Arsenal Centre and Forwards

March 24, 2013

Manthan’s excellent post yesterday had me concluding that Podolski’s best fit is at Centre Forward, which leaves a straight either/or choice between Herr and Monsieur. You know what, I can’t see the problem. So we have two goalscorers.

There have been many chats on here over the years about having a Plan A and a Plan B. Me, I say Plan A, and if that’s not working, more Plan A. One or two players may be having an off-day, so bring on the other version.

Both Podolski and Giroud are playing their first seasons in the PL, have 11 assists each in all competitions, and respectively 13 and 15 goals. Would Podolski have scored more had he started centrally as many times as Big ‘Ol…. Dunno.

What I do think, is that Ollie has more potential. Aside from the obvious heading ability, I believe the reason has not scored more is down to the tactics and approach of those around him. They see him, think “big”, therefore the high ball is ok. Wrong.

It’s January 23rd, on a cold night in North London. Half time, and Arsenal are 1-1 with West Ham.

Far away on a laptop, some bright spark know-it-all posts this:

MickyDidIt89 says:

January 23, 2013 at 8:47 pm

“Some great football from us. I only wish we would stop playing the high ball into Giroud. He’s actually very good with ball to feet.”

At 9:03, this happens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=T5D39R-JSFs

Fast forward into February, and remind yourself of the Giroud goals against Brighton.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xx1rcn_y0-2yyyyyyy_animals

and this ………..

In conclusion my view is this, sure, Usain Bolt he is not, but we can make up for this speed in the wide berths. Stop treating Ollie as a Big ‘Un, and think of him as a Little ‘Un, and I believe we have a goal machine in the making.

Written by MickyDidIt89

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Podolski Left In or Left Out?

March 23, 2013

When Poldi signed a pre-contract for Arsenal I was happy for two reasons 1) he had 80+ international caps  2) he is a deadly finisher… The media and many fans criticized Wenger for buying him because of the nightmare spell he had with Bayern. But you cannot judge Person by one spell and given the fact that people treat him like god in Bayern… Moreover he had something to prove to his critics (that he can play in a top team) so he looked to me as a good and smart move by Wenger.

PODOLSKI

His record speaks for itself, he has scored 13 goals and 11 assists that is very good statics in first season better than our Brave Sir Robin, Germans always take time to settle in EPL given the fact that Bundesliga is slower and less physical than the Premire League but Poldi has settled well in new wnvironment without any difficulty.

Now let’s come to the main topic,  many people on AA are debating the question of where Podolski should play. There are 3 positions where he can play those are Second Striker, Left Winger or Center Forward.

Let’s have a look at his history: Poldi started his career with Koln as a Center forward and scored 10 goals in 19 app in first season at age of 18 however Koln got relegated, but next season he scored 24 goals and Koln were promoted back to the top division and Podolski became a famous figure. After that, many clubs were afterhis signature, however Bayern succeeded and what happened after that everyone knows…

Now coming to my main point, he plays as Left winger for Arsenal currently and even for Germany he plays on the left, yet Arsene has admitted that he signed Podolski as striker. But I guess because of Gervinho’s poor form, he moved Poldi to left wing and OG took his position. He played in centre against Stoke in first match.

Arsenal’s wingers are striker come winger. If you take the example of Man Utd, their wingers always supply the crosses and passes to feed the strikers rather than going for goal, but Arsene loves wingers to score more goals and that is the main reason Podolski is playing in Left. Podolski is not a Winger, but he is a left sided striker who scores and provided assists others score.

If he plays as striker then we are left with Gerv and the Ox who can play on the left. Given Gerv’ record and the Ox’s inexperience, we cannot rely on them. Moreover Poldi is a good poacher, he is not great with his head like OG, however we can keep this as an option.

If he plays as SS he won’t be as successful. He has good shot but he cannot beat defender like Santi and Whilsere so we can discount this option.

Now let’s reconsider his current position – left wing. He doesn’t have pace like Theo but he is smarter than him and he has potent left foot, if he plays in wing he can score from long range and supply cross to strikers.

I believe the best position for Podolski in thecurrent team is playing on left as he has good eye for goal and his link up play with OG and Gibbs is terrific, Playing in the middle would be an option but not as good as playing on wing, if he plays in middle he may be a success but not as successful as on theleft. If he plays on left opposition will have two threats to deal with, one is from OG in middle and second is Poldi from Left.

The understanding between OG and Poldi is terrific Remember two volleys he scored from left,  OG supplied the chip and Poldi did the rest.

That is deadly for opposition. I am 100% sure if no one leave Arsenal in coming two years we will win a trophy for sure……

In current team I prefer Poldi in left and OG in middle..

Which position would you play him??

Written by Manthan

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Six Irritating Things About Arsenal

February 18, 2013

I normally try to be upbeat on a Monday, but after Saturday’s humiliating exit from the FA Cup I am lost for words.

The performance wasn’t even that bad (if you don’t believe we have been much, much worse this season then you should cast your mind back to the games where we were losing without even having an attempt on goal until after the 90th minute). We were unlucky; their ‘keeper made some great saves; they only had one attack yadda yadda yadda.

It was the grim predictability of it all that made it so depressing. Not predictable in the sense that many of us predicted we would lose; but in the sense that none of us are surprised that we did.

So in the spirit of general gloominess I would like to have a moan about some of our team’s habits. I am not out to slaughter them as players – I quite like most of them – but they have certain traits that are annoying on a regular basis and particularly so after a loss like Saturday’s.

