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Showing posts with label Premier League. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Premier League. Show all posts
Monday, 26 March 2012
Sunday, 21 August 2011
If we still had Cesc Fabregas we'd be top of the league
I felt sick after we lost to Liverpool yesterday. For seventy minutes it was a very even game, but then Frimpong got sent off and it all went the way of the Comice, Conference, Packham and Williams.
Strangely perhaps, up until that point I was feeling kinda positive. The defensive problems of the past now seem to be just that - the past. We were well on the way to keeping our third consecutive clean sheet (something that was unthinkable only a couple of weeks ago) and the performances of Vermaelen, Koscielny and Miquel (who was preferred to Squillaci) had me convinced that we no longer needed to buy a new centre back.
Meanwhile, Sagna was his usual excellent self and in the absence of Gibbs and Traore (who were both excellent in pre-season by the way) Jenkinson looked like another genius bargain buy by Arsene Wenger. It has been reported by several other sources that Steve Bould has been given more involvement with with first team training with the specific task of sorting out the defence. If that's true, whatever he's done seems to be working.
In front of the back four, Emmanual Frimpong looks like he's finally the answer to our problem of finding a back-up for Alex Song (or perhaps more likely Alex Song will eventually become Frimpong's back-up). The new Patrick Vieira is not a title which flatters him; he really looks that good. And behind them Wojciech Szczesny looks like a future world number one keeper in the making.
But, unusually, it's further forward where we seem to be having problems. In the three matches so far against Newcastle, Udinese and Liverpool we've lacked the creativity and incisive passing that Cesc used to provide and we need to find a replacement ASAP. For seventy minutes against Liverpool, up until the sending off of Emmanual Frimpong, we didn't look like conceding. If we had had a bit more creativity going forward we could have been two goals up by then and Frimpong might never have been put into the position where he had to make that tackle. In fact, if we still had Cesc, I suuggest that we might now be top of the league, with no goals conceded.
There are reports today that Samir Nasri may now stay at Arsenal, though I doubt it that this will be the happen. In any case, although he is a very good player, I don't think he provides the answer to the problem of the Cesc-shaped hole in our team - he just doesn't have the required vision. There were a couple of occasions yesterday going forward when he should have passed to a teammate but chose instead to go alone resulting in a missed opportunity.
We continue to be linked with a steady stream of Fabregas replacements including Marseille's Ghanaian international Andre Ayew (who is reported to have an £11.5 million release clause in his contract), as well as a bizarre loan bid for Lucho Gonzalez and, incredibly, a move for Kaka (who has apparently been told by Real Madrid that he is surplus to requirements).
In the case of the latter, his reported £9 million a year wages would be a huge stumbling block but what a lift his signing would give the club when it's in such need of one - the money we would get from shirt sales would probably pay his wages!
But as Goonerholic puts it so well, at the moment if we didn't have bad luck, we wouldn't have any luck at all. Or as Jonathan Pearce put in on Match of the Day, it never rains but it pours.
After 70 minutes, Frimpong, who was perhaps slightly unlucky to be book early on for disputing a throw-in, went into a tackle with Lucas and, although he stayed on his feet, it was late and high and he had to go. Not long afterwards, with our defensive wall gone, the otherwise excellent Miquel with an offside Suarez in close attendance, made a hurried clearance which hit an unsuspecting Ramsey on the head and looped into the goal over the helpless Szczesny.
There were arguments from the pundits on Match of the Day that the second goal was also offside, but I disagree. Although he was offside in the first phase of play, he was onside when the ball was passed to him to score. How he can be considered to not be gaining an advantage by being in an offside position baffles me, but that's how the rule is currently interpreted, so there we are. Robin van Persie scored in similar circumstances last season, so we can't complaint.
In any event, I believe it's irrelevant. We were only in that position because we were down to ten men, 1-0 down and chasing the game (we only had three defenders back against Liverpool's five attackers), so if the first goal hadn't been allowed the second would never have happened.
Sometimes I wonder what curse has been placed on Arsenal that means they are continually on the receiving end of such continual bad luck. Lucky Arsenal? You're having a laugh!
The number of injuries we get is bad enough. For literally years we've been top or nearly top of the PhysioRom.com Premier League Injury Table) with Laurent Koscielny's injury yesterday adding to our woes.
And following on from the news last year that if all shots which hit the woodwork had gone in Arsenal would have won the league by an incredible 12 points, the Mail Online are today reporting that if all refereeing decisions last season had been correct, we would have finished second to Man Ure.
But instead of cursing their bad luck the players and manager should be thinking that we are about due a bit of luck and get on with it. We can't afford to mope around feeling sorry for ourselves. We need to roll up our sleeves and put our elbows to the grindstone (or whatever). When the going gets tough, the tough get going, as the saying goes.
My worries now are how Arsene Wenger can raise the spirits of the players to get a result against Udinese following such a demoralising home defeat and how we can hope to beat Man Ure with both our defensive midfielders missing through suspension.
If Arsene Wenger can solve those two problems I believe the future looks bright for the Gunners. If not... well, I don't even want to think about that!
Strangely perhaps, up until that point I was feeling kinda positive. The defensive problems of the past now seem to be just that - the past. We were well on the way to keeping our third consecutive clean sheet (something that was unthinkable only a couple of weeks ago) and the performances of Vermaelen, Koscielny and Miquel (who was preferred to Squillaci) had me convinced that we no longer needed to buy a new centre back.
Meanwhile, Sagna was his usual excellent self and in the absence of Gibbs and Traore (who were both excellent in pre-season by the way) Jenkinson looked like another genius bargain buy by Arsene Wenger. It has been reported by several other sources that Steve Bould has been given more involvement with with first team training with the specific task of sorting out the defence. If that's true, whatever he's done seems to be working.
