Morning all.
Was that perfect Arsene?
Perfect? You always have imperfections in any game but I feel we started with a great intensity, which is what we wanted to put them under pressure. We created some early chances after and then when we relieved the pressure they had one or two chances. Liverpool are a good side going forwards and they always look dangerous. We had a killing instinct and took advantage of our strong moments in the first half. In fairness we played at a good pace and had some good combination game in the final third. The second half was more down to, can we maintain the discipline, intensity and not allow them to come back early? We did that. We had many chances on the break that I’ve seen again but in the end it was 4-1 which is very convincing in a very important game.
Arsene Wenger is right, it wasn’t perfect.
Had it been, Arsenal would have pretty much killed the game off within the first ten/fifteen minutes…
Perfection would have seen Ospina push their penalty kick around the post instead of the ball somehow finding its way into the back of the net.
Perfection would have seen Arsenal win by much a higher scoreline…
And to be honest, had we done so it would have been utterly deserved!
But how often does a football side play perfect football? Not often if ever I’d say but what happened yesterday was pretty darn good.
We came out if the blocks with a purpose but after that opening phase we wilted a bit and the Dippers came into the game but apart from one really good chance which Sterling couldn’t get on the end of of, they were reduced to long shots and hopeful ones at best. Yes their was a bit of ping pong defending at times from us but it worked and we didn’t concede…
Then like buses, bang, three goals came in quick succession… Eight minutes to be precise…….
It’s all too easy for Brenda and others to suggest the Dippers defending was woeful but our boys still had to find the back of the net…
Hector Bellerin opened the scoring with a superb left footed curler, Mesut Ozil made it 2-0 with a free kick which really was perfect. Inch perfect and then Alexis hit a rasper which gave Mignolet no chance….
Stunning stuff! It really was and even I felt no need worry if I’d fit behind the sofa…..
Ollie nearly made it 4-0 just after the break, but Mignolet somehow kept out his bullet header. The cross from Mesut Ozil was perfection yet again….
The Dippers enjoyed a bit of second half possession but again, shots from long distance didn’t trouble David Ospina. Raheem Sterling took a dive in desperation to win his side a penalty and a lifeline but Anthony Taylor was having none of it, although later it the game he didn’t hesitate to penalise Bellerin for a tackle on the same player in the box. I was surprised that our young right back wasn’t shown a second yellow card. 3-1 it was….
Emre Can was shown a second yellow towards the end of the match and subsequently received his marching orders. Brenda said he slipped on the soggy grass! Tit!
I wanted us to rip them apart good and proper then but it wasn’t to be…
We had to settle for 4-1 after Ollie rounded off a great Saturday with a fantastic left footed curler into the back of the net which Mignolet could do bugger all about….
What a great result and a darn good performance and all after a 12.45 kick-off. Just a shame Aaron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny suffered injuries…
Bit of gossip from this mornings papers:
Arsenal could snap up Yohan Cabaye for £10 million this summer according to The Mirror.
Kevin Wimmer – who has apparently agreed a move to our neighbours might need to have a re-think as The Star is one of a number of newspapers which suggest Arsene Wenger is ready to make an offer for the Cologne defender and gazump any deal agreed with Toots.
Easter Day so go break those eggs and enjoy…
Eggcellent post Rico I know I’ll get my coat. 🙂
🙂 Joe..
It’s busier on here when we’ve been beaten… 😉
Now there’s a surprise Rico it’s hard to say anything negative when we are in the run we are in.
We could always talk about Flamini Joe… 😉
Just seen Joey Barton get mullered by a forearm smash not entirely dissimilar to the one that Cesc got from Charlie Adam. One red card, one unnoticed.
My day has brightened even more Adam…. 😉
Rico we’d run out of things to say very quickly by the way is Gabriel getting better looking every time he plays. 😉 or is it just me.
I agree Rico. Barton is a totally despicable creature.
Oh I don’t know Joe, he’s awful…
He sure is Adam. Reap what you sow eh….
Happy Easter Gooners…
Happy Easter Rico
Adam should have been off before he scored that incredible goal.
Cabaye is a good player, no doubt about that, but £10 million for a 29 year old on top of wages, and a 3/4 year contract…?
