vs Everton at the Grove.
Well what a scare we had for a little while at the weekend. Everton started strongly and our mix and match defence was more like pick and mix not knowing whether to go for the scoop or stay in the plastic container. Injuries from the frustrating international break took there toll and we found ourselves with no Gallas and no Sagna. How we managed to win without the best Right Back in the world i'll never know. A major loss and we need to hope he is back as soon as possible...So anyway, rather than the obvious choice of Eboue at right back and Toure in the middle with Silvestre/Song...Wenger thought it would be funny (thats right thats why he did it) to play Song at right back as he has never played there before and Eboue Right mid to rest Theo. Even if he wanted to start Eboue Right mid the way to do it would have been to play Toure right back as he has played there before and put Song in the middle. I guess he wanted at least one of his established centre backs in the middle and just tried to fit in the rest around him. Anyway...for the first 20 minutes or so at least it just didnt work. They looked lost and unfamiliar. Denilson got caught out for the goal and should have been chasing back even after Osman had laid the ball out wide as he let him go and Osman received the ball back and slotted past Almunia after 9 minutes for 0-1. From then until half time there was a chance for Van Persie after a sumptious ball over the top found RVP who had timed his run to perfection and brought the ball down with great control only to have his shot blocked by the onrushing Howard. Denilson then unfortunately got punished again for not chasing back as Osman again found himself free and Silvestre managed to get a foot in to deflect the ball wide. The only remaining moment of the half that made a difference was Toure picking up a shoulder injury. This forced Wenger into a change at half time and he got it spot on. Walcott was introduced and the formation started to look like it should have done from the start with Song at centre half and Eboue at right back. We immediately looked brighter and it didnt take too long for us to win a corner which fell on the edge of the area to Silvestre who touched it backwards and then ran for cover ducking the bullet that left Nasri's right boot heading right in the corner of Tim Howards goal. We took control from that moment onwards and looked back to our flowing best as we passed and moved our way around the Everton players keeping posession for long spells and doing well to create chances. On 70 minutes Adebayor wriggled free on the left side of the box and instead of firing across goal he turned back onto his right foot. Two defenders closed him down and so he was forced to roll the ball into the path of the incoming Fabregas who shot goalwards at Howard who palmed the ball up and Van Persie found himself in the right place to react quickest and steer a header into the far corner. As full time approached and we continued to control play, Walcott played through Diaby on the right hand side of the are and as Diaby made for the goal line, Theo moved towards the goal and screamed for the return. Diaby obliged and pulled the ball back for Theo to fire hard and low through Howards legs at the front post. 3-1. A great second half performance but the defence looked far too shakey and improvements are needed. Better attacking teams would have made us pay for it and we need to work harder tracking runners from midfield and gettin the defensive postitioning right. A good win eventually though and hopeful results are back on track...
Until Fenerbahce....D3...
Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the lack of blogging activity these past few days. Basically, there's been nothing to talk about, I no longer have the internet at home, TP has moved to Uni and has no internet, and D3 has been off work.
But now were back, and back in style!
So the international lull is over, and in typical press fashion - England are now the best team to ever grace the planet! At the end of the day, Croatia aside, we've had no real competition, and when we did play the Croats, normally a decent team, they were terribly under-par! Walcott featured in both games, and has received some bad press, but personally I think the team needs to adjust to his style of play. And by this I mean "England need to start playing good football" Theo thrives on the flowing passing of Arsenal football, and the vision of midfield meastro Fabby! He's not used to shabby lobbed forward balls by orange Wes Brown.
Wes Brown, now theres a BIG problem with England. He is a regular starting 11 player, and we are never going to beat the likes of Spain and Brazil, whilst a player of his ability (he's not the only one) is dragging the standard down.
Back to Arsenal news, Fabregas has broken his nose, but it doesn't seem to be that serious seeing as though he played the whole Spain game anyway. We need this kid more than ever right now, he is not a player we can do without.
The under-18's remain top of the league after a draw against Fulham, as Steve Bould's youngsters continue to impress! I know this happened on Saturday but I'm literally scratching for news.
RVP seems to have miraculously recovered (legend) and should be fit for the weekend. Hopefully fit enough to start with Carlos Vela.... there's no harm in trying! I would love so much to see Ade on the bench, if not only to wipe his smuggy little smile of his face. I have been doing some experimental work lately, ie. changing my FIFA09 team around to suit how I want it, and il tell you, it works a treat! I even managed to beat Tottenscum 6-0. The team was as follows, Manuel, Bacary, Johan, Kolo, Gael, Theodore, Francesc, Aaron, Samir, Robin and Carlos!!! What a team.
