Robin van Persie is the son of a sculptor and a painter and his inherited creative genius shines through on the football pitch. Beginning his career at Excelsior Rotterdam, he moved on to Feyenoord and earned caps for the Dutch u19 and u21 teams.
Robin always dreamed of playing for his hometown club and then moving on to Arsenal or a small club in Catalonia to further his career.
Robin has always loved the red and white.
The highlight of Robin’s Feyenoord career was winning the UEFA cup in 2002 with a 3-2 victory and being named Dutch football talent of the year for the 2001/2 season.
van Persie’s early Arsenal career began fairly slowly largely due to injuries. From the 2004/5 season to 2009/10 he scored 5, 5, 11, 7, 11 and 9 league goals respectively. 2010/11 saw his total leap to 18, many of which were scored in the second half of the season when Arsenal’s unravelling was taking place.
This season he has scored 16 goals in 17 appearances, including 2 goals against Bolton on 24th September to take his Arsenal tally to 100. Of these one hundred goals, 71 were scored with his left foot, 23 right foot and 6 were headers which goes some way to dispel the myth of the van Persie ‘chocolate’ leg. His current tally for 2011 stands at 34 goals in a staggering 34 games. This draws level with Thierry Henry’s 34 but these were scored in 39 games and puts him two goals away from Alan Shearer’s all-time record of 36 scored in 42 matches.
Here are a few illustrations of Robin’s prowess in front of goal which has taken him to 115 goals, currently level with Alan Smith.
RVP with his right foot versus Wolves home 12th Feb 2011
The next goal versus Fulham on 22nd May 2011 illustrates a magnificent first touch.
A hat-trick of very different goals at 55secs, 3min 5 secs and 6 mins versus Wigan on 22nd January.
Robin’s goal against Everton encapsulated his self-professed desire to take risks by taking the volley on, resulting in his best goal of 2011.
RVP is now a world class striker who scores goals from all angles as the following illustrates
Robin’s son looks a prospect, too, so let’s hope he grows up with the Arsenal gene and follows in his father’s footsteps.
The first 45 minutes were pretty different from what I expected. Aston Villa did not close us down frantically and allowed Arsenal plenty of space. Especially Gervinho and Theo saw plenty of the ball, as Villa sat deep in the beginning, allowing our wingers to attack them from the sides. Arsenal also allowed Villa a lot of space and there were plenty of chances for each team during the entire first half. The game was surprisingly open and yet the tempo did not appear to be very high.
After Gervinho had tried but failed to reach the by-line on a number of occasions – not being able to beat the ex-Spud Hutton – Theo was successful at the first attempt. He skinned the inexperienced Carian Clark just inside the box of Villa with a brilliant, ballet-like pirouette, after which he had acres of space to pick a pass. The young Villa defender pulled Theo back and the referee Jon Moss blew his whistle, even though Theo had not fallen down as a result of the pull-back. Penalty. RvP lined himself up to reach an incredible milestone: if he scores he will have equalled TH14 calendar year goal scoring tally. Is he nervous though? No, just BOOM in the roof of the net: 1-0 to The Arsenal.
After that, the game remained open, and after quick moves, both Theo and Ramsey got decent opportunities to score from just outside the box. Both missed the deadly accuracy and calmness of Boy Wonder and, as a result, two half-decent opportunities were wasted. Villa had their own chances, predominantly as a result of playing balls quickly into the box from Arsenal’s LB area to their ‘fox in the box’: the man with the warrior-like name of Agbonlahor (for a while, I dreamed of an attacking combination for Arsenal of Arshavin, Adebayor and Agbonlahor: it just sounded like the ultimate warrior-machine: the tree terrible A’s). I thought Vermaelen struggled a few times to put himself in the right positions in the first half, and as a result Aston Villa had a few opportunities to put the ball into the box from our LB area which led to some half-decent opportunities for them. Luckily, AV were not sharp enough to pounce on these half-chances.
2nd half observations from another bad stream
Aston Villa started well. They allowed us less space and pressed us earlier in our own half. In the 54th minute, an opportunistic, high ball by Villa is defended by Vermaelen, who heads horizontally to Merkesacker. The latter is already on a yellow card and Vermaelen’s header is too short. Albrighton seizes his opportunity by taking the ball past the indecisive Mertesacker, and slots the ball calmly and professionally past the onrushing Szczesny. Quite an impressive finish.
Theo Walcott experiences an almost déjà-vu moment when, just as in the game against Citeh, he gets a decent opportunity to score a goal straight after our kick-off. The impressive again Richard Dunne makes a superb slide-tackle in the box to deny Walcott. Mertesacker seemed desperate to make amends for his and Vermaelen’s defensive error earlier. He was close to scoring a goal from inside the box, not with his head but with his foot, from one of the many Arsenal corners in the second half.
During this half, there is no more space for either Walcott or Gervinho to produce some effective wing-play. Wenger makes three changes in the last 25 minutes: Rosicky, Arshavin and Benayoun for respectively Frimmpong, Gervinho and Ramsey. Arshavin and Benayoun are only given ten minutes to make a difference which is not ideal of course. Frimmpong started to give away unnecessary fouls and both Gervinho and Ramsey looked exhausted.