In front of the back four, Emmanual Frimpong looks like he's finally the answer to our problem of finding a back-up for Alex Song (or perhaps more likely Alex Song will eventually become Frimpong's back-up). The new Patrick Vieira is not a title which flatters him; he really looks that good. And behind them Wojciech Szczesny looks like a future world number one keeper in the making.
But, unusually, it's further forward where we seem to be having problems. In the three matches so far against Newcastle, Udinese and Liverpool we've lacked the creativity and incisive passing that Cesc used to provide and we need to find a replacement ASAP. For seventy minutes against Liverpool, up until the sending off of Emmanual Frimpong, we didn't look like conceding. If we had had a bit more creativity going forward we could have been two goals up by then and Frimpong might never have been put into the position where he had to make that tackle. In fact, if we still had Cesc, I suuggest that we might now be top of the league, with no goals conceded.
There are reports today that Samir Nasri may now stay at Arsenal, though I doubt it that this will be the happen. In any case, although he is a very good player, I don't think he provides the answer to the problem of the Cesc-shaped hole in our team - he just doesn't have the required vision. There were a couple of occasions yesterday going forward when he should have passed to a teammate but chose instead to go alone resulting in a missed opportunity.
We continue to be linked with a steady stream of Fabregas replacements including Marseille's Ghanaian international Andre Ayew (who is reported to have an £11.5 million release clause in his contract), as well as a bizarre loan bid for Lucho Gonzalez and, incredibly, a move for Kaka (who has apparently been told by Real Madrid that he is surplus to requirements).
In the case of the latter, his reported £9 million a year wages would be a huge stumbling block but what a lift his signing would give the club when it's in such need of one - the money we would get from shirt sales would probably pay his wages!
But as Goonerholic puts it so well, at the moment if we didn't have bad luck, we wouldn't have any luck at all. Or as Jonathan Pearce put in on Match of the Day, it never rains but it pours.
After 70 minutes, Frimpong, who was perhaps slightly unlucky to be book early on for disputing a throw-in, went into a tackle with Lucas and, although he stayed on his feet, it was late and high and he had to go. Not long afterwards, with our defensive wall gone, the otherwise excellent Miquel with an offside Suarez in close attendance, made a hurried clearance which hit an unsuspecting Ramsey on the head and looped into the goal over the helpless Szczesny.
There were arguments from the pundits on Match of the Day that the second goal was also offside, but I disagree. Although he was offside in the first phase of play, he was onside when the ball was passed to him to score. How he can be considered to not be gaining an advantage by being in an offside position baffles me, but that's how the rule is currently interpreted, so there we are. Robin van Persie scored in similar circumstances last season, so we can't complaint.
In any event, I believe it's irrelevant. We were only in that position because we were down to ten men, 1-0 down and chasing the game (we only had three defenders back against Liverpool's five attackers), so if the first goal hadn't been allowed the second would never have happened.
Sometimes I wonder what curse has been placed on Arsenal that means they are continually on the receiving end of such continual bad luck. Lucky Arsenal? You're having a laugh!
The number of injuries we get is bad enough. For literally years we've been top or nearly top of the PhysioRom.com Premier League Injury Table) with Laurent Koscielny's injury yesterday adding to our woes.
And following on from the news last year that if all shots which hit the woodwork had gone in Arsenal would have won the league by an incredible 12 points, the Mail Online are today reporting that if all refereeing decisions last season had been correct, we would have finished second to Man Ure.
But instead of cursing their bad luck the players and manager should be thinking that we are about due a bit of luck and get on with it. We can't afford to mope around feeling sorry for ourselves. We need to roll up our sleeves and put our elbows to the grindstone (or whatever). When the going gets tough, the tough get going, as the saying goes.
My worries now are how Arsene Wenger can raise the spirits of the players to get a result against Udinese following such a demoralising home defeat and how we can hope to beat Man Ure with both our defensive midfielders missing through suspension.
If Arsene Wenger can solve those two problems I believe the future looks bright for the Gunners. If not... well, I don't even want to think about that!
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Saturday, 11 June 2011
Video: David Dein revelations about Premier League inception
Revelations about finances, putting names on shirts, more than one substitute per game and more - David Dein talking about some of the old-fashion and narrow-minded business thinking he faced before the inception of the Premier League.
Whatever you think of Dein, you I think will find his comments fascinating.
Whatever you think of Dein, you I think will find his comments fascinating.
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Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Arsenal v Aston Villa - belated match review
I felt Arsenal were unlucky not to score more than the one goal yesterday. Villa were poor. If not for the post (again!), a few bizarre refereeing decisions (again!) and a bit of bad luck with the run of the ball, we could have got six or seven.
One goal would have been enough but for some appalling defending by Squillaci in the first twenty minutes, twice allowing Bent to go through unchallenged with only the keeper to beat. He hasn't featured in the first eleven much recently and must have realised that this was his chance to impress, so the fact that he completely failed to turn up is all the more difficult to understand.
Fortunately, Arsene Wenger must have agreed with me because he substituted the French centreback at half-time, bringing on Chamakh, changing to 4-4-2 and dropping Song back into the defence. Although it is not his regular position, Song was great in the second-half and we looked much more balanced as a team.
Unfortunately, the damage had already been done and we were not able to claw back three (or even two) goals. As I said, I thought we were unlucky not to score more. Were were knocking on the door all afternoon. Van Persie added to his goalpost hitting tally (does he aim for the post?), the foul on Ramsey in the box was as clear a penalty as you will see (great pass from Wilshere BTW!), the Chamakh disallowed goal was harsh in the extreme, and the foul given against van Persie when he cleverly turned Dunn on the edge of the box had be scratching my head (strangely, MoTD didn't even show that one).
