With only one away win under our belts in the league this season, we travelled to Norwich City, one the leagues new teams this season and this is how we lined up:
Szczesny, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Song, Ramsey, Arteta, Walcott, Gervinho, Van Persie.
Substitutes: Fabianski, Djourou, Rosicky, Coquelin, Benayoun, Arshavin and Chamakh.
It made a pleasant change to arrive at Norwich yesterday as one of the sides in the league who are considered to be in-form. We knew that both Gibbs and Jenkinson were ruled out for a few weeks. The left back situation was easily resolved with Santos starting but the right back was not so simple. Thankfully Koscielny got the nod over Djourou.
That was the only change from the side that beat West Brom before the international break.
So, 12.45 UK time came and we kicked off to get the game underway.
The first 15-20 mins was busy but already you could see that we had a little more about us than our opposition.
First chance went to Theo, he was set up by Gervinho but his shot was blocked, then Robin hit a great strike, only for it to go past the far post, was it going to be one of those days?
It certainly appeared that way when just after the ten minute mark, Gervinho again set up Walcott, who cut inside his marker and curled his shot towards the left side of the net. I was just about to jump out of my seat as it was in, well, before Russell Martin hoofed the ball over the net!!
That would have been a cracker and deserved by our young winger who had started the game really well and causing all sorts of problems for Norwich down the right.
Out of the blue though, and from something out of nowhere, Norwich took the lead, courtesy of a gaff by our big German International defender. Merts faffed around on the ball instead of heading it back to Ches, or hoofing it free from danger and his hesitation on the ball allowed Morison in to put the ball passed our Pole.
Some called for a foul on Merts, I didn’t think so.
We carried on the way we began the game, van Persie side-footed wide after an Arteta shot found him free and the same man saw his header again cleared off the line by Martin. Martin was also on hand to clear a half saved shot from Gervinho.
We were all over Norwich but just couldn’t find the back of the net, not for the want of trying though….
We finally got the break through just before the half hour mark, good work by Theo which ended in a pin point ball played across the face of the goal. Gervinho was first in line, but he couldn’t get his fancy flick to connect with the ball which ran on through to our number 10 – 1-1. No messing!
Gervinho had a chance to take us into half-time with a lead but….
The second half began with the same player having another chance but his header went straight into the hands of the Norwich keeper. Thomas Vermaelen then treated us to a bit of attacking play, he found Theo with a good pass who in turn whipped in a cross for Ramsey on the near post but the Welshman couldn’t find the back of the net – a difficult chance..
Shortly after, Robin van Persie set Gervinho through with a perfectly weighted pass, he rounded the keeper and looked certain to score but Ruddy scrambled to his feet and blocked the goal bound effort.
Then came what turned out to be the winner, Ramsey was on his way through the middle but was fouled, Dowd to everyone’s surprise no doubt, waved play on as the ball fell into the path of Alex Song. He pressed forward and looked up to see he had two choices for his pass, Gervinho to his left or Robin to his right. Needless to say, he chose Robin with a fine pass and despite the ball being on his weaker foot, he chipped the out coming keeper to get our second and his second of the day. A stunning finish….
Anthony Pilkington has a wonderful chance to equalise but couldn’t make it count, thankfully his touch in front of goal left him and his chance went wide.
Norwich brought on Grant Holt which seemed to spur the home side on but again it was us who created the better chances – two in succession, the first from Arteta and then Gervinho. Holt went into the book for his swan dive in the penalty area when already deemed to be in an offside position; his protests obviously peed off Mr Dowd!
Gervinho went off and on came Yossi Benayoun.
Just before the 90 minute mark, Walcott absolutely blasted a shot on goal only to hit the top corner of the post, an absolute rasper!
Inevitably Norwich went all guns blazing in the last few minutes of the game, trying desperately to nick an equaliser and when Santos shoved one of their players in the back just outside the penalty area to give away a free kick in a dangerous area, my heart was in my mouth.
At this point Theo was subbed to rapturous applause from the away fans, totally deserved too and Djourou came on.
Bradley Johnson has scored a few from the same range but today, Szczesny was alert and watched the ball right into his hands….
Game over, three points and up to 6th in the league…..
Not the best performance from ALL of our players, but I’ll leave that for you all to debate.
Robin may have picked up the man of the match award but, I thought Theo was outstanding yesterday and Thomas Vermaelen was a rock at the back – the spring in his legs is just incredible…..
If this team could all play their best on the same day, we’d beat any team in the Premier League; maybe they are saving that day for the trip to the Etihad Stadium…..
Next up, Dortmund…..
Oliver has also written a match report, so here is his:
In the first ten minutes, we could have been 3-0 up, with Robin and Theo both going close, Martin clearing the latter’s shot off the line…
So perhaps it was no surprise that we got caught by a sucker punch sixteen minutes in. Mert should have easily mopped up a straightforward long ball of out the Canaries defense, but he instead allowed Morrison to beat him to the ball, muscle him off it, and slot past Szczesny for the opener. Arsene remonstrated with the fourth official, apparently thinking Morrison fouled Mert (I disagree); our defender knew who was responsible, as he banged his fist on the ground in frustration. Morrison is worryingly not the first attacker to find brushing our big defender off easier than it really should be…
While it was a sucker punch, we dismissed it and resumed attacking the Norwich goal. Martin cleared Robin and Gerv shots off the line in quick succession, as we picked up where we left off, but the equalizer was not long in coming. Theo got free down the left flank, and put a low cross into the center, where Gerv dummied to give Robin an open net tap-in. 1-1 with 25 minutes gone, normal service resumed…Robin and Theo celebrated with their best golf swings – been watching the President’s Cup, have we?
This time, Norwich responded well to conceding, as they enjoyed good spell of possession, albeit without troubling Szczesny. They pressured in the midfield and forced us to turn the ball over several times. Neither side looked likely to take the lead and we went in to half time level.
