Morning all..
Well well, three points didn’t look likely at times did they, especially after Szczesny failed to hold onto a shot from Kevin Nolan, allowing Carlton Cole to make it 1-0 to the home side.
Vast amounts of possession again but no ending, well not until Theo Walcott scored a goal out of nothing but that’s what can happen when you fire a shot towards goal. Some may fly over or go wide, and we see plenty of those these days but this shot by Theo went under/through the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
1-1 phew, a point at least maybe…
Actually no, it wasn’t going to be just a point and Theo Walcott played his part in ensuring that. Just like our old number 14, he doesn’t score many, or should I say any before today, with his head but boy did he get a good connection on his bonce to make it 2-1.
2-1 became 3-1 when Lukas Podolski fired home a super shot from just inside the penalty area..
We started quite well and Olivier Giroud was very close to making it 1-0 but somehow, he failed to get some kind of contact onto a cross from Bacary Sagna.
Wojciech Szczesny punched away a free-kick from Mark Noble and then up the other end, Adrian produced a fine one-handed save to prevent Santi Cazorla scoring from a header from the edge of the box just fifteen minutes into the game.
Walcott had a wonderful chance to break the deadlock after being set up by Aaron Ramsey but…. he missed..
Santi Cazorla fired over, Olivier Giroud fired wide and Mikel Arteta volleyed a shot which went very close…
Half-time came and all was even. Not possession wise though, we were winning that battle but as so often happens, we couldn’t make it count.
Then the sucker punch, as West Ham took the lead.
Joey O’Brien (who was lucky to stay on the pitch for the time he did) had a great chance to double the lead from close range just before the hour mark but his headed went wide.
Adrian made a superb double save to keep out Cazorla and Mesut Ozil as we began our fight-back but having done so well, the keeper made a big mess up to allow Theo Walcott to grab our equaliser. It wasn’t the best shot from our number 14 but who cares, he took the chance, he scored!
Theo’s second was good. Lukas Podolski, who had come on in place of Aaron Ramsey, played in a cross which after a slight brush of a defenders head, found it’s way to our Englishman. He rose, he aimed and he fired his headed firmly into the back of the net….
2-1 and things were looking better, much better….
Then the night was topped off by a moment of top hold up play by Giroud. He shielded the ball, waited a second and then played a deft touch into the path of our big German number 9 who fired the ball home from the edge of the area and secured maximum points on the night…
Welcome back Lukas, welcome back…..
Aaron Ramsey suffered an injury yesterday which will see him miss the rest of this festive period of games. Not a nice way for him to celebrate his birthday but at least he’ll get a rest now….
That’s your lot for today, Newcastle up next on Sunday…
Nice match report Rico.
That was Theo’s first with his head. At least he used it usefully yesterday instead of trying to open up a HIGHWAY in a blind alley like he usually does sometimes.
You should of copied n pasted Rico then redone the print size lol 😉
Morning Lee, hope you not got brekkie getting delivered with the Vintage Dom….!
ohhh. And Cazorla’s stats are fascinating to say the least. He had 109 touches of the ball yesterday.
imo he was motm
still stretching Kev???
Morning Dev, Theo was again bloody useless in the 1st half…. Does look to impose himself at all nor does he give others the option that he wants the ball…! he drives me dilly most of the time yet comes up with 2 timely goals… the first being such a thunderbolt as well…!
There he is the voice of reason…..hello WATH my ol’ China! Cheeky fucker, harsh but fair to be honest (previous comment)…….
thunderbolt???? you on GG again mate?? 😆
the header was more powerful.
Thanks Devil..
😛 Wath, wordpress have been doing that to me all week, not sure whats up with the printing. Sorted now though ….
Boring Boring Chelsea
Morning rico, good report. Fell asleep last night before MOTD started! Something to look forward to tonight.
Last night I heard ‘Intelligent and Theo’ in the same sentence. Where is Chris Waddle! Think the boy gets too much stick, even among our fans. No player is perfect, but Theo seems to get more stick for the poor things he does, rather than praising the good. We miss him when he is not there, and if only he could stay injury free, I’m sure he would improve his weaker areas. Its just every time he looks to be on a run, something happens to him.
