Match Preview

Walcott set for dream move & let's burst the Hammers bubble…..

Posted on by rico

Morning Gooners,

Arsene Wenger dropped the biggest hint yesterday that he’s about to give Theo Walcott what he wants, and that’s a central role.

Talking to afc.com about the transition of Gervinho from winger to striker he had this to say about both he and Walcott:

I did it with Thierry Henry, I did it now with Gervinho and I think I will do it as well with Walcott.

They have other qualities that is well suited to our game. Our game is based on movement and technical ability and they have that.

Whether of course we will see that move for Walcott take place today is a different matter but it’s going to happen, maybe from the bench over the weeks to come, and if it works, it can only be good for the club. And the player of course.

Anyway, onto more important matters and that is West Ham and that ‘Orrid man who manages them.

Boring old Stats first, courtesy of the BBC:

  • Arsenal are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League games against West Ham (W6 D2).
  • West Ham have not scored in their last three Premier League meetings with Arsenal.

West Ham

  • The Hammers are unbeaten at Upton Park in the Premier League this season (W2 D1) and have lost just one of their last 16 home league matches.
  • They have conceded just one goal in three home games this season – only West Brom (0) have a better home defensive record.
  • Victory for West Ham would give them their best ever start to a Premier League season after seven games and their best in the top flight since they had 18 points from seven games in 1983-84.
  • West Ham became the first team in Premier League history to have eight players booked in the same game during Monday’s 2-1 win at Loftus Road. They have also committed 97 fouls in league action this season, the most in the top flight.

Arsenal

  • Arsenal have lost just one of their last 11 Premier League away games (W6 D4 L1) and are unbeaten away from the Emirates in the division this season.
  • Only Chelsea (3) have conceded fewer goals in the Premier League this season than Arsenal (4).
  • Gervinho has scored more goals for Arsenal this season (5) in seven games than he did in the whole of 2011-12 in 37 games (all comps).
  • Victory would be Arsene Wenger’s 350th in the Premier League.

West Ham:

They have had a good week, winning at QPR which pushed them up to 7th in the league. Andy Carroll made his long-awaited return from the bench and is expected to be fit for today’s game. Having watched our recent defensive cock ups, I strongly suspect Carroll will start.

Mark Lawrenson, a so called Football Analyst reckons:

Big Sam will thrive on the culture clash between the two sides’ playing styles and you can imagine him in the dressing room before the game telling his players that Arsenal are a good side but they want time to play, so get in their faces.

That’s hardly rocket science is it, that’s the only tactics Allardyce knows, just look at how many fouls they have conceded already this season, 97!

Winston Reid should be available for them despite getting knocked out during the QPR fixture but Joey O’Brien is a doubt.

We have injuries of our own of course, Fabianski, Szczesny, Diaby, Rosicky and of course neither Wilshere or Frimpong are quite ready.

Mertesacker and Coquelin both trained yesterday and no doubt the big German will be back to steady the defensive ship and try to nullify any threat from Carroll.

Chelsea fixture apart, and a few dozey moments midweek, our defensive displays have been much stronger, especially when Mertesacker partners the captain so we really need to see that partnership again today and the kind of resolute defending we witnessed at Anfield.

Just as the defence needs to be switched on and ruthless, so do our attacking players.

Chances will arrive and we need to start taking them. Giroud is doing every right in the league, other than to find the back of the net. It’s time he stood up and justified his price tag.

No doubt Big Sam will also set out to stop Santi Cazorla, our little creator in midfield and Noble will probably have that task allocated to him. Should that happen, we can’t afford to just go along with it, Wenger must think of something different, not just sit there hoping something will change. It won’t, West Ham are at home, they have conceded just one goal at Upton Park this season, they will want to win and they will want stop us from us from getting anything from the game, any and every which way they can.

Phil Dowd will be key in this match too, we can’t give him anything because the slightest of sniff of a foul and his cards will be out, especially for us. Remember St James Park and the 4-4? Of course you all do, his performance that night still gripes me.