And Villa were lucky on several occasions not to have a man sent off. What do opposition players have to do to warrant a red card at Ashburton Grove? You can bet that if some of those tackles had happened at Old Trafford they would have resulted in cards (unless they were by ManUre players, of course!)
Hopefully, AW will now have realised that Squillaci is simply not up to the job (am I being too optimistic?) and it is the last we will see of him in an Arsenal shirt. I really think that we need to bring in another centreback in the closed season. Koscielny and Djourou are decent players but we need two solid experienced professionals in this position (a la Ferdinand and Vidic) and these two just don't fit the bill. Song's performance at centreback yesterday compared to those of LK and JD last week against Stoke Rugby Club only served to highlight how true this is, though they will be okay as backups in my opinion.
We have been strongly linked with Gary Cahill today and from what I've seen, he could be just what we need, though I must emphasise that I don't agree with this 'we must buy English' nonsense.
One goal would have been enough but for some appalling defending by Squillaci in the first twenty minutes, twice allowing Bent to go through unchallenged with only the keeper to beat. He hasn't featured in the first eleven much recently and must have realised that this was his chance to impress, so the fact that he completely failed to turn up is all the more difficult to understand.
Fortunately, Arsene Wenger must have agreed with me because he substituted the French centreback at half-time, bringing on Chamakh, changing to 4-4-2 and dropping Song back into the defence. Although it is not his regular position, Song was great in the second-half and we looked much more balanced as a team.
Unfortunately, the damage had already been done and we were not able to claw back three (or even two) goals. As I said, I thought we were unlucky not to score more. Were were knocking on the door all afternoon. Van Persie added to his goalpost hitting tally (does he aim for the post?), the foul on Ramsey in the box was as clear a penalty as you will see (great pass from Wilshere BTW!), the Chamakh disallowed goal was harsh in the extreme, and the foul given against van Persie when he cleverly turned Dunn on the edge of the box had be scratching my head (strangely, MoTD didn't even show that one).
And Villa were lucky on several occasions not to have a man sent off. What do opposition players have to do to warrant a red card at Ashburton Grove? You can bet that if some of those tackles had happened at Old Trafford they would have resulted in cards (unless they were by ManUre players, of course!)
Hopefully, AW will now have realised that Squillaci is simply not up to the job (am I being too optimistic?) and it is the last we will see of him in an Arsenal shirt. I really think that we need to bring in another centreback in the closed season. Koscielny and Djourou are decent players but we need two solid experienced professionals in this position (a la Ferdinand and Vidic) and these two just don't fit the bill. Song's performance at centreback yesterday compared to those of LK and JD last week against Stoke Rugby Club only served to highlight how true this is, though they will be okay as backups in my opinion.
We have been strongly linked with Gary Cahill today and from what I've seen, he could be just what we need, though I must emphasise that I don't agree with this 'we must buy English' nonsense.
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Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Arsenal's biggest problem is their own fans
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| Alex Ferguson - Crap manager (picture courtesy checkmihlyrics) |
Try to imagine how Man Utd fans must be feeling right now?
Having been handed a chance to pull away from Arsenal after their home draw against Liverpool, they threw it away. It's not the first time that it's happened this season either. Despite being given chance after chance by Arsenal to wrap up the league, they've blown it time and time again.
We've seen it against Fulham, Everton, Bolton, Sunderland, Citeh, Villa, Birmingham, Tottenham, Wolves, Liverpool and now (most recently) Newcastle.
The manager is crap and a lot of the players don't deserve to wear the United shirt. Sir Alex Ferguson should be sacked immediately and they should have a good clear out. What has 'Sir' Alex ever done for the club anyway? The man is a clown.
I mean, Spurs for f*** sake, they aren't even a proper team. Not like ManUSA and Liverpool who get all the referees' decisions given in their favour. If you don't even have that, how can you expect to win the league?
They will probably loose to Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal now and be lucky to qualify for the Champions League next season at this rate.
Tomasz Kuszczak and Wes Brown are shite. Obertan and Bebe? A f***ing disgrace. Totally sh**. And what about Owen Hargreaves and Michael Owen - what have they he done recently. They are just a burden on the wage budget. And Darren Gibson is just not good enough for this club in my opinion. They have a decent first-eleven, but just don't have the strength in depth. Don't even get me started on Johnny Evans.
United need to invest heavily in new players in the summer or they'll probably be relegated next season. The squad just isn't strong enough. But the owners are only interested in putting us into huge debt and making a quick buck.
Does any of this sound familiar? It's what I expect a large Arsenal fans would be saying right now if they were ManUre fans. But ManUre fans aren't saying that, of course.
I don't think it is any coincidence that Arsenal have the best away record in the Premier League but such a poor home record. Our home support is shite.
If Liverpool had been away to ManUre last Sunday instead of Arsenal, their fans would have been right behind their team, urging them on and howling at every refereeing decision to put pressure on him. All I could hear at the Emirates were moans and groans. It sounded as if they didn't want their team to win, and they certainly didn't deserve for their team to win. All that nervousness in the crowd passes itself on to the players on the pitch.
As fans, we don't realise how lucky we are. I would love to be able to go to Ashburton Grove every home match and cheer on my team but I can't. Those who can should be more grateful and really get behind their team.
So come on Gooners, give the team your backing and we can win this league!