Lambert replaced Fox with Bennett at the start of the second half, giving Norwich more attacking thrust down the flank. We returned to the pitch with the same eleven who started. Norwich had the better of the early exchanges, with Szczesny having to save Pilkington’s free kick. Ten minutes in, we had a golden opportunity to take the lead, as Robin’s pass sent Gerv free, but Ruddy was quick off his line to block and the chance was gone…
Just before the hour mark, we finally nosed in front. Martin tripped Ramsey in midfield, but Song collected the ball and referee Dowd played an excellent advantage. Song found Robin with an angled pass to the right, and our Captain chipped over Rudd to give us our first lead of the afternoon. This was his 31st goal of a truly prolific calendar year. His all-around play this afternoon was outstanding – as it has been for so much of this year.
Norwich, to their credit, tried to respond and just a few minutes later, Bennett got free down the right and drilled in a fine cross which just needed a touch to divert it home; Pilkington stretched but couldn’t reach it.
This took place during another good sequence for Norwich, as they frequently won the ball in midfield and spent a good amount of time on the edge of our box, although they were not able to work Szczesny as much as I am sure they would have liked. During this sequence, TV in particular stood tall; he won several headers, clearing a corner and some crosses from inside our box. Theo had a chance after some good build-up play, but couldn’t get enough on his shot, and Rudd saved comfortably…
With 20 minutes to go, Lambert made an attacking sub, replacing skipper Hoolahan with Holt, who took their armband. Holt was top scorer during last season’s promotion campaign and had recently scored their equalizer in Norwich’s credible 1-1 draw at Anfield.
With his size and strength he should have caused us problems, but I found his performance more petulant than anything else. He spent plenty of time on the deck, whining for imaginary fouls or lobbying for free kicks that Dowd rightly didn’t give (until right at the end). In one sequence, he clearly fouled Mert and tried to con Dowd into giving the foul the other way. Then just a couple of minutes from the end, while inside the area, he threw himself against Mert and then to the ground, and Dowd correctly booked him (Holt).
In between Holt’s theatrics, we had a couple of chances to add to our lead, with Arteta and Gerv trying their luck. The latter was the first Arsenal player to make way, as Benny came on in his stead with 12 minutes to go. Two minutes from the end of normal time, Ramsey released Theo and the latter crashed his shot against the angle of the post and crossbar. Rudd did look to have that one covered, should Theo have placed it a bit lower and inside.
In stoppage time, Holt earned a free kick in a good position, but Szczesny easily claimed the delivery and that was pretty much that. We saw the remainder of the three-plus added minutes out to claim our second consecutive league away win, and our fifth consecutive league win.
When we started this recent good run, we were languishing in the lower half of the table. Following the loss at White Hart Lane, we quickly got ourselves up to seventh, but due to the gap at the very top and form of the sides immediately ahead of us, we have not been able to move further. The win pushes us up to sixth, and if Liverpool fail to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge today, we will end the weekend in that position.
Still, we are at least holding our position and putting pressure on the sides immediately above us. As I said in the title, I don’t think we would have won this match a month ago, and there is a tangible difference in how we now respond to adversity and how our side collectively copes with opposition pressure.
During the ESPN telecast, Steve McManaman continued the tired theme of how we cannot defend. I think that point is so belabored, so accepted, that some cannot see improvement, even when it is staring them in the face.
While Mert certainly did poorly for Norwich’s goal, I did not see that much wrong with our defending the rest of the way. We had plenty of problems in midfield, as Norwich worked hard to win the ball back, and we were also sloppy (Song in particular) with some of our passing. But when they worked the ball towards our danger area, they did not create many real quality scoring opportunities. Kos and TV again stood out, but as a team, we dealt with most of what came our way, and usually cleared the ball away with a minimum of fuss. As wayward as Song’s passing was in the middle of the second half, he still made several important interceptions…
So a win remains a win, even if we did not always look great. But this happens, and again, Norwich deserves credit for making this a difficult scrap and not allowing us to get comfortable at any point but in the end we still got the result.
Next up we have Dortmund at home in the Champions League on Wednesday, a match we really need to win to confirm passage to the knockout stage, and hopefully to win this group. It won’t be easy – several hours after our win, Dortmund stole a 1-0 win at Bayern, despite being dominated for much of the match. This shows they are fully capable of getting results at difficult away grounds, so we will have to be at our absolute best to win on Weds…
As far as I know, nobody picked up any major knocks or injuries, so we should have the same squad available for the midweek tie…
Morning……
Can’t believe that despite Wenger clarifying ‘that’ i/v – the English paps are running the story again today….
What saddo’s!
Morning Rico. Thank God for the toilet rolls focusing on Wenger. It leaves the team alone. Maybe AW should do a Mourinho and start inviting the press to write about him That would leave the team free to concentrate.
BDW…..good match report.
Morning DG,
And we all know that will be water off a ducks back for wenger, as you say, leaves the boys in peace…
Thanks re the report, just found olivers so i might attach his on the end….
31 goals this calendar year and still Rooney and Nani beat him to Ballon D’or nominations.. How is that possible?
Because it’s a fix and everyone hates Arsenal….
morning Esp…
Suarez and Fabregas also on the list!???
Exactly Rico, just because we’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not after us!
79% possession first 20 minutes, maybe more and 1-0 against us. Worrying!
“Oliver has also written a match report, so here is his:
In the first ten minutes, we could have been 3-0 up, ”
Could have been is not good enough given the money they are paid. Would a Rooney or a Giggs or a Drogba miss all chances. I think not
Esp, Matt Le Tiss was talking about it last weekend and he thought is was a disgrace, one thing you get from Tiss is honesty and he’s spot on…
They have their favs….
I bet fabregas wouldn’t have been on the list if he’d still been with us….
Hi alan, that’s a tad harsh about would others miss chances, players don’t always get it spot on every game and some credit has to go to the defending for one or two of the chances….
RvP’s second goal speaks volumes about who players have confidence in.
probably, the better option for Song was to pass to Gervinho who would have had a shot with his favoured foot, instead he picked out Robin who buried his chance with his weaker foot…..
