ARSENAL 1-2 CHELSEA: TIME TO LEARN AND MOVE FORWARD

I don’t know if this happened to you as well but yesterday morning was a bit funny as before the game I felt a bit scared that we might disappoint. That creepy feeling was uncovered by the fact that a whole lot of Arsenal fans became overly positive that we were going to thrash Chelsea. We had not felt like that since the first day we faced the new Mourinho-led Chelsea in 2004.

And who can blame us? We were defending well, working hard and showing solidity and steel in the middle of the park with confidence. We could also rely on the guile of Santi Cazorla to make sure everything goes smoothly in the attacking third. The only worry for us was the fact that we might not get a lot of goals but it was kind of certain that a loss was out of the way.

Roberto Di Matteo might not be your everyday “big coach” but take it from me, that dude is a tactician. I am not saying this because they won and got away with it, I am making reference to the way he set his team up to win the Champions League; defeating Barcelona in the process and the formation he put out when they visited the Emirates last season.  He knows us and he is aware of those simple textbook ways of frustrating and beating Arsenal. His main objective was to stifle the middle of the park and defend-“DO NOT CONCEDE AND WAIT FOR THEM TO MAKE A MISTAKE; JUST ONE MISTAKE”. That is the golden statement to the destructive and ultra-defensive 4-5-1 formation he put out.

A clear message would have been given to Oscar, Mata and Hazard to fight and work hard for the ball. They would have been told to forget about playing “tiki-taka” at the Emirates and to concede the fact that they would have to defend and pounce on errors by the home team. Di Matteo also did a very good job by sending the indefatigable Ramires after Santi Cazorla- that worked excellently.

Back to Arsenal, the boss went with the same formation that got an impressive point against Man City at the Etihad last week but made a very significant change at the back by bringing in Laurent Koscielny for Per Metersacker. After a very cautious start to the game from both sides, we lost Abou Diaby in the 17^th minute to an annoying hip injury which scared the hell out of me.  To make matters worse, the first goal came in the 20th minute through a set-piece as Fernando Torres out-foxed Koscielny to put the ball in the back of the net. Before the free-kick was sent in, Koscielny was too busy trying to arrange the defensive line while staying close to the Spaniard at the same time. He was trying to make sure Oxlade Chamberlain stayed with his man then he took his eyes off the ball and got punished; one mistake, one goal.

In the 42^nd minute, Gervinho equalized with an instinctive turn in the box to slam the ball in the roof of the net with his right foot. A very good striker’s goal, and to do that between John Terry and David Luiz just in front of the home fans was brilliant. We were back in the game and everyone expected us to grow stronger from there.

The loss of Diaby was felt deeply in the second half as Aaron Ramsey showed that he is not exactly the man to complement Mikel Arteta the way Abou Diaby does. Santi Cazorla also drifted in and out of the game while Podolski seemed lost on the left due to the way and manner Chelsea was set-up. The second goal came via another set piece as Laurent Koscielny tried to stop the in-swinger from Mata which was unsuccessful. He had a slight touch on the ball and more importantly, he distracted Mannone from focusing on saving the ball.

I was a bit surprised with the way we set-up to deal with that set-piece. It was totally different from the way we conceded the goal at the Etihad and we still got punished. That was not zonal marking was it?  Mata put the ball in the gap in front of the goal keeper inviting a touch but to be frank, it was a very soft goal to concede.

We labored to get back into the game afterwards and that was when the frustration started kicking in. We started getting out of shape in the middle, Santi Cazorla drifted out of the game, Arteta was combining two responsibilities and we were constantly giving the ball away sloppily.  Wenger introduced Walcott and Giroud in the 66th minute for Ramsey and Podolski to add more fire power to the attack and the only major highlight after that was the miss by the big French man late in the game.  I must say, that was a difficult ball to score as Cech did well to make himself bigger in front of the ball making it harder for Giroud. He also showed some bit of composure to round Cech and would have scored had he been more confident.

I believe Wenger should stop the act of taking off a striker for another striker when we are in dire need of goals. What was the worst thing that could have happened yesterday? We would lose? Well news flash: WE STILL LOST! I don’t understand the logic of taking off your most lethal striker in an important home game for a man struggling with confidence. Left to me, I would have kept all our attacking players in the game. Chelsea defended throughout the game and hoped to catch us out on a counter occasionally but we failed to put them under genuine pressure for most parts of the game.