If we want to be fighting for a chance to win the Premier League in may, it’s away games like this that we must win.

It’s a London Derby, it’s Sam Allardyce, let’s come away from this with three points and go into the International break smiling….

That’s it for today, hope it’s a good one…..

rico

0 thoughts on “Walcott set for dream move & let's burst the Hammers bubble…..”

  3. rico says:

    I thought he had been deemed unfit to referee Potter, I was very disappointed to find out otherwise and that he’s in charge today…

  4. rico says:

    ADAM JOHNSON has warned England’s stars of the future: Don’t sign for Manchester City.

    The £10million winger returns to the Etihad following his summer switch to Sunderland determined to prove a point to former boss Roberto Mancini.

    Johnson said: “Now if I was a young lad I wouldn’t go to City. It’s not that you’re not good enough, it’s just that the likes of Yaya Toure are going to play ahead of you no matter what you do.

    “I’d advise young, young English players that you won’t get the chance to play as much as you like.”

    Johnson, 25, who will make his first start in three weeks today, continued: “I was in that situation a couple of years ago.

    “It has turned out that way with recent signings too. It is excellent when a club like City come for you, it’s hard to say no. You’re going to play for the champions.

    “But you don’t actually play for the champions. You’re a squad member. It’s totally different.”

    Johnson has bagged 11 England caps but saw his international career stall under Mancini.

    English aces James Milner, Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair — all senior candidates for Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson — are lacking match-time too and Johnson added: “I missed the World Cup two years ago because I wasn’t playing.

    “I still probably had better stats than some of the players who went and I played half as much. It was more personally about not playing enough. I wanted to play every week.

    “It was one of the factors. Coming to Sunderland and playing more would enhance my chances of playing for England more.”

  5. Lewis says:

    Morning all.

    Nice post Rico. 3 points is a must today, any less will be a bitter disappointment. We have to take maximum points this month to send out a message.

    Giroud to finally start? I hope so, along with gerv continuing to maraud around the Ham defence, goals will come.

    Can’t wait, let’s have it!

  11. rico says:

    But they have only conceded once at home Lewis…

    Morning Wath… Hope he could give us something when we are taking both too 😉

  12. W.A.T.H says:

    Morning House Madam, Yep he’ll give us plenty the other end as well don’t worry about that, amazing how so many jump on the media bandwagon that the bloke is crap just cos the media says so….! Pathetic really…!

  14. rico says:

    That’s true Lewis, but they will shut us down all over the pitch, just as Chelsea did, we got to have a ‘plan b’ if Santi gets marked out of the game to start with…

  16. Lewis says:

    Yeah your right, probably taking them too lightly, Noble, Nolan and diame in the middle expect lots of hard tackling.

  18. hakzah says:

    morning fellow housers

    won’t be esay but i think we will come on top come the final whistle
    big test for the boys to show belief and strength against a physical side..

    3/1 to the only arsenal COYGs

  21. W.A.T.H says:

    I think it will be very tight, FS won’t have it any other way, he’ll tell them get in our faces we don’t like it up us etc etc…. We’ll nick it by the odd goal I hope..!

  22. rico says:

    The only difference playing a FS team today is, we won’t have to travel up t’noff

    I reckon a draw Wath, unless every player finds their form from the off…

  24. allezkev says:

    Morning Gooners
    Morning Rico.
    Giroud and BFG to start is an absolute must.
    But we know what Arsene is like…!
    A draw or a narrow win imho.