Anyway, Ive rambled on enough for today, glad to be back.....DR!
Welcome to the International Dull, where nothing is happening and so writers world wide feel the need to make a story out of nothing. Being an International writer to the millions myself, I feel the need to maintain this lengthy tradition.
Apparently, and I losely quote "Ramsey is better than Fabregas was at 17". There are a couple of problems with this insightful comment by Wales U-21 manager Brian Flynn. Firstly, he's Wales U-21 manager and therfore it is in his interest to get media interest in his young players. Secondly He's not! Fabregas is a different class, at 17 he was already looking like our best player (behind Thierry, until he became shit and started side-footing everything and fell in love with Adebayor), and was inspirational whenever he featured. I can only wish that Ramsey does turn out to be half the player Cesc is, but if we hold on to him for that long with Eboue constantly starting in his place then I will be gobsmacked!
RVP..... pause for a second......you guessed it, is injured again. This however looks like a positive for Arsenal, he "may" feature in Wednesdays game for Holland, and the way i see it, this just gives him one less game, possibly two less games to get injured in. With any luck, he'll miss both internationals and return to the Grove fit and healthy. Likely story!
To finish today, we have a sensational revelation. Ok so it's not a revelation, we all knew it, but it does seem to be a dramatic turn-around for the ever positive Captain. Personally I don't think he's up to the task, I was never too fond of an Ex-Chelski player coming in to run our team. He seems to have a bit too much passion!?! Is it all real? Anyway, with this coming from Willy himself, maybe Wenger will actually listen, play Johan Djourou and start conceeding less goals. Make Cesc captain, he must be loved by every player at the club, he must be loved by all the staff, he's certainly loved by all the supporters, reward him for his years of faith, and let him roam free and bring home some bright, shiny silverware!
Bored of all this International talk, and definately not excited by the prospect of Kazak....DR!
I just can't work it out. JP has argued against me for years when I say that your mental presence in the game makes up a huge percentage of your overall game. I think this could be one of our huge problems. Why do we have to go a goal down before we start to really turn on the burners and push for a goal? Is there some kind of attitude within the team which says that it is too easy to just win a game outright?
It happens a lot, and this attitude can surely only be down to A.WENG? He played a very defensive team on Saturday, against Sunderland! Are we really meant to sit there and grin happily as we play out for, and ultimately scrape a draw? As far as I'm concerned, and I'm very concerned at the moment, you should NEVER play for the draw. Not as Arsenal FC. We're Title contenders, League Cup contenders, F.A. Cup contenders, Champions League contenders, we are NOT struggling to stay in the Premiership, yet! This just isn't good enough.
Overall the mentality of the players needs to change, and A.Weng needs to grow some balls and drop the players when they have a bad spell, and give players like Wilshere and Vela a chance to prove thier worth. I can't put my finger on the exact problem, at first it seemed to be a player problem, and a couple of them do still seem to be weak, but something just seems to be missing. Could it be the elusive DM that wasn't signed in the Summer?
It's going to be a long 11 days, and we have a stupid, pointless, boring international against Borats Kazahkstan in the middle. Verrry Niiice. Theo must play after his last exceptional performance, I only hope he can follow this up. I really have run out of ideas for Arsenal, and I am convinced that Weng has to go in order for us to continue to be succesful.
The doors open Weng, do the right thing....DR!
Today's news pretty much carries that lull that we get weekly between the last game and the next. Everything has been reviewed, analysed, criticised, praised and dismissed from our previous performance and it's too early to be talking about the weekend's game. On the plus side it gives us a chance to talk about what the team are talking about.
Ade is talking about his partnership with RVP and how he thinks they are blossoming together and I'm glad he's happy for once. However, he does go as far as saying they are developing a telepathic understanding. Classic Adebayor. Just when you think he's coming out with a nice, positive statement about the team, he blows it by going over the top. Personally, I think they do have a good understanding and the Porto game is testament to that. Ade has the space and the work rate and RVP has the ability and intelligence to tear team about. However, it only works to its full effect when they are both on form. If one of them isn't on their game then moves tend to break down or we rely on Cesc, Theo and the other midfield maestros. And rightly so, may I add. Goals from midfield are essential for a team pushing for honours.