Diaby’s injury was a major turning point as I said earlier and the earlier we get Jack Wilshere and Thomas Rosicky back, the better. Once again, Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson did very well and these two lads keep reminding the more experienced full backs in the club that they are not ready to lose their positions in the team.

On the big issue of leaving Per Metersacker out of the game, Wenger said:

“That is a decision which was based on the opposition we played. You can say it was a wrong one maybe, but I believe [that statement] is a lowering the quality of the players who played, they are internationals. If you do not play Koscielny or Vermaelen and cannot win the game, you will ask me the same question.”

Well you can’t answer the question more intelligently than that but I must say, I had my worries. We keep going on about the Vermaelen-Koscielny partnership as if it is the great partnership that we’ve all been craving to see since the invincibles. We saw it last season and it was not very fantastic based on statistics. What I know for sure is that before Per Metersacker’s injury against Wolves last season, our defence was beginning to take some “shape”- we all know what happened the next game at the San Siro. Same thing has happened again this season as we maintained some sort of defensive stability before Wenger decided to tweak it.  You can say all you want about the BFG but he gives us something we don’t have at the back-STABILITY. Vermaelen and Koscielny are like two hot-heads that can’t perform at their best when playing together in my honest opinion. Now, this is purely based on results and we can see the number of times our defence got exposed on countless occasions yesterday; something I had not seen since the season started.

I hope he gets re-installed in the heart of our defence the next game so we can move on. We were not woeful but we just feel we could have beaten Chelsea with the momentum we had going prior to the game. I sincerely feel Giroud, Coquelin and Per Metersacker should all start our next game. Till Diaby or Jack comes back, I will play: Mannone, Jenkinson, Metersacker, Vermaelen (Koscielny), Gibbs, Arteta, Coquelin, Cazorla, Podolski, Gervinho and Giroud.  Bringing in Coquelin will help reduce the pressure on Mikel Arteta as the French youngster knows his primary responsibility in the team which is to help the defence.

Worry all you want about scoring but if you don’t concede, you won’t lose and if you don’t lose, you confidence can only go higher. I can’t wait for us to show the whole world again that we can now defend- it is key to our challenge(s) this season. Our next set of matches are all winnable and we must make sure we start Olivier Giroud in each and every one of them to help this man find his confidence: Olympiacos (H), West Ham United (A), Norwich (A), Schalke 04 (H), QPR (H) and Reading (A)- the sort of run that can give you the momentum you need to kick start a title winning campaign.

Winning the EPL is about BELIEF. Manchester United look like trash almost at the beginning of every season in recent history but they always end up stronger or strongest (winning). Reason is they find it easy to convince themselves they can do it when they look back in history. They have always been doing it so why can they do it this time? THIS IS WHAT WE NEED AT THE ARSENAL and I am sure it will come once we win ONE TROPHY to start with. ONE TROPHY MONSIEUR!

LOWER CASE GOONERS GETS CHANCE TO SHINE IN CAPITAL ONE CUP

😐

That’s for the header.

Don’t punish me na. Are they not our lower case players? 😀

We host Coventry today in what was known as Carling Cup or League Cup. The Cup We Should Have Won Until We Ran Mad Against Birmingham And The Rest Is History.

Wenger has promised to field a strong side. Wenger has also promised to play his youngsters. Put two and two together and you realize  that the youngsters are the ones that would make up the strong side. Smart man. Wenger is.  Smart man, I am.

The only sign of strong I see in the 19-man squad named for the game are the likes of Giroud, Ox and maybe Arshavin. There’s a certain semi-effective WINGER that has refused to sign a contract extension because he wants to play as a striker also named in the squad.

No matter what he says, we expect Wenger to name a second string side. It is usually a chance for the guys trying to get into the team, or the ones on their way out of the team to show the manager why they should get into the team, or why they should get back into the team, or why they should be kicked out of the team, as the case may be.

He said;

“We want to put out a talented side that has a good chance to win the game. We will give a chance to some players who have not played as many games recently. The players that did not play on Sunday [at Manchester City] will get a chance and it’s a good opportunity for them to show they can do well.”