  • Ollie Giroud:  Flicking Annoying: Clever flicks are part of OG’s game and they have led to him setting up some fine goals for his team mates this year. But someone needs to tell him that you don’t have to do the first-touch-flick EVERY time the ball comes to you with your back to goal. Against Rovers Ollie tried flicks with his first touch on every such occasion. None of them came off. Granted, it is difficult with two or three defenders up your jaxey, in which case he should have varied his repertoire by holding up the ball from time to time, taking extra touches and playing it back out to the support players if nothing more progressive was on. The coaches should sit him down with videos of Alan Smith in his prime (the Arsenal Alan Smith, that is, not the little toe-rag from Leeds).
  • Backed Into A Corner: I watch every Arsenal game. I have never seen any team from any division or any country (or gender, including trans-sexuals) take corner kicks as consistently badly as we do. And this is not new. It is a problem we have had for at least three or four years. What’s mystifying about it is that we pride ourselves on having technically gifted players. Well, where are all their technical gifts when it comes to kicking a dead ball about 37 yards into the opposition six yard box? Now, I know it’s a skill that may not be valued at Arsenal because even if they did put in perfect crosses there would traditionally be no-one there to meet them, but even so. I would love a journalist to ask Arsene Wenger or Steve Bould why our corner-taking is so abysmal.
  • Szczesny: The Gift That Keeps Giving: A week ago against Sunderland our young Pole in Goal pulled off a string of top saves to help secure the three points. On Saturday he parried a catchable shot (Seaman, Lehmann or Jennings would surely have held it) into the path of an opponent who duly scored (albeit with a ridiculously lucky shank). And that sums up Szcz. One week brilliant, the next making mistakes that cost points – or lead to us exiting a cup competition.  I love his confidence and personality; I admire his passion but I really, really want him to start cutting out the avoidable errors.
  • There’s No “I” In “Teamwork”: …but there is an “Ork,” not that has anything to do with anything. My point about teamwork is that some of our younger players seem to feel that when they get a chance in the team their best way of impressing the manager and supporters is to go for personal glory. This usually manifests itself by taking on near-impossible shots, attempting ridiculously ambitious dribbles and generally hogging the ball when better options are available. It has been a characteristic of Aaron Ramsey’s play at times – and it is noticeable how much better he has become since simplifying his game – and now Oxlade-Chamberlain is caught in the same trap. In a generally energetic performance against Blackburn he too often tried the more difficult “Hollywood moves” when simpler, better options were available – what you might call “Holyhead moves”. In the old days Tony Adams would have pinned him up against the wall after the game. Even if we don’t have to go that far, someone should have a word…
  • Diaby Or Not Diaby – That Is The Question: I thought Diaby was poor against Blackburn. He had plenty of the ball, but too often seemed to slow the moves down or lose possession too easily. I honestly don’t know what to make of him. Against Liverpool early in the season he was unplayable – as good a midfield performance as I’ve seen from an Arsenal player whose first name did not begin with Cesc or Patrick. But at the weekend he seemed to not quite be anything: not a defensive midfielder (played too far forward); not a creative playmaker (he was too slow of thought and foot); not a “water carrier” (he spilled it). Maybe he’s still playing himself back into form after the latest injury or maybe being up against a park-the-bus team didn’t suit him, but if he is the phenomenon that we have been led to believe then he needs to start taking control of games like Saturday’s.
  • Sub Standard: I can’t help feeling that if our manager had not made three midfield substitutions at once we would still be in the cup.  We completely changed our midfield and within seconds, when Blackburn attacked, there was no midfield cover. Kazim-Richards was unmarked and unchallenged when Szczesny palmed the ball out to him. I have no doubt this was due to the confusion caused by the triple substitution. Sorry Arsene – that was a piece of really bad management.

OK, that’s my moan over. On the up side I still don’t feel we are a bad team, I still feel we can knock out Munich and I still expect a top four finish in the league.

Hopeless dreamer? Perhaps. Time will tell.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

One nil to the Arsenal ……

February 10, 2013

So another great game for the neutral but another nerve jangler for all of us. I had a thoroughly enjoyable day watching the live screening of the game at the home of football, but I have also decided that being an Arsenal fan likely takes some years off your life .

So what did we get from Arsenal in this game? Firstly the players seemed to be up for it from the start, and we didn’t have to suffer with waiting till the second half before we started playing. We started to create a number of clear cut chances, but as each one went begging you started to feel it was going to be one of those days. To be fair Mignolet was in superb form, and how often do we watch an opposition keeper put in an almost man of the match performance against us? What is it about us that seems to bring out the best in these keepers? Is it the way we attack? I am sure it doesn’t happen so often with the likes of Utd and the Chavs. That is a question maybe some of you out there can shed some light on.

We continued to press and were treated to some awfully inconsistent refereeing. There was a very strong shout for a straight red on Cattermole and I counted 2 maybe 3 Sunderland fouls in the passage of play that led up to Jenkinsons first yellow card. How we didn’t get a free kick before this I do not know. Anyway the faithful at the Ems were in no doubt how they felt about it. I think this was definitely a case of the ref being a homer.

Jack picked up where he left off for England and continued to pull the strings while Walcott continued to work the keeper without finding the break-through. Finally, on 36 minutes, the goal arrived that we had deserved. A now trademark surge of pace from Jack taking 3-4 Sunderland players out of the game resulted in a lay off to Walcott who declined the chance to shoot and cushioned it off for Santi whose powerfull low shot finally broke the deadlock. It is as well that he scored otherwise I would imagine there would have been many agitated fans questioning why Walcott didn’t shoot himself.

cazorla sunderland

Refreshingly after the goal we continued to try and attack and kept a high tempo to our game, which I prefer as I don’t think we do killing a game off well. We continued in this way into the second half, but we weren’t having it all our own way and Sunderland threatened at times. Fortunately Szczesny started to replicate the form of Mignolet from the first half. Jack picked up an injury on 50 minutes and went off to be replaced by Diaby. It didn’t look too serious and we can only all hope that is the case.

Then came the pivotal moment when the tricky Sessegnon took on Jenks whose sliding tackle was a fraction from getting the ball and only suceeded in taking Sessegnon down. You knew what was coming immediately with the way the ref had been, and he showed the second yellow without even taking a moment to consider. In the cold light of day if you look at Jenkinson’s 2 yellows then independently they are both justifiable yellows. The problem again comes with the consistency and had we had a deserved free kick earlier in the game it maybe wouldn’t have led to the passage of play that saw Jenkinson get his first yellow.

Rasp and I had discussed a point after the first yellow earlier in the game, and had both agreed that there was a strong possibility that he would collect a second yellow and get sent off. I think MON exploited this and likely told Sessegnon at half time to get at Jenkinson. Should AW have forseen this and replaced him earlier? His options were limited as I believe Kos, who was on the subs bench, had a problem before the game when warming up. It would have left the only realistic option of Moving Sagna out to FB and bringing on Miquel at CB. Should AW have used this option?

We still had about half an hour to go and you knew it would be back to the walls stuff. Fortunately, for once, we did this well and ground out the result with the help of some world class saves from the big Pole. Even at this point we still showed some attacking intent and had some great opportunities on the counter-attack to get the respite of the second goal that my nerves and chewed to pieces nails deserved. Rasp had his head in his hands at times while Peaches was a picture of stoicism. I still think she was partially mesmerised from seeing Bobby Pires but at least by this time she had stopped being all giggly. It was great to see Goonermichael as well and he looked a picture of being cool calm and collected.

Rasp and I continued to fret like nervous wrecks and there was end to end chances in a frantic finale. Walcott hit the post after a great through ball from Cazorla while both Giroud and Cazorla had chances they put just over the bar.

We saw it out and as they say 3 points is 3 points and I was able to relax and reflect at an enjoyable day in the club class section of the Ems with some of the AA gang.

On to the ratings.

Szczesny 8.5 joint MOTM

Showed us the world class keeper we would all like him to consistently be. Solid throughout with some excellent reflex saves.

Jenkinson 5.5

I don’t want to be too harsh as I like Jenks and he always gives his all but some inexperience showed through today. He hasn’t had much game time and you wonder if this is affecting him because when he was playing regularly earlier in the season you didn’t feel he would make the mistakes we saw today. He will still become a good player for us.

Sagna 8

Deputised well at CB and the old Mr reliable was more on show today.