Talking of midfielders, Stuart Pearce has asked Fabio Capello if he can have Theo Walcott back in the under 21s squad and the Italian has duely laughed in his face. It was worth a try from the psycho's point of view but after the Croatia performance, it's unlikely Theo will be returning to youth football. Wenger has also weighed in, claiming that this step back could be harmful to his development.
Wenger has also scared the shit out of Arsenal fans across the globe by suggesting he may retire when his contract runs out in 2011. Apparently, if it was up to his wife, he'd have quit years ago but his passion for Arsenal and love for the game has kept him rolling back the years. I know DR will hastily disagree with this but I hope he rolls back a few more as A Dub is the greatest thing that ever happened to the premiership and Arsenal football club.
As for team news, Song could be back for the Sunderland game which is great news. For some reason we seem to play better against the smaller teams with Song partnering Fab and better in the games against bigger teams with Denilson playing the same role. I would have thought it'd be the other way around but either way, this is good news for the squad.
Thanks for reading, TP.
According to Adebayapparentlycanscore, the slate is wiped clean, I however feel otherwise. The defeat at Hull will take more than one game to "wipe clean". I think that what he doesn't realise is that while he's swanning around London in his new Buggatti, browsing for haircuts and trying to find a way to spend his £80,000 he got this week, WE THE FANS, are at work, earning a living and getting stupid comments from Manc fans and overly depressed Yids to the tune of... "whats the bottom of a boat called?"
We are the football team, we pay their wages, we watch the games and buy the shirts. They get paid rediculous amounts of money to keep us happy. Now I understand as well as the next fan, that we can't win everything, but against the bottom of a boat, we played with no desire to win. We surely deserved at least a fight!
Anyway last nights game did instigate some hope into our turbulent start to the season. We have a difficult few months coming up and I think there will be a few more dissapointing games over the horizon. A few points about last nights game, Adebayor was shocking! I recieved a comical message from TP which said "give that man £100,000 a week" and it summed him up. The header was clearly not meant to bounce 6foot up from the ground, and lets face it, even Francis Jeffers could score a penalty when your 3-0 up! He missed another host of opportunities, and the only really beneficial thing he did for the team was to set up RVP.
RVP on the other hand had a great game, his touch was tight, his distribution was good, he made one of his own goals, and atleast meant the other. Carlos Vela also looked good when he came on. This guy is shit hot, and the faster we integrate him into the first XI the better. Walcott also had a good game, and apart from a few moments early on the defence was solid. Fab held the midfield together well, but there were a few edgy moments when Denilson seemed to be AWOL. I still think Song would be more comfortable in the middle than Denny, but we will see.
Looking "worryingly" forward to Saturday....DR!
 Big game tonight. To be honest, I've avoided thinking about football since Saturday's debacle but I guess it's time to refocus and this goes for Arsenal FC as a club, not just my fragile self.
To start positively, the omens are good. Porto haven't won on english soil in their last 10 attempts (with us beating them 2-0 along the way) so they obviously can't handle domination and pressure unlike a certain team from Humberside that we know only too well. Also, the last time we were embarassed in the premier league we bounced back brilliantly and hit the top of the league. Let's hope for a repeat of that kind of spirit.
As for current facts, we've been massively boosted by the return of Samir Nasri but I've since learned that he won't be starting. It's more likely that RVP will start on the left which I'm not too sure about. But, hey, at least it's not Eboue! Also, Silvestre is back, yes!..? Apparently he could step in for one of the centre backs as a result of the recent set piece goals we've let in. I don't agree with this at all. I'd much rather Djourou came in (if someone has to) as he's improving by the game and has the height that Gallas doesn't.
On the subject of players, Porto have lost their 3 best from last season - Bosingwa, Queresma and Postiga which can only mean good things for us. Furthermore, their midfield maestro Lucho Gonzalez will be on the bench becaure of a knee problem. However, they do still have a strong team and the good looking fella above who you're probably wondering is. He's Givanildo Vieira de Souza and is nicknamed 'the hulk' as he used to play in green in his Japanese league days and is built like a brick shithouse. I've heard on the grapevine that he's somewhat of a wildcard and pops up with a lot of headers which is especially bad news for out set piece challenged team. The good news is that he's a measly 5 foot 10 but we know all about complacency so forget that fact!