Thank goodness eh… 😉
Morning, nice one again Rico,
I have watched the Mert incident over and over, and i think its a bit of both, the ref could have ruled either way sadly for us he ruled against. I felt that Merts was in a dodgy position where as the ball wasn’t high enough for him to head back to Czezsney also Czezs never came out so he was to far away, also merts never had full control of the ball, I did feel that Merts could have attempted to clear his lines better and feel this may be a good experience for him for the future. As you said a good day for Theo, i have believed in the past that Theo hasn’t taken on his man enough, he has the talent but i feel that he hasn’t had the confidence, he did on several occasions yesterday, and was rewarded, he still sometimes crosses without looking but now and again he does look and thats when he’s at his best. TV was imense he has fitted back in very well but we know that he is quality just hope he stays fit Santos is a problem he is not a good left back we should be lookin for another in January, Gervinho played well he has given us a player that will go forward he likes to take on his man and has started to work well with Robin he has to sharpen up in front of goal but overall not bad. We keep giving ourselves many chances , but apart from Robin our finishing is woefull we must take these chances . we tend to pass the ball quickly but if they just slow it down a second or two they may pass it more to one of ours and not give it away. Apart from that , a blinding 3 pts.
Always loved Le Tiss, one of the most skillful players I have ever seen, can’t understand why he wasn’t a regular for England.
Norwich defence did very well yesterday, great positional sense. Gervinho looks like he is lacking a lot of confidence. It is still only his first year.
Has Wenger also fallen out with Ryo and Oxo neither are ever on the bench!
RVP really needs someone to play off, I think a cheeky loan deal for Tevez is in order!
Morning Steve, thanks
Good comment, Santos scares the heck out of me and when Lambert bought on the winger at H/T i really thought he would rip shreds out of our LB but thankfully didn’t, but a better quality player would have done.
Totally agree with how we break quickly but 9 times out of 10 we then slow it right down, whether this is down to lack of movement by our midfiled players I don’t know or is it because we are playing with just Robin up front and if he is not unmarked the pass goes sideways or backwards…
Ramsey and Arteta are quite quility of playing that kind of ball….
Esp – I think that is down to him staying at Southampton and not moving to a bigger club, I loved him too, the skill and accuracy he had with his pasiing and shooting was immense. He said not long ago about how he wanted to applaud Bergkamp for his two goals against them, think it was DB’s first goals for us…
he said he thought better of it as his team mates wouldn’t have been impressed.
His loyalty and ability to finish was similar to DB imho, he could have gone anywhere but loved Southampton too much and he could do things with a football that so many could only dream of….
A good entertaining game yesterday from the spectator point of view,especially the neutral ones ! I thought that Theo was again outstanding ,he now just needs to add some goals to his overall play . This can also be said about other players – not least Gervinho ,his misses were championship class – he needs to up his game – and along with others – to stop relying on RVP to score the goals. He’s unlikely to be able to do so in every game -even Henry couldnt do that. He had others around him though who could do so – and Wenger was even able to leave him – and Bergkamp out – for the title winning match at Old Trafford that time years ago. You can’t imagine Wenger leaving Van Persie at home though if fit when we go to City . And this is the problem – Wenger has to play RVP in every league game now.
Along with some dodgy defending again yesterday the striker and defense situations still leave the question of a top 4 finish far from being certain. If inury or loss of form kick-in .
Wenger will need to sign players in January to ensure that our hopes are increased in this respect – and not to gamble on keeping players fit and in form – during the long league run in when the games come thick and fast – and the pitches are not in the condition that Norwich’s one was in yesterday.
Ryo is injured i think and Oxo played both games for the under 21s, so maybe a bit too much for him being so young…
I get the feeling that Ramsey believes he should be doing a lot more creative work but he doesn’t do the easy thing well, he has to understand that the other players are not mind readers as some of his passes are into no mans land, it will be interesting to have Jack back as he seemed to have a way of bringing them together
Good read as usual.i love how direct we are nowadays.we are playing almost like the invincibles in terms of how quick we are breaking forward as typified by our 2nd goal.good riddance tiki taka.
Hi Adam, agree re Theo, and the pass for the first goal was on the money, he needs to do that more often, i thought he was unlucky not to score, i really wish the left footed curler had found the back of the net, his control and shot was so good, and on his weaker foot…..
Gervinho will get there, look at how long it takes players to adjust to the pace and physical side of the PL, next season we will probably see a much better player.
Definately need to buy in Jan but, as much as overseas players are exciting prospects, I truly believe we should be looking closer to home, players who are already used to this league. We can’t afford that settling in time after Jan….
Not if we are going to get in the top four.
Good news though is Newcastle were beaten yesterday, they may not respond well to their first defeat, we need them to go on a bad run and get out of the top four…
Ramsey would be right to think that Steve, one game is really good, the next he is off – did he play both matches for wales? That could have something to do with yesterday….
Maybe Arteta and Ramsey are too similar and that’s where the problem is…
If Gervinho can learn to finish we’ll go up another level.he is excellent at everything else bar finishing.
Hi Kt…
Got to pop off for an hour, back later….
Kt, I think he’ll get there, maybe after Christmas, he just needs time…
Laters..
Morning Rico, Gervinho was not a prolific scorer in the French League – relying him on him coming good might be like waiting for a bus to arrive – sometimes 3 come at once – when you only needed one a bit earlier .
I think myself that we need a proven Premier League goal-scorer to help out – especially with Wenger’s attacking tactics meaning that we need to score at least 2 goals in every away game that we play in!
Hi Rico
yes but 79% possession peppering their goal for 20 odd minutes
It’s true though IMHO, their finishing needs to improve
on a role now..
prefer this teams attitude to the last ones..
if only they would have fought for titles like this one is fighting for 4th..
still short of a few attacking players but the fixtures are decent from here til jan so weve got the mometum to carry on the recovery and then with a few signings, really have a say in something come the business end..
hi all, few weeks ago I was starting to having bad thoughts like missing out on the top 4th, now I’m dreaming about the second place with small trophy as well!!