Mertesacker 7.5

Didn’t do too much wrong all game and it was a solid performance.

Nacho 7.5

Solid and unfussy game from our newest signing today

Arteta 7.5

Nothing spectacular but kept us ticking and I can’t remember any mistakes from him.

Ramsey 7

Was having a solid game and could have had a couple of goals, but he seems to have an error in him, and we were lucky not to be punished when he needlessly surrendered possession in a dangerous area.

Wilshere 8

Those trademark runs driving at the opposition defence are a joy to see and get me on the edge of my seat. It was from one of these that the break-through came. Fingers crossed the injury is not so bad but Jack probably needs a game off anyway. I almost had him as joint MOTM again and some may feel that to be the case.

Cazorla 8.5 and joint MOTM

There wasn’t much to choose between him and Jack but the goal and that he continued to be the creative force once Wilshere was off just saw him pip it for me.

Giroud 7

Could have had a couple. He wasn’t too bad but it didn’t really come off for him today.

Walcott 7.5

Also could have had a couple and was unlucky when hitting the post. He always made the keeper work and his instinctive link up play with his team-mates is getting better and better.

Diaby (for Wilshere 50 mins) 6.5

Nothing great but nothing bad either.

Miquel (for Walcott 87 mins)

Not enough time to really form an opinion.

Written by GoonerB

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

A point earned or 2 points dropped?

January 31, 2013

Well I will say from the outset, that for me it is the latter, despite coming from 2 goals down. Once again there were many positives from this game, in our attacking department, but that can’t gloss over the bad aspects of our defence.

theo equaliser

At the start of this season I would have happily argued that we actually had top draw defenders in our squad, but that what we lacked was the cohesive discipline to make it work as an effective unit. The sort of instinctive understanding that only comes from drilling it into the players on the training ground, so that everyone understands what their role and job is at all times when defending.

After this game, with the defensive frailties shown, which are not isolated incidents this season, I have started to question whether this is the case, or if basically our defenders just aren’t good enough for the level that Arsenal football club require, and should be aspiring to. I didn’t feel that Liverpool had to work very hard for their chances, while I felt they made us work hard for ours.

As I watched this game I remembered a comment regarding our defence from yesterdays post. I looked back through them and realised that it was Rasp that said it, and I feel it summarises my feeling after this game, so I will, (more or less), quote :

“Much as I’d love to sign a top striker I am adamant the problems lie in our defence. If we fail to make top 4 it will be down to goals conceded not failure to score”.

After watching this game and reflecting on it, in conjunction with other games this season, I find it hard to disagree with this assessment.

I couldn’t fault the general effort and urgency with which the team played in this game, which has been an issue recently, that we have all mostly been aware of. In fact I thought we were genuinely excellent in our attacking play for much of the game and should have had many more than 2 goals. Unfortunately to counteract this both of their goals involved a mix of poor positioning of our key defensive players at the required times, and a critical failure to clear our lines when the opportunity was there, in other words putting it into row Z. As a result, in addition to their 2 goals we presented to them, we offered up a few other gift wrapped opportunities to them, and could have seen more than the eventual 2 goals in the against column. This game could have easily gone either way but, for me, we were overall the better team. Our performance with the ball was very good but without the ball, well…….

A quick question to the AA faithful from me would be, “if we had Sol Campbell, (in his prime), and Vincent Kompany, currently as our 2 CD’s, would we have conceded the goals as we did in this game”?.

I have always advocated that a top notch defence gives you a platform to attack more freely through the attacking players. Better defensive players can make you a better attacking outfit. Poorer defensive players, for me, can drag your attacking players back to help bolster the defence and make you less effective in attack. I would surmise that we need serious consideration in this department and lo and behold we have less than 24 hours in which to possibly address this issue. It could be argued that it is more the way we train and defend that is the issue and not the quality of defenders, but could an issue like that really go on for so long at a club of this standing? I will let the AA responses determine whether it is the quality of the defenders, the way we drill them. Or a bit of both.

We have now been the nearly team for many years. I do however, feel that this team is close now, and that it requires only a couple of i’s dotted and t’s crossed to complete it. Onto the player ratings :-

Szczesny 6

He made a couple of his normal good stops, but was in no man’s land on a couple of occasions and still needs to make better decisions on when to come out and when to stay on his line and let defenders deal with the danger.

Sagna 6

Still improving after injury, but I still don’t feel we have the energetic box to box attacking full-back we used to have. Slipped for the comical first goal.

Mertesacker 5

At times his positioning and reading of the game is top notch. Tonight it was not so. We know he lacks pace, but when he is on form he overcomes that, but not tonight. Is it a permanent worry or just temporary? Turned his back for the comical first goal rather than take one in the face and stop it.

Vermaelen 6

Was covering a lot for under-performing team-mates tonight. Not been so good in recent weeks but I still feel he is a top CD and will get back to his best. Failed to clear for the comical first goal.

Gibbs 7

Looking the top class LFB he was destined to be dependant on injury. Lets hope the injury tonight is very minor.

Wilshere 8.5 and my joint MOTM

He is the real deal. The Arsenal and England teams of the future will be moulded around him. Most of our drive came through him

Ramsey 6

Decent, but I feel there are certain games he suits more than others, and it probably wasn’t this one. Ramsey, to his credit, is always a trier and will run all day for you, but I felt this game needed a more dominant defensive CM to release Cazorla and Wilshere. Near the end Ramsey looked like his legs had gone.

Cazorla 8

Not bad in the first half but excellent thereafter. A truly world class performer who plays with a genuine smile on his face,

Podolski 7

No goals but he is always a threat and was a constant thorn in their side. On another day he possibly gets a hat-trick.

Walcott 8.5 and my joint MOTM

Some things didn’t come off, but he always seemed to make the keeper work. I thought he was a constant worry for them whether he was attacking from wide to provide for a team-mate, or going for goal himself more through the middle.

Giroud 8.5 and my joint MOTM

Like Walcott a constant thorn in their side although in a different way to Theo. The 2 of them seem to be striking up a very good partnership working off each other.

SUBS

Santos for Gibbs 6

Not dreadful but not great either. I believe there will be many worried fans checking on the severity of Gibbs injury today, on transfer window closing day of all days.

Written by GoonerB

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

BRIGHTON 2 ARSENAL 3 – A Star is Born. MATCH THOUGHTS

January 27, 2013

When the draw was made, my first thought was “yikes”. Here is a team with their priorities firmly focused on grabbing one of the play-off places in the Championship. Playing in front of a packed house at their fabulous new ground, The Seagulls will go into the game with little pressure, and can enjoy the possibility of causing an upset.

When I saw the team sheet, my reactions were twofold. Firstly, I wondered whether this eleven had ever played ten minutes as a unit, let alone ninety. Second, I was delighted, and surprised, that both Santi and Jack would be rested.

However, I felt that if we could be solid at the back, and the midfield could find a way to gel, then with the Pod, Ollie and Ox up front, then we’d have enough to score more than them.