  28. hakzah says:

    hi again

    salut kev….will be tight for sure,but i would like AW/the team to be proactive rather than reactive…and if our plans not working ,we should switch to plan B and even C…
    they will try and stop our flow,so i hope le prof,makes his changes /tactics early on before we go a goal down..like against city/chavs.

    would love it to see us taking the initiative agains the fat one.

    yes,Merts & OG should start …..and maybe Theo too..i think he complements Giroud’s game.

    unlike previous few seasons,i don’t dread playing any team,i think we always have a chance to win now….so positive

    putting 20euros again on this one ..COYGs

  29. allezkev says:

    Hiya Hak.
    We know we won’t get any protection from the ref, so we have to ‘front up’ to Fat Sam’s tatic’s, which will hardly be earth shattering.
    Match West Ham’s aggression, nulify that, and what else do they have except ‘Route One’, it’s not rocket science?!
    0-1 to the ‘Good Guys’ in red, and that’ll do me!
    Leave the flowery football on the training ground.

  31. Joaquim moreira says:

    Following the city v. Sunderland
    If we don’t win today we say bye bye to win the League this year (again). We can’t drop more points for climb up quicky in the table.

  32. NashuaGunners says:

    Good Morning Rico and All.

    We going to come on TOP on this one.
    Giroud will find his footing on this game if he start.

  33. allezkev says:

    Hi Lewis, yes I am mate.
    Not been to Upton Park for about 10 years.
    The Inter-City Firm must all be in their early 40’s and late 50’s now, so I should be safe… 😉

  34. Joaquim moreira says:

    I haven’t benn at Upton Park for about 30 years… and probably next year, WH will paly at the Olympic Stadium

  35. EastSidePaul says:

    Hey guys, how is everyone?
    ESPN are showing the match today, but my dad thinks its ppv? is that right?!

    By the way, getting over the hill, tomorrow is the big 26…

  36. hakzah says:

    kev…true…i like to see us play ugly and roughen the opposition up
    and get into their noses…medicine of their own treatment .

    hope we don’t get any further (Virus Attack ) before the match.
    Arsenal banned the players from shaking hands ,trying to contain this mystery virus which Theo i think brought over from the England camp…hell no!
    i hope he gives something to cheer about instead..

  37. Scott from Oz says:

    We WILL be winning today.
    Show some confidence boys and girls.
    Im off for a kip…..see you all a kick off time.

  39. rico says:

    not in the uk esp, it’s free if you subscribe to the channel…

    Happy Birthday for tomorrow Esp, hope you get a gift wrapped three points in advance 😉

  40. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Hi fellow gunners,

    Rico, I was having a nice day until you mentioned Phil Dowd. :d
    He brings bad luck to us. He officiated 12 of our games last season and that was just under 43% of his games. 🙂

    How many did we win out of those?

  41. rico says:

    Hi Tsgh – not sure we won any did we. Just hope he dislikes the hammers more than us, but BS is fergies mate and we know the rest…

  42. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Ha ha Rico. It even makes it more crucial to be at our best this evening.

    Did you see the $hittyy match? It never fails to amaze me how some teams including Sunderland play against us like Uday Hussein will do whatever he wants to do with them if they lose, but turn up against other teams like its just another kick around on a sunday morning.

  43. Will XL says:

    Morning ppl. We need to go out in attack from early and not allow them to get into their game. I want to see quick attacking instead of slow build ups. I hope we go out to dominate. If live Giroud to start and i hope bfg is healthy to start. COYG!

  46. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Phil Dowd
    Premier League 2010/2011 – Appearances as referee
    –

    18/09/2010 Sunderland AFC – Arsenal FC 1:1 4 1 –
    – –
    02/10/2010 Birmingham City – Everton FC 0:2 – – –
    –
    24/10/2010 Liverpool FC – Blackburn Rovers 2:1 5 – –
    – 1
    06/11/2010 Manchester United – Wolverhampton Wanderers 2:1 1 – –
    1
    20/11/2010 Arsenal FC – Tottenham Hotspur 2:3 4 – –
    – –
    26/12/2010 Manchester United – Sunderland AFC 2:0 2

    ** 05/02/2011 Newcastle United – Arsenal FC 4:4 5 – 1
    –
    0:1 4 – –
    02/04/2011 Arsenal FC – Blackburn Rovers 0:0 3 – 1

    –
    14/05/2011 Blackburn Rovers – Manchester United 1:1 3 – –

    Last year we won against Norwich away 2-1 and Aston Villa Away 3-0. During that time we were not even in the top half of the table so I guess he had no further ‘instructions’ from the higher powers.lol

  52. Joaquim moreira says:

    They balanced the game until the 2-0.. City has many more attaak and strikers solutions then us. They have always the goal in their mind. Not like us. We spend lot of time in playing in our midffield and in ball possession. Tiem for the oponent be organize and behind the ball
    Chelsea 1 Norwich 1 (Torres again..)

