Of course I am not talking about Arsenal, in fact not really even Braga but this morning I am sure many in the media will try and take the gloss off of our result last night by suggesting ‘Its only Braga’! You can only play the side you are up against and Braga as we know, have already seen off a couple of decent sides to progress into the group stages of the Champions League.
What we did last night was simply awesome for every Arsenal fan watching, whether at The Emirates or at home. It was a great team performance led by our little captain Cesc Fabregas. From Almunia through to Chamakh, every player did their job and did it well.
So this was our ‘squad’ for the game…
Manuel Almunia
Bacary Sagna
Laurent Koscielny
Sebastien Squillaci
Gael Clichy
Cesc Fabregas
Alex Song
Samir Nasri
Jack Wilshere
Andrey Arshavin
Marouane Chamakh
Substitutes
Lukasz Fabianski
Johan Djourou
Emmanuel Eboue
Kieran Gibbs
Tomas Rosicky
Denilson
Carlos Vela
Changes were made from the side that faced Bolton, Sagna and Clichy returned in place of Eboue and Gibbs and Nasri made his return from injury, replacing Tomas Rosicky.
We came flying out the traps, all guns blazing and you just knew it wouldn’t be too long before the ball was in the net. In fact it could very well have been earlier than it was had the referee given a penalty for a clumsy tackle on Cesc just inside the area. Very soon after though, we did get a penalty. Chamakh had made a run down the left which Cesc spotted and played the perfect pass. Chamakh drove towards goal and was bundled down by the Braga keeper. Up steps Cesc Fabregas, 1-0.
Soon after Wilshere hit a shot from close range only for it to strike the keeper.
Braga then went on what would be one of very few attacks but caused very little concern for Almunia who saved with ease. We were comfortable and playing some lovely football when on 30 minutes, Cesc Fabregas showed just why we all believe he’s worth so much. He nipped passed a couple of the Braga defenders, passed an inch perfect ball to Arshavin who made no mistake with his shot, low and hard into the Braga goal, 2-0.
Within five minutes, it was Chamakhs turn to get on the score-sheet. Some fancy stuff between Wilshere, Arshavin and Chamakh ended up with the Moroccan tucking home his first for the night, 3-0. What a flick by Wilshere, this player is no longer a boy in the world of football, he is immense!
Half time came and went and within ten minutes of the restart the unusual sight was seen. Arshavin down the left, inch perfect pass to the far post and there was 2′ 6″ Cesc Fabregas jumping up to head home. 4-0 and I thought, surely this game is won now 😉
Cesc would have got his hat-trick but for last-ditch defending by Moises, it would have been his first one for the club too. The game was over, Braga were already beaten and mentally bruised, we had totally knocked the stuffing out of them.
With about half an hour to go, Wenger made his substitutions, no doubt already thinking about the trip to Sunderland at the weekend. Off came Song and Chamakh, on came Denilson and Vela.
If Braga were pleased, they shouldn’t have been, Vela scored at the weekend, he wanted more last night.
Shortly after the subs were on Arshavin hit the post and was then involved in our fifth goal. He played the perfect pass to Carlos Vela who scored a ‘typical Vela’ goal, 5-0.
The last goal was the ‘sweetest’ for me, Cesc Fabregas could have so easily got himself a hat-trick with six minutes left of the game, but no, he saw Carlos Vela in a better position and played for ball to him to slot home instead.
Game over, 6-0 and a great start to our Champions League journey and Mr Messi who reports say was in the crowd, must have been impressed. If he wants to play in the same side as Cesc Fabregas, just maybe he should think about signing for Arsenal…
Not too sure where he’d fit in though 😉
Have a great day all….
Morning all….
Nice post Rico
What a game managed to watch only the first half top stuff
Oh Cesc is back and he did it with ease
I will be on and off today
Morning Erick, thanks..
It was just wonderful on the eye, Cesc was awesome and better than ever and Jack is ready now, had it not been for the Cesc show, he would have been my MOTM 🙂
Morning Rico, Erick,
Nice post and what a performance. When you see who was on the pitch and more importantly who wasn’t it warms the cockles…
The balance looks good this year too. Defending isn’t only about the back five; it’s about midfield and the strikers taking the pressure by applying their own.