The changes had an immediate positive impact as Arsenal was able to retake the initiative. We started to control the game and were desperately looking for holes in the middle of AV’s defence. We were awarded corner after corner, and from the 11th corner-kick in the second half – just as every single Gooner had given up hope we would ever score from a corner again – RvP reaches a free Yossi Benayoun (Agbonlahor had not bothered to stay with him in the box), and a late, and no longer expected, Christmas present was delivered to all who love the Arsenal: most probably the lightest man on the pitch, our man on loan from the Chavs, scores with a close-range header: 1-2 with only three minutes to go!
Some conclusions:
A scrappy win: no doubt about that. Our passing was under-par and we seemed to be missing our FB’s a lot more in this game than against the Mancs. We really lacked a strong/effective shape to the team tonight. There were a lot of tired legs out there, but the same goes for Aston Villa; and that was our saving grace.
A few players were brilliant today: Arteta, RvP, and especially Koz: with their energy and never-say-die attitude they made a major contribution to us winning three points tonight. I also thought Coquelin, after a slightly difficult start, had a good game. I was especially impressed with his ability to play long-range passes towards Theo, or diagonally towards the other winger. This boy has style and, judging on these early signs, will go far at Arsenal. It was also good to see Rosicky back. He really gave us a better shape to the team, almost as soon as he was on the pitch.
And well done to Robin for reaching this incredible milestone. We all know how special Thierry Henry was: one of the best strikers I have ever seen. For Robin to equal his calendar-year goals tally is incredible, and with a bit of luck he will surpass Alan Shearer’s by scoring three more goals in the next two home games.
Three points are three points. It is a game best to forget quickly and for us now to concentrate on our next two home games: Wolves and QPR. The boys will now have a rest till at least Monday and Alex Song will be back. Hopefully there will be no further injuries coming from this game, so we can put out a good team against Wolves. Liverpool and Newcastle dropped points again, and today either the Chavs or Spuds, or both, will drop points. The race for third and fourth place is on and we are now very well positioned; just behind the Chavs and the Spuds. Before Big Ben strikes 12 times on New Year’s Eve, we could be snug as a bug in a rug in third place.
If ever you needed evidence of the newly improved team spirit at New Arsenal, you just have to read some of the recent match reports.
Here on AA yesterday Harry’s excellent dissection of the victory over Everton was comprehensive and entertaining.
He plumped for Koscielny as Man of the Match, but clearly did not feel his performance was way out ahead of the rest of the team (Kozzer was one of four players whom Harry gave an 8 out of 10. He also gave 7.5 to three others).
If you scan around the Arsenal blog world you will see other writers picking out Ramsey, van Persie, Song, Vermaelen, Arteta and Walcott as their choice for MoTM from Saturday’s game. The same has been true in other recent performances, where there has been no concensus as to who was the stand-out player on the day.
If you’re Blackburn, not having a stand-out player probably means you had 11 equally inept piles of hippo dung stinking up the place.
But in the happy situation of being the Arsenal, it means that we had an outstanding team performance with players working so selflessly for the greater good that it’s hard to pick out an overall star.
Last season Cesc was usually MoTM in the games he played. Sometimes it was Na$ri and, on a few occasions, Wilshere. But there always seemed to be a player whose efforts exceeded those of his team mates.
The difference this year is not that our “stand out” performers have dropped to the level of the players who were just putting in a shift. It’s that the whole team is playing better together, with the result that in any given match most players have raised their level at the same time.
Fun to watch, but a nightmare if you feel the need to single out a Man of the Match.
Clearly we have an out-and-out star performer for the season so far in Prince Robin. He is probably the best striker in world football right now and would be the stand-out in any team (even the Catalan diving squad). But Robin’s amazing achievements are very much built on the solid foundations that are now firmly in place following the chaos at the start of the season.
Personally, I’m thrilled that in recent games it has been so hard to pick out a MoTM. When Cesc was our regular MoTM we were a poorer team overall.
Perhaps there was an element of “Thierry Syndrome”, with players feeling that they always had to pass to our former Number Four even when better options were available.
Or, more likely, we functioned less well as a team last year because we lacked team spirit and togetherness.I think we all know that Cesc was not a great captain. And with the constant “will-he-won’t-he” background noise of his move back to Barcelona, it can’t have made for stability in the changing room.
Na$ri, meanwhile, was clearly a malcontent and trouble-maker who did not get on with some other members of the squad.
When those two left (for love and money, respectively) and we acquired the likes of Arteta, Mertesacker, Santos, Benayoun and Jenkinson instead, not many people believed we were a stronger squad than before.
But what about now?
How are you feeling after eight wins and a draw from our last nine EPL games?
How did you feel when Prince Robin went over to celebrate joyfully with the bench when he rifled home the winner against the Toffees?
We lost our two best players (supposedly) and gained what some have described as a bunch of journeyman pros.
But which team do you think is more likely to actually win something?
I know my answer. It’s obvious to me that New Arsenal, with its mix of precocious young talent and seasoned experience, will have a better chance of grabbing some silverware. At the very least I don’t expect New Arsenal to wilt when the pressure mounts, like last season’s model.
You may feel differently, in which case make your views known in this poll:
Arsenal brought together an array of legends to help them celebrate the history that is Arsenal, 125 years of history to be precise, from the days of Dial Square, Plumstead common, Henry Norris getting us into Division one after WW1, the Chapman Era, the 70’s double, moving in more recent history with George Graham’s titles and cups, right upto Wenger’s invincible’s and some of the best football I have ever seen.
With the statues that were unveiled on Friday, the talk of the Pubs pre-match, there was a feel good buzz about the place. 3 pivotal legends had been immortalised and all rightly so, but everyone I spoke to, believed there was a place for a Bergkamp statue.