I never believed though Les Faux Experts such as Hans, Rednap, Koli and Co who wanted to make us believe that we’re much worse than Liverpool, Spurs and suggested we’re going to enjoy midtable run in the next few seasons until we waste money on crap players like Liverpool does.
I love English Players market valuation: Sir Carroll is worth more than 3 of the best premier league players; Gervinho, VDV and Hernandez. All three are better than him.
Afternoon…
alan, i agree they need to sharpen up but we are winning and that counts – they will soon start taking the chances, confidence is building 😉
adam2 – i think it’s hard to judge Gerv, he’s stuck out on the wing, maybe if he started playing in a strikers role he’d put more away..
Hi jj and Osi….
jj, def spot on about the fighting attitude, wenger may be sad to have seen nasri and cesc go as we were, but we needed change and it’s looking like it’sfinally arrived and the attitude appears a lot better at the moment..
Osi, spank Citeh and get the CC 😉
Who do we want to win today or is a draw the best result??
Good morning
Probably we line up with the same team next Wednesday
Rico, if the opponents draw its always the best results since a point will have been lost. Remember that with a win all three points are gained but with a draw its 1 apiece and 1 lost by each and another lost to everyone. If the scum get two draws with a game in hand then they will be only two points ahead, which can be turned easily. But if they win one and loose one than its three points ahead.
IMO I think that even Manure can be overtaken.
hi rico spank ’em that’s what i have in mind. CC is going to be good for us, but we can also compete for FA Cup if the 2 Mans got busier in the run in to the title and CL. I don’t predict we progress beyond quarters and no pressure of competing for the titles, so it gives us advantage to focus on cups.
Afternoon all,
Rico re.10.56, you beat me to the punch, took the words right outta my mouth.
Oliver, gerv dummied himself, he could and should have had a hat-trick yesterday.
If gerv and walcott start to show a bit of composure in front of goal we will become a force to be reckoned with.
Merts, if in doubt boot it out, there’s nothing wrong with putting the ball into row z when under pressure, it didn’t end up costing us and he’s learnt a valuable lesson, roll on fulham.
A word on Gervinho: super attacker. Why people blame him for not taking his chances when we all know he isn’t a striker. He’s doing great work putting pressure on defenders and has more successful dribbles than anyone else at this club. Yesterday he did a superb work and every time he touches the ball danger was created.
I loved Nasri as he was technically gifted and could score but Gervinho is more direct and fast dribbler and has quick decision making. The goals we’ll come with confidence. I noticed that since the miss at the Blackburn and consequent loss of that match affected his confidence.
Im absolutely loving how direct we are in attack.as someone has stated above we only need Gerv/theo to start chipping in plus the odd goal from midfield and we’ll be laughing.
Afternoon JM, and hopefully that will be enough to secure us top spot in the group, then we can forget the CL until the new year…
DG, trouble is, I hate the dippers, nearly as much as i hate the spuds so its a tough one as i also hate the chavs 😉
But yes, a darw will suit us better….
I agree Osi.nasri is on another level in terms of technical ability but Gerv is more effecient for us.defenders hate players like Gerv since he will run at you all day.Gerv has forced us to be more direct and he is creating lots of space by stretching play and beating defenders.rvp has scored lots of tap ins because of Gervinho.
Afternoon Gooners.
Afternoon Rico.
Interesting post from that dynamic duo of Oliver and Rico!
Afternoon Micko, was a cracking ball by Song too 😉
Merts woke up big time after his gaff, in the long term it could do him good, just like the error both kos and ches made at wembley – i bet none of the three faff around on the ball again when row z is a far better place to be 😉
Both RvP and Gerv should have had hatricks, and Theo, well he needs a lucky break, that shot of his would have been in the goal of the season bunch had it found the top corner…. bloody defender 😉
Now to see what kind of imaginative rotation [if any] that Le Boss will make for Tuesday…..
Arshavin? Park? Chamakh? Rosicky? Benayoun? Oxo???
Also i have noted a trend in terms of how we are utilising santos.last season Sagna was afforded more freedom to attack while clichy was more reserved.this time around santos is the one being allowed to push forward with Arteta covering behind him.Santos isn’t your typical FB and he scares the s**t out of me sometimes but going forward he is a delight.once we perfect his role it will be like having an additional no.10 on the pitch much like Alves at barça.
Osi – i don’t think we can be too harsh on Gerv either, yes he could, maybe should have been on the scoresheet yesterday but it’s his first season, how good was Nasri in his first season?
How good was Bobby P in his, the list goes on, wait til after christmas or next season he’ll be a real class player….
By which time, Nasri will be bored sitting on the Citeh bench and will be looking for a move 😉
I believe Ger/Theo would score goals from the wings if the team improves and creates chances like they did yesterday. People who blame Gerv/Theo should realise that the first is only 24 yrs old and just come in to the premiership while the team struggling with lack of confidence; the second is only 22yrs old and doing a great job. compare this to the greatest goal scorer the club ever had Henry at 24 he was struggling to finish and playing as striker and demanded Wenger to buy a ‘fox in the box’ partner to finish off the job for him. And the rest we all know. Give these players time and appropriate training and they will definitely improve their goalscoring. Even the greatest strikers miss clear cut chances than Gerv’s, think about Torres or Rooney this time last year. Against Chelsea Gerv wasted a really good chance and was blamed for it, but when VP wasted similar chances nobody talked about it, selective bias.
Afternoon AK, the post was my fault, I wrote one just in case, and then had to set the timer as had to go out first thing – got back, post was up and then i saw olivers email….
So it’s a BOGOFF day 😉
Rico, do you do double glazing as well… 😉
K-tr7 Santos is Brazilian magic. His touches are mesmerising and he passes like Zidane. I’ve never seen a left-back so gifted on the ball! When Gibs come back he’s gonna cover for Gerv on the left wing come Jan/Feb.
I have now come to grips as to why rvp wasn’t nominated for the ballon d’or.it would be unfair to the other nominees because he is too damn good atm.let the likes of messi (i hear is good) fight it out.rvp deserves to be awarded the equivalent of a worldcup 😉
I agree osi.its scary how many attacks start from him.if only he had abit more pace…
Kev, dortmund is wednesday, don’t want you missing out on the fun.