Happy bunny this morning 😆
Morning mike
It was top class, when you wath a game and at the end can’t think of any mistakes that stood out you just know they did well.
Squilli and Kos, were they on the pitch? They just dealt with anything so simply..
I’m a more happy bunny 😆
Loved the i/v with Almunia after the game…
Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
“Its only Braga..” they may say but as far as I’m concerned, any team playing in the Champions League didnt get there sitting on their arses and have the potentials of upsetting the opposition who may even have the best record in the competition. I couldnt care less if the media try to take the shine off our victory last night, we needed to make our mark and we did. Period.
How Rude of me….
Morning my dear comrades…. 😉
Hi Rico,
actually Almunia had to attend a wedding yesterday. That was his mum on the pitch, and you never noticed… 😆
well; it might just as well have been.
Morning T-buzz, spot on, at least we’ve heard of Braga, who did the Chavs concede a goal to 😉
😆 mike, i thought his voice was different…
Morning T-buzz,
Before the game I was nervous. Seville are a fine team, playing well, and Celtic are… well Celtic are Celtic 😆
I thought Braga would be the toughest in the group, and so it’s doubly impressive.
Same here mike, I wasn’t over confident either..
What was so impressive is the way the team started, so different from last season. We were out of the blocks and played football from the off, none of this taking twenty minutes to settle…
There is something about this seasons squad, most of the players are the same as last but they have changed imho
I think there has been a step-up in maturity, but it’s more than that.
Just as a gk needs a good back four in front of him to look good, a midfield needs a solid defence behind it to allow them to express themselves without having to constantly worry and look over their shoulders.
With our new and, let’s be honest,untried summer acquisitions we now have the security to give the team peace of mind. We didn’t have that last year. Sol, for all of his tactical nous was losing his legs, and you never knew when Gallas would go walkabout.
This year the whole thing looks more balanced and competent… I hope 😆
I think you are right, they have matured as men and footballers. Kos and Squilli look like they have always been at Arsenal and Chamakh is obviously very settled…
Well said MikeB
…and Almunia looks very much like his mum 😉
Sorry folks…
Born to blog; forced to work. 😆
Talk later
Catch up soon mike, have to think of a way to change that 😉
T-buzz, were you fussed when Gallas left??
Jackie-Boy was superb, Song (who I’m not so much a fan of) did well to distablise Braga’s mid-field, Cesc was Fab, Arseshavin gave the ball away too many times but made ammends with goal and assists,Nasri was ok, defence as a whole was solid, Almunia was at a wedding, Chamackh was everywhere…
What more can one ask for!
Morning all, great game Messi had a lot to see 😀 .
1 question is Braga better team then Hercules? 😛
Oi T what about Vela boy, he was clinical.
Things went Messi in Hackney Marsh
Who’s Gallas?
Yeah Stef,
The Smiling Mexican showed that he needs to be involved in more games this season and top marks for taking those goals cooly. Eboue (a.k.a Pass Master) could have gone on the score sheet too at some point. Denilson well, he’s gong to have to fight for a position and I hope for his sake he improves this season.
Hi Stef – Vela’s finishing is deadly…
good answer T-buzz 🙂
Didn’t take lomg did it..
Sky Sports – we all know arsenal can beat below par sides …..
Knob..!
Morning all.despite us playing so well the guardian had the nerve to write about defensive weaknesses.you just can’t win with some people.i said in my post yesterday to win the CL you need a balon d’or contender and cesc is in the zone right now.he looked so happy and as we all know the joy of cesc is devastating to opponents.AA had some poor passed but boy he is effective:a goal,two assists and hitting the woodwork.
Morning KTR7, how they can write about that after last night I’ll never know, did our defence have anything to do??
Like I said in my post, you can only play against the side you are up against, we did that and did it well…
T, Messi looked pretty scared 😀
`what they are on about?` sort of stuff…
About the guardian to bad we didn’t play Real Madrid every1 would of shut up when wi would of beat the Hell out of ’em.
Stef, he must have thought they were Arsenal fans ready to lynch him for all those Barca comments as per Fabregas!! lol
Rico i told you wilshere can be a mix of hleb/iniesta and last night’s game showed it.that backheel to chamakh was sumptous to say the least…madrid were really good rico.they had a staggering 35 shots:CR7(15),dimaria(8),higuain(8)…i must say özil may prove to be their best signing to date.if madrid add they killer touch,as mourinho put it,some poor team will pay for those misses.we have matured since we had 8 shots on target 6 of them being goals.