Anyway into the ground, the fans trundled to see who had come to say hello, many legends from the recent history memory banks had come to join in with the celebrations, as Tom Watt spoke with Thierry, a rendition of “Sign him up” rang around the ground.
To the game, Everton were the sideshow to the celebrations, but as I said pre-match, the most important thing today was 3 points, so after all the fanfare could the players perform and focus on the job in hand? Everton after all were not going to roll over, always a worthy opponent, they work hard and give little away.
The only other worrying thing to consider before kick off was that Fergie’s rent boy was the man in the middle. Arsenal needed to add to the recent haul of 19 points from 21 and couldn’t afford to let Webb ruin our day.
It was a slow start and Everton were defending by holding a highline and pressing Arsenal, but this highline was breached on numerous occasions throughout the first half, but we failed to capitalise, if indeed we managed to get passed the razor sharp reflexes of the assistant referee who had his flag waving around throughout the game, did no one tell him the celebrations were all pre-match…………
The first real chance came about 15minutes in when Arteta, played a lovely ball down the inside right channel for Walcott to run onto, Theo unselfishly, but perhaps he should be more often?, anyway his pass was just a little too square, and it got between Gervinho and Ramsey, Gervinho managed to get control eventually, but the easy chance had gone by then…..
A few minutes later and Gervinho managed to break through from inside left, and he released Robin, but he seemingly had just strayed offside, a tight call, had the linesman put his flag down yet, I wasn’t sure. Everton got forward occasionally, but they failed to test Woijech, who collected or cleared any ball that came near him, his distribution was spot on.
On 29 mins, Song puts Ramsey through, the gap narrowed to the right, so he swivelled and curled a shot just over the top left corner.
Arsenal certainly were on top and looked like the only team trying to score, but we lacked a sharpness in front of goal and Robin was having a quieter than normal game. It was starting to feel like the Fulham game again. Although we were solid and didn’t look like conceding, it looked like we had as much chance of scoring as Na$ri does of playing Champions League football this season……..
Arsenal continued to dominate and had a flurry of corners, but still no break through, 3 mins of injury time and Saha unleashed from distance, but it didn’t test our young pole. Half time 0-0 and the party feel good factor was a little flat now….
Second half the game continued in the same fashion, about 5 mins in and Cahill loses his boot whilst on the attack, Webb stops the game much to the annoyance of Everton as that was a good break. Even funnier when Cahill threw his boot down in the direction of Moyes, as he left the pitch to sort it, who didn’t look happy.
Walcott was having a good game and getting plenty of the ball, but he wasted a good opportunity to get a strike on goal on about 55mins. Moments later and he drives forward and manages to bustle his way passed a defender and unleash a ferocious drive that Howard saves well.
On 60 mins, Baines, delivers a peach of a cross right to the far side to Cahill who is holding back and coming in late, but Vermaelen has smelt the danger and managed to get in between and head the ball clear, Szczesny praised Thomas. Cahill would have scored there, brilliant work by our Belgian Gladiator.
Everton take off Saha and bring on Distin, a point looks a good point to Moyes, although Neville puts the ball just over the goal on a rare Everton attack. As Arsenal continue to toil Wenger readies Arshavin and Rosicky.
But just before they come on, Song delivers what I can only describe as a perfect pass, that had Xavi done that, the press would be creaming themselves. As the ball came over from a diagonal right footed pass, the ball perfectly weighted and with a deceptive curve on the flight path as the ball spun in the air, it was watched down intently by Van Persie who got round the back of his marker, Jagielka, and on the volley, with both feet in the air, he lashed it with a precision strike across the goal and into the bottom right corner off the post with a hapless Howard, left looking like another statue…….Quiet game by RVP standards, but the goal was top draw……..Rosicky and Arshavin sit down….70mins 1-0……
Rosicky came on for Gervinho who had a very quiet game and Miquel replaced Thomas Vermaelen who had taken a knock. Everton now started to push forward but really failed to test Woijech, Frimpong came on for Theo.
On 86 Gueye breaks free but shoots wide, nerves were starting to manifest. As we moved into injury time, McAleny a young 19yr old has a delightful volley from the left, and although Szczesny stretches long, it goes wide.
Game over and Szczesny kisses the left boot of Van Persie, as the day ends as it started smiles all round. Another moment in our 125 year history as Robin scores a truly sensational goal which will be up there with the best of Wright and Henry to name a few, I am sure they were impressed with that goal and its true beauty.
Ratings: –
Szczesny: 7.5 Calm and assured, his distribution is getting better and better. Not really tested, but did his basics well.
Djourou: 5. Indecisive and prone to too many errors. Did ok in patches, but he worries me.
BFG: 7. Thought he had an all round good game, but made a couple of errors that he got away with, even saw him jump a couple of times ` .
Koscienly: 8. Outstanding, strong and quick, reads danger well and snuffs it out, gets better every game. My MotM.
Vermaelen:8. Great game, played well at LB and gave Everton little space, his defensive header that kept out Cahill was amazing and kept it 0-0.
Song: 8. Strong and powerful, ran about breaking up attacks, continually looking to get players through and pick them out. His pass for Robins goal, was almost as good as the goal itself.