Can’t see it happening, well not for £10m…
Adam has a face, only his mother could love…
That’s Adam of Stoke btw…, 😉
Hi Kev. Cabaye is a nasty little f..ker too. Someone with a bit more height might be nice.
Good morning rico and all,
Great result yesterday and superb goals as well..
I am not a big fan of p Morgan, but I thought he made few valid points, though I disagree with the way he went on attacking wenger and the club..
I thought he could have made his points in a more subtle way without being a knob..
I, like many arsenal fans didn’t like what wenger was doing at the start of the season..
His failure to address the recurring defence problems and the disastrous gung ho style..
His negligence to sign a proper centre back in the summer cost us the league imo..
How many years have we been saying we need a proper defensive midfielder..
His insistence of playing sanago in vital games, as someone here said we all have better chance to make at arsenal than him..
I personally gave up on wenger changing his stubborn mind, but I am glad that I have been proved wrong.
Now the team looked more balanced with Le coq doing a fantastic job, and we have a decent back up in every position..
If that happened at the start of the season we would be talking about the double..
If only..
Happy easter
Happy Easter to you too Kev…
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain should be back for Burnley…
Not read anything on Ramsey or Koscielny.
I expect it was just precautionary to take them off. They should both be ok for the visit to Turf Moor….
Morning Judge.
Morgan does like the sound of his own voice but as you say, a lot of what he says makes sense, he just goes about things the wrong way…
Our first half of the season really did us. Too many draws against ‘lesser’ sides, had we won just three of those we’d be top of the league… 🙁
Just to clear up my 11.57, the Adam I know-has a handsome, film star boat race… 😀
Kev. Thank you darling. 🙂
Adam 😆
You been drinking already this morning Kev…? 😉
Afternoon. Have to say last night,s motd had to be one of the best I,ve seen purely for great goals and equally great saves.it was a joy to watch. Rico, I think that ship has sailed with Cabaye. Wenger rarely goes back in for a player he,s been after. Too stubborn for his own good. I was gutted when Chelsea got that winning goal, What a f—k up from Begovic that lead to it. sick.
Only tea Rico… 😛
Chelsea, in footballing terms were rather unimpressive and quite lucky that they were handed a goal.
Afternoon Dublin. Agree re Cabaye – can’t see us going for him and as Kev said, he’s getting on a bit now..
Cabaye I mean, not Kev…. lol
Quite right Judge , the early season has cost us the title , I see certain sites are giving Wenger the credit for keeping Coquelin hidden until we really had our backs to the wall and claiming it to be all part of his master plan. In sport luck plays a large part , Wenger got lucky , Le Coq got lucky and grabbed his chance. Arsenal got lucky and logic tells us that had that particular deficiency been addressed earlier we would be seen as even luckier now.
We should offer Liverpool Walcott and a few million for Raheem, Just a thought.
Happy Easter all you Bucks and Does (sorry Devil)
Marvellous result and totally deserved. Powerful forward display combined with some thoughtful safety first when defending, well, there were a couple of first half lapses but, we got away with them!
In bits this team produced football that was reminiscent of an earlier era and, great to watch it was!
If this is the ‘new order’ at Arsenal give me more of it! Could watch the first half display over and over again. The second half was less gung ho and perhaps not so bad as we had already won and it would have been a travesty to let the result slip from our grasp! Wenger has got his crown back and long may it remain on his head! I hope he has learned the lesson of not stocking up with the right players at the start of the season and realises that the reason we will not win the EPL this year is entirely down to his lack of thorough squad preparation earlier. But that aside we are superb at present and I for one am very happy with the current situation.
The king is still alive. Long live the king!
Adamant
Howdy folks… happy Easter. I thought we looked imperious out there. With costa out of the season who knows….maybe just maybe. The dream is on. Come on you gunners.
Goonster
If only Hazzard got his head caught in some industrial machinery.
Hullo all gooners in residence……… the best Easter gift…. I like it when the likes of M Owen and Co swallow their sh*t…. why is that guy even still on TV????? loser throughout…… left Liverfool to look for Champs ligue trophy in Madrid only for his dipper team to win it that very year…. hahahahaha
Hi Rico
Happy Easter to you all Lovelies and Hunkies.
why sorry Wavy??? keep the bucks and does. it makes more entertaining greetings than just a plain greeting. It gives our comments an identity. So i look forward to seeing more greetings with Bucks and Does.
