite all their energy, the only time they really threatened was when Drenthe broke free on the Everton right after Song unwisely tried to pass from deep through the centre of midfield.  But Drenthe saw his legitimate goal chalked off by the linesman.  The only other time Szczesny was in a worrying position was when he stupidly tried to chip the ball over the onrushing Jelavic.  We were lucky the ball ricocheted off for a goalkick rather than towards the goal.  Other than that, Everton really didn’t threaten our goal.

I can’t say there were any startling performances from Arsenal players, with the midfielders in particular struggling to match Everton for most of the game.  But there was plenty of gutsy play, with a one-goal lead being defended for 85 minutes on a ground on which Chelsea, Man City and Spurs have lost this season.  We were probably assisted by having a 9-day break (tortuous as it is for us fans), during which time Everton had a Merseyside derby and an FA Cup Quarter Final.  But the most satisfying aspect of the game was the result.

Robin van Persie said it was time for digging in and winning dirty if necessary.  Well, this pretty much met that requirement, with a resilient, if imperfect, performance from the whole team tonight.  Fantastically, Spurs’ continued slump and our sixth win in a row (best run for two years, and this time against a better basket of opponents) leaves us in third place and top of the mini-league playing for the non-Manchester Champions’ League spots.  Chelsea’s defeat in the battle of petrol pump meant we’re six points clear of them as well.  Happy days.  Now just the small matter of consolidating and holding onto third place….

Written by 26may1989

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Brown Sugar: Match preview.

March 21, 2012

Moyes …… never liked the fella. Reminds me of the chap who hangs around Harry Potter, or is it the little bloke who kept looking for his “precious” in Lord of the Rings? Either way, never liked the cut of his jib.

People say he does a wonderful job at Everton, citing the financial constraints, the shadow of his Stanley Park neighbours etc etc but Howard Kendall had the same constraints and he did  OK, but then he was a proper manager.

I have a soft spot for Everton; for many years they were just another Northern team of pretenders who sold Gary Lineker (and later Rooney) but all that changed on 3rd May 1998 with TA6’s goal in the 4-0 win at Highbury which crowned the PL winning season. That goal and that day are at the pinnacle of my very favorite Highbury memories, the picture of Tony arms spread standing in front of the North Bank sits by my desk as I write. Thank you Everton.

Of course, tonight will be a tough game, the Toffees (see final paragraph) are very strong at home. They lost badly at Anfield in their last outing albeit with a weakened squad but their home form is excellent, having beaten Spurs, Chelsea and Man City in their last 3 games. Beating Arsenal will be a feather in Moyes cap in a season which may still result in silverware and a Euro place. Goalscoring has been a major challenge for Everton this season with Baines joint top scorer with 3 PL goals!

Arsenal have not lost to Everton in 9 games – a run going back to 2007. We won the home tie 1-0 thanks to a wonder goal from RvP (who else) – Everton must have been happy to see him replicate the goal at Anfield.

We are almost free from the injury hell suffered throughout the season. Diaby played for the reserves last night, Santos is in training and only Wilshire, BFG and Squillaci remain unavailable. Our form up to the break has been good – 5 league wins on the bounce. The only worry is that we have not kept a clean sheet in one of those games. We have to find defensive solidity if we are to challenge this season and in the future. The personnel are good enough so it must be a question of organisation.

My Team:

The only area of doubt in selection is on the left. Will Mr Wenger continue with OC or play the rested Gervinho? I would play OC and have him take a deeper role thus making a 4 in midfield, bringing on the Gerv on the hour to attack a tired Everton defence.

A big night for Arteta, his first return to his former club, a club which he served with such honour; that he will get a huge ovation upon his return is testament to his professionalism. Hope he scores!

Inventor from Everton: It has to be Molly Bushell who “invented” Toffee. She established a factory and shop “Everton Toffee,”which became world famous, one of it’s customers was Queen Victoria. When the shop and factory moved to larger premises they discovered another toffee manufacturer close by owned by Mother Nobletts (I kid you not) and in order to make her toffees distinctive Mother Nobletts covered them in black and white striped sugar –  being the colors of Everton football shirt of the time. Hence Everton’s nickname, The Toffees.

Molly Bushell prior to her bi-annual trip to 224 Shaftesbury Ave.

HOWEVER, as Molly Bushell died in 1818 and the club wasn’t founded until 1878 there would appear to be some good old fashioned Scouse blarney attached to this story. My guess is that there was some skulduggery involving under the table payments made to players in the form of toffee which was the working man’s cocaine of it’s day 🙂

A tough night’s work ahead but given our form a winnable game.

COYRRG

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

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