That Messi thing was crazy, i watched it live yesterday on sky sports, how they think the worlds best footballer can breeze in on his own and play footie with the kids without any problems is just stupid…
no security and he was vunerable…. that all could have gone very horribly wrong..
We did not have diaby,rvp10,theo,ramsey and Tv yesterday yet all we hear is how we lack depth.Almunia is looking confident as i’ve seen him.diaby is due back in training next week so good times…also look out for müller’s volley vs roma…technique at its prime.
Jack was outstanding KTR7, said earlier, but for cesc he would have stolen the show, i didn’t see any of the madrid game but those stats are impressive, i hope that team to suffer will be barca….
Boring! Boring! Arsenal! 🙂
We have a game every 3/4 days for the next 3/4 weeks, we are going to need all those back fit too…
Next up a tough trip to Sunderland…
Very boring Stef 😉
Rico my day can’t get any better…i have perfomed splendidly in my exams.oh to be a gooner!
Well done to you KTR7, have you just heard today??
Rico, I hope for a more boring games this season! 😀
When TV, TW and RVP return we will be unstoppable.
Stef, here here, certainly makes the transfer window seem a long time ago now, things are looking ok. Now we must go and get three points at Sunderland on Saturday ….
Rico i have just received my results.
Come on then KTR7, tell us what they are 🙂
Really chuffed for you 🙂
Congrats K-TR7, well done
Makes me feel old again, talking exam results 🙁
Maybe later rico but i was among the best…can we switch to footy now?hi tbuzz and thanks.
Yeah rico, stop making K-TR7 blush, i can feel my pc screen going all red already! 8)
I won’t say another word, just thought you wanted to share your news 😉
Slow old footie days, i reckon there are so many blogs out there nowadays everywhere just seems quiet…
Rico milan despite winning were not impressive.i also can’t but help to be amazed by özil and chamakh so far.thats transfer market value for you…
To be fair, I don’t think there are too many teams for us to really fear other than in spain and england…
Chamakh was especially good value…..
Tony Cascarino reckons we are a much better side, he didn’t think we would beat Blackburn… He thinks our big test will be when we come up against Chavs…
Rico it may be true but our ‘big test’ keeps on changing.we beat blackburn,it became bolton but now the chavs.i hope we stay grounded and we’ll surprise our critics…but am just so proud of wilshere.he joined us at 9, now he is a star in the CL.this must be how pool fans feel when they see carragher and gerrard who are locals perfoming on a weekly basis.how the tables have turned since i can see wilshere rested vs spurs in preparation for westbrom and partizan Belgrade.oh well denilson has been dislodged…
I thought it was quite a compliment really KTR7, what he’s saying is last seaon games like bolton and blackburn could be our downfall… the chavs and mancs literally tore us apart – we have overcome the first few tests very well, but he is right, how we play against the mancs and chavs will define our season…
The CC game will be interesting, I can see players like Denilson, Diaby (if fit) JD Gibbs, Eboue JET, Lansbury, Randall all playing… Hoping that Chesney plays in goal and not Flappy…
Bolton loan has really helped jack.you can see he is on the same wavelength with cesc and AA which is a testament to his ability.
I think it helped him to play football week in week out KTR7, but as Arsene says, ‘they didn’t teach him to play football’….
Rico, he sure didn’t learn to play, but I have to say he a better tackler now and lil bit rouge.
Maybe we should send Denilson on loan at a place like Bolton he may return as a better DM (not that I consider him as a DM).
Just a thought.
Denilson is one who should have gone out on loan 2/3 seasons ago Stef, can’t see it happening now, though I agree it would do him the world of good, i’d like him to go to sunderland, Brucie was a great defender and he could teach him a thing or two….