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Monday, 14 March 2011
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Arsenal v Sunderland - probable line-up and match preview
Fixtures are coming thick and fast at the moment. I worked out that if we play all the possible fixtures we could possibly playbetween now and the end of the season (including a replay against ManUre in the FA Cup and getting to the FA Cup and Champions League finals) we would be playing twice a week every week for the whole of the rest of the season without break.
Despite the upcoming match against Barcelona on Tuesday however, I expect Arsene Wenger to name a strong team against Sunderland. Song, Fabregas, Walcott and van Persie are all out as well as long-term absentees Fabianski and Vermaelen. I'm a lot less worried about Song being out if Diaby is playing in his place than if Denilson is in the team, so hopefully that will be the case today.
Arsene Wenger's most difficult selection decision will be whether to play Nasri on the right and Rosicky in the Fabregas role or play Rosicky in the Fab role and Nasri on the right. I think he will go with the former, but it's a close call. I changed ny mind several times while writing this article. Anyway, we shall see. The good news though is that (like Arshavin) Rosicky, Bendtner and Chamakh seem to be coming back to form as the season reaches the critical squeeky-bum time. Hell, even the Spanish waiter had a good game on Wednesday.
The other good news is that Aaron Ramsey is in the Arsenal squad for the first time since he had his leg broken by Shawcross over a year ago. He is sure to get a great reception if he comes on.
I'm quietly confident ahead of the match. I don't think it will be easy, but if we can't beat Sunderland on our own ground then we don't deserve to win the league. Then again, the same could be said of West Brom.
You're probably sick of hearing it by now, but if we win we will go within a point of ManUre after their defeat at Chelsea (ha, ha). Come on Arsenal!
Incidentally, the tactics board above is a photo of Arsene Wenger's actual tactics board in the home dressing room from when I went on the stadium tour a couple of years ago. I can thoroughly recommend it if you haven't been on it yet.
Probable Arsenal line-up:
Szczesny
Sagna Djourou Koscielny Clichy
Diaby Wilshere
Bendtner Nasri Arshavin
Chamakh
Subs: Almunia, Squillaci, Eboue, Gibbs, Denilson, Ramsey, Rosicky
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Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Arsenal v Stoke preview and a monumental c***-up
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| Picture courtesy Ronnie MacDonald |
It goes without saying that tonight's match against Stoke is crucial. Pretty much all our matches are crucial at the moment but ManUre have some very difficult fixtures coming up (including away matches at Chelsea and Liverpool) and we have a very good chance of at least closing the gap on them. The result should be a foregone conclusion but we all know how Arsenal have a knack of making it hard for themselves.
With that in mind, I expect Arsene Wenger to pick a pretty strong line-up despite the upcoming Carling Cup final at the weekend. Unfortunately Robin van Persie and Laurent Koscielny have picked up slight knocks but apart from that (and long-term absentee Vermaelen) I expect Arsene Wenger to pick his strongest team. However, it is also possible that he might rest one or two with Arshavin, Denilson, Gibbs and Eboue being strong contenders to start.
The much maligned Sebastien Squillaci will come in at the back and Chamakh will probably get the nod over Bendtner in place of RvP.
Tonight will be a good test for Chesney as we know that Stoke like to hoof high balls into the box.
Arsenal probable starting line-up
Szczesny
Sagna, Squillaci, Djourou, Clichy
Song, Wilshire
Walcott, Fabregas, Nasri
Chamakh
Subs: Almunia, Eboue, Gibbs, Denilson, Rosicky, Arshavin, Bendtner
Fixtures correction
It seems that I may have made a bit of a cock up. It was bound to happen. In my last post a couple of days ago, I suggested (in a desperate attempt to find a silver lining in the fixtures cloud) that a draw against Leyton Orient was a good result because it would mean we would now have to replay Orient on Sat 12 March (the weekend after the second leg of the Barca match) instead of ManUre and we could therefore play our 'B' team instead of the first team.However, I was making quite a big (and incorrect) assumption and the match with Orient has been scheduled for Wednesday 2 March, meaning that we will still play ManUre on Sat 12 March. D'oh!
To be fair to the FA and Premier League they are now running out of free dates to schedule our fixtures - it seems they had not envisaged that any team could still be in all four competitions at this stage (which I'm taking as a compliment).
This all means that our next few fixtures are as follows:
Wed 23 February: Stoke City (H) [Barclays Premier League]
Sun 27 February: Birmingham City (N) [Carling Cup]
Wed 2 March: Leyton Orient (H) [FA Cup]
Sat 5 March: Sunderland (A) [Barclays Premier League]
Tue 8 March: Barcelona (A) [UEFA Champions League]
Sat 12 March: Man Utd (A) [FA Cup]
However, In a final desperate attempt to find a silver lining in the fixtures, I should point out that ManUre play Chelsea and Liverpool (both away) in the week leading up to the match against us and a potentially difficult Champions League match against Marseilles immediately after playing us. So it's not all bad.
Fingers crossed for tonight!
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Saturday, 12 February 2011
Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers - expected lineups
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| Picture courtesy Tambako the Jaguar |
I'm hoping that things might get back to normal this weekend with a comfortable win at home to Wolves on Saturday.
After last weeks incredible match against Newcastle we had a brief diversion provided by the interlull where both Wilshere and Walcott performed well and incredibly it seems that all our players came back in one piece, bar Rosicky who picked up a knock.
Other than long-term absentees such as Nasri and Vermaelen, the only other slight concerns we have are van Persie, Djourou and Song. Van Persie should be back after missing international duty due to illness. Both Djourou and Song face fitness tests but Arsene Wenger is hopeful they will be available. Denilson is also back after missing the match against Newcastle, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief there.
The big unknown is whether Arsene intends to rest any players ahead of the match against Barcelona, but he has emphasised in the importance of this game in his press conference, so we can expect a strong line up, but one or two may be rested.