I am not trying to be boastful, but this should be sure victory for us. Why do I think so? Well, for one we are at home, we are in form, we have some exciting talents named in the squad for the game, we have some old heads that want to push for a recall to the first team. Most of all, we are the all-improved New Arsenal, that can’t put a foot wrong.. till we put a foot wrong.

It’s a sellout crowd at the Emirates today. The good start the team has had this season plus our impressive and promising performances have renewed the faith of the supporters and the Boss wants us to repay the faith.

“… we want to give the supporters back what they expect from us – and that is total commitment and complete resilience for the 90 minutes we play. I am sure the boys will do that on Wednesday night.”

I feel confident about the game, as long as they obey the boss and play with total commitment and complete resilience for 90 minutes (we won’t need extra time), we will be alright.

With the squad released, I expect a starting line up like;

MARTINEZ

YENNARIS DJOUROU IGNASI SANTOS

COQUELIN EISFIELD OX

WALCOTT CHAMAKH ARSHAVIN

You want something fairytales are made of? Yes? Introducing Nico Yennaris, he was Arsenal’s mascot against Coventry in September 2000 and today he might be starting at right-back for Arsenal against Coventry in September 2012. Isn’t that just sweet?

Eisfeld and Yennaris. Likely starters today

I look forward to seeing Eisfield and Chamakh play today. I have a soft spot for the Moroccoan and I think Wenger would have done a better job boosting his confidence this season by throwing open the top-9 position for Chamakh and Giroud to fight for, even if it’s just to restore some confidence in the lanky African. As for Eisfeld, I liked what I saw in the young German during pre-season.

Coquelin is a name on the first-team now. He should play the Arteta role in midfield without much fuss.

Does Walcott get his chance to play up front? After the public outburst, I seriously doubt that. I won’t be surprised to see him start from the bench, and Gnabry starting ahead of him.

Speaking of Gnabry. Wenger reckons he could play for the first team this year. I’ve not seen much of him, but the few minutes I’ve seen him play he seems to me as some hybrid version of Walcott and Ox…. facially too!

The Capital One cup already has casualties like Manchester City and Everton, both of them jaboed yesterday.

Hopefully the other threats like Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham get beaten by other lesser teams for us. Lets save our strength for Champions League and Premier League abeg.

I’m not ashamed.

Fingers crossed for an easy win today. Let’s go all the way in this competition and banish the memories of the Carling Cup we have.

IN OTHER NEWS, Guess who’s back? Dench is Back!

Yes. Emmanuel Frimpong is back. Hopefully, he’d get a few minutes today.

To a 3-0 thumping of Coventry today!

Victoria Concordia Crescit

Errrmmm.. did someone mention Squilacci?

One point for the on-point Gooners

Last year, we went to the Etihad Stadium and came back with an empty kitty.

This year, with our much talked about ‘boulded’ defence, more mature midfield and an improving forward line, it was expected that we’d do better than we did last year, and that’s exactly what we did.

STARTING LINE UP

As pointed out in the preview, Mannone returned between the sticks as Szczceny’s ruled out for 2 weeks for dropping the ball against Southampton, due to injury

A virus kept captain Vermaelen out, which meant a start for Koscielny.

Wenger also opted for Ramsey in midfield.

Giroud returned to the bench as Gervinho looked to continue as the main striker.

KICK OFF

We had a sprightly start. Passing the ball around, but with no real penetration. The two teams didn’t seem to leave 2nd gear.

Then the first real good chance of the match fell to Gervinho, and the in-form Ivorian should have buried it. Ramsey weighed a beautiful, sweet through ball to him but his first touch was too heavy and the ball rolled to Joe Hart. I expect Gervinho to have nightmares for weeks for this

A few minutes later,  another good chance fell to Podolski.  Jenkinson showed strength  by out-muscling Lescott, he found Podolski with the cut back pass, but the ball fell to the German’s ‘chocolate leg’ and his nephew in Berlin would be thanking Uncle Lukas for sending an EPL match-day ball to him.

A few chances here and there, nothing too threatening, then City scored.

A needless corner was conceded by Gibbs. Not blaming the impressive full back though, he didn’t get a shout to allow the ball, so he headed out for the corner. Corner taken and we zonally marked them, Mannone came for the ball, but fabianskied it, allowing Lescott nod into the net. 1 – 0 to the home team, totally against the run of play!