I did enjoy seeing the downcast faces of the dipper supporters this morning. I resisted the urge to rub it in, preferring to say just hello. Well if they were expecting me to say something, then they were fried with their own cooking oil. I said nothing and if they had a retort ready they had to swallow it back. lol
talk about killing them softly.
all goals yesterday were quality goals.
For me??? the quality goal??? Ask Ginge. He knows. 😀
Exactly Potter… Had Ramsey and Arteta not suffered injury, Coquelin would be playing somewhere else….
Rico. Kismet?
Wavy , I hope the realisation has dawned on him that the summer break is the time to take stock and improve the squad . January is about patching problems , This summer we need at least 2 maybe 3 players to freshen the squad if it means that aging or fringe players have to go,. so be it . We still need a defensive minded midfielder to give Coq a bit of competition and if the Pole in goal leaves another keeper. It is time for proactivity , time to go for the league title and if we do , who knows what else might come along with it.?
Great match report Rico. i enjoyed reading it. relived the game in a few minutes much better than seeing match of the day.
Football is like that Rico. Had Arteta etc not been injured Coq would have been elsewhere by now. But fate took over. And heralded the beginning of a new dawn…..a red dawn. And the sun rises.
wow Madrid beat Granada ,match just finished 9-1, Ronaldo hit 5. a Hat-trick in 8 mins, some going.
Look at how much better we play without the English contingency no walnutt,no gibbs,no wilshire,no oxlade and welbeck only peripheral.Food for thought,
Happy Easter!
Cabaye? Why he didn’t played for PSG? Strange… and now he is getting older.
Why not Schnerderling?
Lacazzette is fantatic… He is a new “Henry”… (he is also from Martinique…)
Good post rico after a wonderful day. Loved seeing the pundits with their charts showing Liverpool failing against the other top 5 teams. League Wins against shitty and pool and suddenly we have that tag off our back. Not to mention the great away cup win after the worst possible draw. Shame season isn’t starting now, but a cup final and not having to pre-qualify for Champs League is far exceeding most of our expectations at Xmas.
Yes Rico, in football terms Cabaye in nearing his pension book…
As for the other matter, we shall pass over it I think… 🙂
As good as Cabaye was at Newcastle, and he is still a decent footballer, surely Arsenal are beyond the bargain basement end of the transfer market now?!
For me, it has to be Schneiderlin, and if it costs £25m then so be it…
I wonder how serious Szczesny’s injury is and is it the end of his season?
Unless his absence yesterday was for disciplinary reasons again???
Just saying.
how are you Kev??? we are all ok.
I had the same feeling on Ches. maybe its curtains for him as well. as Theo.
If Ospina plays in the FA cup S/F then its clear cut that DA will be no1 next season.
How’s things Coach?
It’s quite a big day on your Island I believe…
Yep, I’m ok. Working as usual, but the sun is shining and it’s been surprisingly busy.
If I was as wealthy as Adam and Lee I could have had the day off, but there ya go.
Szczesny, yeah, just thought it’s possible that WS has gobbed off inside the club and AW has left him out altogether…
£10m is a lot of money for Petr Cech, but I’d get him if it’s at all possible…
He would give our defence such fantastic confidence.
Mourinho would be certain to try and ensure that Cech moves abroad, but if PC digs his heels in, we might get him…
Pat Jennings was the same age as Cech, and he didn’t do too bad…
Afternoon all. Thanks re the earlier comments on the post…
What a lovely day, Spring is here, lovely walk with Fido, garden all tidied and the Totts could only manage a draw…
Happy days…. 🙂
Few headlines suggest £100k a week for Theo to sign and he will….
Excellent read…
I see I can never convince the HH about cabaye so no comment on him…
Anyway its unlikely to happen… he has been injured this season and has found himself behind rabiot…
Lol… it always makes my day when my shite-hart lane neighbour goes inconspicuous when his team loses and misses out on making the coveted 4th spot…
Thanks Ts. The Cabaye ship has long sailed imo.. If AW really wanted him, he’d have signed him before he went off to France….