Well, what a Cup Tie!

The game lurched this way, then that way. Arsenal, understandably, did not show the continuity and fluency so evident a few days’ earlier. Despite going behind, it was clear the home crowd were going to enjoy the day and lift their team, while Arsenal were never going to be allowed an easy passage into the next round.

I am not going to give a minute by minute, blow by blow, account of the game, but before I dwell on something very dwellable, I will point out some understandable negatives.

Neither flank operated well. It has been very apparent how in recent games, the Podolski/Gibbs axis is really beginning to gel and operate as a well oiled unit, serving both the attack as well as defence down the left. This kind of cohesion simply was not on display yesterday.

Similar problems down the right. The Ox/Jenks teamwork operated ineffectively. I have on other occasions aired my concerns about Alex, and his progress since his debut against Shrewsbury a few seasons ago is something that really bothers me. I have said a few times how I think his final role will be more central, and finding ways of giving him constructive learning pitch time there needs to be addressed, if indeed that is his optimal role

I am not going to dwell on individual incidents that may be blamed for conceding, as I want to do some serious dwelling as I said earlier.

Olivier Giroud. Oh Boy.

untitled

At half time during the W’Ham game I made a borderline genius comment:

I pointed out that Big ‘Ol was far better with the ball to feet that many assume. The second half of that game began with a cleverly worked corner that saw the ball played in low and hard, where it was buried by the on-coming Giroud.

Now, like many on here, I have watched Mallard’s clips of both of his goals over and over again. Sure, the first goal was brilliant. The second however, and I have watched this about thirty times so far, is absolutely sensational. Great and perceptive though the pass from Diaby certainly was, it was slightly over hit for anyone other than a sublimely skillful footballer. Look again (and again). The way Ollie took the pace off it before his superb finish was technically top drawer. This was the goal of the season for me by a country mile.

I am not doing player ratings for two reasons. One is that I can’t be bothered, and the other is that I’d have to mark a few players lower than others, and given that they are not first choice starting XI’ers, I think that would be a little harsh. I will, however, compromise a little. Giroud 10.

It was a tricky away fixture fraught with dangers. There were five goals, we are in the hat for the next round, and in my view a Star has been Born. What’s not to like?

Written by MickyDidIt89

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Hammers Hammered – Report & Player Ratings

January 24, 2013

Five fine goals, free-flowing football and freezing fans fully satisfied.

(Whoops. Sorry about the alliteration. That sentence has more Fs than the ladies’ toilets in an Essex nightclub on Saturday night).

He signed da ting!

He signed da ting!

It would be fair to say that many of us were nervous before the game.

Would the Arsenal who dominated Chelsea for the second half at Stamford Bridge turn up? Or the Arsenal that whimpered and wallied its way through the first half of the same game?

Our inconsistency has been consistent this season and we knew that we could not afford to be off our game against a physical, long ball West Ham managed by the Walrus.

Truth to tell, it was the line in BR’s pre-match about the Hammers having put in 56 crosses in their last game that really caused a clenching of the buttocks. Fifty-six crosses? Given our ability to concede a goal roughly to one in every two crosses into our box, we could be on for a 0 – 28 humiliation.

Thankfully it was the good Arsenal that turned up. Podolski and Ramsey were in the starting line-up in place of Diaby (ill) and Coquelin (injured). The back five was unchanged, Ramsey took up the DM position behind Wilshere and Cazorla. Giroud started through the middle with Podolski left and Walcott right.

We looked threatening and up for it right from the off and created several half chances before, inevitably, West Ham took the lead. The goal followed a couple of annoying officiating errors (a clear corner to us given as a goal kick to West Ham, a clear goal kick to us given as a corner to them).

The said corner came in and was headed clear only to fall at the feet of Collison, who slammed it into the net through a crowd of players from just outside the box. It was powerfully struck and Szczesny was probably partially unsighted, but just once I would like to see him save one of those. I had the same feeling about Mata’s goal last week. Difficult to save, but great ‘keepers get some of them.

Anyway, that’s enough carping for one report, because we refused to let our heads drop or feel sorry for ourselves and hit back just a few minutes later. Wilshere set up Podolski with a wonderful little dink of a pass and the German rifled it into the side netting from about 25 yards with all the venom of Big Bertha (the cannon, not the golf club).

pod goal

At half time it was 1-1. But I don’t think any of us were expecting what happened next.

If we had been pretty good in the first half, we started the second like demons. The lightning-fast, quick-passing, rapid-breaking football that Arsene Wenger patented at Arsenal was suddenly back.

The half had barely started when we were ahead. A corner on our left saw a slick move in which Mertesacker, having taken up a near post position, suddenly sprinted (alright, lumbered) back into the middle of the box and Giroud dashed to replace him. The BFG’s movement confused the Irons’ defence and Giroud was able to reach Walcott’s near post corner first, guiding the ball into the net beautifully off the outside of his boot.

girou

Are we working on corners in training? Or was it just good, intuitive play?

Six minutes later it was 3-1. A neat one-two between Podolski and Giroud led to the German squaring the ball to Cazorla in the six yard box. Santi’s cheeky back heel steered the ball into the net and brought joy and relief to the crowd.

Our attacks were coming in waves now. Fast forward a few minutes and Podolski was provider once again. We broke down the left. Podolski held the ball up intelligently to allow Giroud to stay on side, then fired a low cross right across the penalty area for a flying Walcott to drive home.

And our excellent Number 9 completed his hat trick of assists minutes later when another
low cross was steered into the net adroitly by Giroud (a much harder finish than it first looked).

At 5-1 we continued to attack with panache and probably should have added further to our goal tally. But better than that, we were outstanding on the rare occasions when we did NOT have the ball, pressing West Ham all over the park and forcing them into errors. It was a real template for how we should approach every game.

A serious injury to the Hammers’ Daniel Potts (he appeared to be accidentally caught in the face or head by Sagna) caused a 10 minute delay and although we continued to press hard afterwards, the sight of Potts being stretchered off seemed to suck a bit of the energy out of proceedings. Hopefully the lad is alright. He was applauded off the pitch by both sets of fans (Stoke City Orc Scum fans please take note).

In summary: a brilliant performance and win; the gap on the cave dwellers closed to just four points and, surely, a huge lift to everyone involved with the club moving forward.

Many of us have complained that, too often this season, we have been less than the sum of our parts. Last night our players showed how good they can be and they need to carry this attitude, arrogance and self-belief into the rest of the season.