They also play some good football..
ohayo gozaimasu…did not get to see yesterday’s tie as it unfolded, but caught the highlights after i returned home from work. great performance and great start to the cl campaign – i hope the players stay grounded, as everything cannot reasonably be expected to go as well as they did last night. there will be tougher tests coming up, and we are only an injury or two away from crisis in a couple of positions.
that said, they did a great job last night and here is hoping they can continue that type of effort and form.
hi oliver,
for me it was about how the team started the game, we are so used to waiting for them to settle into thei stride and against the better sides we can be a goal or two down by then. last night there was none of that, we were straight ‘at them’ at pace and with accuracy…
yes there will be tougher tests, but last night they passed the test put in front of them and well too…
i hope we have already had our seasons quota of injuries, otherwise like you say, we could be in a crisis…
Who needs Joe Cole when youve got Jackie Boy?
He was a joy to watch last night and the assist to Chamakh’s goal was great. I hope he becomes a legend with the Gunners and doesnt do an “Arsley Hole” like a certain someone bearing the same name and now plays for the Chavs!!
hi rico – i wonder how much opening this season’s cl campaign in front of the home folk had something to do with the quick start? we travel to beograd for our next tie, and i am hoping for a quick start and an early goal or two. i doubt we will be able to score six away, but i think this team is good enough to win all three group away fixtures. they have never won in portugal and the ukraine (perhaps serbia as well), so eighteen points would be a fine achievement.
Spot on, T-buzz, glad we didn’t take that risk on
J Cole now.. He’s a tru Hammer, no way would he go to the Chavs, anyway I’m sure wenger will have drummed into what going to clubs like the chavs does to you, just ask wright-phillips and a few others 😉
oliver – we’ll never know, but i just see a litte more passion and desire in the ‘boy’s this year, look at last season, away to the toffes in the first game of the season, 6-0 🙂
i think we’ll score more in our next CL game 😉
Hi Oliver, the toughest away game will be in Ukraine.
I don’t think Partizan and Braga can get some points from us…
Well i reckon we will win the group with maximum points…
On that note i have to be off for a little while…
The Walruss that is Alladyce is at it again…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/blackburn_rovers/9005631.stm
Tbuzz i actually like the new Aw.he should do it more often like fergie and mourinho do.im sick of all our players getting long term injuries due to rash tackles.the refs now will be in the spotlight.
Allo T-Buzz, Fat Sam is an utter useless Cnut…..! Enough said.
KT……….. Well done on ur results mate.
Thanks W.A.T.H.How did you make of the game last night?man of the match was cesc but off it was eboue.he stole the show on the touchline.
I missed the match KT had a few things I had to sort out. . . . I heard Ebooie was a funny man on the sidelines 🙂 He is good 4 the squad that man…..!
Have seen the goals and heard all the usual media crap about how poor they were etc ect etc but we all know full well if the mancs had beat em 6 nil they’d all be drooling over how great they are, so 2 faced and hypercritical as usual when it comes to us in the media.
I watched chavs vs Zilina and i can tell you in the second half they looked shaky.if we beat chavs they’ll say we can’t beat stoke then barca…until we win a trophy expect them to say that.
In all honesty KT i don’t take any notice of the papers or the TV they just a complete bunch of manc n chav arse lickers and hate us and we never get any credit what so ever.
Eboooooooooooie, that was some warm up 😉
How rude of me, afternoon all 🙂
Hi WATH, I don’t think Braga were that poor, we just didn’t let them play, I think it will be us and them going through from the group…
Braga had more Brazilians in their side than….. Brazil, just a shame for them they were all Denilson’s 😉
rico have you got my email?
Hi Rico, how’s you, all good I hope. Don’t underestimate Donetsk Rico…………!!
I have replied KTR7 🙂
Hi WATH, all good thanks, you? Shakatak Donetsk, weren’t they a pop group 😉 😉
Rico, You were in ur 30’s when they were making records surprised you can remember that far back 🙂
Early 40’s WATH 😉
No 1980’s wasn’t it… Not the 40’s they not that ancient and nor are you 😛
Boo! Good results for the boys in red, I see. And KT, too who should buy us all a round! Good for you, KT!
Hey, rico. What a fantastic performance. I was all smiles all day.
Hola, WATH! Howdy? Eboue is a darling. 😉
Hi agag and thanks…
Seems like they were back in the 40’s – such a long time ago 😉
He seems to have problems everywhere:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is on a warpath with former Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi, so much so he was prepared to criticise him on live television following the 2-0 win over Auxerre.