Wolves are expected to be unchanged from the team that beat ManUre (ha, ha!) last week at Molyneaux but Stephen Hunt may return to the squad on the bench. (as an aside, I couldn't remember Hunt's first name so I just Google 'wolves hunt' - needless to say, I didn't get what I was expecting!)
This is a must win match. The Wolves are at the door.
Predicted team lineups
Arsenal
SzczesnySagna Djourou Koscielny Clichy
Song Wilshere
Walcott Fabregas Arshavin
van Persie
Subs: Almunia, Eboue, Gibbs, Squillaci, Denilson, Bendtner, Chamakh
Wolves
Hennessey, Stearman, Zubar, Elokobi, Berra, Henry, Jarvis, O'Hara, Milijas, Hammill, Doyle
Subs: Ward, Hahnemann, Ebanks-Blake, Craddock, Edwards, Foley, Fletcher
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Monday, 7 February 2011
Newcastle United v Arsenal - match highlights video
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Newcastle v Arsenal - crazy, crazy match!
Can you get post-traumaitc stress after watching a football match?
With Arsenal 4-0 up at half-time, Newcastle's 12 v 10 were awesome in the second half and pulled it back to 4-4 at full-time. Luckily, top of the table ManUre's 2-1 defeat to bottom of the table Wolves put things into perspective and we've now closed the gap on them to four points. And I have to add that I'm relieved that ManIOU have blown the chance to equal the invincible season. And in style! I think it just goes to proves what an incredible achievement that was.
I think it's fair to say that Cesc Fabregas has upset the referee's union. The first penalty was at best soft, the second was a joke, and the 'foul' by Rosicky that lead to the freekick that in turn lead to the equaliser, equally inept. And Kevin Nolan should have been sent off for grabbing Szczesny round the neck, which was every bit as bad as what Diaby did.
Whether Joey Barton's tackle on Diaby was a foul and worthy of a red card is a matter of interpretation - Was it recklessly and dangerously agressive? Only the referee can make that call. But Diaby definitely shouldn't have reacted the way he did. It was interesting to note that on Match of the Day Arsene Wenger had returned to his 'I didn't see the incident' response of previous seasons.
Personally, I'm not too worried about this result. It was just one of those crazy matches that happen from time to time and Merchandise United lost so we gained a point on them. But with Diaby suspended for three matches, Denilson injured, Vermaelen still not back and Squillaci and Koscielny unable to combine as a pair, I'm worried about the fitness of Djourou and Song. We have a big squad but we are rapidly running out of players.
After yesterday, I'm reluctant to make any predictions about who will win the league. Who would bet on the result of a Premier League football match at the moment?
Everyone has been concerned about whether we can catch ManUre but they have some very difficult matches to play, three of which are against Man Citeh and Chelski, and could easily drop plenty of points before the season is up. And we don't know how they will react to the defeat against Wolves. However, ManUre's loss could be Man City and Chelsea's gain if they take three and six points off them respectively, and could put them in good positions to challenge for the league title.
Oh yeah, one final thing, who's Andy Carroll?
With Arsenal 4-0 up at half-time, Newcastle's 12 v 10 were awesome in the second half and pulled it back to 4-4 at full-time. Luckily, top of the table ManUre's 2-1 defeat to bottom of the table Wolves put things into perspective and we've now closed the gap on them to four points. And I have to add that I'm relieved that ManIOU have blown the chance to equal the invincible season. And in style! I think it just goes to proves what an incredible achievement that was.
I think it's fair to say that Cesc Fabregas has upset the referee's union. The first penalty was at best soft, the second was a joke, and the 'foul' by Rosicky that lead to the freekick that in turn lead to the equaliser, equally inept. And Kevin Nolan should have been sent off for grabbing Szczesny round the neck, which was every bit as bad as what Diaby did.
Whether Joey Barton's tackle on Diaby was a foul and worthy of a red card is a matter of interpretation - Was it recklessly and dangerously agressive? Only the referee can make that call. But Diaby definitely shouldn't have reacted the way he did. It was interesting to note that on Match of the Day Arsene Wenger had returned to his 'I didn't see the incident' response of previous seasons.
Personally, I'm not too worried about this result. It was just one of those crazy matches that happen from time to time and Merchandise United lost so we gained a point on them. But with Diaby suspended for three matches, Denilson injured, Vermaelen still not back and Squillaci and Koscielny unable to combine as a pair, I'm worried about the fitness of Djourou and Song. We have a big squad but we are rapidly running out of players.
After yesterday, I'm reluctant to make any predictions about who will win the league. Who would bet on the result of a Premier League football match at the moment?
Everyone has been concerned about whether we can catch ManUre but they have some very difficult matches to play, three of which are against Man Citeh and Chelski, and could easily drop plenty of points before the season is up. And we don't know how they will react to the defeat against Wolves. However, ManUre's loss could be Man City and Chelsea's gain if they take three and six points off them respectively, and could put them in good positions to challenge for the league title.
Oh yeah, one final thing, who's Andy Carroll?
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Saturday, 5 February 2011
Newcastle United v Arsenal - confirmed team lineup
With five whole days to rest since the match against Everton, its a pretty strong lineup today against Newcastle.
Song and Denilson are both injured so Diaby comes into the midfield. Walcott has recovered from a knock in midweek and will play but Nasri is still out so Arshavin, who seems to be coming back to form, will play on the left.
Lucasz Fabianski is due to have an operation so Szczesny will continue in goal. Chesney looks like he's first choice now in any case. Almunia is fit again and will be on the bench.