Lescott’s opener.

Half time and one’s mind would flash back to the old Arsenal, all the good play, all the possession, then concede a soft goal, except this  isn’t the old Arsenal.

Second half began and City brought on Jack Rodwell to replace Scott Sinclair. Mancini needed to do something about the midfield that was totally bossed by Arsenal in the first half. I think the substitution worked, because we weren’t as in control of the game as we were in the first half.

Another chance fell to Gervinho after a nice pass from Cazorla, but he screwed it wide, again.

Walcott and Giroud came on for Diaby and Podolski.

The match got tighter, not as free flowing as it was in the first half. But you still got the feeling there was a goal or more in the game.

Then the goal came.

Cazorla called Joe Hart into action with a stinging shot. The Englishman turned it out for a corner and we scored from the corner. Cazorla (who else) took the corner, Lescott passed to Koscielny, and the Frenchman chested down then fired into the top corner! 1-1. Esctatic

Was Gervinho running to say ‘Thank you’ to Koscielny?

That was the 82nd minute, but the goal somewhat opened up the game, because both teams had at least one good chance each for a winner after the equalizer.

City’s chance fell to Aguero. Almost immediately after our goal, City had a corner, and Kompany’s acrobatic overhead kick was wonderfully saved by Mannone, the ball was sliced clear by Koscielny into the path of Aguero, but the spirit of Gervinho descended on Maradona’s son-in-law and he shot wide. *Whew*!

Arsenal’s last chance of the game fell unfortunately to Gervinho. After working out a nice shooting space for himself at the edge of the box, the spirit of Gervinho descended on Gervinho and he blasted it high and wide. Glorious chance wasted again by the Ivorian.

That was Wenger’s cue to take off Le Forehead. Coquelin came in to shore the midfield. One point was good enough.

OVERVIEW

GOALKEEPER

Mannone had a good game. He might have had something to do with the goal we conceded, but he made other saves that assured the point we got from the game

DEFENSE

Mertasacker  impressed me again. Intercepting passes and making clearances with so much maturity and excellent positioning.  He dovetails nicely with either of Koscielny or Vermaelen.

That Vermaelen got injured and we bring in Koscielny to replace him is such an amazing thing.

Wenger had this to say about the Centre back situation;

We have three classy centre backs, and it is a very difficult choice. Koscielny, Mertesacker and Vermaelen – no matter who is left out can feel it is not right. But I will rotate them and take into consideration the strikers we will face.

No mention for poor Djourou? 😦

Gibbs and Jenkinson too put in nice shifts. Santos and Sagna will be sweating over these two lads now. I’m sure.

MIDFIELD

Cazorla again had a lovely game. We have a gem. World class midfielder.

Ramsey was exceptional. I know a lot of fans dislike the boy, but I think he put some doubts in his doubters’ minds with his display today. I trust Arsene to make the best use of him this season.

Diaby and Arteta also had good games. Keeping Silva and Yaya quiet for most of the game.

ATTACK

Podolski had a rather quiet game. I don’t recall seeing him in advance attacking positions. He was helping out in midfield most of the time. The one chance he had fell on his weaker foot.

Gervinho though. You can’t fault his movement, running and trickery. Its just his finishing that lets him down. He should convert those chances he gets. I think he needs a shrink. It seems his brain just switches off when he gets into the box. Don’t get me wrong o, I love Gervinho, but he’s too wasteful!

I’m wondering. Looking at the so-called Steve Bould effect on the defense, should we hire Wright, Bergkamp or maybe Thierry to help out our strikers with their finishing?

WENGER POST MATCH QUOTE

After the game, Wenger said;

I am pleased because [a point] was the minimum we deserved today. I am pleased also with the quality of our performance and our spirit. Also a bit frustrated because I feel there was room to do more.

We had early chances and very late chances, especially Gervinho at the edge of the box where he missed the target.

But overall I hope this will reinforce our belief and confidence and reassure us about our potential in this league.

CONCLUSION

We travelled to the home of the Champions, went a goal behind and still came back with a point. We even came back a bit disappointed not to have won the game. That says a lot about this Arsenal team now. We have now played 5 games and we have conceded just two goals and we’re undefeated. We need to keep the momentum.