  54. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    JM- that is why I am not a big fan of playing SC19 against ‘Pack the Bus’ teams when he plays in that position. His passing range is too short and he hardly ever commits players. TR7 was excellent last year at driving at teams to commit fouls in dangerous areas.

  58. Will XL says:

    Can’t wait for TR7 to return. I can just see him driving us forward from January on. Well need both him and Jack in the second half and i know they’ll come up huge for us.

  61. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Not really Rico. Hes the fattest professional referee.

    I am still confident because it is a late saturday kick-off instead of a noon kick-off which we almost always lose.

  63. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    I shall be watching toulouse-vs-valenciennes later to keep an eye on Capoue later this evening

  64. rico says:

    Hi Steve, no me, sorry

    I’m not at all confident 🙁

    That should make good viewing, hope Wenger is watching it too Tsgh….

  67. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Are Norwich trying to break Derby’s 2007/2008 record as the worst team in the epl? 😕

  70. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Actually QPR and Mark Hughes will have a say in that. re worst team.

    Didn’t he say last May that under his watch QPR will not be fighting relegation? 😀

  71. Joaquim moreira says:

    Arsenal: Mannone, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Ramsey, Arteta, Gervinho, Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud.
    Subs:: Martinez, Koscielny, Santos, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Arshavin.

  77. rico says:

    I cannot believe Burley on Espn says, if you can’t close down Cazorla, committing the foul to stop him is good ….

  80. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Craig is another ex player trying to make extra money for bad habits.lol. I loved it when John reminded him that many more goals are conceded every match day by teams using man marking but no one points it out. 😀

  84. rico says:

    Big Barnsie 🙂

    Pressure is off Ramsey now Will having lost the Wales armband, my view is he will have a huge weight off of his shoulders and we will benefit.

    Four losses as captain of his country must have played on his mind.

  93. Lewis says:

    We need to start taking our chances. We had quite a few before they scored, they have one and score. Great finish tho!

  94. devilgunner says:

    Good Afternoon my Esteemed Fellow Gunners

    I give up trying to get a link today. I have been trying dince 15 minutes before the match yet I cannot get one on.

    Sorry Rico…..no match report. and to cap it all I have just read that we are 1-0 down.

    grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

  100. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Dowd has done less running than both goalies put together.:D

    I can’t believe he is still a referee earning good salary.

  103. rico says:

    He’s crap Tsgh – Gervinho booked after Nobel (i think took a dive) and another free kick given to WH without any contact….

  104. Joaquim moreira says:

    devil, I wrote 3 in one on the last posts.
    Why did we always cross by air? The fist on the pitch we scored!
    Ramsey: play with fellow who is in our eyes! Not that one who you suppose to be somewhere!
    TW must come in.
    grrrr…. we must won this match!
    Back to Upton Park again, rico 😉

  107. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    I am having AW doesn’t do the usual substitution job today. If he brings Poldi off we need santos to sure up the LHS and give us some flair as well in front of Gibbs. He scores crucial goals too.

  108. Will XL says:

    the Gervinho booking was crap. We need to be quicker and more direct with our passing. A lot of wasted movement out there.

  114. Scott from Oz says:

    Dont worry about playing striker,Theo should be central defender….he blocked Cazorlas shot brilliantly lol.

  115. devilgunner says:

    seems as if ;theo in the centre has its own benefit…….to ;;whu. he was in the path of a shot by Cazorla which he blocked

  116. Scott from Oz says:

    Is anyone close to the ground?
    Ifso,go and wake that linesman up please.
    How far offside was Nolan??