Nice write-up Rico.
Mansour, the owner of Man City is the richest man in football with agents acting on his behalf throughout the footballing World at all levels. When we played there recently we had six wrong decisions, all of which would impact the game in a positive way for us. Man City had zero contentious systems against them.
Chance? No, not really. Too loaded for chance.
Yesterday Liverpool had a perfectly good goal ruled out for an offside that was nowhere near. There may have been other decisions that I didn’t see.
Verdict. There is something rotten in the state of Etihad.
When we played Chelsea we were, again, the victims of some of the worst decisions so far this season from a weasel masquerading as a referee and yesterday O’Brien should have gone twice.
Conclusions?
I must get up.
I hate to say it but the game changed when AR went off, and for the better..
Just a coincidence I’m sure…
I try to tell the truth always Lee you know that 😉
How’s you matey…? bit of a liberty them making you go into work to have you brekkie and lunch….! Am sure you’ll find a nice claret to go with your steak…!
2nd cuppa Coach… 😀
maybe yes maybe no Rico. But it does not mean that Ramsey was influencing the game negatively. It seems that fat Sam had the measure of him, and when Theo and Poldi came on with Santi dropping into Ramsey’s role fat Sam was found to have been wanting and could not change things around.
keep on stretching. ahhh habib…..Santi has a long way to stretch to get something near your height. 😉
Adam, spot on mate, Shitty are the new man ure when it comes to decisions… The not offside goal last night by the dippers was beyond funny… it was disgraceful and as you say add that to the decisions that went against us and you wonder how much oil money is finding its way into officials pockets….!?!?!
Great to see Santi back on song…
He is a little genius…
Morning Ah and thanks.
Theo gets stick because imho, most of the time he deserves it and it comes about because inside that lazy body of his is a good footballer, one which could be great if he sorted his head out…
For me he lacks self belief and a needs to get stuck in more and stop allowing himself to be bullied off the ball so easily.
Other than that, I really like him.. 🙂
Santi coming inside made all the difference and Adam it does seem that the ABA’s at the PGMOL have found a new sponsor.
Thanks Adam, now get up 😉
Not at all Devil, just once he went off, we looked quite different. We’ll miss AR though I’m sure..
consider this…….Flamini/Arteta at DM holding role. with Cazorla and Ozil behind Giroud…..and Theo and Poldi out wide.
Jack/Rosicky to rest anyone of the above while a new striker rests Giroud.
I like the idea of Santi and Ozil in front of MF/MA
Well my father-in-law and mother-in-law (who divorced 24yrs ago and still don’t get on) plus my wife’s brother, his wife plus several kids from various marriages are descending at chez Lee’s this morning! There’s only so much a man can take!!
To make matters worse they’re all from South London and liable to pilfer some of my goods and that’s after I’ve fed and watered them….bloody liberty!
So in short works fine by me!!!
Rogers is going to be in the dock for his comments but more managers need to start complaining when things go like they did for us and Liverpool yesterday…
The FA will have to listen as all managers can’t be wrong…
For Sunday v Newcastle.
Referee: Lee Probert. Assistants: I Hussin, M Scholes. Fourth Official: A Marriner.
🙂 Lee, I’d go to work too….
rico, we don’t know he is lazy, how hard he trains, how much it matters to him. There were times when Henry looked lazy on the field, times when I used to scream at him, then he would turn it on in an instant. I still have faith in Theo! And he is all with got anyway out wide! Without him in the team, we have to have Giroud going out left and crossing to um …. hopefully a midfielder coming into area which takes time, or rely on Sagna being able to get down the right which cant always happen otherwise we get exposed. Theo will beat a fullback one day and surprise you 😉
Morning Rico,
You are right about the main influences in the game including the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Theo. He was seriously hopeless for a lot of the game, and then a hopeful poke at the ball produced the first game changing goal, when it nutmegged one player, was courteously waved on by another and then graciously handed into the goal by the Keeper. Magic! 🙂
Lee, you missed a trick mate, why didn’t you sponsor a table at the local Makky D’s and they could of all had a jolly good get together and Mansion Lee stays safe from pilferage…!