This game would help our belief. At least, it tells us we’re not so far from the title contenders. And looking how we handled Southampton last week, maybe finally, we’ve exorcised the demons that hauunt us when we play ‘small’ teams.

The only sad part (for me) was seeing the players jump on each other after the game, like say we don win league with this draw. I dunno. Maybe its just me, but I don’t like such scenes. Our players shouldn’t be openly celebrating  draws.

Or maybe I’m just being a hypocrite. Because, I was celebrating and jumping after the game too.

Like @HexyDre would say, Meh!

Next up is Coventry City in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday at The Emirates. Ewo tu ni Capital One Cup?

Up The Arse!

By the way, who was your Man of the Match? Kindly let us know in the comment box.

Man City v Arsenal Preview

Hello there gooners, before we go into the Manchester city preview I will like to apologize for not posting a review of our champions league game against Montpellier, there was a glitch in our communication channels and we ended up not having a write-up soon enough, we will do everything possible to avoid this happening again.

Brief review

I was able to catch the first 20 minutes of the mid-week game in Montpellier so I saw all the goals, which is selfishly a good thing for me. From the reports and highlights, I learned that we were outplayed  had less of the possession in the second half, which is not necessarily a bad thing because it shows we were able to get a goal, sit back and defend it in a hostile(?) environment. And as we saw in other top champions league games, winning away isn’t a piece of cake. The major issue I have with us in that game is the lack of rotation/early substitution. Why not rest/withdraw some players and show some faith in the other capable players on the bench? Was it due to Wenger not directly in charge to make the right calls? I don’t know, maybe Arsene really feels it will be good to ensure a great start away from home for our first game in the campaign. Well, all well and good as long as the key players have recovered in time for tomorrow’s game.

Team News

The boss said there was no injury picked up from the last game so he has the same squad that went to France available for the City game. Good injury-free news for a change, even Diaby is okay. Knock on wood. He also confirmed Szczesny is out for two – three weeks due to an ankle injury, fingers crossed Mannone will continue with his solid form.

Jack is back!

 

 

There is nothing really to add to this, all Arsenal, England and pretty much all football fans will be delighted to have Wilshere back from his 14-month injury and I for one can’t wait to see him back in full action, although I’m sure the Arsenal staff will be extremely cautious in bringing in back into the thick of things. I can live with caution, but I’m already drooling at the thought of the midfield trio of Mikel ‘96%-completion’ Arteta – Jack ‘Arsenal-DNA’ Wilshere – Santi ‘Controller’ Cazaorla. In the words of the great poet D’banj: “Don’t touch it! File!”

In related news – as can be seen from the picture – Manu Frimpong is also back in training, and according to reports, he could start playing before Jack. I have a feeling he will go on loan in January but that depends on how fit the squad is at that point of the season. Heard he’s rated by the coaching staff, so fingers crossed for the Dench-man – who is refreshingly an Arsenal fan through and through so he has gooners rooting for him.

City Preview

This fixture last season was a close one, and they nicked it by a lone goal, just like we did when they came to the Emirates the same season. I’ve always said Mancini has a great deal of fear respect for the way Wenger’s side is set up to attack and he most times sets his team up defensively to deal with Arsenal. I won’t be surprised if he takes the same approach tomorrow, but with the plethora of attacking options available to the Italian I still can’t figure how why he does that. Let’s hope they come out to play on Sunday. And if they do, it will make for exciting end to end stuff. Our present team is deadly on the counter and so far this season we haven’t needed much possession to win games.

I was only able to watch the highlights of their midweek game against Real but they gave the La Liga champions a pretty decent game at the San Bernabeu, and if not for some shoddy defending towards the end of the game they would have left with three point, or one.

They won’t have the service of the lizard Nasri tomorrow, but I read somewhere that Aguero is fit to play against us tomorrow (meh), with the likes of Tevez, Yaya, Dzeko et al., our defense will be truly tested tomorrow and I look forward to the test.

Predicted Line-up

I can only guess, but I have a feeling Arsene will stick with the side that ripped Southampton apart last weekend, Diaby will probably come in for Coquelin and we will have a set-up like this:

Mannone

Jenkinson Mertesacker Vermaelen Gibbs

Diaby Carzola Arteta

Chamberlain Gervinho Podolski

Round up

A loss tomorrow will be indicative of where we are as a team right now, but it doesn’t show how we will end up because this team has potential and I honestly believe they can only get better with more games together. On the other end, a win or draw will fill the players with more confidence as they go forward in the season. Seems like I just did a double-standard thing right there, eh? *shrugs*.