Ramsey: 8. Works and doesn’t hide, makes the odd mistake, but works hard to make up for that. Needs a goal and deserves a goal. I read on one website, Ramsey was deemed the worse player on the pitch, complete pony; he was very good and close to MotM for me. How anyone can berate him is completely beyond me…….
Arteta: 7. A quiet game today, but still looked the part, a few more than normal wasted passes, got confused perhaps with his old team mates.
Gervinho:6. Added little to the team today, woeful up front and loss the ball way too many times. Very frustrating at times.
Van Persie: 7.5. Was probably a 6, but that strike was amazing, simply sensational. You could argue giving him MotM for the goal, but equally Vermaelen stopped a goal been scored against us.
Walcott: 7.5. Involved throughout, made a few wrong decisions, great strike just after the break. Just needs to start scoring more regularly now.
Subs:
Rosicky: 6.0. Little time
Miquel: . 6.9. Little time
Frimpong:. Only on the pitch for 3 or 4 minutes.
Mr Wenger: 8. Has the team working hard for each other and showing real promise. Has his favourite line up, but it is hampered by his injured fullbacks. Subs at the right time.
Overall:
A hard fought contest, but we got three points, from a solid team performance. Which like many games this season, we all feel we would have probably lost last season? Wenger really has turned this team around and ok its top four till Chelsea play, but we are in there on merit…..
Not the most exciting game ever, agreed, but 3 points and the chant that is recognised around the world, 1 nil to the Arsenal, 1 nil to the Arsenal………is somewhat fitting on day of nostalgia…….
That Locomotive called Arsenal was back on track today charging once again towards the top of the table. After frustratingly slowing down at Fulham last weekend it was full steam ahead up north to Wigan to pick up what turned out to be an easy three points.
The players exuded superiority from the moment they stepped onto the pitch. The play was purposeful and decisive, Arsenal were cutting their way through at will with some classy inter play but it was Wigan who were presented with the first serious goal scoring opportunity, watching in the Twelve Pins pub in Finsbury Park they showed the replay three times and I still do not understand how Gomez managed to miss from eight yards out, Match of the Day will clear it up but right now it remains a mystery.
It is obviously wrong to say that if you scratch the surface of Arsenal you will find a fragility lurking just below but it is also wrong to say that the early season fear has completely disappeared, Arsenal were taken aback by that scare and it took a while to regroup and push on forward but forward they went and as quick as doubts started appearing in the mind as to whether this week was going to be our week they were dispelled by Arteta’s determined run and a pile driver of a shot past the out stretched Wigan goal keeper to make it one nil and take the pressure right off.
The gulf in class began to show and it wasn’t long before we doubled our lead: van Persie sent over a corner that cleared the first man (now there is a sentence I haven’t written in a while) passing everyone except for the Lion of Flanders; Vermaelen soared above his marker to powerfully direct a header just inside the post, it really was quite an incredible goal. As he celebrated I remembered how a certain section of Arsenal supporters criticised Wenger for buying him, complaining, before he had even played a game mind you, that at 5’11” he was too short. As this is a headline post I am going with: shame on them but on another day my language would be more agricultural lets say.
The game may now have been over as a competition but there were still a few more thrills to be had. The second half started in the same way as the first with Wigan trying to play football, you have got to admire the refusal of Martinez to turn them into Orcs but unless they adopt that style they will be relegated. Wigan’s attempt at getting back on terms was short lived; the rousing half time team talk that Martinez not doubt gave them evaporated when Gervinho was in the right place at the right time to knock the ball in to make it three. Gervinho’s joy was plain to see and that was no act, he was genuinely elated at getting himself on the score sheet.
The more observant would have noticed that earlier he had missed what some may describe as yet another golden opportunity with a one on one only the goal keeper to beat. To those I say you really have to be in the right place at the right time to get those opportunities and by the shear fact that these situations are starting to stick in the mind they act as evidence that he is getting himself in the right place at the right time. There is no doubt in my mind that many more goals will follow.
What would a big score day be without our captain getting in on the act, I bet there were a few journalists thinking that if van Persie doesn’t score how are they going to try and undermine Arsenal in the future; I mean, if they can’t accuse us of being a one player team what are they going to say? Worry over, van Persie duly obliged and scored his ninety fifth goal of the season, (I don’t know how many it is now) and by doing so the media can continue to call us a one man team.
Four-nil, cue substitutions, we all wanted to see the Ox but Arsene is making us wait a bit longer, nevertheless, I like Benayoun’s energy, I like to see the ever maturing Coquelin and I just laughed when Arshavin made a last man slide tackle to snuff out a Wigan attack down the left wing when Santos had gone AWOL in the Wigan half.
I feel a bit of a fraud writing this report, it is a bit like you guys have worked your hearts out for ninety minutes and in extra time we are awarded a penalty and up I step to knock in this simple match report, still as the saying goes you can only write about the opposition that is put in front of you lol.
Player ratings.