Vermaelen is still two to three weeks from being ready and will probably need easing in when he gets back, so the excellent Djourou and Koscielny continue at the back.
The rest of the team is as you would expect:
Szczesny
Sagna Djourou Koscielny Clichy
Diaby Wilshere
Walcott Fabregas Arshavin
van Persie
Subs: Almunia, Squillaci, Eboue, Gibbs, Rosicky, Chamakh, Bendtner
Song and Denilson are both injured so Diaby comes into the midfield. Walcott has recovered from a knock in midweek and will play but Nasri is still out so Arshavin, who seems to be coming back to form, will play on the left.
Lucasz Fabianski is due to have an operation so Szczesny will continue in goal. Chesney looks like he's first choice now in any case. Almunia is fit again and will be on the bench.
Vermaelen is still two to three weeks from being ready and will probably need easing in when he gets back, so the excellent Djourou and Koscielny continue at the back.
The rest of the team is as you would expect:
Szczesny
Sagna Djourou Koscielny Clichy
Diaby Wilshere
Walcott Fabregas Arshavin
van Persie
Subs: Almunia, Squillaci, Eboue, Gibbs, Rosicky, Chamakh, Bendtner
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Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Arsenal v Everton - match highlights video
Monday, 13 December 2010
Manchester United v Arsenal match preview - Fab two face fitness tests
Tonight's match against ManUre isn't a title decider but it will give us a huge psychological boost if we can win it.
Interesting team news - the Fab two, Cesc Fabregas and Lukasz Fabianski, face late fitness tests. I suspect that Fabregas will be on the bench and Fabianski will be fit enough to play. If Fabianski doesn't make it, we face the possibility of Wojciech Szczesny making his debut. I've been hoping that he would get his chance for some time, but I'm sure this would be the best match for it to happen. Better that than Almunia though.
Elsewhere, the usual suspects Diaby and Djourou are unlikely to be fit, so it will be Koscielny at centreback and either Wilshere or Denilson in midfield. Van Persie or Rosicky will most likely play in Cesc's position if he isn't fit.
As usual, several of the ManUre players have come out with what are obviously pre-planned comments to put out whatever message Alex Ferguson wishes to get across to the Arsenal players, his own players or the referee.
Darren Fletcher tried to influence the ref by insisting that he is not a dirty player. Definitely, not in any way whatsoever, honest governer:
Meanwhile, Patrice Evra has said that Arsenal are just a feeder club and will never win anything. His comments seem either designed to play on the Arsenal players' insecurities or to wind them up. On this occasion I'm not sure it will work. Arsenal seem to have developed a bit of a mental block when it comes to playing the top teams and I believe this the main obsticle to us us from winning the league this season. However, I think we just need is a that bit luck in those games to give us more belief. Once we've beaten ManUre and Chel$ki that should give us the confidence.
If Evra had said this twelve months ago, I think a lot of Arsenal players would have thought to themselves: "yes, he's right, we do lack physical presence and a killer instinct", but I believe most people within the club now realise that this is no longer as true as it was and Arsene Wenger should use the comments to motivate his team.
We had a good result a few weeks ago against Man Citeh, but against Chel$ki it was the same old story - outplaying them but ending up losing because we weren't clinical enough in their area or solid enough in our own. If we'd had more confidence, we might have taken some of the chances that came our way or been more assured at the back.
Probable Arsenal line-up:
Fabianski
Sagna Squillaci Koscielny Clichy
Song Wilshere
Nasri van Persie Arshavin
Chamakh
Subs: Szczesny, Djourou, Eboue, Fabregas, Rosicky, Walcott, Bendtner
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| Picture courtesy gordonflood.com |
Interesting team news - the Fab two, Cesc Fabregas and Lukasz Fabianski, face late fitness tests. I suspect that Fabregas will be on the bench and Fabianski will be fit enough to play. If Fabianski doesn't make it, we face the possibility of Wojciech Szczesny making his debut. I've been hoping that he would get his chance for some time, but I'm sure this would be the best match for it to happen. Better that than Almunia though.
Elsewhere, the usual suspects Diaby and Djourou are unlikely to be fit, so it will be Koscielny at centreback and either Wilshere or Denilson in midfield. Van Persie or Rosicky will most likely play in Cesc's position if he isn't fit.
As usual, several of the ManUre players have come out with what are obviously pre-planned comments to put out whatever message Alex Ferguson wishes to get across to the Arsenal players, his own players or the referee.
Darren Fletcher tried to influence the ref by insisting that he is not a dirty player. Definitely, not in any way whatsoever, honest governer:
"I don't think I'm a dirty player, I know I'm not a dirty player. I go to win the ball and sometimes you give away fouls doing that, but it's not malicious. It's all part of the British game. The referees here use a lot of common sense and they know when players are generally trying to win the ball and those going out to hurt people."Thing is, no-one is suggesting that Fletcher deliberately set out to injure Arsenal players in the match against them at the Theatre of Wet Dreams last season - just that he cynically set out to distrupt Arsenal's rhythm by constantly fouling them and didn't get punished by the referee. Note the reference to "it's all part of the British game'' as well. Just another way of saying "They don't like it up 'em" or "we need to get amongst them", and almost as cynical as his tackling.
Meanwhile, Patrice Evra has said that Arsenal are just a feeder club and will never win anything. His comments seem either designed to play on the Arsenal players' insecurities or to wind them up. On this occasion I'm not sure it will work. Arsenal seem to have developed a bit of a mental block when it comes to playing the top teams and I believe this the main obsticle to us us from winning the league this season. However, I think we just need is a that bit luck in those games to give us more belief. Once we've beaten ManUre and Chel$ki that should give us the confidence.