Player Ratings

Szczesney: Good game but I would like to see him stop somebody’s screamer some time soon (I know GiE will immediately post clips of half a dozen breath taking saves he’s already made in this campaign). 7

Sagna: Still not the old Mr Reliable, but had a better game than he has recently. He seems to have lost all confidence in his ability to cross. 7

Mertesacker: Very solid and brought the ball forward well from the back. 7

Vermaelen: Tommy is slowly but steadily getting his game back together and he, too, was good last night. Despite West Ham being a typical Allardyce team more physically suited to basketball than football, they did not cause us too many problems in the air. 7.5

Gibbs: Super game from Kieran. Good at the back and a thorn in the Hammers’ side all night going forward. 8

Ramsey: Fine job in his preferred midfield role. Worked really hard, passed well and did tons of work off the ball. No Hammer enjoyed paying against him last night. 7.5

Santi-Cazorla: A busy bundle of tricks, took his goal stylishly and contributed greatly to the speed and fluidity of our movement. 8

Wilshere: Our new talisman. Drove us forward throughout the game despite, as usual, beng on the end of several fouls. His energy and inspiration is rubbing off on his team mates. 9 (joint MoTM).

Walcott: He signed da ting, now he’s delivering. He was brave and inventive and forced West Ham onto the back foot. Some wrong options on occasion but he never stopped trying. Took his goal well. 8

Podolski: Three assists and a rocket of a goal. When the Pod is up for it like this he must be terrifying to opposition defenders with his size, speed, strength and the sheer power of his shot, which reminds me of Charlie George. 9 (joint MoTM).

Giroud: Took his two goals brilliantly and had a good all round game, even if sometimes his understanding with team mates was a tad off. 7.5

Subs
Koscielny: Deputised well for Vermaelen who was removed as a precaution.
Santos: Nice to see Andre get a run out. He’s not as bad as his last outings would have you believe and it can only be good for the squad to have him back and fit.
Oxlade-Chamberlain: Full of running and tricks. Took shots a couple of times when he should have passed, but at 5-1 up who can blame him?

RockyLives

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Arise Sir Theorry? Newcastle Report & Player Ratings

December 30, 2012

What a game!

For us spectators it was up, down, up, down, up down… then a long and satisfying climax.

Followed by 50,000 metaphorical cigarettes being smoked as we all came down from such a thrilling ride.

Do you remember that children’s rhyme about magpies? One for sorrow, two for joy etc? Well it goes on to say: “Seven for a secret never to be told.”

001

As we put our seventh past The Magpies to finally overcome their dogged resistance, I fell to wondering what the “secret never to be told” might be.

Perhaps it’s the reason why Theo hasn’t signed a new contract? What Stan Kroenke really wants? Or maybe it’s as simple as: “Park Chu Young: Why?”

But enough of such contemplation: it’s time to celebrate a truly entertaining game of football – the sort of match that only the English Premier League seems to throw up.

Arsene made only one change to the team that had won its last two Premiership outings – Koscielny coming in for the unwell Mertesacker (“German measles” as someone wittily suggested in the comments yesterday).

It meant another outing for Theo Walcott down the middle – and another chance for him to try and convince the manager (and fans) that he is a central striker. His two previous showings had been inconclusive: he played well and scored one in the rout of Reading; against Wigan he was quieter but won the penalty that led to us pocketing all three points.

Apparently Thierry Henry – who is back training with us and may well be signed on a short term loan again – has been working with Theo to improve his general strikeriness. Can a god train a mortal in the arts of the divine? We would have to wait and see…

Newcastle were coming off the back of a brave and narrow midweek defeat at Old Trafford. They also had several first teamers out injured – but not the man with whom we are being strongly linked as a possible January transfer target: Demba Ba.

Arsenal were fast out of the blocks, applying pressure early on and threatening both Newcastle flanks. When we went ahead in the 20th minute it was no more than we deserved.

Podolski, who had an industrious game, split the Magpies’ defence with a pass that invited Walcott to run straight at goal. His pace kept him ahead of the defenders and once inside the area he opened up his body to side-foot the ball past Tim Krul’s laft hand and into the bottom corner of the net. It was a really fine finish – indeed, a finish reminiscent of Thierry, who was looking on from the stands. Theo down the middle? You bet!

Having taken the lead, we fell back into one of this season’s recurring bad habits: taking our foot off the gas: reducing our pressing game and ceding both territory and possession to the Geordies.

It was disappointing, but on the plus side we were not allowing Newcastle to create clear cut chances (although a long range effort from Tiote brought back uncomfortable memories of that awful day at St James Park when we were winning four-nil at half time but gave up four second half goals to a Toon attack spearheaded by Phil “Fatty” Dowd).

Eight minutes before the break we should have gone two up when Walcott, after a nice exchange with Podolski, found himself one-on-one against Krul again, this time much closer to the goal. Theo tried a chip but didn’t really catch hold of it and Krul saved. Theo down the middle? Don’t make me laugh!

As is often the way, our profligacy was soon punished. Just before the break Sagna gave away an unnecessary free kick outside our box. Ba stepped up to take it and fired in a shot that looked to be heading straight towards Szczesny for a routine save. Unfortunately Wilshere, as the spare man to the side of the wall, was in the ball’s path and couldn’t decide whether to duck or block. In the end he half ducked, the ball deflected off his head and went straight into the net.

Jack is a quick study and I doubt we will ever see him make that mistake again. Next time he’ll take the ball in the face if that’s what’s needed.

Half time – 1-1.

The second half saw us come out with greater attacking purpose, soon rewarded when Oxlade-Chamberlain fired in a low, hard shot to put us back in front.

But we all know that this Arsenal team can give up a goal to any attack at any time and, sure enough, only eight minutes later a bit of comic defending allowed Marveaux to tap in unchallenged at the far post after a low cross across the face of goal from Obertan, who had beaten Sagna far too easily.

On the television it was difficult to tell who was at fault for leaving a man completely unmarked at the back post.

Gibbs had been drawn into the middle of the box which seemed unnecessary when we had two centre backs in the six yard area, but maybe a midfielder should have spotted the danger and plugged the gap.

Could we get back in front? Well, in this seesaw game anything was clearly possible and we had a couple of decent half chances – Cazorla drawing a good save from Krul and Podolski just inches away from a through-ball into the box.

Our third eventually came from some brilliant work from Wilshere, who made it to the goal line inside the Toon area and chipped back a lethal cross into the six yard box from a really difficult angle. Coloccini had no option but to get his head on it right under the bar. The ball bounced off the crossbar and the predatory Podolski was on hand to head home.

This time, surely, we could hang on to our lead.

Not with this Arsenal!

Newcastle came back at us and, sure enough, we gave away another soft goal. Marveaux found space on our right flank and crossed a ball to the far post, where Ba was lurking – marked by Gibbs. Unfortunately our left back took his eye off the Newcastle striker to ball watch for a second and that was all Ba needed to break clear for an easy tap-in. Poor defending from Gibbs.

Three times ahead, three times clawed back. For an Arsenal team with a certain flakiness in its DNA this was a worrying trend.

But yesterday was not destined to have an unhappy ending.

Four minutes after Newcastle’s equalizer Walcott received the ball in the opposition penalty area after a great run and cutback by Gibbs. He had time to control the ball, turn and side foot it into the top left of the net. Another superb, composed Henryesque finish. Theo down the middle? He’s a natural born killer!