That’s all I have for now, folks. I will have to miss the first or second half of the game, depending on which church service I decide to go for, I will say a prayer for the gunners.

Till then, UTA!

Buzzing all the way to France: Montpellier HSC vs. Arsenal FC Match Preview

Diaby skips past Coquelin in training, while Jenkinson looks on, ensorcelled.

I hate it when Arsenal lose: For obvious reasons and also for the fact that the better part of the rest of my day is spent miserably. I also love/hate it when Arsenal win: Love it for obvious reasons and for the ‘buzzing’, then hate for the ‘buzzing’ – the buzzing that make me spend the better part of the next two days reading all sorts of match reports on the win, tactical reviews and analyses, how excellent the boys were and how brilliant Wenger is. Yes, I hate and love it because, let me put it this way, I’ll be buzzing for days whenever Arsenal win. What is the meaning of buzzing? Well, ask Jack Wilshere who I picked it up from.

So here I am, still buzzing about that magnificent 6-1 thumping of Southampton as we head to France to take on the Ligue 1 champion, Montpellier HSC, in the first game of our 2012/2013 champions league campaign. Apparently the French champions have started their season in poor form, winning just one of their five games and losing three. They sit in the 16^th position, just two spots above relegation zone. Nevertheless we shouldn’t expect this to be a walk in the park for Arsenal, and I’m sure their players will be up and ready to come out strongly in their first champions league campaign. They aren’t the Ligue 1 champions for nothing, and the fact that we got their highest goal scorer from the previous season will add an extra spice to the game.

Wenger also mentioned the fact that he’s had some exciting battles with René Girard – their manager, and that he – Arsene – expects a very tough game from the French side. I should also note at this point that Arsene Wenger will not be by the touchline, he will be serving his customary 3-match UEFA ban for God-knows-what! For trying to get an answer from the inept referee who officiated our last champions league game last season against AC Milan I suppose. Is there any justice in this world?

Well, that is all I know about Montpellier. It’s really late in the night and I’m too lazy to consult my always faithful friends: Google and Wikipedia. Let’s move on to what we know about tomorrow:

Szczesny is out of the squad due to an ankle injury, so Vito Mannone gets another chance to put up a solid display and show he is formidable competition for the Polish youngster. Mannone will be deputized by James Shea from the reserves since Fabianski is also out injured. As usual. Diaby is back in the squad and expected to start, the boss actually said he could have played on Saturday but as we all saw, there was no need, so I expect the Frenchman to pick up from where he left. Other than those, there isn’t any surprise in the 18-man squad named to face Montpellier. I for one am not so surprised Arshavin and Chamakh didn’t make the trip.

Choosing the starting XI is tricky: should some influential players be rested? How much change is too much? Bar any pre-match injury, we should expect to see Koscieny start tomorrow, Santos could get in the action from the beginning and I won’t be surprised to see Giroud start but I feel the boss could leave him on the bench. Ramsey is another player who I feel deserves a start, he did pretty well when he came in last Saturday to set up Gervinho’s second goal. Shame he didn’t score that goal, would have loved to put the Aaron – reluctant angel of death theory to rest.

Well, Arsene knows best so I guess there could be one or two surprises in the starting line-up but I will go ahead and take a guess with mine anyway:

Mannone

Jenkinson Koscielny Vermaelen Santos

Diaby Arteta

Ramsey

Walcott Giroud Gervinho

This set-up looks good enough to get a win, although Wenger could play it safe and stick with Cazorla and Podolski to start our champions league campaign with a sure victory.

That’s all for now, folks. Here is to another fine display by the gunners and three points in the kitty.

UTA!

PS: Funny of the day: Sebastien Squillaci played with the U-21 yesterday, and they promptly got their first draw of the season, after winning the first three. Make of that what you will. Actually, there is nothing to be made of that.

@HexyDre is on Twitter.