Szczesny: some one has had a word in his ear and told him to stop joking about, gone were the silly attempts at dummying the on rushing opposing forward before clearing the ball, today’s performance was controlled, determined which brings me to the adjective I have been waiting to use…….immaculate. 10
Koscielny: did he do anything wrong? Not that I can remember, he is not as threatening in the final third as Jenkinson and he is not as good a defender at right back as Sagna but hey onwards and upwards for our Kozzer. 8
Mertesacker: when the BFG cocked up against Norwich I wrote to him angrily saying that we all know that if he had been wearing the German national shirt he would not have done that, I suggested that wearing one under his Arsenal shirt might help, he wrote back saying he would, the results were there for all to see today, I thought that was the best performance he has put in to date, calmness personified. 8
Vermaelen: The Lion of Flanders, I suspect many won’t know this but cycling is the national sport of Belgium, in that sport the Italians, as you would imagine, are flamboyant the French are like the English and Wimbledon, cycling is their sport but they never win it; but, in Belgium, especially in Flanders they breed the real tough men of cycling and Vermaelen is straight out of that mould, hard as nails, no one is going to ever push him around. My man of the match. 9.5
Santos: all over the park we have our first choice player and we have his back up, in some positions it is unbalanced such as Van Persie and Chamakh but the combination of Santos and Gibbs seems prefect to me. By Santos playing, Gibbs is not going to feel that he will never get his chance and when Gibbs plays I doubt that Santos will feel aggrieved. In truth he faded today, and had Gibbs been fit I would have expected him to have come on but Santos little by little is getting up to speed with the EPL. I am a big fan but today was not his best. 7
Song: we need competition for his position, I mean real competition, Frimpong and Coquelin are snapping at his heels but they are not there yet. Today we didn’t have Songinho but we did have a solid shield for our defence. 7
Arteta: if you can’t play for your national team then the Champions League has got to be the next best thing; he clearly loves wearing the glorious red and white and long may it continue. Great goal. 8
Walcott: some sterling work down the wing again, I don’t care what anyone says he has been a different player since the Ox arrived on the scene. 7
Van Persie: The Dogs. 8
Gervinho: before today our Ivorian friend gave me the impression that he wasn’t sure if he belonged that’s to say he looked nervous as to whether he had been accepted as one of the team……look closely at his celebrations after his goal and you will learn all you need to know about this player. 8
Following the International break, we are back in the full swing of club football with Arsenal playing their third game in a week; what with City on Tues, Wigan on Saturday and Olympiakos the following Tues, we are busy. Long may it remain thus because it means we are in all competitions.
Today brings Martin Jol’s Fulham to the Emirates. Fulham are 16th in the PL, and are on a poor run of form (LLDDDWLLWL ). This is unsurprising because Fulham have been hard hit with injuries and despite the return of the OAP Riise, they will be missing Stephen Kelly, Damien Duff, ex-Gunner Sidwell and Simon Davies. For a squad as small as Fulham’s this is hard to overcome.
Stats:
We have won our last 2 games following action in the CL.
Fulham have yet to win at our place – Pl 25 W22 D3 L0.
Fulham are on a run of 34 away London derbies without a win.
Fulham have yet to score more than one goal at THOF
Fulham have won only 12 away fixtures out of their last 101. We are 4/9 to win with Ladbrokes.
Uncanny
It has been pointed out that we have played the same team twice running which showed in the way the players connect, I fully expect us to play the same team again. Why change when the players have next week to rest? That said, perhaps Ramsey could rest his young bones.
We have been finding a rhythm not seen at THOF for sometime and it is this which is so encouraging. This Arsenal team do not have the swagger of The Henry teams, nor the calculated violence of the Adams years, instead the current Gunners team are becoming more than the sum of it’s parts. It bodes well for the future, and should allow players of the quality of Arshavin, Benayoun, Diaby, the Ox, JW, Sagna etc etc etc to slot seamlessly into the team when required.
My Team:
It would be great if Gervinho got on the scoresheet today. He has been dallying in front of goal which suggests a lack of confidence (wanting to make sure rather than using his instincts). Theo is also due a goal as is Ramsey, but it would be a fool who bet anyone’s house on RvP not scoring this evening.
To continue the series of famous Gooners, we go to the Thirtie’s and as luck would have it I have found a Gooner and a great inventor. Alan Blumlein. This is a top bloke. Inventor of stereo and the Radar. Alan was born in Hampstead in 1903 and at the age of 28 he patented Stereophonic Sound whilst working for EMI. His spare time was spent at Highbury where he was a season ticket holder in the East Stand. Blumein died in 1n an aircrash in 1942 whilst testing his newly patented radar.
Mr Blumlein the morning after celebrating the 1936 FA Cup victory (slightly the worse for wear)
All the form guides point to a home victory but we have learned to our cost that application in all games is essential, losing 3 points to relegation fodder like Blackburn, Spurs and Liverpool is proof that no quarter can be given.
Champions League week 5 and ze Germans were the visitors to London town in the form of Borussia Dortmund. Fresh from a fantastic 1-0 win against league rivals Bayern, they came into the game full of confidence and looking for the win that would put them right back in Group F contention. Arsenal, however, were looking for the victory that would see them qualify for the knockout stages.
No real suprises in either line up and the game started as expected. BD were pushing high up the pitch and pressing the home midfield at every opportunity. The Arsenal defence were seeing plenty of the ball but were finding it difficult to get the ball forward, opting for patience as they knocked the ball from side to side.
The pattern of the game then changed due to a couple of BD injuries. First, the fantastically named Bender was caught by a stray boot and had to be stretchered from the field of play, shortly after, the boy wonder Goetze, who many were looking forward to seeing, was subbed with what appeared to be a dead leg. Unfortunate for BD and the game, but I wasn’t really complaining as he looked threatening early on!