It would not have been entirely unexpected for Newcastle to haul themselves level again, but finally their exertions in Manchester seemed to catch up with them and Arsenal started to turn the screw.

Giroud was on for Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ramsey came on for Podolski. With Giroud’s appearance, Walcott was pushed out wide right and soon showed that he can be deadly from the wing too. An outstanding early cross invited a diving header from Giroud and the ball was powered through Krul’s legs to put us 5-3 up.

The two-goal deficit really made Toon heads drop and we pushed on for more. Giroud grabbed the sixth with a powerful low drive in the 88th minute. Then Walcott secured possession of the match ball with another stunning goal. Picking the ball up on the left wing he dribbled past two Toon defenders and into the box. He appeared to be fouled but picked himself up and finished with an audacious chip past Krul. Theo down the middle? Argument settled.

Walcott’s hat trick was, after all, just divine.

Giroud almost grabbed a hat trick of his own before the final whistle went to huge applause.

The scoreline flattered us to some degree but there were many pluses to take from this game: we seem to have rediscovered our verve in front of goal; we had enough mental strength to not get deflated by three times giving up the lead; and, strangely, we did not let Newcastle create much of danger – preferring, instead, to do the dirty work for them ourselves.

One very striking figure from the match statistics was that we had only 45% possession, Toon having 55%. This is very unusual for Arsenal but I wonder if it points to a deliberate tactic. If we are going to play with Theo Walcott as our front man our greatest weapon is his speed in attack. In that case it makes sense to concede ground to the opposition, let them come on to us and hit them on the break as Wenger’s early (successful) teams used to do.

All in all, a great game in which Newcastle very much played their part.

Player Ratings

Szczesny: had no chance with any of the goals and dealt well with the other Newcastle efforts (shots and crosses). A couple of times he put us under pressure by passing to defenders who were clearly marked. He needs to improve this aspect of his game. 7

Sagna: perhaps the uncertainty over his future is affecting his game. He seems a bit out of sorts and was given a torrid time by Obertan. Was partially responsible for all three Newcastle goals. 5

Koscielny: filled in very well for Mertesacker. A typical Kozzer showing, full of commitment and effort. 7

Vermaelen: also had a solid game – he seems to have got over his bad patch. However, as GiE pointed out in comments yesterday, what was he doing letting Gibbs get drawn into marking a big centre forward like Ba? 7

Gibbs: overall a good game with some good attacking play and an assist, but he was woefully at fault for Newcastle’s third and partly at fault for their second. Still seems like a youngster who is learning on the job at times. 6

Arteta: like the rest of our midfield he got the runaround when we slackened off after taking the lead in the first half, but otherwise his game was as effective as we have come to expect. Much of his work is unspectacular and (I suspect) unnoticed by some fans. 7

Wilshere: fine game by the captain-in-waiting. He drives us forward every time he gets the ball and his run and chip for the Podolski goal were outstanding (LB said the chip reminded him of Brady, which is high praise indeed). He loses half a point for giving away Newcastle’s first goal by trying to dodge the ball. 7.5

Cazorla: always a joy to wacth, Santi made one and was unlucky not to get on the score sheet himself. He was a thorn in the Newcastle side all the time he was on the pitch. 8

Podolski: a really good game from the German, full of industry, commitment and strength. His goal showed a great poacher’s instinct and he made Theo’s first. 8

Oxlade-Chamberlain: Oxo is getting slowly better with each game. He took his goal very well and was heavily involved until subbed off for Giroud. His passing is occasionally a bit loose, but he will put that right in due course. 7

Walcott: couldn’t really have done anything more to prove his case for a central striker’s berth. Great hat trick, of which the highest compliment I can pay is that Thierry Henry would have been pleased with any of those goals. I have always rated Theo’s finishing and what I liked most about his goals was the composure he showed in putting the ball in exactly the spot where it could not be saved. His third also gave the lie to the criticism that he can’t dribble. Yes, he made some mistakes too, but all strikers do. What’s clear is that Theo is becoming a huge asset – someone who can be deadly as a main striker, or as a wide man. It would be a crying shame if we lose him just as he’s is reaching the fulfillment of his potential. 9 MoTM

Substitutes

Giroud: I love this player. His cameo was almost perfect (and would have been if he had converted the chance to get a hat trick). 8.5

Ramsey: another good, tidy appearance from Aaron. 7

Coquelin: also tidy, although one unforced loose pass almost put us in trouble. 6.5

RockyLives

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Jack in the Box

November 22, 2012

Morning all, we have two match reports today, the first from GoonerB and the second from RockyLives . Both include their own player ratings. Enjoy.

We ideally wanted a win and to qualify before the last game of the group and we got it. We may not win the group but this is maybe not so important. There are other very good teams looking like they will end up second in their group anyway so the potential for a difficult draw is likely either way. It is a cup competition so anything can happen, and a lot of the play that I saw tonight from our team would give me cause to be very optimistic.

We started rather cautiously as has often seemed to be the case recently. We looked to be a bit too slow and casual with our passing and kept it deep within our defence without any urgency to go forward. Montpelier pressed us quickly and higher up and forced us into mistakes in these areas which seemed to give them an early threat in the game. After about 15 minutes, however, it all changed. We suddenly regained our ethos as an attacking side and, in my opinion, mostly bossed the game from then. I think we are a side that needs to keep a high tempo in a game, and are not so good when we try and slow it down, but that I would throw out to debate amongst yourselves.

I would say that we look so much better when we leave players in advanced positions so we can pass forwards rather than sideways or backwards, and I think this could be the key to this current team reaching the heights we all wish for. The confidence in passing and movement seemed to develop and increase as the game progressed and I really think we have a team on our hands if we can get the best out of them. It obviously requires a fine balance between the defence and the attack, something that has been talked about in recent posts, and I feel that if this can be fine tuned then we may have cause for optimism in the near future.

On to the ratings :-

Szczesny 7

Didn’t have too much to do but came out bravely and snuffed out the threat when their player was through on goal.

Sagna 7

Typical Sagna performance of solidity with regular help in attack. Did get exposed when caught forwards, at one time in particular, but is that an acceptable risk across a whole game with an attacking full-back?

Mertesacker 7

He seems to be the general in defence now. He lacks the pace of TV and LK but seems to read the game better than most, and another solid game from him

Koscielny 7

Was potentially lining up as MOTM till later in the game when he got caught on the ball instead of clearing the danger. It almost cost us. Up until then he was imperious, using his pace to snuff out problems before they even started and bringing the ball out from defence. If he can iron out the errors he is a seriously good defender.

Vermaelen 7

Played out of his best position but did a job for us. It is a nice problem to have in choosing him, LK and the BFG in a starting line up. He is our captain and I expect he will show us why as the season progresses.

Arteta 7

Normal no nonsense highly effective performance from Mr Reliable. Is he the glue that binds it all together?

Wilshere 7

Hard to believe he is still so early in his recovery from a long term injury. He oozes class and, although by his standards this was a good rather than great performance, I think we will be salivating in greater measures in the near future.