If Evra had said this twelve months ago, I think a lot of Arsenal players would have thought to themselves: "yes, he's right, we do lack physical presence and a killer instinct", but I believe most people within the club now realise that this is no longer as true as it was and Arsene Wenger should use the comments to motivate his team.
We had a good result a few weeks ago against Man Citeh, but against Chel$ki it was the same old story - outplaying them but ending up losing because we weren't clinical enough in their area or solid enough in our own. If we'd had more confidence, we might have taken some of the chances that came our way or been more assured at the back.
Probable Arsenal line-up:
Fabianski
Sagna Squillaci Koscielny Clichy
Song Wilshere
Nasri van Persie Arshavin
Chamakh
Subs: Szczesny, Djourou, Eboue, Fabregas, Rosicky, Walcott, Bendtner
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Saturday, 13 November 2010
Match of the Day - complain about bias
I have made a complaint to the BBC about the bias shown on Match of the Day against Arsenal in the match against Wolves. Here is the content of my message:
'I would like to complain about the bias shown on Match of the Day by extensively reporting on the foul by Cesc Fabregas in the match between Wolves and Arsenal, but the failing to mention or include in the highlights an equally bad tackle by Karl Henry on Andre Arshavin in the same match (http://ow.ly/39d2h).
I would like the BBC to address this issue with an apology on Match of the Day, which should include showing the clip in question.
Many thanks for your consideration
Mark Wellington'If you also wish to make a complaint, you can do so here on the BBC website.
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Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Arsenal v West Ham - it's all about the formation and the fight
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| Picture courtesy Arsenal Arsenal |
Last season (especially at the start) we played mostly 4-1-2-3 with Alex Song acting as an anchorman behind two more attacking central midfielders. This season it has been 4-2-3-1, with two defensive midfielders who are given a little bit more freedom to go forward behind a single attacking central midfielders in the form of Fabregas. The new tactics are not too dissimilar to the 4-4-2 formation that Arsene Wenger has employed in the past (think Petit, Vieira and Bergkamp instead of Wilshere, Song and Fabregas).
One of the consequences of this is that Alex Song more often finds himself in attacking positions and this is something that he has had trouble adapting to, putting in several below-par performances so far this season as he has had trouble knowing what positions to take up and difficulty getting back into defensive positions in time when we lose the ball.
To some extent, I think this is still true in that Song has not yet reached the level of performances for us this season that he did last. However, he is a very intelligent player and I can see signs that he is starting to get to grips with his new role a little better. And what better evidence of this than his goal against West Ham, which was in fact the third consecutive match in which he has scored.
Many Arsenal fans have criticised Saturday's performance against West Ham saying that we underestimate the so called smaller teams and looked under-par; others meanwhile, say that it was just the kind of good, solid, gritty performance, against a team that came to park the bus, of which champions are made.
I'm more of a glass-half-full type, so I tend to lean more towards the latter. We can't expect all of the players to perform at the top of their game all the time, and by the law of averages there are going to be some matches when several players don't perform at their best for whatever reason. What is important is that we still win these matches, which in this case we did.
On Saturday, Fabregas, Chamakh Arshavin and Denilson were all a bit off the pace but the team fought hard to make sure we got the result.
We all know how key Fabregas is to the team's style of play. Unfortunately, picked up a knock quite early on and wasn't playing as freely as he normally does. In any case, he has only just come back from an injury and isn't properly back into the swing of things yet. I very much hope (to say the least) that Fabregas isn't going to be another van Persie who is injured more than he plays. Arsene Wenger will probably rest him for the Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday.
Chamakh looked a bit tired to me. He has started all but one league match and all but two matches in all competitions so far and came on as sub in the two matches he didn't start. In addition, matches against teams who park the bus are always going to be more suitable for scoring goals and creating chances from midfield or the back four because the striker doesn't have much space. The striker's main role in matches such as this is to tie up the several players who are marking him to create space for others, which he did well.
Arshavin has admitted that he is off-form and so we need say no more. Some people have argued that Tomas Rosicky should come in to replace him. Arsene Wenger has quite rightly pointed out that although Arshavin isn't playing well, he is still producing the goods in terms of goals an assists. Rosicky, for me, is a little bit the opposite at the moment - he is playing some pretty football, but there is no end result in terms of goals or assists. I know it has been a long while since he was injured but I think he still needs more playing time to get back to his best. We have only seen a few flashes of the old Tomas though already this season, but I believe there is more to come. I think anyway that Arshavin needs to play his way back to form and whilst the team is still winning we can afford to let him do that to some extent.
Denilson, though he has improved this season, is still for me a young player who is inconsistent and is prone to the odd poor performance. But will he now get enough chances to improve with Song, Diaby, Ramsey and Wilshere for competition?
Player ratings v West Ham
Fabianski (7) - Another solid performance.
Sagna (7) - His usual solid but unspectacular self.
Squillaci (7) - Starting to look like an Arsenal player.
Koscielny (8) - Justified his inclusion ahead of Djourou.
Clichy (7) - Occasionally out of position but did superbly set up the crucial winning goal.
Song (8) - Starting to settle in his new role and scored the winner.
Denilson (6) - Had one of his occasional off days.
Nasri (8) - Looked our most potent attacking threat for much of the match. Unlucky with a great freekick from about 80 yards that hit the bar.
Fabregas (7) - Playing with an injury and couldn't be at his best but got better as the match went on.
Arshavin (6) - Started brightly but soon faded. Will get back to form soon.
Chamakh (5) - Was always surrounded by three or four West Ham players and couldn't really get into the game
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Sunday, 3 October 2010
Chelsea v Arsenal - match preview
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| Didier Drogba - the man Arsenal must stop |
Certainly we need Fabianski to be confident. Chelsea have won the last four meetings between the clubs and haven't lost in the last seventeen matches against Arsenal in all competitions.