Dortmund had looked dangerous but the loss of 2 key players seemed to effect their game and Arsenal were starting to find a little more space. Walcott, in particular, was starting to look lively. First, he had a goal correctly ruled out for offside, and then some neat play saw him latch onto a through ball but fail to round the onrushing keeper. Then came the most incisive action of the first half as Theo dazzled the full back with a beautiful dummy before collecting the return pass and whipping a delightful cross towards RvP, only for the keeper to stick out a paw and diffuse the situation. It was the best move of a tactical first 45 which saw neither keeper troubled. Surely the second half would see more goalmouth action with both teams needing a win?
No more changes at the break and Dortmund started brightly. Some slick passing down the right resulted in a deflected cross which rolled agonisingly across a packed area but fortunately for the Gunners, straight to the BFG who knocked it out for a corner. A scare, but nothing more. This kicked Arsenal into life. Some neat passing down the left eventually fell to the feet of Song, who showed his strength to hold off one tackle before twirling through 2 more tackles with moves that Robbie Savage would have been proud of, before finally floating a beautiful ball to the back post where captain fantastic did brilliantly well to not only generate power, but also head the ball down and beyond a disappointed keeper. 1-0 to the Arsenal.
The game had finally come to life, and with Dortmund looking a little dejected and tired from their earlier hard work, space was starting to open up for the Arsenal midfield. Song and Ramsey were starting to control the game and it was the later who found Gervinho’s perfectly timed run with a defence splitting pass, and suddenly the Ivorian was clean through on goal. He jinked past the keeper with a fantastic sidestep but should really have been more aware of the defenders getting back, one of which nicked the ball away for a corner just as he was about to pass the ball into the net. Gervinho once again showing little urgency in front of goal, something reminiscent of Kanu and something that will need to change if he is to be an Arsenal great.
More chances followed for the home side with Walcott firing wide and substitute Benayoun just unable to find Walcott at the end of another flowing move. Song was everywhere, Vermaelen was dominant at the back and my new favourite Santos was showing more tricks than David Blain as Arsenal took control. Then, with around 10 minutes left, the brilliant home fans were given a treat as Diaby made his way onto the field for his first appearance of the season. Its great to have him back. Seconds later the Gooners were cheering again as a corner routine reminiscent of Bould and co saw RvP all alone 2 yards out. Game over.
For the last 5 minutes, Djourou replaced Koscielny, and it was his mix up with Song that allowed Dortmund in for a consolation goal, Kagawa tapping in from close range. Szscesny was rightly furious that his clean sheet was taken away at the last, but it meant very little as Arsenal finished the night as group winners.
Overall, Arsenal were excellent. They found it difficult in the first half to find space but that was due to great organisation from Dortmund rather than poor Arsenal play. The second half was a different game and with the tempo of the passing increased, the gunners midfield proved too strong for their German counterparts. A great result against a very capable German outfit.
Oh, and Chelsea lost!
Player ratings:
Szscesny-didn’t have a great deal to do. Made a pretty routine stop at the beginning of the second half and kicking was good throughout 7
Koscielny-saw loads of the ball first half but played a couple of sloppy passes. Looked awkward going forward but solid as always in his defensive work 7
Mertersacker-won a lot of headers, as you would expect, and was his usual calm self. Never looked like making a mistake which is good to see 7
Vermaelen-what else can you say about this fella? Outstanding and commanding. Flicked on for RvP second 8
Santos-he’s dangerous, but my god is he fun! All the tricks you would expect from a Brazilian striker and solid one on one. love him 7.5
Song-outstanding display, espescially second half. His skill for the first goal was class. Would have been full marks had he not gifted Dortmund a consolation goal. MOTM 9
Arteta-along with most of the team he struggled to find space first half, but showed his class and experience in the second. Great corner routine. 7
Ramsey-excellent second half when more space was available. Playing well at the moment and appreciated by his team mates 7.5
Walcott-liveliest player in the first half and caused the Germans problems. solid performance. Great cross in first half 7.5
Gervinho-should have scored when clean through. Goes round people for fun but final ball/finish must improve 7
RvP-2 goals, smart performance rather than outstanding. Linked up well and knows where to be in the box. 8
Subs
Benayoun-worked hard as always but showed a bit more of his attacking ability. Great player to have in the squad 7
Djourou-didn’t have much to do and was sold a bit short by Song for the BD goal. Will get slated for the goal but Song should have got rid 6
Diaby-great to have him back. Could be a top player if can get through a season or two without injury 6
After two weeks of interlull we could once again enjoy proper meaningful football with a trip to the Fine City of Norwich to take on Paul Lambert’s promoted Canaries.
The only selection problem facing Wenger was whether to field Koscielny, Djourou or Yennaris at right back. In fairness it was a no brainier, Koscielny is one of the first names on the team sheet on current form and out of our relative plethora of centre backs probably most adept at playing right back having had experience there in the lower French leagues.
The team started brightly with Walcott using his pace to scare Tierney and Gervinho causing problems on the left. The skipper was showing why he is the most feared attacker in the Premier League right now with movement and sublime touches that the Norwich defence could not cope with.
One of the early chances fell to van Persie, to the shock of Arsenal fans everywhere he failed to convert it. The team was carving out opportunities and controlling possession so easily that it was only a matter of time before the deadlock would be broken.
The best chance of the opening fifteen minutes came as Gervinho found Walcott arriving in the box he cleverly stopped and curled the ball past Ruddy with his left foot, Martin lunged towards the goal and somehow managed to clear the ball over the cross bar to prevent the opener.