  124. devilgunner says:

    Good win with three great goals. A great poke from Giroud, a clinical finish by Theo and an exquisite one from the rich man’s Cesc.

    A great win by this team. The soft AFC team of the years 2009-2011 would have lost today.

  126. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Phil Dowd received a call after the game from his superior, informing him that his performance today was unacceptable. His punishment is that he will not receive his usual post match treat- ‘Double fried buttered mars bar’- 😀

  127. rico says:

    Agree there devil

    Not harping on about Theo but he was so much better today, and the way he, and the rest of the side celebrated together was good to see….

    Although he lost the ball just before Santi scored his scorcher, he won it back for the assist…

    Podolski’s pass for Giroud to break his duck was perfect and the finish was good…

    Santi, well having found Carroll with every corner, found his spot when it really mattered..

    And a mention for Merts… he truly steadied the defence on set pieces.. And glad to see TV staying back…

  129. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Girouds movement is very clever. He just needs a bit of luck and better service from the wings

  132. stevepalmer1 says:

    Very impressive, shame to see Gibbs go off but hopefully he can shrug that off, Giroud should actually score more he gets in some wonderfull positions and could of had a hatfull by now, but now he’s started i’m sure he’ll add a few more soon, Aladices face was a picture that smug look went to a grimace and the two managers hands fairly touched at the end no love lost there i know. Were begining to gel and we will get better as the season progresses i would still like to see us push forward more but its definitly getting better.

  135. gunnerdna says:

    I like the last substitution by AW and the concern by the players to protect the scoreline, goods performance. COYGs

  140. rico says:

    Giroud should have had a hatrick today, had he chipped the keeper and got his head onto what was a simple chance 😉

  141. Adam says:

    Evening Rico and all. Just got home from watching it on ESPN. Lovely result. How Diamme stayed on I don’t know. Well I do actually. Phil Dowd.

  146. rico says:

    Evening Adam – have to agree re Diamme and the guy who kicked Mannone should have been booked. Oh well, justice done with a dislocated shoulder I guess…

    You going soft 😉

  148. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Re Gibbs see my comment at 6:44. And AW is quick to state he would not make it for England. 😀

  151. stevepalmer1 says:

    Theo’s goal was quality he actually bent that round the keeper perhaps he’s composure has got better from sitting on the bench

  152. rico says:

    Theo is now the second highest English goal scorer for the club according to Espn, although I struggle to believe that stat….

    Incredible…

  153. Adam says:

    Not really Rico. Gervinho was ghastly I thought. If we had that killer in the CM to stabilise possession think how devastating we could be on the counter. I liked Theo’s attitude today and the fact that Wenger made a change earlier than normal. Lots of good things to commend.

  154. rico says:

    He was unlucky gdna…

    He has always had in his locker Steve, he just doesn’t do it often enough. I’m chuffed for him as we were 1-1 and the pressure was on.

  155. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    The 3-5-2 formation should be used against teams like WHU. I may even suggest using it against Fellani and Everon.

    I think we have played all the hoofing teams for the first half of the season and we have shown that we are a few grades better than previous seasons.

  156. rico says:

    Just teasing Adam….

    Worst game of the season for Gervinho.

    Theo had a bit of attitude didn’t he, his celebration was worth the yellow too. You know something makes me think that his situation has either been resolved or is close to being so. The whole team were with him after he scored…

  157. stevepalmer1 says:

    I feel he now realises that he has to make the effort he is a joy to watch when he’s on the run if he had a little bit of Mike Tyson dna he could be very special

  158. rico says:

    Oh and yes, a beast like Capoue in the middle and we would so much stronger.

    Mannone wasn’t too bad today….