Ah, I mean on the pitch he appears lazy. When he changes a game like Henry used to, I’ll forgive him.. 😉
I’m a huge fan of his honest just feel there is a lot more he could be doing..
We missed a few tap ins first half,
could have been 2 down early second half,
some would say we looked tired,
thank god the thought of losing..kicked in,
we went up 2 gears started to hit the target,
no one looked tired to me..all in the head?
even walnut thinks he can can use his head
in different ways now.
Lee Probert,
At the moment I am having difficulty not seeing the spectre of Arabic envelopes lurking behind the corner flags, perhaps we could get a member of Britain’s upstanding gutter press to hack his E-Mail account and see what his instructions are.
Morning Hb, got to be in to win it and thankfully he was 😉
His second though was pretty good…
I still think he’d be a lot more affective/effective on the left…
Just been watching a collection of Thierry’s goals on Sky.
They were absolutely brilliant, but in one scene it showed him celebrating with Van Persie and Barndoor.
Three forwards and whatever we think of the latter two they were capable of scoring goals and all in the same team.
Boy, were we spoiled in those days! 🙂
morning all,I think we hav all seen what we have been missing “natural wingers”,Arsene just needs to balance the team around theo and poldi.
Think you could be right fred, if so they needs to all sort their minds out…
The only good thing is Newcastle are a bit of threat to City too, maybe we might finally see a fair game…
Hb, I saw that programme too, he was something else wasn’t he. The goals against Liverpool in 03/04 and the one against the Totts were wonderful…
Rico,
When I saw the header going in I just could not believe it was Theo, but fair do’s to him, it was as good as anything you will see.
After his second goal he looked the part, playing with such confidence and enjoying himself. That was more like it. 🙂
Rico, wingers need to spread the game not want to cut inside all the time that’s half our problem…! Left footed left winger right footed right winger if you please, look at the balance Poldi gave us…!
We desperately need width and a bit more direct pace up front, if we get that we can win this league… We need a quicker option to Giroud who is looking frustrated and if someone mentions the word tired again they need shooting, pampered professionals who play less games than teams did in the 80’s and less travel time better medical staff and backroom staff and we have to listen to players are tired… what a load of old bollox…! wenger needs to shut up about fixtures and tiredness it’s all in the mind and or just an excuse for poor performances…!
Compliments of the season to all gunnersphere,
Good post rico,
rico – I quite agree with you about the game changing when cazorla was dropped into the ramsey position after he left injured. His telepathic understanding with ozil was amazing. Ozil came alive when cazorla was in the CM role. I would love to see Cazorla in the CM role v Newcastle. Hope Wenger is reading 😉
Quite agree with some of our observations at the Etihad. Lets not forget that skrtel could have being sent off(or conceded penalty) for consistently fouling(thugging company’s shirt) company whenever shitty had a corner. We were the victim of poor officiating at the etihad( 2 onside goals disallowed, a legit penalty not given, 3 onside decisions which could have possibly led to goals.
I’m up Rico. 🙂
Far 2 much info Adam……………………….
Emma. I agree with the Skrtl thing. I had forgotten that. Also Joleon ‘Commander Worf’ Lescott was at the same thing as per usual.
Wath. 🙂
Rico ordered me ‘up’.
Adam – yep but not as chronic as skrtel 😉
Up and erect…
Makes me wanna put up a fence post… 😉
Morning all.
Plenty thought we looked tired, yet we finished pretty strongly.
We could have, and should have, been 3 up at half time, so plenty to work on, but as we keep creating so many great opportunities, we dohave plen to work with.
No doubt we improved when Aaron went off, but more due to Santi moving central and just killing it….great to see him back.
Devil…. I just saw your comments from earlier.
I could not beat one player, let alone 2 or 3 🙂
Thanks for the comments.
I am off to Melbourne tomorrow.
A 10 hour drive followed by an A League game, then a pub crawl, the Ashes test on sunday, and home on monday.
The things we do 🙂
Emma, til refs blow for penalties for “ANY” holding in the penalty box for free kicks n corners it’s not gonna stop all the tugging and pulling and rugby holds… it’s like all in wrestling so where to put a stop to it… even if it means 4/5 penalties in a game it’ll soon sort the shit out… BUT refs won’t have the bottle to stamp it out…!
On command Adam… i’m impressed mate 😉
Emma. You are right re Skrtl.
Wath. Rico’s word is my command. 🙂
Someone mentioned early walnut not going round a man
walnut being mainly right footed,is not gunner trick a decent left back,but he has a chance coming inside on the left backs right
most teams prepare for this by bring an extra player back in case walnut comes onto his left
it worked twice yesterday for him late on.
Henry liked playing on the left cutting inside onto the right foot
walnut has always said he would like to be the like the great man
we gave him the shirt,
I think we should try him on the left in a few away games.
Walnut is a very good finisher on his right boot..you know
This made me laugh
my daughter brought round a box of Heston chocolates,
macadamias,mandarin,muscovado,thyme&rosemary,earl grey
right at the end …..BFG..descibed as 1970’s classic gateau transformed into chocolate.
I get that Wath but with his pace he should be doing what TH used to to, play the ball in front of him and then cut in to shoot. Just saying that if he was on the left, he’d be straight onto his stronger foot. Only at certain times though when it’s right…
Hb, I was surprised too, very surprised 😉
Rico, you miss out on one thing… TH14 had a footballing brain…!!
Thanks emma.
Glad to hear Adam 😉
Kev, just been counting how many of ours are about to go in the wind. Two so far 🙁
Fence panels I mean, not posts….
Yep, good point Wath. But I think Walcott has too, somewhere…
He lacks that intelligence on the pitch Rico, he can def offer more but for me he’s just such a petal…!
I so want him to impose himself on a game and he hardly ever does..! Ts will tell me off saying he’s a BGP but he doesn’t grab a game by the scruff of the neck……! He has the pace to kill teams and defenders yet……….. enough said..! Maybe i am being harsh but he’s old enough now to be making a far bigger impact than he does week in week out..!
what’s up and erect Kev??? 😉
I’d have to agree again Wath but we have seen flashes of how good he can be but he’s seldom in the mood.
He all too often seems scared of players around him. There’s definitely more him in than we see each week…. Man up I say…
Hiya pals……
Goonster is back………..
Hi goonster, enjoy the win??
Hey dev wats cracking?
You betcha rico….got cassie a theo’s shirt last week. She adores him. Dont know why though.
Am a blonde adonis for crying out loud.
I mean have you seen me???
Where is everybody????
I don’t know why either goonster 😉
we are here not there Goonie!!!!!
Rico beats me what she sees in him. Ugh
Goonster you goat, how are you?
Goonster.
Adam.
Adamant
I know how handsome you are Stan.
Lee how re ya mate? Am gonna be a father. Gee somebody pinch me am dreaming.
Lee. Home in the rain.
Hahahahhhahaahhaha adam you old git…..how handsome???
Congratulations Stan! iI’m n the fucking office itching to blow the froth off a few!
Judging by the Wanted poster I saw in The Tulip Hotel, I would say around 6 foot one, tousled blond ringlets, lantern jaw and an incredible pair of lips. Slim hips, powerful shoulders and a smouldering presence.
Well am working too lee and you dont see me complaining. Chin up dude.
Yikes you just decribed my mom’s dream man.
What are you lot smoking? 😉
Rico. 🙂
I’m not feeling too confident ahead of Sunday…
Nipping off for an hour…
Smouldering being the operative word!
A fine post indeed Rico…
Theo even got Sir SP1 happy for a change.. lol
Potter, I totally agree with your observation on the 4-1-4-1 set-up. I mentioned that in the past that we have played 4-2-3-1 only about 5 times this season.
Even when we have played with both MA08 and MF, flamini has played infront of MA08.
The best I ever saw SC19 played was playing behind Riquelme as the no.6 next to a traditional no.4.
Like most of our midfielders, they struggle with their backs against the goal and so they are most effective when they have the ball or game in front of them…
Imo, SC19 can only play as a no.6 el armador when games are stretched as yesterday…
re. game changing when AR16 went off… I think we just scored when he went off but we were knocking on the door very hard even before he went off… it was a matter of time.
I think WHU substitution of O’Brien who should have been sent of earlier with a second yellow card was key. When he went off and Demel came on it took Demel a bit too long to find his bearings..
An excellent example of why AW did not sub on 26th against Chelsea imo…
WATH, how can I tell off the great GG Philanthropist 😛
Emma, how was the festive period for you? I was thinking you were stuck in a tanning booth just like a friend of mine was recently in Liverpool…
What a joke…
The Board of Directors at Cardiff City have relieved Malky Mackay of his duties. A new first team manager will be appointed in due course.
So why is this manager even considered a great manager by sections of the footballing world? tsk…
Mourinho with yet another message to Abramovich. “My strikers kill me, every game I’m tired.” Striker a must in January he says….
———————————–
Cabaye has 3 goals in 3 games; An excellent player who could replace Arteta in the next couple of years.
————————————————————-
This window will be interesting at least if not for us…
Another Billionaire has arrived in football and is making great moves at Los Che… he has just appointed Juan Antonio Pizzi as new coach; Torres and Mata will probably move to Valencia with Jackson Martinez following too… Soldadon may also go back…
Crikey, who’d want to manage Cardiff now. What a dreadful way to treat Mackay….
Afternoon all..
afternoon Rico…
Afternoon all !
tsgh, yesterday game changed, when Podolsky came in and we started, in a consistent way, attack from both sides. Besides, Cazorla started to had more space for playing and moving in the center and we increment our shot fire with Podolsky in.
In my opinion, was one of the errors of Arsenal: our technical players in midfield, are limited in exposing all its qualities, for lack of space, shallow striker and occupy public spaces throughout the game. Protrude, when the task of “taking” the game is under the responsibility of a maximum of 2 players.
klopp is under immense pressure too from his bvb board… 🙁
Hiya JM
Thanks Ts..
I see Sky Sports are covering the referee’s today…. And they do check to see who they support…
And afternoon to you too by the way Ts 🙂
Draw up a list then , should be interesting.
Well done BR for bringing up the refereeing situation in the PL. There is a simply fantastic, groundbreaking story waiting to be unearthed and told if the right journalist got a sense of what is happening. The problem is that they are all either in the pub or so inept and corrupt themselves that they think that they might kill the golden calf. After all, they are all sucking a living out of the game aren’t they. It is in this way that football (not us) gets the journalists it deserves. How else could blokes like Kastrinakis, the ghastly Custis creatures and Durham, to name but a few, ever find employment in this country?
What, of referees potter, we know they all support either Manchester United or Manchester City..
you have forgotten about the sperds loving media and Mike Dean
I know a journalist Adam, he just needs persuading and a newspaper strong enough to print the article…
But even Dean is a Manc at heart Ts..
h aha ha born in Old Trafford?
Afternoon all. Fine post Rico 🙂
So OK, Theo did a few good things yesterday. A header, its taken a very long time to see a bullet header from him in fact other players use their heads on many ocassions but Theo uses his head very rarely, i just hope i don’t have to wait till his 30 before i see the next. I did say a while back that our forward players have shooting problems, from 15 20 yards they seem to have trouble getting a ball on target, but yesterdays performance has made me out to be a fibber, Theo’s shabby shot which dribbled past the keeper and Podlskis glancing shot which wrongfooted the keeper has made me think again.. Oliver has come to the point of the season that i feel we all knew was coming. Oliver will never be a prolific striker but he works very hard, he tries his best with the talent he has but a Luis Suarez or Wayne Rooney he’s not,. at the moment he couldn’t hit a barn door, his only foot is crooked and he’s out of idea’s his confidence is low, He needs to be dropped as his form is worrying the rest.. there is no excuse for not buying a striker as if we want to play CL next year we really need to address this now. Hearing Wenger say that some players need a rest while others have not been seen all year has me confused, if we are not to use them offload them because its now that we need an injection..
🙂 Ts, that’s the one…
Thanks Sp, I knew two goals from Theo wouldn’t be enough for you 😉
SP1, can’t disagree with your view especially ‘..some players need a rest while others have not been seen all year has me confused’;
Monsieur Wenger is a bit like an ‘enigma’ but at least he is no Mauren-yo who would like to own 1000 players if he could so that no one else can have any players to win against him… fascism comes to mind i.e suppression of the opposition but I will leave it there. 😉
Rico. The problem is that a lot of very uncomfortable questions really need to be asked. Riley runs the PGMOL like North Korea. Any dissent and you are out, or in the case of N Korea, shot. In a situation where the EPL needs total transparency, we have ended up with a known dodgy ex-ref handing out games, based on his own agenda. Football in this country is a multi-billion £ business so how can this be the case? There is no accountability. Are we witnessing corruption or complete ineptitude. The thing with the latter is that it tends to even itself out but that has not been the case. Everyone, including match officials, make mistakes but at Man City we saw that 6 critical mistakes against us and zero the other way tells it’s own story. Mike Read and the other clown at the Etihad should be sat down and asked to explain every major decision they got wrong. But no. They hide behind Riley’s edict that referees are beyond the law. There are very seldom any repercussions from them twisting results to suit themselves and their master Kim il Riley, where there are serious consequences for those who suffer from those decisions.
I have little doubt that Riley and Ferguson would suggest that, to subject referees to such stringent critique would undermine them. I say the opposite. A study of what is happening would cleanse the game and refresh it and it might even come up with some ways that decisions could be more accurately arrived at.
When you have someone like Danny Murphy on TV saying that Mikel’s assault on Arteta was not a red card simply because he used to make those tackles too, then surely the level of debate has reached an all-time low.. This is of course, exactly what Riley wants.
Rico 🙂 , I did state yesterday that games like this was where Theo does his best work. Theo is in my mind a utility player, against sides like WH he comes alive but usually his form is like his heading Spasmodic. We are top of the league and that is because we have been fairly consistent, we know we struggle with the so called top teams seeing how we never get a result from them, but we cannot have passengers with the kind of officials we get appointed. This is another weekend where decisions have gone in favour of the usual suspects, but now points in the bag determine’s where we finish and we cannot have Giroud and the like missing sitters blasting high and wide. The chances we get have to be put away or the officials will determine the results we get.
Afternoon Ginge 🙂
Adam. You know I can’t disagree with anything you have just written there.
In every job in the land, employees are accountable,so why are referee’s etc not or if they were, why should that be deemed undermining…
The same with the employers, if they keep getting things wrong, or their staff do, ultimately they are accountable and end up out of work.
The FA and their officials are no different and one day soon, action will have to be taken…
I have just written in my post for tomorrow that Brenda might well have opened a can of worms which should have been opened a long long time ago but until yesterday, only a man deemed to be whining old Frenchman had something to say on the issue….
Ha ha Sp, I always thought TW was better against attacking sides but to be honest, he confuses me these days 😉
Guess who is going to The Emirates on 1st Jan 🙂
Stan Kroenke
Is it Kev Rico? 🙂
🙂 Sp…
Mike Riley?
No Adam, well he might be…. 😉
Is it John D. Laudermilk?
He might be Adam but I don’t know him… 😉
You know what if we were to win the league there would certainly be changes 🙂
I know that I am , who else ?
Rico and myself I think. Though quite separately I add. 🙂
A couple of top class players you mean Sp 😉
Yes, me, I am going to The Emirates with an old school friend, he messaged me just now…. I’m quite excited, to see him of course 😉
So, Mike Dean is a Liverpool fan. No doubt he was there when we visited Anfield in ’89 and has been seething and deeply traumatised ever since.
It might just be that simple.
Nipping off for an hour now, doorbell should be making a noise any minute… 🙂
Catch up a bit later….
It probably is just as simple as that Adam, 49 unbeaten backs that theory….
Laters..
Anyone home?
Guess not, night all, have a good one…
’til tomorrow…
I’m here Rico…
Night Rico…
Good night Rico
Morning all, new one up…