The two men exchanged some heated verbal blows on Mediaset after Sacchi made a joke about the Sweden striker.
“You scored the first goal because you have big feet,” Sacchi said.
But his assessment of Ibrahimovic’s goal, in which he outstretched his foot to tuck the ball home, was met with an immediate retort from the hitman.
“That’s nice… you talk too much and you write too much, even when I was at Barcelona, if you don’t like me don’t watch me,” thundered Ibrahimovic as an excited studio audience quickly fell silent to the sound of fire.
Sacchi was also stunned, but responded. He felt Ibrahimovic had taken his comments across the front line.
“You should learn some manners,” said the former coach turned pundit.
Oh no, we’re talking age again… If STV were on right now, he’d be saying he was born in ’88. Haha. 🙂 🙂 I feel positively ancient.
Boo agag, great result indeed, i love one of the headline in the paps today…
‘Arsenal (and chavs) show Man Utd how its done’ after their 0-0 draw against a very strong Rangers team 😉
For those who missed Eboooooooooie :P:
It’s lovely to see Cesc enjoying his football. It is no exaggeration; he is the fulcrum of this Arsenal side. If he stays and delivers silverware, he’ll be among our Greats.
Still a lot of doomsayers though, rico. Oh, who cares? If this were the Mancs, the press would be drooling. But like I said, who cares?
Pity about Valencia, and I don’t like him…
KT, I’m guessing you aced your maths??
If Ebooooie does that against Donetsk they’ll think him the first Black Cossack………. lol Hi AGAG, hope your good and now I’m off for a while be back bit lata maybe have fun all and behave… 🙂
They will always knock us agag, if its not about having too many foreign players, its we are too soft, if we win like last night, its poor opposition….
Just wait til we put a few past the Chavs and mancs…. what then 🙂
Later WATH, have a good evening 🙂
agag, i meant to say, i don’t drink Cider, that WATH is a naughty man 😉
I don’t think any of us ever doubted the talent, rico; it’s the team’s consistency that has disappointed us.
Having said that, the press seem to find it the most natural thing to take potshots at us for every other thing. There’s just no pleasing some people.
It’s early days yet, but this just might be our year! 🙂
Adios, Sr. WATH. Boomeranging your reminder at you: Be good. Behave. 😉
Agag i aced maths no problemo…
I have that feeling too, we are in with a real chance this season, not just ‘false hope’… 🙂
Cider depth charge, someone’s been spreading rumors about your kind of drinking games, rico. Haha.
agag, yes, i read it, he teases me becuase i live in the ‘sticks’ 😉
KT, ah, now we know. You topped your “maths” and… “everyting else”. Haha.
rico, what are ‘sticks’??
I was having a debate with my mates who have admitted we have a pretty strong squad than we are credited for.how can one team have cesc,rosicky,wilshere,nasri and ramsey as playmakers while the mancs have only scholes who is aging?. .
agag, sorry, its an english bit of slang for living in the middle of nowhere, you heard of the Werzels? I am sure WATH thinks i am like them 😆 😆
KTR7, what about Theo, Arshavin, Jack and Ebooooooooie 🙂
To be fair, the mancs also have Valencia and Nani who are pretty good… well onle Nani for a few months
Rico i had to stop there since its almost embarassing the depth we have.i have been a fan of özil who is as dangerous off the ball as messi is on it but wilshere is growing on me.if fab has half a brain he’ll stay and play with lil jack who i maintain is a hleb/iniesta combination.if he like cesc adds powerful running with the ball we have a future balon d’or contender ladies and gentlemen.
Rico nani and valencia are wingers not playmakers and thats why i didn’t include them.
KTR7, we’ve know about Jack for a while, we knew he was going to be something special, i hope he satys out of the england set up for a few years yet and just concentrates on his club – cesc wanting to move is more than just playing for his home club, its family stuff too.
I honestly think jack will be far better than Hleb as he has an end product and usually find his own player with a pass, he also likes to get the ball forward, Hleb was always a bit of a ditherer…
You watch Nani KTR7, he’s involved in everything they do – he has come on leaps and bounds… he makes it happen for manure, so in my book he’s a play maker, who happens to start on the right 😉 😉
Sure do, rico. 🙂 No wonder the cider reference. Lol. Few British shows are shown here though. Little Britain , I think, was the last.