  161. Joaquim moreira says:

    Great result. Someone must say this to AW: We are far superior to any opponent when played through the pitch; when we chose the air, the advantage is clearly the opponent.
    This applies to: crosses into the area, corner kicks, replacements ball in play, etc..
    We lost points for not knowing optimize our great advantage over the opponent and give the opponent, the game where he feels most comfortable.

  164. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Ha ha Rico. The brown envelope man is not around anymore. Adebawhore is not even starting games

    Hartson is not english my bad.lol

  165. rico says:

    Thought so Tsgh…..

    JM, you enjoyed that then.. Our corners were strange, bloomin Carroll got his head to nearly all of them…

  168. boomergooner1727 says:

    evening gooners. great result! not many teams will go win 3-1 against those hacks. we still have work to do at the back but besides their somewhat fortunate goal we did ok in a match we were bound to struggle.

  170. devilgunner says:

    Theo second highest English scorer????? lol that must be a freak of nature the commentator who said that……Wright, Bastin, Smith, Drake, Radford, Kennedy…..all are English who scored more than Theo

  172. rico says:

    Hi b1727 – think you are right there and so far this season, we are the only ones. They will trouble a few thats for sure….

  174. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    Exactly Dev.

    Those pundits need to go to school before they get on tv. It wasn’t a slip of tongue either because he mentioned we dont sign english players. Unless he was referring to AW’s era…

  175. rico says:

    Devil – the commentator might have meant under Wenger, especially after he went on to say, ‘not that there has been a strong English contingent’….

  176. Will XL says:

    Who is Capoue going to replace in midfield then? Or better yet, which young gunner is going to suffer by having yet another midfielder being brought into the squad?

  177. rico says:

    Not replace Will, add to the squad and make us stronger, allow rotation or rest for Arteta, if he gets injured we are snookered.

    He also plays in defence so two problems solved with one signing…

  178. DutchGooner10 says:

    Great result, stuck in there and made their own destination. Tenacity didn’t cancel out the attack mindedness. Strong box run from Giroud to poke home his own set up. Theo you slick terminator, very Henry-sque finish. Cool, collective and composed. Finally got interested in the cause. Substantial determination as well in the Santi smasher. Toe tipping the ball into his feet, giving the Spaniard time to release a dipping belter.

    Hope Gibbs will recover before the Norwich game.

  179. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    B1727- the officials tried with all the subtle tactics they could master but still we won. How that offside was not spotted only the linesman knows.

    Phil Dowd other punishment for us winning will be to referee Skegness’s Utd match in a vest . lol

  183. DutchGooner10 says:

    Devil don’t forget Alan Shearer either…….. Heard that stupid comment as well. 🙂 Numb nuts folk.

  184. TalkShiteGingerHater says:

    If you are Gibbs and you are having a long ran of matches for the first time in a longwhile you would not want to be wasting your time training with England to play a team that sounds like a beer you get from a tapas bar- San Marino . lol

  186. DutchGooner10 says:

    Rico although I grant Gibbs the international caps on his C.V. it will be a welcome timeout for him.

  187. rico says:

    Totally agree Tsgh, Cole and Baines are ahead of him, so stay and home and rest…

    Dg, I honestly don’t think he is injured, just a breather is needed, just as you say 🙂

  190. rico says:

    Guys, I’m off to watch Strictly, X Factor and write up the game… 😉

    Have a good night all, catch up tomorrow….

  197. allezkev says:

    Very hard won 3 points.
    West Ham is not an easy place to go and having just seen Chelsea looking vulnerable in the air, I look forward to seeing Andy Carroll give them a going over.
    Ramsey had a great game, ran his guts out.
    Cazorla was supreme, a genius. When he plays, Arsenal plays.
    Arteta had a brilliant game, he was immense.
    Giroud got a great goal and set up Walcott for his goal.
    Yes, maybe he should have got a hat-trick, but once he plays regularly and settles in completely, he will score a lot more goals. That guy has a bundle of goals in him and he’ll be lethal once he’s fully integrated into the EPL.
    BFG, well he’s Der Kaiser at the back. Verm was more disciplined with Merts alongside him. Again BFG made some outstanding and very simple tackles. He just gets on with the job with the minimum of fuss.
    Think he’s got a big goal in him. Probably in a crucial game.
    3 at the back at the end was an intriguing development.
    An Uncle Bouldy idea maybe?