All in all, I think we'll win IF Fabregas finds his form. He's looked shaky in the last few games but all it will take is one magic moment to get him flowing again. I think we'll win tonight but don't get your hopes up!
Oh, and big up Mathieu Flamini who isn't getting starts in Milan. You better enjoy that extra money tosser coz you're not doing much else over there!
Update: Nasri starts...
Wenger has dipped into his "excuse jar" and pulled out the fact that our team is too short. This team being the team that has been hand picked and crafted by Weng himself. This is no excuse anyway. The only drastically tall player in the league is Peter Crouch, at 6ft7". Daniel Cousin is a mere 6ft 1" and William Gallas is 5ft11". This is only 6cm, about the length of an average index finger. No-one can surely justify that Daniel Cousin's header was because he had that 6cm height advantage?
I am quite small myself, and play Sunday League with some quite tall people, and I know from experience that if I want that ball, then I will get it! I can understand that I may not be able to beat Peter Crouch to an aerial ball no matter how much I want it, but we weren't playing Portsmouth, and very few players are that tall.
The fact is, Gallas is a temperamental liability. He is ruled by emotions, and is not a true captain. Ultimately it was him that let this goal in, and killed any chance of us winning the game. He should be dropped, no shadow of a doubt, to set an example that nobody is invincible.
Arsene has decided that the axe is to be out, and if he has any sense whatsoever, Vela will replace Adebayor. Adebayor makes my blood boil, and his clumsy fashion literally brings me to tears every time he plays. What inspired his pay rise I do not know, but rest assured I will be on his back all season! Hopefully tomorrow will see the return of Nasri, he has looked good so far, and it will be a welcome break from Denilson who is clearly not upto the pace yet.
We need a win tomorrow, it is a very importnat game for the season. To lose a game in the league is bad, but to lose two games in quick succession coould be extremely detrimental to the following few games. Changes will be welcomed, and I would like to see a team that didn't feature Eboue, Bendtner, Adebayor and Gallas. All of the previous seem to have an attitude problem, and none of them are good enough to play for OUR football team at the moment.
Nervously awaiting the Porto game....DR!
Ps a big congratulations to D3 who has jut had a beautiful baby girl M!
See you tomorrow with team news!
As i blog, the entire population of Humberside are laughing at us, and I don't blame them! We are absolutely shit!
That was one of the most frustrating 90 minutes I have seen, and it sums up Wengers tactics towards our game.
Vela had the best game of his life midweek, and still Weng didn't have the brains or brawn to start him at home to Hull. Instead Adebacantscore played. Now I've talked about Ade a lot, but this time he's really pissed me off! We lost the game, and I lost £100. Nightmare.
Adebayor is TERRIBLE!!!! He is not worth £80,000 a week, he is not even worthy of a shirt. He missed a few opportunities today, but even worse, he offered nothing to the general play, turned away from goal when he got the ball and should have shot! Absolutely terrible! I am livid, I think he is a bell cheese!
A quick update on the ever frustrating Bendtner. In all fairness, Weng didn't really give him a chance, he had 25minutes, and in that time he didn't really create much. He did however misplace the worst pass ever that almost created a Hull counter attack.
Arsene will be eating his words, as opposed to his regular Alphabetti Spaghetti, tonight, as days after his "we don't let in goals from open play speech".... we let in a goal from open play. Thank you very much. In the same game, we let in ANOTHER goal from a corner. Seriously, that is Sunday League stuff. Lets sort it out please.
And Finally, as I am so angry I need alcohol that badly, I will end with this....
Arsene Wengers tactics were possibly the worst I have encountered in my 30 years of football in the top league. Ok the truth is, I'm only 21 and I have never been in the top league, but if I had, it would have been the worst. We started out fairly plainly, playing our regular football and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. We then couldn't break down the defence until Walcott, our latest hero, broke free and set up our goal. (after Ade "passed" it) Then comes the WORST moments of the afternoon. Surely, the object of going one-nil up, is to push for more goals?? Were Arsenal FC, were not Stoke, and clinging on to 1-0 leads at home. We need to be kicking teams like Hull into touch. But no, Weng decides we will continue, and low and behold Hull equalise, surprise sur-fuckin-prise!!! We next thing we know, Arsenal start to push for a next goal - as they should have done 5 minutes before HULL SCORE AGAIN! I cringed as I saw the goal go in, Cringed and deep down new, that was it! This is where it really REALLY gets me. We now, chuck 4 strikers on, take off a CLEARLY shit Eboue and try for the win. Why Mr Wenger was this not the case prior to the game? Why did you not start young Mr Vela? Why are you determined to ruin our season? And so the game went on, us pushing for another goal, Hull laughing in our faces as they threw themselves infront of the game.