Arsenal 6 – 1 Southampton: Match Report

Written by @neyopapas

I waited anxiously for this match to come…two weeks was like forever (no thanks to the international break), but alas the d-day came and trepidation took over my soul….will my beloved Arsenal continue from where she stopped or will she falter and let the pessimistic fans and media pounce on Wenger again for sticking to the young goons. Thanks to Twitter, staunch followers of my team posted the video  of some couple of seasons ago were we thrashed Soton 6-1 at our former ground (Highbury)  and I was hoping for a repeat, but my mind kept telling that this underdog club might spring a surprise considering the troubles they caused Manure and Man Shitty….anyways the rest is history.

I woke quite early to catch the match live, never mind where I reside. Considering that I didn’t want anyone to give me a recap of how my beloved woman team performed….we started the match with a different formation, recalled @afcamden stating that we might see a different team and alas the dude was right for the umpteenth time… Gervinho was brought in to replace Giroud, who I feel is still under intense pressure to repay the faith monsieur has placed in him, but I know he will come good. Wenger opted to follow Spain’s pattern of using a false 9 (I guess baba learnt a few things during the European torunament) and Gervinho was given the job to operate in that role.

Immediately the match started Arsenal unleashed terror on the underdogs and I knew today was going to be great, and on the 11minute the German Machine Lukas Podolski wriggled his way out of three Soton players and made a pass to Kieran Gibbs who was lurking on the left flank, Gibbs played a low cross which was nudged past the Soton goalkeeper and kicked into the net with the help of  Jos  Hooiveld. 1-0 to the Arsenal!

In the 31minute, Coquelin was brought down under the clumsy challenge of another Soton player 30yards from goal, and the German machine was called into action yet again, he curled the shot over the Soton defense and the goalkeeper had no chance in this world of saving it. The goal reminded me of one judas (EDITOR’S NOTE: Actually JvP couldn’t have scored that. Wastepipe) who could that, but opted to go for money rather than loyalty and pitched his tent with the devil. Podolski celebrated the goal with so much joy as if he won baba ijebu the lottery!

Four minutes later, Cazorla dazzled in the middle and placed a pass to Arteta, who saw the run of Gervinho and played a chip from the right flank to the Ivorian, and alas Gerv was in space to wreck havoc. For one minute I thought he was going to blast it wide, but Gerv had other intentions, he blasted his shot inside the near post and goal number three was in the kitty. The fourth emerged in the 37minute when Gibbs fired a low cross similar to the first goal and a deflection off Clyne helped in securing it.

Four goals in 40minutes! O dear I was in cloud nine, but guess what, you always find party poopers trying to ruin ones day and Szczesny did just that in 44^th minute – fumbling an easy cross and gifting Soton a goal courtesy of Daniel Fox and our clean sheet disappeared into thin air. Steve Bould must have given Wojciech a piece of his mind during the break. The commentators weren’t helping the situation in any way as well, they spoke about the comeback at Newcastle some couple of seasons back and fear crept up my mind.

Early in the second half Soton came blazing especially Gaston Ramirez the record signing for Soton, but Steve Bould’s assembled defense were up to the task of quelling any threat. In the 71st minute, substitute Aaron Ramsey dribbled past Clyne and flicked a shot against the far post (I guess he didn’t want KONY to die yet cc @hexydre) and Gerv pounced on the rebound and Goal number five to the Arsenal! And two minutes from time, the Verminator’s surging run and shot was saved by the goalkeeper but another Sub Theo Walcott was there to pounce on the rebound and score against  his old club.

Finally the scoreline of the match gave a vivid picture of the event that unfolded. I would like to say Mertesacker has impressed me since the beginning of the season ,his timing of the ball has been amazing , and Arteta  keeps showing why Del Bosque should give him is first Spanish cap. Cazorla also showed why he is top class, Lukas Podolski also showed why he has over a 100 caps for germany, but I would like to doff my hat for Monsieur for the improvement Gibbs has shown in recent times, because I can remember vividly the Champions League Semi final against ManUre where he had a nightmare and now he developing into one of the best left fullbacks in the world just like Cashely Cole.

Anyway, I can’t wait for Tuesday when we will be slugging it out with Montpellier, and I have a feeling Giroud might score his debut goal then. Possible changes for the match, Koshoshi coming in for Mertesacker , Santos replacing Gibbs, Walcott coming in for Ox. Another interesting thing is Prof. won’t be on the bench (UEFA ban), so this is a very good avenue to see how Steve Bould and Neil Banfield Coordinate the team.

