Daily Bits and Bobs

Alexis injury worry, Gabriel made of steel and Arsenal romp London derby…

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

With November done and dusted, a London derby kicked off December. West Ham would have been buoyed by their draw at Old Trafford last weekend in the league but after a spanking by the same team in midweek, any confidence they had, would have taken a bit of a knock. Unlike Arsenal, they fielded a strong team in the EFL Cup and it cost dear after suffering a few injuries. On top of that, they have been struggling to repeat last seasons form since moving away from Upton Park.

On paper, this fixture had an away victory written all over it but football isn’t played on paper and with this Arsenal side under Arsene Wenger, you just never know what to expect. In the league, we haven’t lost a game since the opening day of the season, so optimism was my order of the day. When the team-sheets were out, that optimism grew having seen Carroll was on the bench.

Gabriel continued at right-back and to my surprise, Aaron Ramsey wasn’t starting this one, instead, Arsene opted for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The first half was so frustrating. A depleted West Ham side who really were poor, kept on getting in the way of our crosses into the box. Tongue in cheek of course, our final ball was awful.

A cock up in the middle of the park by West Ham, or a good interception by Coquelin whichever way you choose to see it, saw the ball rebound into the path of Alexis Sanchez. He drove forward, Ozil went with him and a square pass to the German left him with a sitter. 1-0 and no more than we deserved. But in all honesty, the game should have been over by half-time.

The second half was better. Goals from the Chilean secured himself a fine hat-trick and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got on the score sheet too with a fine strike from just outside the box. The blip was somewhere in amongst all of that, Payet hit the bar with a free kick, Cech was left stranded and as the ball bounced back into the penalty area, Carroll headed home.

Don’t know about anyone else but I thought Oxlade-Chamberlain played rather well and not just because of his goal. After a dodgy start he was busy, he wanted the ball and did plenty of good things with when he had it. Have we finally got the answer to our left side? He’ll face tougher tests against better sides but he looks like he’s desperate to play and to do better than he’d done in previous seasons. Perhaps like Walcott, he’s realised he needs to work hard if he wants to keep his place and I thought he did that yesterday.

Our stand in right back seems to be made of steel. First a leg injury which required attention and in the second half he suffered a head injury but still he carried on. Coquelin bossed the midfield, Xhaka was solid too and Monreal was back on his game. They didn’t offer too much of a threat I know but Monreal needed that solid performance.

Walcott had a quiet game by his own standards this season and really should have buried what looked like a simple header and if he could pester the defenders in a similar fashion to Alexis, he’d be a lot better.

Finally, a word for our Chilean. He is an outstanding footballer who is having the time of his life at Arsenal. He’s the star of the show and he’s loving it. His third goal, although it looked offside, was simply superb. The little dummy which resulted in the keeper going to ground, left him with a little chip to secure his hat-trick. I could watch him play all day long. His work ethic is off the scale, as is his form. And all that whilst playing with a bad back…

At Arsenal, he’s the main man but if he decides to leave, that’ll change as he’ll be just another big fish in a very big pond. Perhaps that thought will be enough for him to want to stay…..

Have a good Sunday guys, hope Jack gets one over Klopp….

rico

67 thoughts on “Alexis injury worry, Gabriel made of steel and Arsenal romp London derby…”

  1. potter says:

    The betting advert is getting annoying , it keeps appearing and freezing anything else I am doing. Have to keep cancelling it every time I go away and come back.
    However good result yesterday .but still not a truly convincing performance West Ham’s ineptitude rather than our dominance. Some good individual performances though led by Sanchez quite possibly Gabriel could allow us to move to the now popular 3 at the back system which seems to be baffling Chelsea’s opponents.

  2. rico says:

    It’ll be gone very soon Potter, just a month trial… You should only see the advert once a day when you first go on here.

    Can’t see AW changing to three at the back..

  4. kelsey says:

    Sanchez isn’t even 100% fit.We have got to try and keep him and Ozil.in fact it’s imperative and add another 2 of the same ability.

    To be too dependent on one or two players is dangerous .Walcott continues to disappoint.110 or 140k a week, nice work if you can get it.

  5. Le Coq Monster says:

    Morning all and thanks Rico.

    I too thought Ox was excellant, that performance would have done him no harm at all and I expect him to take off now, he had more take on dribbles than the whole Hammer team put together…………….I have stood by him whilst others have doubted, a first choice starter for me and always has been as he`s needed a proper run in the team……………….Obi has Sanogo and I have the Ox hahaha

  15. Le Coq Monster says:

    Turning out to be a great 40th wedding sentence….sorry….anniversary for me with the Bindippers result………shame Totscum ruined my anniversary eve……will the Toffees make even better, I`d settle for a draw !