HiYa AK. How’s you all???
Who would you play in the next game if you want to rotate?
I would go for AA behind Gervinho.
But I still think that its Theo, RVP and Gervinho who will play.
If Santos continues to get so much game time he’ll easily reach 10 goals this season.watching him attack makes you appreciate just how huge an upgrade he is to clichy in that department.
KT, rvp has scored more goals than messi in 2011, speaks volumes.
ktr7 lool, same thing happened to henry? Ballon de Bias?
Gerviho tried a rather audacious Kanuesque flick between his legs and just succeeded in selling a dummy that allowed RVP to equalise.
But he was there!!!
That’s what i want to see, more red Arsenal shirts [or yellow ones, or is it blue, i forget]
in the box.
Rather than all spectating on the edge of the box.
Gervinho will improve, and when he does, then he’s gonna be a match-winner…
Hiya DG. Letter in post for Pa.
As far as the Balcony Door is concerned, UEFA, FIFA or what ever bunch of tossers who run it, can poke it up their arse.
A worthless trinket imho.
😛 AK, I wish i did…
Bloody hell Mick, thanks, i could have been quite lonely on Tuesday…..
Santos would make a great winger Osi, at times he is a shocking LB 😉
Buy Baines in Jan and move Santos up the pitch ….
If rvp was a madrid player marca would’ve made sure he made the final 5 list at the very least.same thing happened to henry.the only way he’ll get recognition is if we play madrid/barca and plays a key role in knocking them out.
Ak agree with your remark ‘being there’, if a forward is there where he should be then everything else we’lll come. Gerv’s problem is that he got into very good positions so many times and more often than anybody else.
DG, as it’s quite a critical fixture, i doubt if Wenger will make more than one change, maybe Rosicky in midfield…..
Wonder if we’ll go 4 4 1 1 just to fox the Jerries?
Osi, Torres can’t hit a barn door this season either 😉
Rvp doesn’t need that award to confirm his status.so long as we show him love,who needs batman when you’ve got robin?
Osi, as with almost every player that we’ve signed from Ligue Un, we won’t see how good Gervinho will be until the fag-end of this season and most probably next season.
Tbh, i was a little disappointed with him ‘early doors’, but now i’m a confirmed fan…
Kt, but Santos doesn’t know when to stay back, nor does he see danger and get his butt back in the right position enough…
A top class right sided forward would tear him apart
Rico, Everton were talking in terms, so the blurb went, of £20m for Baines.
That’s one heck of a premium for an English player.
But if we could get him, then i would be delighted, and so would TT.
Rico, buy Baines in Jan? where would that leave our Gibbs? I think Gibbs should be given a chance this season and then in the summer we can have clear picture of this team and what additions are most needed.
Also Santos is not shocking left back, he makes mistakes that can be corrected easily by match fitness, sharpness and some weight loss. However, his tackling [not hard tackler, but he tackles well in time] is much better than Clichy, his support for attacks is more meaningful, and he doesn’t panic. He’s not great at anticipating like Clichy, but then Clichy anticipation left us exposed in many times especially when he got it wrong.
KT, you’ve been reading too many DC comics… 😉
Rico, have you checked your in-box?
No one in our team gets into better positions than Gerv,maybe not even rvp.he is excellent 90% of the time.all he needs is to score more goals.he and santos have made our left flank dynamic again.they are much better than the crab passing between nasri and clichy followed by a hopeless cross to the corner flag or a pass back to the halfway line.
AK, i too reckon Rosicky will come in for Wed, his his experience is second to none for such a game, prob in place of Ramsey – I also think AA may start, just fresh legs…..
The Ox at least on the bench too…..
Rico i was just about to respond but osi just did it for me.and AK eeer… i have just turned 13 or have you forgotten? 😉
Clichy, like Nasri, has got what he really wanted, a massive signing-on fee and a banker’s salery.
Frankly i don’t give a shit about either anymore….
And i’d challenge anyone on here to argue that we really miss them?
I think this present team/squad is better than 12 months ago, both in terms of it’s style of play and the morale and spirit in the camp…
AK Gerv is really good in many ways; dribbling constantly and courageously, recognising that he’s playing with the greatest striker in this country and linking up with him, running into good positions whenever he sees a team on the ball ready to pass. Giving options to the ball holder is one very important thing in the philosophy of building an efficient attack. Last few years I noticed that ARsenal players, the better ones, looked condescendingly to the lesser players so they come back to make themselves available for a pass instead of running forward and getting into good forward positions. In football you have to trust your teammates and give them options instead of patronising and coming back to collect a simple pass. That way you put constant pressure on the opposing defense, Gerv does that well.
KT, does that mean that you are allowed to wear long-trousers now… 😆
Yeah Rico, you might be right about Arshavin as well.
I suspect that the Jerries will come and keep it tight, restricting the space behind them.
Maybe not a game for Theo to flourish in?
Don’t push it AK… or else i’ll call upon the services of my close mate Frimpong.he threatened Blatter,imagine what he would do you ? 😎
Yeah Osi, good points mate.
It took me awhile, but i’ve come around to him now.
And as you said, he’s still only 24, so hopefully Arsenal have a good many years of his service to come.
Sorry Kt… 😯
Osi, gone I hope, he is not good enough 🙁
Just my opinion…..
Tough to know AK, Theo may just well bash them with pace, get a few balls in, couple of goals and game done… Glad Wenger has to make that decision…
What i like most about Gerv is how disciplined he is on when to go wide or make diagonal runs inside.nasri always cut in narrowing our attacks playing into the hands of teams playing with 2 banks of four.
I’ll go check it AK 😉 I’m doing my Freddie Mercury impression with the Dyson at the moment 😉
Walcott hasn’t got a ‘footballing brain’? At 22 and without a ‘footballing brain’ Walcott is terrorising the opposing defenders, and according to Cognitive Science Experts ‘footballing brain’ could still increase its ability and efficiency until it reaches 29. So Walcott would still improve his skills and cognition which is a nightmare for our rivals like Tiny Tots.