  198. allezkev says:

    Jenkinson again had a very impressive 90 minutes.
    Gibbs was also steady until he went off.
    Santos seems to learning and actually played like a proper defender.
    Gervinho was a bit below par, but that’s him, you never know what your gonna get..!
    Theo got a great goal, nice to have that threat from the bench.

  199. Scott from Oz says:

    Ak,BFG at 1000-1 to score the FA cup final winner???
    What a great result,and a thoroughly enjoyable game.

  200. Scott from Oz says:

    Not bad way to use Theo and Gervino….just perfect replacements for each other.Not sure yet we can play both at once.
    I am very,very happy to see Giroud get off the mark……more to come.

  201. Scott from Oz says:

    Now you know what i think of the rmour mill,but here is one we should all be hoping for.
    Falcao may be the target of a massive offer from Arsenal in January.
    We have the cash to spend,so lets spend it.

  202. allezkev says:

    Morning Rico.
    I guess you must be doing today’s post?!
    Another Arsenal win, probably means a quiet day… 🙂

  204. allezkev says:

    Evening Scott.
    That’s 4 of the 7 games played this season, that i’ve seen.
    Plus a League Cup game.
    The 2 I saw at home, were 6 goal strolls in all honesty.
    But the 3 away were tough battles at Stoke RFU, Anfield and Upton Park.
    From what I’ve seen live and on-line, this Arsenal team look a better away team.
    There is a togetherness, a unity that I don’t see as much at the Grove, as I see ‘On the Road’…
    After Cazorla’s goal the entire 10 outfield players joined in the celebrations.
    I know it’s early days, but I can see this team going unbeaten ‘On the Road’,,,

  206. rico says:

    It is, and very foggy here Ak, didn’t we have a season a few years ago when we were great away, so much so AW treated the home games like away ones?

  207. allezkev says:

    You know, after watching MotD, I thought how good Chelsea look. Mata and Hazard with Torres up front, look a combination that’ll score bundles of goals.
    They’re definately the favourites for the EPL title.
    Although I noted a vunerability in their defence to the high ball. Nobody has punished them yet in England, but I predict a dip in form from them, therefore Arsenal need to cling on to take advantage.
    Both the Mancs will plough on regardless, waiting for that dip, and we have to do likewise.

  208. allezkev says:

    Rico, you could right…
    If I recall, didn’t we go a couple of years unbeaten away from home?
    Around the time of the Invincibles…

  209. rico says:

    After we lost against chelsea i typed, there is your pl champs. not because they were great last weekend but because they won when they were rubbish.

    Both they and Citeh have spent mega bucks but DM has bought better players… Their only worry is if Torres gets injured…

  210. rico says:

    Not sure Ak, but there was one season other than 03/04 where AW ended up getting the players to all stay in a hotel together before a home game 🙂

  212. allezkev says:

    Rico, didn’t they start, like a house on fire a few season’s back.
    Looked like they were going to run away with it, but ultimately they hit a dip and finished 2nd or 3rd.
    We just need to hang on, just keep chipping away.
    Arsenal will be close come May, i’m convinced.
    This team is improving all the time.
    Yesterday we had 6 players basically playing their first regular season’s as 1st teamers, Mannone, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud.
    BFG, Arteta, Gerv and Santos are only in their 2nd season’s.
    This is still a new team.
    It’s still developing.
    We will get better.

  213. rico says:

    They did, time will tell and its still very early. If they suffer a couple of injuries to key players anything can happen. Anything could happen anyway, like you say, all we need to do is concentrate on us, and let the others worry about themselves.

    Personally I still think we are 2 players short, but, right now we need to stay within reach of the top and see what AW does in January. I like Scotts rumour 😉

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