I’ve always had faith in our midfield. Ours is an embarrassment of riches at playmaking. Nasri didn’t look as though he’d recently gone under the knife. I’ve been watching TR7 again and again and he has rediscovered his sparkling form. Imagine a fit and firing Rambo too. I think Little Jack is very special, indeed. He needs to curb his temper though, and keep the passing simple. (Although that backheel to Chamakh was scrumptious…)
There is alot of lalala about how we can’t beat the big boys.its all about mentality as Aw said.if we beat the chavs we will have alot of confidence against the so called big boys.in 08-09 we had a far weaker squad but we were able to beat chavs at Stamford,mancs at home and drawing away(they had CR7,Tevez,rooney and berba) and pool couldn’t beat us at home despite ade being sent off while away we had AA.
Diaby and Vermaelen set for West brom return… 🙂 Now for Robin, Theo and Rambo. 🙂
Rico fair enough on nani but valencia no way…if wilshere becomes more direct like rosicky he’ll become more like özil.
One show i never could watch was LB agag, not my cup of tea 😉
Thats good news agag.
agag, spot-on re our midfield…
great news agag, some say TV was dropped for talking about cesc…
KTR7 – was just teasing you 😉
Valencia was great last year. Nani has improved dramatically. But the Mancs are looking old and uninspired…
rico, some bits were really funny; a lot was plain ick. The version on TV was just the really funny ones; the rest suffered the censor’s cut. 🙂
Love the ‘But’ agag and of course Valencia is out for the season now, still they have Hargreaves 😉 😉
It was Matt Lucas agag, I know he’s a gooner but, i just didn’t find him funny … He’s just doing another comedy show now, can’t think what its called…
I struggle to believe AW would drop TV5 for that… Unless our players were under specific directive not to talk about Cesc wanting to leave and he run afoul of that rule.
In any case, I like what Denilson and Clichy and Almunia and Jackie and Sagna have said about Cesc. Cesc has to be feeling pretty fantastic, too. 🙂
Credit to them too agag, i loved the way Almunia spoke after the game, he seem so proud to be with us, almost fee a tad guilty for slating him 😉
Cesc must be feeling good right now.all headlines on our wins have cesc in it.
Little Jack says…..
Perfect
“It is perfect playing with Cesc and Alex [Song] in midfield,” said Wilshere.
“Playing with people like Cesc Fabregas makes it easy for you. He will talk to you and talk you through games.
“You saw what Cesc could do against Braga – it is perfect for me to learn from him.”
Wilshere, who spent a loan spell at Bolton last term, maintains he is ready to challenge for a regular spot in Arsene Wenger’s first team.
“It is good to get games and hopefully I can push on from here,” he added.
“I am just trying to break into the Arsenal first team.
“Last year, I had to go out on loan to get some games because there were some world-class players at Arsenal, but I have come back with more experience and the boss thinks I am ready to challenge for a place.
“All I can do is challenge and show them what I can do.”
If diaby is on form vs chavs we have a very good chance.
He sure should KTR7, he sure should…..
Do Diaby and the words ‘on form’ go together KTR7 😉 😉
Ok, before you shout at me, I have to pop off for a bit, dogs to walk before it gets dark …
If you have all gone by the time i get back,
nighty night and stay safe..
rico, the thing about Almunia is that he’s disappointed us far too often; so I do not feel that we have been THAT harsh. 🙂
Chamakh, Theo, Eduardo (sniff) have all said fantastic things about Diaby, KT… Now if only he allows us to see what the rave reviews are about on a regular basis. 🙂
I hope Rosicky’s back for Nasri; I want Sami to be perfectly sure that he’s perfectly fine. Last night, when Viana tackled him within the first few minutes; I expected the worst… So it was a relief when he was up and running at once.
Diaby needs consistency and he will be a great player agag.
Clichy won 8 tackles more than any other player on match day one.he is not as bad as fans make him out to be.
Clichy is not at all bad. He made two obvious errors; and vacated his post a few times; but he is good going forward and really quite solid. He’s my second favorite on this current Arsenal side. 😀 I shall end with that. It’s a good note to end on. 🙂
Nighty!
Night all.
New Post up