Can anyone who remembers the days of C. Waddle tell me how good he was at 22?
Kt, both he and Theo are switching flanks these days, haven’t really seen that happen since Freddie and Bobby….
K-tr7 good point on discipline of Gerv, now we have width, dynamicity which compensate our loss in midfield magic and vision of Cesc and Nasri. Maybe we could have seen much improved Arsenal if one of Cesc/Nasri was taking the playmaking positions.
Rico, wearing the leotard as well i hope?
And banging out ‘I want to break free’….
Just like Eastenders…..
That reference to Theo always makes me laugh Osi, it’s just unreal – on his day, I bet any club in England and abroad would love him in their side….
Wenger’s running out of superlatives to describe VP form and skills. He just repeats ‘outstanding’ all the time.
Careful now………dont you ever take the micky out of Freddie Mercury. I still love him……even after he was taken away twenty years ago next Thursday.
Those were the days……!!!!!!!!
rico they even mentioned few weeks ago Chelsea coming in for him as well as Milan , Juv. Brainless clubs!
Chris waddle will always be a better pop singer than theo walcott.
I watched that too AK, wasn’t it so so funny and so good… Credit where it’s due, the Eastenders cast always come up trumps on Pudsey day…..
I still have my bloomers on from last night, did you spot me 😉
Looking at some of your comments about RVP, although he has scored many goals this season and some are saying we are a one man team and we would fall apart if he should leave. I would just like to point out that this Arsenal team is making many many chances, we are only taking a small percentage of these chances and they are being taken by Robin,we are in danger of believing that if he is not there we will crumble, we wont, as usually happens the media is building Robin up as a superstar, they will be hoping that a big offer comes in for him. I think its important to remember that we still at times look vulnerable at the back, i see comments about how good Santos is going forward, but he is bloody hopless at getting back we need a replacement for him and we need it as soon as posible,We need to get our other young strikers comeing on as subs to give them confidence and hopfully a few goals dont leave it till robin gets injured or sold, they should be playing now.
DG, you and me both, that Break Free video was one of the best, a great man, a great group and i’ll never forget him…..
Micko, Waddle wasn’t even that good a footballer, let alone singer 😉
Fat lardy that he is these days……
Mick lol, I think that Waddle criticism benefited Walcott, he maybe thought that his skills are good and but he should think more about the variations in the way he deals with defenders. He used to run like headless chicken to be honest in his early formative years, but since the beginning of this year he thinks much more about how he should get rid of the defender rather just running. Now he stops, faints, runs and changes directions constantly which is much more unpredictable for defenders.
Damn Rico, i must have missed ya…..
But i did see KT in his shorts…. 8)
Too many deep fried mars bars.
StevePalmer agree that media wants to deprive us from the best striker in the country. Vp is extremely talented and doing a great job for us at the moment, but i don’t think that we’re one man team. No team is a one man team anyway. We have TV, Kos, Gerv, Walcott and Song who are all very good players in their positions. I think Gerv and to a lesser extend Walcott can play as strikers if VP is injured.
Steve – i don’t think we are a one man team, not in the slightest – we play a forward three with him in the middle, scoring goals is his job and he’s doing what he gets paid fot….
The ruthless side of me says, about time too, we have carried him over the years through his injuries, now it’s payback time.
I think i said the other day, should he get injured, i am positive someone will step their game up, just like Chamakh did when he was all we had up front…
Maybe the whole team find him to score because they want him to smash Shearers record….?
ok, for me Gervinho is a fantastic player. He has his eyes in the goal. He dribbling forward. He plays on the right and on the left. He shoots with boot foot. He is a faster player. He didn’t score goals yet? But he tries and they will comming soon. Unfortunately, he usually must be replace because his physical conditions, probably because the way he is playing, decrease in the middle of the second half.
Unfortunately, we have another Diaby in the squad: Gibbs. He is young and, maybe since three years ago, he spends 2/3 of the season out. I was talking about Santos yesterday and I maintain the same opinion since the first day. : strong in the one-to-one, technicla very good, good ahead but with mant problems in face a faster winger.
For me, the fist priorit in January is a midfield. With wilshere out, Diaby 8/9 of the season out, we have only Arteta,Ramsey and Rosicky. Too short..
In other point of view, next year we will see the return in CL of a European monster: Juventus.
Just thought i’d mention it, but at the moment he is shit hot.
Chelsea-Liverpool on-line
The injury to Benik Afobe, late September, keeping him out for 4 months has a certain symmetry with last seasons injury to Frimpong.
In that i think that Wenger had him earmarked for a role in the senior squad.
Think of how good Frimpong might have been now with 12 months of 1st team involvement behind him?
Likewise Afobe, who has missed out on Carling Cup exposure as well as possible run-outs from the bench in the EPL.
Conor Henderson also fall into that catagory….
JM, you are preaching to the converted re gerv, he just needs to hone in on his killer instinct and he’ll be a fantastic player for us.
As for santos he just needs to cut out the pasta dishes between meals.
AK, i am so dissapointed 😉
Micko, I thought that was someone else who over did the deep fried mars bars… sideways 😳
My prediction is that Sanchez Watt is very very close to being on the bench…..
Don’t worry Rico, i have it taped.
I shall study it intensely and look out for the bloomers with an Arsenal badge on them… 🙂
Do Watt????
A very good call btw…
Not heared a lot about Miquel i quite liked him, anybody heard anything
The real reason why M.City is in the top: 😉
David Platt became an England hero and Serie A star despite the disappointment of being shown the door by his first club as a youngster.
Platt went to Old Trafford after leaving school in 1982 only to be given a free transfer in a cost-cutting move in January 1985, joining Fourth Division club Crewe.
But determined David bounced back from this early blow to such an extent that he became one of the best-known players in Europe and a mainstay of his country’s midfield.
Under Dario Gradi’s guidance at Crewe he established himself as a strong-running, goal-scoring midfielder, and in 1988 signed for Graham Taylor’s Aston Villa.