It was Norwich however who took the lead against the run of play, Mertesacker came over all charitable (perhaps a Children in Need Hangover and a confusion of Pudsey with a Canary) and became the Big Friendly German, unnecessarily allowing the ball to bounce when playing it early or just clearing the ball into Row Z would have been the better option. Morrison bundled past the German and slotted the ball under the advancing Szczesny.
Szczesny’s look at Per summed up how we were all feeling about him at that moment.
However this is the new Arsenal, goals given away are just another obstacle to overcome, there was no ten minute spell where we felt we could go more goals down, the team instead set about getting the equaliser.
After another period of more spurned chances we equalised, Gervinho advancing down the wing brought the ball inside and fed van Persie he turned and found Walcott, he pushed it past Tierney, sprinted onto it, looked up and drove the ball towards the centre of the goal and Gervinho. The Ivorian managed an air kick back heel when a simple tap in would have sufficed, thankfully Robin couldn’t miss the opportunity to add to the seasons tally and he had ghosted into the box unmarked to tap in from two yards.
The half played out with more opportunities for Arsenal to take the lead but unfortunately they could not make any of them count.
The second half started well with more fine attacking play. Vermaelen breaking forward and managing to deliver a cross which found Gervinho but he could only head weakly at Ruddy. Soon after Gervinho had another chance to break the deadlock, played in by a beautiful reverse pass from van Persie he rounded the keeper but did not have the composure to pass in to the empty net.
It started to feel like we would not find a deadlock, and some legs were looking heavy from International duties. Then Ramsey disposed Martin and was immediately brought down, Song collected the loose ball and drove forward, Gervinho broke left, and Robin broke right, Song took his time and played in van Persie, it looked like he may have forced him to wide on his right foot, Ruddy came to narrow the angle and but Van Persie calmly lifted it over him with the chocolate leg and the ball nestled in the net.
The rest of the ninety played out with little incident, our new found maturity and responsibility meant that our attacks were limited to three or four players rather than five, six and seven of last season, and the defence rarely looked exposed or troubled.
All in all a job well done, three points were much needed to continue the form we have been showing in the last few weeks and to keep the momentum five Premier League wins on the bounce 15 goals for 6 against.
Undoubtedly there will be more people saying we rely on van Persie too heavily and calling us a one man team after another brace to get us over the final hurdle. Well here’s the thing, thats the laziest punditry I currently hear. Robin van Persie is a centre forward, you expect him to score the bulk of the goals. He does not score all goals by picking the ball up on the half way line and running past everyone, he scores goals by finding good positions and being played in by one of his talented teammates, that nearly every chance he has goes in means the team look to find him with the final ball more often.
Ratings:
Szczesny 8 – Goalkeepers union speaking here but i dislike a keeper getting a 7 just because he didn’t have a lot to do, everything that was asked of him he did well, no chance for Norwich goal, if he had saved it he would have got a 9.
Koscielny 7 – Strong defensively and Norwich did not get a look in on our right flank. However judged as a full back he did not get forward enough to support Walcott.
Mertesacker 6.5 – I know most will expect him to get a lower score because of the mistake that led to the goal, but in all honesty it was the only mistake he made al day, unfortunately he was punished for it. Other than that he swept up and closed down well and looked comfortable.
Vermaelen 8 – Won everything in the air, solid in the tackle and offers an alternative when bringing the ball out of the back line.
Santos 7 – This guy is marmite you either love him or hate him, I think I love him, he is an under-rated tackler and does well going forward. Has a tendency to give me kittens every now and again with a relaxed pass, he just plays the game he knows, pass the ball and trust the receiver.
Arteta 7 – Seemed to suffer really from two weeks off, once up to speed set about providing a useful screen to break up attacks and kept the ball moving in the right direction.
Song 7.5 – Comfortably dealt with all Norwich could chuck at him, filled in at centre back when Vermaelen went wandering forward, and good work to seize on the opportunity to set up the winner.
Ramsey 7 – Worked hard to get in good positions, but wasn’t always found by his teammates. Pounced on the poor touch by Martin to allow Song to break forward for the winner.
Gervinho 7.5 – Getting better all the time, movement good, dribbling good, passing good, finishing must do better, but I’m sure it will come with time.
Walcott 8 – Purple patch time for this young man, finding a way to beat his man every time, and using the ball to good effect. Unlucky not to have scored but a fantastic all round performance.
van Persie 8 – Great movement to be on the end of the first, sublime finish for the second. Good link up play and leadership.
“A good ball by Dixon finding Smith – onto Thomas charging through the midfield, Thomas – it’s up for grabs now. Thomas , right at the end. An unbelievable end to the season.” My favourite goal of all time, probably every Arsenal fans favourite goal. There have been plenty more beautiful (TH v MU 2000) but certainly none more dramatic. Those 15 odd seconds have been replayed in my mind thousands of times – times of stress, times of sorrow and times of hardship but when the muck hits the fan and I need a lift, a quick mental reference to Liverpool on the 26th May 1989, and for a few seconds all is well with the world.
Why bring that up here and now? Well, because we are in the midst of a veritable desert of football,…..and because GIE suggested I write about my favourite goals.