Cazorla 8

What to say. Arsene has come up trumps with this fellow. Another great performance pulling the strings. As I have mentioned before, if we can mostly keep him higher up the pitch even when defending, then we will always look a greater attacking threat.

Chamberlain 7

Had a good game if not his greatest and made them worried about him. I love the way he is prepared to run at defenders and commit them.

Podolski 8

It was likely a 7 until the volley. BSR, eat your heart out. He is a natural goal-scorer and for me works hard for the team. I am glad we have him and think we will appreciate him more and more over the next couple of seasons.

Giroud 8 My MOTM

Getting better and better. Didn’t even score tonight but the question is would we have scored without him. Two assists and a constant headache to their defenders. He drops off, works hard, and has very good intelligence and link up play. If we can get the other attacking players working off him more effectively then we may have an attacking force to be reckoned with.

Substitutions

Coquelin 84 for Cazorla. Solid tonight but needs to bide his time to be a regular starter. Maybe a long term replacement for Arteta providing he remains patient.

Ramsey 60 for Chamberlain. Has many detractors but I feel he needs more time for AW and the fans to fully assess him, He has some good strengths and was solid when he came on.

Gervinho 84 for Giroud. Not enough time for me to see what he could do.

Written by GoonerB

As a bonus we have a second match report from Rocky 

We beat Montpellier 2-0.

We’re through to the knock-out stages of the Champions League AGAIN (London and Manchester Oil Corporations please take note).

Here are five big positives I took from last night’s game, most of which I was able to watch despite some dodgy stream issues in the first half:

Clean Sheet

We secured our first clean sheet since the 1-0 win over QPR six games ago. It’s all very well taking the view that it doesn’t matter if the opposition score provided we score more. The reality is that clean sheets breed confidence – not just for the defence, but throughout the whole team. I thought Koscielny was outstanding in defence and showed his speed on numerous occasions to snuff out Montpellier breaks down our left flank, where Vermaelen did OK but did not provide the cover an orthodox left back would have.

Podolski’s Performance

Lucas had as busy a game as we have seen for a long time and capped it off with a fine goal. If he can be as involved on a regular basis he will be a force to be reckoned with. He may want to play down the middle, but Giroud is making that position all his own. However, there is no reason why the Pod can’t come infield at times and act as a second striker – which is exactly what he did for his goal last night.

Santi’s On Song

When we had that short run of games where we considered it rude to create a chance on the opposition goal before the 90th minute, it was instructive that our toothlessness coincided with Santi Cazorla’s early season form tailing off. The good news is that it was just a blip, and after his Man of the Match performance against the Spuds he followed up last night with another display of creativity, tenacity and determination. A quality player.

Jack in the Box

Arsene Wenger reckons it will be Christmas before Jack Wilshere is back to his best. Well, what a present that will be. Last night he showed even more great touches and bursts than he did against the N17 Saddo Society and, best of all, he popped up in the Montpellier penalty area to grab a great goal. People were saying he could be the complete midfielder if he added goals to his game. You always felt it was just a matter of time. Let’s hope last night has set the ball rolling.

Don’t Stop The Momentum

Football is a game where confidence and momentum have a disproportionate effect on a team’s fortunes. After a stop-start season this win – securing our place in the CL knock-out rounds – following on from a resounding derby victory will start to rebuild the optimism we were all feeling after the Liverpool and Manchester City away games. I have always felt the quality of players in our squad was good enough to challenge for big prizes. If they can get on a roll I hope they can prove me right.

What are your positives and negatives from last night’s game?

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Player Ratings

Szczesny 7

Not much troubled, but looked secure and confident. He raced out of his goalmouth to tip the ball away from a Montpellier forward’s boot in the first half when it was still 0-0. It was an important moment (about which the unremittingly negative Alan Smith could only say: “That would have been risky if he’d got it wrong”).

Sagna 7

Reliable as ever from Mr Reliable.

Mertesacker 7

Typically sound outing from the BFG. He defended with composure, distributed beautifully and almost dribbled his way through for what would have been our most remarkable goal of the season.

Koscielny 8

He has had a few wobbles recently, but last night Kozzer was back to his best against some very skilful and speedy opponents. Was unlucky not to open the scoring with a powerful header against the crossbar.

Vermaelen 6

Got caught out of position a few times but he did a job for the team in a role that does not fully suit his skills.

Arteta 7

The metronome kept things ticking all game long. If Santi and Jack had good games, it was because Mikel was behind them doing the donkey work.

Wilshire 7

Some fine touches and bursts and a very well taken goal. His understanding with his midfield partners and the forwards is growing visibly.

Cazorla 8

What a player! Creative, imaginative, daring, surprising. A joy to watch. He orchestrated most of our best moments.

Podolski 8.5 (MoTM)

For my money his best outing yet in the famous red and white. He was heavily involved throughout and scored a peach of a volley. He was able to combine some good wing play with cutting inside to form a front two with Giroud. I feel this role suits him as he is not a natural “holder up” of the ball like Giroud so, I feel, would struggle if played as our out and out centre forward. He had a couple of decent goal attempts before he scored. For one of them he perhaps should have passed, but I don’t have a problem with a striker being greedy in front of goal. It makes a change from endless tippy tappy.

Oxlade-Chamberlain 6

Not his best game. He seemed a bit rusty, his passing was off and he drifted inside too much. A learning curve game for a talented young man.

Giroud 8.5

Close call for MoTM. He led the line superbly, made two excellent assists and was a thorn in the Montpellier side all game. He’s a different flavour to the strikers we have become used to under Wenger, but it’s a flavour that I’m developing a taste for and I suspect many other Gooners are too.

Subs

Ramsey 7

Gervinho 7 (one touch, but he didn’t mess it up!)

Coquelin 7

RockyLives

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“A” “V”ery “B”ig win for Arsenal and some ratings……..

November 18, 2012

Wounded, bloodied and showing signs of decline, as a crisis of confidence has seemingly gripped the arsenal squad of late, we stood on the Lunch time death slot where we have failed to win a game in over 3 years [since Sept 2009 when we beat, Spurs 3-0]…..

In our way again, those unlikeable Lily White neighbours strode in complete with their bloated egos, not exactly in great form themselves, but the usual pre-match hype had them claiming that the gap was closing and today was their day and they would go on to finish above us…..

Arsène fielded pretty much the strongest team available, with injuries slowly abating, Szczesny was back between the sticks, he is our number one that there is no doubt for me, Mannone is an ok No2 but lacks the presence of a top keeper…..

AVB was brave from the start as he went with a very attacking line up, with Defoe and Adebarndoor up front, supported out wide by the overrated lennon and bale, pace wasn’t lacking….At least we had Walcott starting, [how many games has he got left in an Arsenal shirt??]

The first few minutes saw the midfield three of Cazorla, Arteta and Wilshere look to dominate possession, but Spurs were pushing up a high line and squeezing the space in the midfield…..