In his first season at Villa Park he helped the club achieve promotion to the First Division, and was PFA Player of the Year as Villa finished runners-up in 1989-90.
Then came a love affair with Italy, and spells with Bari – who he joined in 1991 – Juventus, where he won the 1993 UEFA Cup, and Sven Goran Eriksson’s Sampdoria, where he won the Coppa Italia in 1994.
He returned to England with Arsenal in 1995, winning the Double in 1995 and heading a memorable late winner against rivals Manchester United to stay in the title race.
Platt’s 62-cap England career began with a friendly against Italy in 1989 but took off when he came off the bench in extra time for a 1990 World Cup winner against Belgium.
He scored again in a 3-2 quarter-final win against Cameroon, and while England lost their semi-final to Germany, he crowned a fine tournament by scoring in the third-place play-off with Italy.
Platt, an England fixture under Taylor and then Terry Venables, scored 37 international goals and was in the side again pipped in a penalty shoot-out by Germany in Euro 1996.
After leaving Arsenal in 1998, he returned to Sampdoria briefly as manager. He took charge of Nottingham Forest before becoming England Under-21 manager in July 2001, qualifying for the 2002 European Championships
Blimey, i missed something there……..
Did any of you realise that Arsenal won the Double in 1995..?
I must have been abroad…
JM, you been on the pina coladas again… 😀
What we want, is a really hard, physical and dirty game at Stamford Bridge.
Plenty of yellow cards.
Maybe a couple of reds.
And a draw…
Double in 1995????? Oh God. I must have missed something during that year. Must ‘ave been all those Irish lasses I was after during that year. ye’ know mates, your lasses always occupy your time.
C’est la vie. Cant even find it on youtube.
Why Luis hasn’t a red card? He must be sent off! Of course he plays for Chelsea…
1-0 chelsea
sorry, mistake 🙂
0-0 JM. its not
hehe……even the commentator thought it was a goal
Sanchez Watt might be given a chance against Manchester Arabs in the Carling Cup?
A tough assignment, but if he’s to have a future at Arsenal, he has to cope with it.
JM, you’ve definately been on the veno hombre….
Either that, or too much arroz doce…. 😉
Is the match we are seeing ping pong between the goalies????
😆 AK
watt is on fire for the reserves, he could just be the reason why Wenger won’t buy a striker in jan….
Platt is a turn coat….. hate him these days
Platt was never a favourite of mine. I even used to hate him in an Arsenal shirt, let alone now.
You know Rico, i’m sure a few of these young guys get into the Arsenal reserves, maybe get a loan and mentally ease up.
We saw that with JET and he’ll wake up and realise his mistake when he’s 26 or 27.
Some like Bentley never seem to learn.
But possibly Watt has had a re-think and got his head down and worked at his game?
As you say, the reason Wenger won’t buy a striker in January: Watt, Afobe, Campbell and even Wellington?
And who knows, Vela might come back.
But not Pinky Boots!
Ah the Scousers have picked the Chavs pocket… 😀
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15806602.stm
Referee attempts suicide……
http://www.insidefutbol.com/2011/11/19/arsenal-juventus-and-napoli-in-three-way-patrick-herrmann-transfer-tussle/53007/
KT, ok mate, get your long-johns on, and tell me what you know about this guy?
Nor mine DG, poser that he was….
Agree AK, maybe Watt realised that when at Leeds, maybe he thought, this isn’t for me, so pulled his socks up and has since grown some…
JET – great talent, stinky attitude…..
Can we re-apply for a permit for Campbell, isn’t it one a year??
Not Sure about the rules Rico?
He had enough appearances for Costa Rica to have been granted his work-permit.
If it had been ManUre applying, methinks he’d be plying his trade in England now.
Arsenal had to wait for Vela.
Did the Mancs have to wait for Hernandez?
Or those two flakey brazillian full-backs???
Double standards…
Only two yellow cards at the Bridge, hmm that’s not enough.
Luiz to get a red anyone?
Chavs are a team on the slipery slope downwards….
Villas Boaas or whatever his name is will be out before january… 😉
Agree AK, we don’t get favoured the way they do…. Lets hope we get Campbell sorted in Jan….
But, we still need a goal scorer who is used to the PL, I’d be happy with Anelka if i’m honest, just for five months….
We don’t want Luiz off just yet, wait until 91 mins with the score level… Then the ref can send who he wants off….
Do you appreciate arooz doce Allez? rico and devil sure 🙂
Next sunday Liverpool-M.City
Tottenham play tomorrow isn’t it?
It is JM, we need a big Villa win tomorrow..
What is arooz doce?? A draw??
JM, mio hombre, i usually have a large dish of arroz doce after a large plate of bacalhau and a cup of cha… 😀 😆
Rico, it’s rice pudding…. 🙂
😆 i didn’t know that, i like rice pudding, with seedless strawberry jam, or even more, semolina 😉
bacalhau – has to mean Chips 🙂
The Chavs are getting nothing from the ref, welcome to our world eh….
I did read that ref story earlier AK, horrid eh….
rico: arroz doce is a sweet (rice,milk,sugar,cinnamon). It’s a traditional Portuguese dish but also in Thailand. Everyone likes…
The German international Marco Reus, 22, has come under fire from Bayern Munich. This interest was confirmed by the chairman of the board of directors of the club, in an interview published today in “Welt am Sonntag”.
“It is one of the most interesting talents. In the long run, could give us higher quality, “said Karlheinz Rummenigge on the average Borussia Monchengladbach.
For Rummenigge, the output of the player for Bayern might also represent a leap in the career of the player: “It’s not only money but also to give adequate guidance to their career. When you have an offer for a big club, you should study it. “
Hoorah, 1-1….
Sounds rather nice JM 🙂
Good play by Malouda there….
We could get Reus then with the right offer 😉
rico: If you like cakes and sweets, the best country is Portugal.