2nd. ” It’s all over I think. Some people are on the pitch, they think it’s all over – It is now.” Geoff Hurst 1966. I was in Switzerland at the time on a school holiday. I had attended the Quarter Finals and was in that wonderful stage of childhood when football is everything – before girls came along and ruined changed everything. Our hotel was packed with German kids and I wish I could say we were magnanimous in our victory. Sadly, the worst of our jingoism came to the fore…….. Brilliant. This was THE time to be English – The Beatles, The Stones, Carnaby Street, the Mini (both car and skirt!) WC Winners etc etc. A year later Sargeant Pepper was released which changed my life but nothing came near to the feeling of seeing that rocket shot fly past Tolkowski and seeing The Kaiser’s (Franz Beckenbauer) head drop.
3rd. “Hutchison and now Bould. And it’s Tony Adams put though by Steve Bould. Would you believe it? That sums it all up”. TA Everton 1998. Perhaps my favourite day ever at Highbury. The weather was brilliant, we had a fantastic team, we had won the title, I hadn’t spent too long in the Gunners Pub, I was with all my Arsenal mates – friends with whom I had travelled all over Europe and shared pints, train journeys, thousands of motorway miles, and all the highs and lows of following OUR team. And Tony was not just Our Leader, he was Mr Arsenal; to see him finish the season like that brought me to tears – and I am not exaggerating.
This signed picture stands on my desk as I write
4th. “There’s Pires. He’s picked out Bergkamp, It’s Bergkamp with a chance and he’s taken it. Brilliant goal.” DB10 Newcastle 2002. I could have picked any of DB goals – he scored so many great ones . The hatrick at Leicester in ’97 was awesome, probably the best I have ever seen, but this goal was something spectacular. The vision, the strength to hold off some Orc, the composure of the turn and the finish, all the mark of a genius of a footballer. I recall when we signed Dennis – I was in shock. At the time we had gone through some of the worst football ever seen at Highbury – winning teams but simply dire football (apart from the best defence ever seen). Suddenly DB arrives and heralds a New Dawn. Mr Wenger came soon after and together they created something very special. Thank you Dennis.
I could go on and on. Thierry scored so many fabulous goals but 3 stand out – MU 2000 scored right in front of me at the Clock End, Spurs when he beat the whole team, and that marvel at the Bernabeu; Ray Kennedy at WHL ’71, Charlie George at Wembley, Freddie at Cardiff, Wrighty’s lob and volley versus Everton in front of the North Bank, Smudger in Copenhagen, Liam Brady at WHL, Kanu at the Bridge, Wiltord at OT, RvP v Barca ++++++.
For us supporters, Arsenal news is as vital to our souls as water is to our bodies.
Like a thirsty man crawling through a desert we are on our knees, parched and desperate.
And like that thirsty man we are prone to seeing mirages: images that might be an oasis (or, in our case, a genuine Arsenal news story) but turn out instead to be no more than a trick of the Sun.
Recent mirages have included:
• “Andrei Arshavin has had enough of sitting on the bench and will demand a move if not played more often”. Cue much outrage from Arsenal supporters less than impressed by the size of his arse, sorry, contribution so far this season. But of course this story turned out to be only a partial interpretation of his quotes, which also included the admission that he had been playing below par and could not expect a first team berth unless it was merited.
• “Francis Coquelin has had enough of sitting on the bench etc etc”. Cue yet more outrage from some Arsenal supporters, perplexed as to why a little-known French kid named after a popular shellfish snack should expect to be displacing Alex Song in our first team. A story on Arsenal.com quickly put the record straight, with the Cockle eagerly pointing out that he was happy to fight for a place.
• “Arsenal have been trialling a young American lad called Shrek or something (related to Rooney, perhaps?)”. He plays in the MLS (North America’s equivalent of the EPL, but with a playing level closer to the League of Ireland). He could be the next big thing. Or he could be the next big thing to try and sell more shirts in the US. Anyway, if he wasn’t American he would be just another youngster trying out for the Gunners, which would be exactly 0.00001% of a story.
• “Peter Hill Wood says that Prince Robin van Persie used to be a naughty boy at Feyenoord but isn’t now”. Again, cue the outrage of certain Arsenal supporters: how dare that silly Old Fartonian make a disparaging comment about one of our players. In fact, what right has he to make ANY comment about Arsenal? So what if he’s the third generation of his family to be chairman of the club? So what that he has been a serving army officer and a successful banker. Blithering, know-nothing idiot.
• The usual array of “Arsenal to sign Player X in the January window” stories. I started counting the number of players we were going to sign and lost count at 19. No wonder they have extended the medical centre at London Colney.
But if we ignore the mirage stories (the ones that, when you get up close and have a proper look, shimmer away into nothing), then it’s possible to find the one really uplifting story of this Interlull (by the way, well played Arseblog for inventing a word that had truly entered the language. I have even seen “interlull” used on other teams’ blog sites).
The uplifting story I’m thinking of is that the Dutch national coach, Bert van Marwijk, has agreed that Prince Robin does not need to play in the friendly against Germany this week.
With Robin’s injury history and his current importance to Arsenal in this oh-so important season of transition, it is a wise and reasonable gesture on van Marwijk’s part.
He would have been perfectly within his right to insist on Prince Robin playing against his country’s bitterest rivals, but chose not to.
He’s now my favourite ‘Burt’, overtaking the Burts Bacharach and Reynolds (and don’t go throwing Mr Mee at me – he was always very definitely a BertIE, not a Burt).
Anyway, contrast Bert’s approach to that taken by successive England managers (and by Stuart Pearce at Under 21 level).
As a brief moment of sanity in a sport corrupted by out-of-control egos and pointless willy-waving, that decision makes it the story of the Interlull for me. What’s yours?
Posted by Rasp 
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