Jm- Did you watch the bvb vs Fc muchen game yesterday.
I see Gustavo and Josuha axis for wolfsburg is going to guarantee them 2nd spot in the bundesliga.
Kev- your boy Bender was awesome for B04 yesterday.
We got to get Kramer though… what a player!
I concur rico
Morgan would do me Ts….. I thought height was must and I still think we miss that but Coquelin has proved that if a player is good enough to do the job in midfield, maybe height isn’t such a big issue….
I guess when we were at our best, we had a tall and strong midfield…. And that sticks…
We missed Giroud not just up front for the goals he would have scored but his height in defense he is very good at clearing free kicks and corners.
Agree Joe…
lol
Dear Sirs:
We are planning to stay in a luxury hotel in Athens, near the Acropolis.
We have a special concern. That is that I snore. Quite loudly that my wife cannot comfortably sleep in the same room.
She seems to feel that my snoring is my response to the steady, constant, surging avalanche of aggravation that she relentlessly heaps upon me. I do not think that this is so, and I often wonder how she could foster such a view.
We often attempt to find hotel accommodations that feature a separate room, such as a suite.
Or, if a hotel room features just a foyer area with a couch. But it must have a door that can be closed to separate it from her sleeping chamber.
In the past, we have found a room with a large enough bathroom to fit an inflatable twin mattress on the floor.
On other occasions when we cruise, we book an outside veranda cabin, and I sleep on the veranda. Can you fathom the depth of my devotion to my lil’ princess?
If no veranda is available, we sleep in shifts. Every night, I am exiled to the ship’s library or to wander about until she rises at six a.m. Then I am allowed to come back to the cabin and sleep for a couple hours, while she takes the “royal” shower and stomps around getting coffee and room service. The ship’s crew actually put a pillow and blanket on the reclining chair in the library for me. They must think that I was thrown out.
It is difficult to determine which hotels feature rooms such as suites. Or whether their regular rooms might be large enough to accommodate this type of privacy constraint.
I have found many 5 star hotels that feature extra separate rooms that do not appear as suites. How can one know?
We have thought of booking two separate hotel rooms, but that is costly. I would rather find a larger full luxury room and camp out on my inflatable air mattress in an adjoining room (even a bathroom).
I hope that you can help us.
Let us know if you have accommodations for us?
Thank you for your prompt attention,
Sincerely,
I have no idea what that’s about Ts… Lol
I’m off guys, Vera is calling….
Night all….
nite.lol
With expression of confusion on face tsgh what?
Nite Rico.
Joe. I copied that from tripadvisor.
someone posted that to the attention of a hotel manager. Lmfao
Oh now it makes sence to me it’s a good site and helps when choosing some where to stay.
Morning all..
Today I shall mainly be supporting Crystal Palace…. 😉
And eating chocolate…..
Me too Rico…….
Good Morning Lovelies and Hunkies.
I am still smiling from ear to ear and having a smug grin. but I have not yet thumped any dipper or given them a pasting and they are still waiting for it……and trying to hide. Oh well…..I am relishing not talking to them and seeing them swallowing it back.
ahhhhhh …….and I saw this this morning……
Would be great if they get get something from their game Snap..
Nice to see Carragher finally praise Ozil Devil…
Good Morning Lady.
of course it is nice. unlike Owen……who is still burying his head in the sand. So first he says that Sterling is better than Ozil. Let us assume he is right. So how the hell does he do a Uturn and say that probably he will not get game time with this Arsenal side??? if he is better he will play I presume.
Just some news for Michael Owen Sterling is not as good as the Ox.
Morning all
Morning Rico and all. Carragher made himself look a complete dickhead yesterday after the Sunderland v Newcastle game. His whole schtick criticising Tim Krul reminded my of that other Neanderthal Phil Neville saying he would “two-foot” Cazorla after he chipped in a penalty as it had offended the Neville sense of football ‘fair play’. Yes, the same Neville who had so ruthlessly kicked Reyes off the pitch with the consent of Mike Riley. The same Neville who was totally not offended when horse-face punched Freddie full in the stomach or when Scholes had gone over the top for the umpteenth time. The same ugly bastard who had dealt out pain throughout his career. What a totally hypocrital, imbecilic caveman.