I’m a savoury girl JM, but don’t mind the odd sweet thing…. but not too much, it’s not good for a girls hips 😉
Check your in-box Rico 😉
rice Pudding = Arroz Doce
ingredients:
1.5 l of milk
1 cinnamon stick
1 lemon peel
180g rice
2DL water
150g sugar
40g margarine
salt and cinnamon
preparation:
Put the milk on the stove with the cinnamon stick and lemon peel and simmer.
Put the rice in a saucepan, cover with water and season with a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer until water evaporates.
Go adding the hot milk little by little, as the rice is absorbing, always keeping a low heat, stirring occasionally.
When the milk away and rice is fluffy, add sugar and stir, simmer for a while about 2 or 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and add margarine.
Place in a deep dish or in individual bowls. Garnish with cinnamon
I would love to see Reus in an Arsenal shirt.
He reminds me of Ljungberg.
Off to do some grub….
Hey JM, what’s Portugese for sausages?
Never ask for a torres at subway, its the most expensive sub they do !
Will do AK and I will definately make try that recipe JM, thank you…..
AK, i can tell you the english content 😉
Micko 😆 and he’s worth how much, what a joke….
Sausages? Very traditional and we have diffrent kinds if them
2-1 the dippers…… 🙁
Quorn for me JM 😉
That was not a good result but, if the Chavs carry on this way it won’t mata so much 😉
Bet he wishes he’d signed for us now 😉
Off to get dinner, back in a bit….
Hiddinck in the Chavs job by the New Year….
4 teams on 22 points, but if the scummers win their 2 games in hand, they go 1 point behind ManUre…
A scenario that’ll give me nightmares… 😈
http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/call-collymore/blog/2011-11-20/auclair-everything-isnt-rosy-between-wenger-and-arsenal-board
http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/1297/16/wenger-i%E2%80%99m-committed-arsenal
Scummers will drop points AK. The thing is that there is already a 7 point gap between us and the team behind us. good. Now we need to go up one place at a time. As it is we are only 7 pts behing the mancs. And that is not surmountable.
http://www.arsenalnews.co.uk/arsenal-ready-to-make-20m-bid-for-german-striker-podolski/link/102340/
Hope this one has legs DG
Seems as if Bunjaku is doing all he can to earn a place in the carling cup!!!
http://www.arsenalnews.co.uk/another-left-back-legend-in-the-making/link/102338/
This one is for Osi and KT
http://www.arsenalnews.co.uk/vans-the-man-but-should-chamakhattack-start-against-dortmund/link/102333/
Discuss?
Hopefully yes…..since I like Podolski a lot. Can we bid for a front line of Podolski, Reus and Gotze??? And then keep only Theo, RVP and Gervinho. Sell the others like AA, Bendtner, Chamack and Park. Yes even him. An attack like that will give many managers sleepless nights. Then get M’Vila or Capoue and sell Diaby, Rosicky and Denilson.
If only it was that simple!!!!
Bunjaku is a very very good young player.
But i think, DG, that the Carling Cup this year, is a year too soon.
We have to give Aneke and Ozyakup some exposure first.
And as Rico said, Watt could get a run-out after his recent run of goals.
Yes DG, it’s a gradual job of reeling them in mate.
We’ve caught up Chelsea and Liverpool, next is the Scum and ultimately ManUre, it’s do-able.
Boo….
Blimey DG, you spent too much time of that football manager game… 😆
Podolski would be great, not sure about £20m though.
Reus and Capoue are get-able.
Those sausages were great Rico… 😀
AK, re Chamakh, NO – Park maybe but not Chamakh….
Evening u lot……….
We made hard work of beating shit yesterday, yet another example of being able to up the goal difference and we failed dismally….! flattering to deceive me thinks…!
Killer instinct sadly missing and thank fuck for Robin seeing as the rest couldn’t hit the back of a barn door…!
I’m starting working… Bilbau won 🙂
As for the excuses for Gervinho missing open goals when going round the keeper are quite frankly pathetic… you may need months to get used to a new league and the physicality and the speed etc etc but class should show through when your one on one with the keeper and to go round the keeper and shoot back at him is awful, some of his decision making is a kin to Theo and we all know the grief he’s taken the last year or so…! For me Gervinho gives us an option wide with pace maybe so but his final ball is lacking and his finishing is two bob..!
I knew you would say that AK, talking of sausages….
Evening Wath – Gervinho has impressed you then 😉
I think you are being a tad harsh Wath…. Robin missed a couple of easy ones yesterday…. It was just one of those days…..
About as much as Santos’s defending Rico…………
A decent right winger will rip him a new one, his position sense is zero his reading of the game is zero and yet he’s good going forward and thats excactly what we dont need… we need a solid defender simple, he isn’t that in a month of sundays…!
Not exactly AK. Not Soccer Manager game. Its that I study some players for the simple reason that when I coach I have a certain philosophy which gives me aims and objectives on which to plan my sessions. And the first thing I think about is balance and speed. And one thing which many fail to see in RVP is that he is playing exactly like Sandor Kocsis of Hungary in the fifties….the retired centreforward. Although he is scoring a lot this type of centreforward relies mainly on having two winger strikers with speed. RVP does not have speed but he plays the tactical game so intelligently that he gets others into play and manages to score the goals himself. He is the hub of it all. The above six combo I suggested offers all that.
Name me what RVP missed Rico, one on his right foot which came to him very quickly..????? the first goal was only because Gervinho was trying to be a smart arse with a fancy flick in front of goal instead of doing the basics… he totally f’ked it up and the ball luckilly went to RVP who tapped in with his right foot…!
Agree re Santos Wath, i said similar earlier…
I have slept since the game – how can i recall now but, Robin said himself that he missed a couple of easy chances and he would go and work on it 😉
You grumpy tonight 😉
Maybe Robin was taking the pee out of the interviewer….
I’m off guys, got Strictly and X-factor then the jungle….
Nighty night all and stay safe…
Robin scored two though Rico, whats the excuses from the rest…?? Robin is critical thats all and for me he missed only one chance but it fell to him quickly, what if he stuffed the two goal chances up…? did anyone else step up when we created 23 chances to score…? pathetic Rico simpe as that…!
New Post up…
I consider myself told Wath 😉