To make matters worse, we go into today's match in pretty average form and with Fabregas, Vermaelen, van Persie, Walcott and probably Diaby (to name but a few) unavailable. That means that the team virtually picks itself unless Arsene Wenger throws us a curve ball by leaving out Arshavin or something. The only question mark is which of our attacking midfielders starts in Fabregas' position, and I think that Nasri will get the nod. Rosicky will be on the right and Arshavin on the left.
Likely Arsenal line-up
Fabianski
Sagna, Squillaci, Koscielny, Clichy
Song, Wilshere
Rosicky, Nasri, Arshavin
Chamakh
Subs: Szczesny, Djourou, Eboue,Denilson, Diaby, Vela, Lansbury or Emmaunuel-Thomas
I've had a couple of little bets on Arsenal to win (4-1) and Nasri to be the first goalscorer (12-1). I'm not saying I'm confident of either happening, but the odds seem very generous on both, so I thought it was worth a pot..
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Monday, 20 September 2010
Sunderland v Arsenal - Sam Allardyce influences the media
I was gutted after Sunderland's last-gasp goal at the Stadium of Light. Conceding a goal in the last minute gives you no time to get another goal and feels like a kick in the stomach.
The fact that the Sunderland goal came from a mistake by Clichy and that we missed a penalty and several other good chances only served to make the feeling worse.
But I think there are a lot of positives to be taken from this match and I don't think we should be too downhearted. Overall, I thought we did pretty well against a Sunderland team that is very difficult to beat at home and without Cesc and Song for most of the match, having already been without van Persie, Walcott, Vermaelen and Diaby from the off. Would ManUre or Chelski have done any better with the equivalent players from their line-ups missing?
If Sam Allardyce wants any proof that what managers say before a game can influence referees then he only has to look at himself. Last week he was moaning about Arsene Wenger complaining about 'hard but fair' tackles on his players and as if by magic his Blackburn team got away with constant fouling of the Fulham keeper this weekend (one foul in particular resulting in a Blackburn goal which was allowed to stand), while Arsenal get a player sent off really cheaply and Sunderland were allowed to get away with several very cynical tackles without even picking up a booking.
Urgh... it makes me mad. And don't even get me started on the fact that that wasn't even what Le Boss said.
Anyway, despite the disappointment, we may look upon this as a good point come May.
The fact that the Sunderland goal came from a mistake by Clichy and that we missed a penalty and several other good chances only served to make the feeling worse.
But I think there are a lot of positives to be taken from this match and I don't think we should be too downhearted. Overall, I thought we did pretty well against a Sunderland team that is very difficult to beat at home and without Cesc and Song for most of the match, having already been without van Persie, Walcott, Vermaelen and Diaby from the off. Would ManUre or Chelski have done any better with the equivalent players from their line-ups missing?
If Sam Allardyce wants any proof that what managers say before a game can influence referees then he only has to look at himself. Last week he was moaning about Arsene Wenger complaining about 'hard but fair' tackles on his players and as if by magic his Blackburn team got away with constant fouling of the Fulham keeper this weekend (one foul in particular resulting in a Blackburn goal which was allowed to stand), while Arsenal get a player sent off really cheaply and Sunderland were allowed to get away with several very cynical tackles without even picking up a booking.
Urgh... it makes me mad. And don't even get me started on the fact that that wasn't even what Le Boss said.
Anyway, despite the disappointment, we may look upon this as a good point come May.
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Thursday, 26 August 2010
Saturday, 21 August 2010
Arsenal v Blackpool match preview
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| Blackpool Tower (picture courtesy friskierisky) |
Song will come straight back in at centreback but Fabregas, van Persie and Djourou are on the bench. That means that Wilshere will get another run out, which I'm pleased about.
As I said last week, I think Arsene Wenger will sign a goalkeeper and another centreback before the transfer deadline and it now looks like the centreback could be Squillaci, who was left out of Savilla's Champion's League squad and looks to be on his way. As usual, Wenger is being very circumspect in an effort to keep the price down, saying simply:
"He is one of the players that we are looking at".I expected him to say something like that but I think he will be an Arsenal player pretty soonish . I get a little bit frustrated with all these so called Arsenal fans on the interweb-thingy who say that Wenger is lying about signing players. I say "good". I like Wenger's poker facedness in transfer dealings. Would you prefer him to say "I intend to sign Schwarzer and Squillaci and I'm willing to pay whatever it takes"? Fulham and Savilla would immediately up there asking prices, the chances of us signing the players wouldn't have improved any, and Almunia's and Fabianski's already low confidence would be knocked even further.
What's positive is that even without the additional centreback and goalkeeper that we all agree we need, we still have lots of options. Gibbs or Eboue could come in at fullback without weakening the team any; van Persie could play on the right, left or upfront; Song could come back to replace Wilshere; Vela could come in if we decide to give Arshavin a rest.
Given that we've got Denilson [slightly embarrassed cough], Bendtner, Nasri, Frimpong and Ramsey still to come back from injury, and should be making two more signings in the next week or so, I believe things are looking good.
I'm hoping for at least 3-0 today but Blackpool will be full of confidence after winning 4-0 away to Wigan last week and it won't be easy.
Full line-up vs Blackpool:
Almunia
Sagna, Song, Vermaelen, Clichy
Rosicky, Diaby, Wilshere
Walcott, Chamakh, Arshavin
Subs:
Fabianski, Djourou, Gibbs, Eboue, Fabregas, Vela, van Persie
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