I asked for Vela, he did not play, I told you Ade was shit, he proved me right!
What a dreadful, terrible, horrible day for Arsenal FC!
In pain...DR!
And so we look ahead to tomorrow’s late evening match and the visit of Hull City to the Grove. Still buzzing from the 6-0 hammering of the Blades on Tuesday, this time Wenger says it will be back to the first team for the tie against the Tigers. Clichy is passed fit after his lucky escape from a potential broken leg against the Wandering thugs and the ex-Manure bloke is apparently fit for the first time since his surprise move in August. Wenger says Van Persie and Walcott are fit so we may well see them return to the starting line-up. The only doubt at this stage is Alex Song which is a shame because I think he is going to become a really important part of this young team and he needs to get a consistent run of games going to show what he can do. After the success of the youngsters on Tuesday, if things are going well early against Hull then I hope that a few of them can get a lot of minutes of first team action and not just 5 or 7 minutes at the end. Its by no means an easy match, Hull have started well and will be resilient, organised and dangerous on the counter attack but if we do settle down early and are 2-0 up or better at half time then I would really like to see what Wilshere, Merida & Vela could do to a tiring Hull back line with a full 45 minutes to go. Considering all the above and Tuesdays performances the below is what I would like to see as the starting line up followed by an explanation…
Almunia
Sagna Gallas Djourou Clichy
Fabregas Denilson
Walcott Vela Van Persie
Bendtner
Subs; Song
Fabianski
Adebayor
Toure
Wilshere
Merida
Silvestre
First of all this assumes that Song isn’t fit enough to start. And second Eboue would be dropped even though he has been improving, for this game id love to see Wilshere and Merida come on if, as I mentioned above, we are looking comfortable.
Now, in my opinion, there are very few teams that could hold out for 90 minutes against this 11. The pace on the attack would be deadly and even if you sit back, the extra threat we carry from the ability to shoot from outside the box that has been discovered over the last year or so means that you wouldn't fancy sitting and letting Fabregas, Van Persie, Denilson or even Vela unleash one from the edge of the area. So you push out, then we get round the sides with our pace look up and see 3 players waiting for the cross and Fabregas and Denilson on the edge of the box for the pull back. Undefendable if we get it right!
My decision to start with Bendtner would be dual purpose. Firstly I want to see what this lads really got…whether he can be a starter, whether he can fit in with the role of starting striker in a ‘top 4’ club and give him a chance to carry on the promise from the last two matches. See if we can find out just how good he can be. (Or not good it may yet still turn out to be) That should give him the confidence to carry on the good form and will also show the other youngsters that good performances and hard work does get rewarded with a place in the first 11. I guess that the reason is kind of 3-fold as that is really two I listed above and doesn’t include my other reason….and that is, that Adebayor cannot get away with taking 1 chance in 47,345 oppurtunites (official opta stat). It just isn’t good enough and he needs to know that he isn’t untouchable in terms of a starting place week in week out, and if others can come in and take even 4 chances in 23,527 then he needs to work harder to earn his place back. That’s why I think Bendtner’s inclusion on Saturday and Adebayor’s relegation to the bench would be positive all round.
The other fairly dramatic decision is Djourou’s inclusion. Now I’ve blogged before about the frailties we seem to have with Gallas and Toure both starting and despite Wengers comments about how well the defence is doing at the moment (which DR makes a very good point about in his last blog) I feel that one of them plus Djourou works much better as a combination. They are probably both better players than the Swiss youngster but sometimes its about balance and teamwork rather than just ability. On recent performances and the knack Gallas seems to have conjured up for flukey goals, Toure would be my choice to sit it out at the weekend.
Obviously we know that this won’t be the case so we’ll wait to see what side Wenger puts out and maybe more interestingly who occupys the bench. What I do know is that the way the team is looking at the mo and with Diaby, Rosicky, Nasri & Eduardo all to come back, things are looking very promising indeed…
an Optimistic that Mr Wenger himself might read this blog and use my starting line up D3.
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