The crowd were up for it as was Tottenham’s Sandro who went through the back of Giroud early doors, but Arsenal were working hard and most notably Podolski was working very hard defensively, however slowly Spurs were getting at us more and more. Sandro then went through Wilshere……

Walcott was looking up for it and getting crosses in, but still Spurs seemed to get stronger, a breakdown the right from Lennon, gained a free kick as Vermaelen blocked him. Bale floated a free kick in, which was headed straight out to Huddlestone, whose shot was blocked into Gallas path by Kozzer, Gallas scored but was ruled as offside, that was a warning that we didn’t heed.

As Vertonghen hit a quality long ball down the left into the path of Defoe whose movement had left BFG stalling, defoe put it across Szczesny, who got a hand to it, but it fell to Adebarndoor, who tapped it in 0-1….just 10mins in……murmurs…..

Moments later lennon pulled an easy one across the goal with Szczesny looking beaten, I really have never rated lennon, thank god he as poor as I think he is…….Poor man’s Walcott for me…
Arsenal weren’t getting totally outplayed but were struggling to get back on terms, then on 16mins another long ball out by Vertonghen was headed down towards Carzola by BFG who out jumped Adebarndoor, but then Adebarndoor launched himself at the ball and took our little maestro out….

Howard Webb gave him a very deserved red card…….In midst of the heated moments that followed Jack had a little spat with Bale, but was calmed down by the rest. Let’s try and keep 11 on eh..?

Anyway, with numbers in our favour, Arsenal started to dominate, on 23 a great cross by Walcott was met by BFG who powered in a header, to redeem himself from his earlier error, 1-1 …..

Fantastic first goal for the Arsenal by the rather large german…..

With the extra space Arsenals’ talented trio in the middle started to dominate, with Theo looking lively, Giroud looking more and more the striker we needed, Podolski was also still working much harder than he has been.

Half time was getting closer, Sandro was also getting closer to an early bath as well, how he didn’t have at least a yellow was beyond me……Sadly Lloris was looking good in between the sticks, could we get in front?, on 40 Giroud had a very powerful header but it was straight at his French team mate.

Moments later, Arteta, drove across the pitch looking for a one two with Jack, but the ball came off huddlestone and fell to Lukas, who managed to dig the ball out across the back of gallas and it trickled into the far corner as Lloris was wrong footed…….2-1….half time was nigh…..

But wait, Lennon connects with Vermaelen, the free kick which comes back out to Santi, who devilishly darts into the box through a couple of stumbles, but manages to keep his feet, play on from Webb, as Santi squares the ball to Giroud, who with Gallas and Vertonghen in his way, manages to sweep the ball in 3-1, thats 5 goals in 5 for Giroud, after me, who needs Van persie when we’ve got Giroud…….I know….

Second half, starts with AVB going for it, 3 at the back, fair play to the Portu’gueser, bold and brave. Spurs did well as their ten men stuck in there, arsenal wrongly sitting back, the fans were restless, next goal was crucial…..Oh by the way, Sandro was still on the pitch despite even more fouls…

A long goal kick by Szczesny was flicked on by Giroud, to Theo who chest controlled the ball and brought it down, then played Podolski down the left of the box, who then crossed for Santi to come in at the far post and slide the ball in, 60mins 4-1…….

Arsenal didnt take advantage as Spurs continued to try and get back into the game, with yes you guessed it, Sandro was still on the pitch, but finally he gets a card on 66. Then on 70 mins a sliced clearance by BFG was headed into Bales path and he ran forward and dragged a shot back across through Kozzers legs, 4-2. Immediately Le boss replaced Wilshere with Ramsey…The crowd was now very nervous even with the 2 goals and a man advantage….Moments later Bale has another chance but it drifts wide across the goal, that was too close for comfort…….

On 80 Santos replaces Podolski, a luke warm reception for the Brazilian, but he is not at LB, so not too much to worry about there and he didn’t seem to take any shirts off anyone…….On 85 the Ox replaces Giroud….he looked very lively straight away….

Arsenal are now dominating possession, as they knock the ball about…Ox gets the ball off a loose pass from Vertonghen and drives forward into the box and plays it to Theo, who comes across and drags a shot back across Vertonghen and pass the helpless Lloris…5-2, 91 mins……

Not quite as exciting as last years match which ended the same, probably not as satisfying either in a way, but a major boost nonetheless……

Some sites claim this is just papering over the cracks, codswallop, look we have a good squad and some very talented players, we might fall short for the title, but I expect a top 4 finish at minimum, we do have the players when everyone is fully fit…..and all settled……..By the way, I am not getting carried away, work is still needed.

It was good to see Giroud bag another along with Podolski and Santi getting goals, the three newest signings are still settling in, but you can see their quality….if you cant, open your eyes……..

There is more to come, thats for sure……….

Ratings: [In my humble opinion]

Szczesny: 7: Steady game, good to have the Pole back. Unfortunate with the first……

Sagna: 8: Although I am warming to Jenkinson, he is no Sagna yet, quality game by our beaded warrior, linked well with Theo.

BFG:7: At fault for Spurs first, but a great equaliser and worked hard throughout….

Kozzer: 7: Steady and pacy when needed, still finding his feet this season….

Vermaelen: 7: Took his time to settle, doesn’t like the left and it shows, but did a job….

Arteta:7.5: Dictated the play well when in control of the ball, worked hard, tired towards the end..quietly effective.

Santi: 9: Wizard….. great goal capped his Man of the Match*performance……

Wilshere: 7.5: Spikey, passionate, skilful and OURS…..Just gotta to love our Jack….

Podolski:8: Thought that was his best game he has had for a while, defensively worked hard, not lazy today, lets keep it at that level Lukas, nicked a goal as well…..

Giroud: 8: Gets better every week for me, strong and tenacious, holds the ball up well and links well, more skill than most give him credit for, great goal…….

Walcott:9: Pushed Santi for MoTM very close, pacy, direct and great assist as well as a good goal. If its just 10k more he wants, give him that pen now, if you think he isn’t good enough for us, then you have me stumped, ok not as consistent as we all want, but wouldn’t swap him for Lennon, Sinclair, Sturridge, SWP, Johnson or whoever in that category you want to mention……..Classy when in the mood…….

Wenger: 7: Put out his best team available, but allowed the team to sit too deep for me in the 2nd half. Perhaps should of subbed Jack a little bit earlier and Ox really lifted the team when he came on too late.

Overall: Great result, pressure lifted a little with a reasonable performance, team need to push on now, a win midweek and at Villa next Saturday, then we can move on and forget the blip, consistency is needed now without doubt. Good day as Chelsea lost, as did United losing to Norwich 1-0 as well, which we got slated for…will they? Perhaps they missed Webb today?

Side note for AVB: Brave and bold, fair play and you did ok in the 2nd half but your team did not dominate, your team had moments, but you had them at Chelsea as well, how did that end?

Written by Harry

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Posted by harry671

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