    Funny watching MotD last night where at one point when Ox scored the Hammers fans were outnumbered by not just the Gooners but the stewards, then the police and then the ball boys !

    Shall enjoy watching MotD tonight to see how Jack got on !……….hate the Scousers !…………..hate the Mancs …..both…………………hate the Chavs…………..hate Leeds ………………..and top of all hate you know who !……………..I dont want to waste valuable seconds of my life typing the bastards name as they are not worthy of my finger pressure !.

  17. Adam says:

    Michael Oliver making a pig’s ear out of this game. Which reminds me how bad that ref was yesterday evening. Let some shocking tackles against us go, but couldn’t wait to book Coquelin for kicking the ball away.

  18. Le Coq Monster says:

    Thanks Rico.

    Some people justifiably hate the likes of Manshafter and the new kids on the block…..Chavs and Mansour City for their trophy purchasing. but I`ve never lost sight that the BIndippers were stopping us from winning trophies for a long stint before Manshafter took over the mantle and any team that is more successful than us deserves hatred !…………although I like their manager and their style of football…….the Bindipping Scousers are a moralless bunch of scum who would not think twice about breaking through doors and windows and clearing out items of your childs advent calendar !.

  39. Le Coq Monster says:

    Fine end to the footballing day !…………said I`d settle for a Manshafter draw to put them 10 points behind !.

    If anyone only sees MotD for highlights of our game, then I`d recommend Arsenal player as it shows more !. 🙂

  40. allezkev says:

    The Scousers drop 3points…

    The Mancs drop 2points…

    Mr Adam is incandescent with Mr Oliver.

    Mrs Cocker has put up with Mr Cocker for 40 years!

    I’m on the rank at Paddington…

    It’s been a memorable weekend…. ?

  42. Marshall says:

    Morning all. Lovely weekend it was. Most results went our way and we are sitting pretty on the table. I like the second position cause there is no pressure with the ‘league leaders’ tag – ofcourse we close the gap to nick it in the last 3 months of the season.

    About our derby game, alot has been mentioned, just want to point out how good Gabriel was. Twice I saw him not being tricked to go after the ball instead he was tracking his runner. If every player did that when we are defending I bet we’d concede less

    The scouscer scums lost! and Shitty united are being the mid table team they always were. Hello December!

  46. Marshall says:

    Hi Scott, Rico
    Am so glad we made it through last month. When is our next blip month? Is it in March?

    Draxler being booed at his club. Where do we place him in our line up?

    Can’t wait for the post Rico. Hit the ‘publish’ button already

  49. Marshall says:

    Draxler could come and unsettle Theo – he needs proper competition anyway.

    We’d rest Sanchez for the mid week and the weekend home game imo.

  50. rico says:

    He does, hope Saturday wasn’t a sign of him slipping back to his old ways. Maybe he’s just exhausted having to get up at night for his nipper… 😉

  55. Marshall says:

    And congratulations to Le Coq. You’ve been together longer than the last time a spud lifted the league cup!

    Theo is just Theo Rico, you’d give him a month’s break and he’d still turn up tired and disinterested.

  57. Le Coq Monster says:

    Morning all

    No brainer if I was manager to rest everyone at Basel……………….but no way would I rest Alexis for weekend, there`s some stat out there ( dont quote) that says he`s been involved in 20 of the last goals in 20 games…..something like 15 goals and 5 assists !…….the only other scorer at the moment is Giroud coming off the bench and he`s injured………….anyway, if fit do you seriously think Alexis would not want to play………..the mans more frenetic than a nuclear powered vibrator ! 🙂

  61. Marshall says:

    Lol Rico, no chance of that happening anytime soon. And they’re building that big toilet, you know how clubs perform in new stadiums 😉

    Long may it be Coq. Am marrying two wives then, one for the spuds and another for the dippers, yikes!

  62. Le Coq Monster says:

    Good idea Marshall !…………I need to get married to enough wives to curse both the Mancs, Chavs, Bindippers and just to be on the safe side..one for Leicester !.

  63. rico says:

    Lc, I’m with you re resting a few tomorrow but I doubt he will. Top of the group is still up for grabs if Psg lose so Arsene will go for it imo.

    Stoke at the weekend is far more important…

  64. Le Coq Monster says:

    Obviously I will need a shed load of money and viagra…………..and some industrial strength ear defenders !.

Leave your comment.

Discover more from Highbury House

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading