I would start this out by saying “What a difference a few days make”, but on second thought…Let’s not get carried away. We still have lots of work to do, and the result certainly camouflages many of the deficiencies that were so glaring during the just-ended two-match skid. But winning conceals a great many problems, so this is one to enjoy, not only for the three points, morale-boosting win, but also a performance full of grit and character – aspects so woefully lacking during the last few performances.
I groaned inwardly when I saw the lineup. I had no complaints with Rosicky and Arshavin returning to the starting lineup – but I had hoped that Chamakh, whom I felt looked rather jaded during the last few matches, would get a breather. Two goals and three points later, I am glad he played tonight. Arsene’s selection of Chamakh served as a timely reminder that I am welcome to my opinion, but should not think I can pick a better lineup than Arsene. In his post-match comments, Arsene said that Chamakh had been sick all week, so there seems to have been an additional contributing factor to his recent off-color performances. Chamakh wasn’t necessarily at the center of everything, but he put in another good shift, worked hard for the team, and converted the chances when we needed him to.
After drawing a blank at home in the dismal Sunday effort versus Newcastle, we took only 39 seconds to get on the scoreboard. Rosicky combined with Song, who crossed for Chamakh to head our opening goal in. The intent and effort so clearly lacking on Sunday were present here, as we threatened to rack it up against Wolves. Hahnemann was equal to just about everything else we sent at his goal, making three fine saves from Arshavin, and another from Cesc. Wolves gradually asserted themselves, and began to push us back and create chances of their own – Doyle heading just over around the half-hour mark, and Fabianski making an excellent reaction save from a ball which deflected off Squillaci. We made it to the interval level and started the second half quickly – Cesc should have scored our second, but sent a poor shot wide after Rosicky had set him up.
For the first part of the second half, we created the better chances, and had several opportunities to extend our lead, but either Hahnemann, his defenders, of the woodwork (from Arshavin) denied us. As in the first half, Wolves gradually asserted themselves, and by the 70th minute, Arsenal was under significant pressure. Rosicky cleared one attempt off our line, Fabianski denied Doyle again, and then saved impressively from Berra in stoppage. From that save, Fabianski started the quick break, which led to Chamakh doubling our lead in the 94th minute. The whistle went shortly after, and we left the midland with two goals, a clean sheet, three points, and two points gained on Man United (who could only draw 0-0 at Eastlands).
I was particularly interested to see how Fabianski would react to Sunday’s defeat – and a goal which, while not completely his fault, he could have done better. The signs are encouraging – he was confident, commanding, alert and athletic. Both he and Hahnemann had solid games in goal, but this effort was exactly what we needed from Fabianski. This is not to say that he won’t have another bad game, but last season he followed one mistake with another, successively worse one. By the end of last season, I argued that he should have been sold for his own sake. Now he just completed an excellent “rebound” performance, and overcame another mental hurdle. Nobody can reasonably suggest that this side does not have flaws; I will, however, suggest that the goalkeeping position is currently not the biggest of our worries. That is not to say that things cannot change – of course they can – but Fabianski’s form has been generally excellent and he has a young, hungry Szczesny on the bench to remind him that he cannot afford to relax. Certainly the position is stronger than it was at the start of the season. Let’s see how far we can go with Fabianski in this form.
If I don’t mention this, rest assured someone else will. Cesc committed a nasty looking scissors tackle on Stephen Ward right near the touch-line, right near the end of regulation. It was a little reminiscent of Eboue’s tackle in the Birmingham City game, and if Cesc had been sent off, I would not have argued. We are going to have to be careful – we do not need him suspended, and we are losing the high ground on rough challenges. To his credit, Mick McCarthy did not make a big deal over it – viewing it as an honest tackle between two players going for the ball. Cesc visited the Wolves dressing room to apologize to Ward, and Arsene apologized directly to McCarthy, so it seems that we were genuinely contrite and nobody wanted to make an issue over it. Still, we need to be careful in how we tackle, and also how we (Arsene) beat the “bad tackles” drum. Hopefully, we are starting to develop a reputation that we will no longer be pushed around, as we have in recent seasons.
It’s a shame the same thing can’t be said about Wolves Carl Henry, who committed an over the top, studs up tackle straight into Arshavin’s shin. It really was a bad tackle and could easily have broken our little Russian’s leg. Arshavin made little fuss, Wenger made little fuss but there’s no talk of him popping into the away teams dressing room to appologise! Even the Sky Sports commentator said he could have seen a red card for that!
Wolves gave Man United two very difficult recent games at Old Trafford, had beaten Man City, and showed exactly why they are a handful for most sides. We won, but we certainly had to dig deep – Wolves were worth at least a point here, and on another day, they convert the chances they had. Arsene paid credit to them afterwards, and I think we all knew we had been in a battle. Their problem at the moment seems to be scoring goals, but they defend well as a team, work hard, and certainly create chances. Kevin Doyle is well-suited to the lone striker role, and he should start scoring soon.
Good luck for the rest of the season – barring the Emirates fixture, of course.
We come away with a much-needed win, and stay five points behind Chelsea. It does not get any easier, with an always-difficult trip to Goodison on Sunday. We can take heart from this evening’s performance: we had commitment, intent and purpose. We seemed to attack smarter, and everyone dug in deep and defended when needed. It was certainly not pretty, but contained plenty to suggest we have more about us than just the proverbial “soft underbelly”.
Here is hoping the team can keep this level of effort, purpose, commitment and maturity up. If we can do that, we will difficult for any opponent.
Written by Oliver
At least Song can cross 😆
Sorry, how rude of me, morning all…..
Morning Rico,
Well written Oliver, as usual a calm, even handed report and appraisal.
I was particularly amused by the old writers dodge;
“I would start this out by saying “What a difference a few days make”, but ..”, and before we knew what had hit us …. you had. Very good! 🙂
Morning RA…
I just watched MOTD and same old same old, fuss made of Cesc’s tackle and rightly so but do they discuss the Henry one on AA, No!
Morning all.that last ditch tackle sagna made on doyle in the 2nd half was as good as a goal.its also refreshing to have a big lump at the back in djourou dominating aerial tussles.
Morning KT, awesome tackle by Sagna and agree, JD is looking good again… he was unlucky not to nab himself a goal too..
I know Wolves had their chances but so did we, could easily been 3 up before their onslaught came…
But, what a difference a good cross makes, Song got his spot on, if Clichy and Sagna could cross as well we would see the best of Chamakh, he has a great header on him…
Good morning,
Nice to see our players show lots of grit and determination, a far cry from sunday. Now for more of the same the next few weeks please and to carry it on until the end of the season. I had my say on monday and credit where it’s due Fabianski was very good adn veru solid last night made some great saves and made all the right decisions, I hope he also carries this onwards and upwards. As for the Cesc tackle it wasn’t a scissor tackle at all just left his foot in, a yellow card at worst for me but as usual noone says anything about the tackle on AA. MOTD really are quite pathetic.
Morning rico,
Glad about the 3 points, and i agree there still alot of work to be done
Yaya toure is very poor nowadays…he looks 16 stone!
morning sammy, have been crying out for some guts and grit from our players and last night we got that but it can’t end there… goodison will be equally as hard and the performance needs to be repeated. cesc is still off a bit, another night he would have buried his chance….
as for fabianski, oliver is spot on, great concerns about how he would ‘recover’ after sunday but wow, he made some outstanding saves…
Rico don’t deny it…you and the rest of the arsenal ladies liked the look of fabby in a pink top…
morning didee, really good result and the way we achieved it was great. last time we saw that was away at blackburn…
KT – I absolutely love his shirt, i really do 🙂
I was astounded when the teams walked onto the pitch and I saw that pink “thing’ in goal…. I thought what the fuck is RA doing in goal…..???? I then couldn’t watch anymore.
😉 Great result about time we showed some balls…! no not them Rico, behave.
on the cesc shallenge, i really think we shd ditch the good team thing, if they hit us lets hit back. Thats how paddy, parlour, adams, keown, grimster got the message across to teams in the past. we need the fear factor to win things and the fear factor is total performance and grit. worked for the invincibles and lately chelsea
KT looks like RA in your avatar in that bright pink thingy…. lol 😀
Hi wath.did you see yaya last night?…he was clueless!and for a team aiming to win the title city were very defensive.
Fabianski has very impressive reflexes!
KT, told you ages ago, the fella has an arse like an elephant….! Citeh were more concerned with not getting beaten rather than playing to win.
Hi WATH, i thought Fab looks great in pink, as for the balls, i didn’t see any on display 🙂
just got to kneed some dough so back in 15 😉
Spend it don’t kneed it 😛
Morning all.
Top marks Oliver, I enjoyed reading that.
Song seems to be coming up with a few surprises this season: 4 goals so far this season, peroxide effect and a superb cross last night! If he continues like that he’ll become an arsenal legend!! 🙂
Still dont care much for Fab-pink-aski’s jersey but hey, he did very well last night!
Chamon, Chamarkhattack!!
Substance over style – spot on. And that’s no bad thing, either.
Fabianksi was unquestionably man of the match. Great mental strength to bounce back from Sunday’s howler the way he did. Well done, Lukasz.
We could not really have complained if Cesc had been sent off. Big credit to McCarthy for shrugging it off (and to Cesc for going to apologise to Ward in the dressing room). But Karl Henry’s stud-up tackle on Arshavin was at least as bad, even though MOTD didn’t show it. Anyhow, what’s done is done.
In many ways, I’m more pleased with last night’s battling performance than I would have been if we had strolled to an easy win. Make no mistake, Wolves battered us for long spells and if we had played the way we did on Sunday, we could easily have lost 2-1 or 3-1.
Now we need more of the same at Everton on Sunday!
http://thearmchairsportsfan.com/2010/11/11/fabianski-pretty-in-pink-as-chamakh-goals-bookend-arsenal-win/
Joey Barton up to no good
surprise surprise.
Tbz……… Just shows what happens when Chamakh gets decent service and decent crosses. I’ll take substance over style anytime at the moment as we all know the substance means you can them impose your style…! One don’t work without the other thats for sure
Iv’e spent it, that’s why i have to make my own WATH 😉
Substance of style, any day of the week if it wins us the league…
Win us the league…. Steady on Rico 😀
WATH, there is a big IF in there 😉
I was quite impressed with JD last night as well, thought he had a very solid game, Squillaci seems to talk lots which helps too but JD did look better than his last few games.
I think he’s just got better each game, eveyone expected him to come back and play like TV, its crazy, the guys been out for a year.. he was getting a right bashing across the blog world the last time he played….
It seems Chesney has signed his new deal….
Taxi for Almunia 🙂
No Fellani (spelling) on Sunday then after his red card last night…
JD is big enough and strong enough to be a very very good centre half…! Get his injuries out the way get some match fitness and a few games under his belt and then we can see.
I so hope he doesn’t suffer any more injuries, i really like him WATH, he’s never moaned and groaned about anything, loves the club and is the model professional… i know some will suggest thats because he hasn’t played yet been paid but i beg to differ, how old is he now, 21 😉
Jeff Winter is reviewing the red cards from last nights, he says that Cesc’s yellow card was the right decision…
Why are they not talking about the Henry one ….
It’s very quiet here today, especially after getting three points ….
Oi WATH, what’s wrong with my pink gear? Together with my pink lippy and high heels, no one sees a lumbering 6’4″ lump, but sees a graceful well turned out “thingy”.
It’s something a 4’6″ vuvuzela merchant in a frou frou and little curly toed boots like yours could not aspire to! 🙂 Eat your heart out! 🙂
R.A, imagine Fabpinkiaski running after the ball like Mr Humphries, saying “I’m Freeeee…!”
Not a pretty picture! 😆
Where is agag when i need her, Fabianski looked super cool in pink 🙂
T-buzz 😆
Mr Wolf, please take a look at your own Carl Henry, watch that tackle and come back and eat humble pie… either that or keep your insults for a wolves forum please….
Has McCarthy been on here then rico? lol
By the way, Ian Holloway, is he something else or what? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/blackpool/9178229.stm
Basically mr wolf that would mean Rico politely telling you to fuck right off….!
Tbz, RA running round Brighton all dressed up yelling i’m free is indeed a scary proposition, did I say proposition best I refrain RA will get all excited.
Rico, I am so pleased you moderated Mr Wolf, he might have made me cwy and cwy! There are always nuts around.
WATH, you are a very wicked …… but exciting … blogger. 🙂
T-buzz, some ww fan suggesting we are dirty…. but not quite so polite 😉
2b treated with contempt Rico………..
WATH, thats just what i meant but you put it so much better than me 🙂
T-buzz, been listening to Ian Holloway this morning, I love his up front and honesty and telling the reporter he didn’t know what he was on about was super…
i would hate to see him not in the PL though, i think he is a very refreshing manager…
Popping on and off for an hour, few things to do….
Oliver, when you log on, thank you for the post, another spot-on one too. sorry for the little bit of editing though 😉
Stop on Rico, Holloway deserves a lot of credit he sticks to his guns and says it like it is….! Also has Blackpool trying to play the right way too.
well said WATH
Tbz, makes a change for managers to be honest and up front about things, Holloway doesn’t kiss arse he says things like he sees it and fair play to him for that. I also like De Matteo at West Brom as well. It’s nice for managers to actually seem in touch with reality when the majority up away with the fairies..!
Boo, agree, holloway plays footie, would be all too easy for him to park the usual bus…
Boo!!! oliver, in a perfect universe it would be substance AND style. I am indifferent to the method… I only want three points. 🙂 🙂
rico, is that freshly-baked bread I smell?? Yum. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Boo to you agag, wow can you smell it from there 😆
Just had some with a chunk of cheddar… yummy..
Yes, rico. I have a very acute sense of smell, from continents away, the aroma of your your bread, the stinkers at Liverpoo, the pomade of the pensioners, the scent of money at Citeh… All sorts of things really, not least of which the sweet smell of success at Arsenal. 🙂 😉
Nice one agag 😆
Howdy HH
Where is that pie?
Hola agag.pinkiness is in fashion and i know you ladies must be loving it.
Sorry guys, i have being busy.
But;
What a game , i saw Arsenal players throwing their whole body to block a shot, Rosicki make a goal line clearance, Sagna made like 3 blocks (i lost count), Squilaci just didn’t give up.
It appeared like we were being bullied but we were systematically in control.
And Finally Fabianski had the game of the season, he was Fantastic and he could be forgiven for 1 or 2 Flabihandsky moments if he can have this kind of performance regularly.
Charmarkh! What can i say? Wenger is the man and he got him for free?
The second goal was like Henry or Raul scoring: You always wondered why the goal keepers couldn’t catch the ball.
We might have a new gem in our midst , you never know.
Hi Stef, no pie, just bread 😉
Szczesny has signed a new long term contract.its official.
Hi SD, just makes you wonder if we had bought him in the Jan though last season…..
Hello, stef, KT. 🙂 Howdy? That shade of pink suited Fabianski perfectly; it did not make his complexion look sallow. Maybe the pink socks gave him superpowers for that last minute supersave! Hmmm… 🙂
SD, TV5 was the signing of the season last year, Chamakhaka seems to this year’s. He is turning out to be quite an astute signing. 🙂
That is just fab news KT, just what we all hoped for….
Like i said earlier…
Taxi for Almunia 😆
SD, Fab was indeed Fab, some of his saves were just top class, maybe it was the pink shirt…
Pink boots are a no no for nikki but pink shirt a big yes for Fabby 🙂
This set of players just need to be consistent.
They need to learn how to get results and be more disciplined.
When you have a good goal keeper i think it has a ripple effect because nobody will like to let the goal keeper down by not protecting the game.
Arshavin needs to calm down in front of the goal, he could have mad another touch to the left, which would have beaten the goal keeper then he can shot with his left(Naturally)
No celebrations yet but at least we won and we can concentrate on the next game.
On a final note , i hope it gets to May before other teams realizes that Charmarkaka could be a dangerous player to play against.
Taxi for Almunia, rico?? Ow. You want to help him pack, I bet. 🙂
SD, I like that Arshavin seems to be working harder lately though. He looks marginally less jaded.
Arshavin is still our most scary players.When he moves the opponent worries.
His work rate increasing can only be good.I suspect he is a blogger also and has being reading people’s comment about his lack of deffending duties.
I am glad he his working harder now and it is showing in his perfomaces.
Goals from him will be great.
Bye guys.
SD, my money was on AA to bury that chance, i think he would last season but this season i think a little confidence is missing, agree re the keeper and the ripple effect…
agag, for sure I do 🙂
See you SD, have a good one…
AA is warming up for an Anfield moment…spuds?…
hiya rico no humble pie for me then I know my humbleness has left me.
the pink shirt will confuse the opponents 😀
Also orange works too 😛
KT, i’d forgive all his lazy games if he kills off the tiny totts, i really would but have to say, last night he started to look like the real AA…
I think wenger has given them a rocket up the jacksy…
may the real AA please stand up.
I repeat : may the real AA please stand up.
AA should of scored that shot lovely runs from him yesterday.
If only AW was brave enough too introduce Walcott at HT and put the captain on bench.
He says he’s already standing, Stef. He’s just really weeny 🙂
Bye, SD. Catch you soon.
rico, AA’s certainly looking sharper. 🙂 I hope he gets a good run now. We need players who play like their life depended on it. 🙂
My bad agag, I thought that was some1 from the Arsenal academy the ‘new’ Jack possibly. 😀
Did anyone mention I was the only one, yesterday, who forecast a comfortable win? 🙂
agag, he is and about time too….. 🙂
AA can be a ballon d’Or contender if he just applies himself.
Gibbs could be back for Everton.Diaby showing positive tests according to Aw.
that if though KT is a big one…
It’s TV5’s injury that’s particularly worrisome… I don’t care for those mystery-type lay-offs like Rosicky’s. That did not turn out too well. We lost him for soooo long. 🙁
Oh, I see no one prepared to admit my prescience over the Wolves game result!
Hah, see if I care. 🙄
agag, suggestion is he’s out for the rest of the season, not good… 🙁
RA, yes you did say we would win, bit of a hit and miss guess though 😉
Wicked Girl. A guess? Surely you meant a devoted supporter! 🙂
Not at all RA, i am just honest… every game i used to believe we will win, but last night i didn’t and the team did that to me….. but thankfully i was wrong but then so were so so many other fans who felt the same….
Guys, Gals, I’m off for the day, you all enjoy the rest of your day and stay safe…
Catch up tomorrow….
Great read one of the best this year thanks Oliver.
morning ozzie, thanks re the post, i am sure oliver will see your comment. hope come back and chat to us all later…
New one up