Yesterday it took Quinn to put Carragher (obviously still smarting from the Scouse humiliation) in his place. The level of football punditry is really reaching rock bottom and for the amount these bloody companies charge us, we deserve a lot better than the ravings from a never-ending stream of complete knobs, cretins and morons like Neville, Carragher, Owen, Savage etc. I don’t like Piers Morgan but the way he slaughtered Owen in a clip I just watched was rather good.
Happy Easter.
Morning Devil, Snap, Joe and Adam…
I thought it was Carragher who said Sterling would only make our bench?
What did Quinn say Adam?
Rico. Carragher was really, really offended by Tim Krul having an exchange with Defoe at half time. Despite obviously not knowing what was said. He really could not bear the fact that they shook hands and smiled. There was all the old Northern hard man stuff about him not standing for it and the way that he maintained a level of high aggression toward his opponents until a begrudging handshake after the game.
Quinn was rather more considered and dare I say, human, about the whole thing and said that he couldn’t see any reason why players should behave like crazed lunatics toward each other and that Goalkeepers were ‘different’ anyway. It reminded me of the way that a pundit’s career somehow washes away the sins of a previous life as a player. When I think of Carragher, the footballer, I see him being either outpaced by Henry or continually dragging players down in the penalty area. When I see him as a pundit I think that I can only understand one word in five and that he is a total plank who should consider himself lucky to have that job. Which brings me to my original point concerning how awfully low intellectual level of comment is, as the availability of live football increases.
It will get worse too. I can’t wait for Joey Barton, football humanitarian and arbiter of fair play, to show up on our screens when he retires.
Just watched the Morgan video Adam, good on him and he’s spot on. Although we are not in the final yet… 😉
Adam. I haven’t got the time of day for Carragher or Owen – Redknapp at a push is ok but he too talks a load of trollop most times.
Thank heavens for Gary Neville and Henry eh… The other Neville talks rubbish too.
Good for Quinn though, about time someone put Carragher in his place…
I know Rico. Piers shoots from the hip and is rarely considered in his comments. This was, after all, the reason he got the sack from being a newspaper editor. But, the public seem to love a maverick and he has forged quite a career out of general knobishness.
It’s always a problem when, in a digital world, one makes rash and stupid pronouncements which then need to be constantly justified. I see nothing wrong with thinking that Wenger should leave when we were crap earlier in the season and thinking that he is doing well now. Two completely different situations to me but Piers is constantly reinventing the wheel on this one. If only he prefaced his opinions with the words “At the moment”.
Rico. Redknapp has inherited the trait of ‘going with the flow’ from his Dad. As long as there’s a few quid at the end of the line, he’ll stick it out and say what is expedient.
What is really needed is an impartial view of the game, like that expounded by Brudder Lee. Now, I would pay to watch that.
Morning all.
Joey Barton has or rather is doing his media apprenticeship on Radio 5 Live. He has been heard offering his Scouse opinions on various 7.00 pm shows. Needless to say most of his opinions are ill considered, not especially insightful and usually aggressive. But what do you expect when he’s lined up alongside Savage, an ex-footballer with a very small brain and, Clarridge another ex-footballer who has even less brain and worse doesn’t know how to keep to the point or shut up when other folk are speaking, even if it is Savage!
The quality of punditry is almost at Rock bottom. I blame their teachers myself. In that teachers take the blame and are responsible for all the sins in the world due to their general lack of understanding and inability to teach the ‘right things’ to the proletariat!
Wavy. Good morning and well said. I must confess that I didn’t know that Barton was already polluting the airwaves.
Saw Morgan’s put down of Owen and I am not ashamed to admit I enjoyed it I’d go as far to say I loved it this might make me a small man but I don’t care.
Now if Morgan would use he’s power for good instead of evil like he normally does.
🙂 Adam re Piers, as you know, I quite like him…
Have you by chance read KP’s book?
Morning Wavy, some of the todays pundits make Gray and Keys look good… 🙂
Seems to me that others, barring a few have followed their line of football commentary…
I quite like Savage though, he’s good entertainment even though what comes out of his mouth is rather odd….
New post up now..