Time now to go down some lager to end the victorious day on a sweet note!

BACK TO BUSINESS: Arsenal vs Southampton Match Preview

By @Kofo_Noni

After two weeks of international break, Premier League is back as we host newly promoted Southampton at home.  Coming back from our first win against Liverpool away and still keeping a clean sheet, it’s no doubt our boys  are ready for the battle chase. The newly signed Podolski and Cazorla opened the scoring sheet two weeks ago with notable impressive performances from the likes of Diaby and Mikel Arteta.   So I’m sure the boys have gained their confidence hoping to move up the table and still keep our sheets clean.

A lot of our players were busy during the international break for their different countries which make Southampton have a slight edge over us as most of them rested over the break. Southampton have yet to pick up a point in their last three games, but seeing how they have seriously dealt with Manchester united and Manchester city, it would not be easy for us as they have been scoring against these big teams. Will we be able to keep our sheets clean. We’ll find out soon.

We would be missing Theo Walcott for this game who picked up a virus and it would be a 50/50 chance for Diaby who picked up a hip strain and has been very impressive this season. Szczesny is back from his injury but would be able to replace the Italian who covered up for him and has been impressive?  For the visitors, Guly do Prado might be dropped after admitting drink driving.  For the home team, I expect Chamberlain to come in for Walcott and if Diaby can’t make it its likely our welsh man Ramsey will come in for him. The visitors would look into including their newly signed Gaston Ramirez and Maya Yoshida.

This would not be an easy match considering how the visitors almost narrowly drew against Manchester united scoring two goals in their last match. This would be another chance to test the new Steve Bould’s defense.

All eyes would be on newly signed Giroud who has been leading the attack but has failed to make use of all the chances created for him, hopefully the goals at Anfield could be a motivation for him as they were both scored by our new purchases. It is obvious a lot of pressure would be on him, but then if we look back at our records, our past legends Henry and Bergkamp didn’t score until the 7^th or 8^th match and they both did these against Southampton. So we’ll be seeing if Giroud can also have his first PL goal against    Southampton.

On the other hand, one player to really watch out for from the visitors is Lambert who has been a handful in creating assists and scoring two goals against big teams. Hopeful the Bould touch can have its way in keeping him from making his way into our net.

I don’t expect Southampton to change their style, but I expect our boys to do well with how creative our midfield has been with the help of Cazorla, I expect us to create chances and make use of them and let the goals in as we did against Liverpool.  We would also need to keep our defense really organized as Southampton even with zero points have scored a number of goals against big teams.

I predict a 2-0 win for us with Giroud scoring his 1^st goal and either Cazorla or Podolski also scoring one.

Starting 11:

Mannone 

Jenkinson Koscielny Vermaelen Gibbs

Arteta

Ramsey   Cazorla

  Oxlade-Chamberlain Giroud Podolski.

Biola

(http://abbyadnez.com/)

ROBIN WHO? ARSENAL BANISH THE GHOST OF JUDAS AT ANFIELD

                     

After the disappointing inactivity of the club on the transfer window deadline day, a lot of Arsenal fans were livid and worried about the depth of the squad. I for one went absolutely mental. A deep lying midfielder was desperately needed to replace Alex Song based on Wenger’s comments the week before but to our surprise, nobody came in.

So for someone that saw the way Liverpool dominated Manchester City last week at Anfield with such pace and pressure, I was almost sure that we were going to have a tough time there. I thought Raheem Sterling would torment the inexperienced Jenkinson all day and the thought of Suarez’s trickery against Per Metersacker made me shiver. I was mostly concerned about how we would deal with the pressure from their three forward players.

The starting lineup was not too surprising as news had filtered in yesterday that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain might be brought in to replace either Gervinho or Diaby. Oh bless God it was not the latter. The England winger was slotted on the right wing while Don Vito kept his place as Wojciech Szczęsny failed to recover from his rib injury.

Liverpool started with a midfield Trio of Sahin, Allen and Gerard and for me I think the inclusion of Sahin in midfield affected the intensity of their game a bit to our advantage. Compared to the way Lucas Leiva and later Jonjo Shelvy kept up the tempo against Man City last week, I was very pleased they made that move to our benefit. They had some flashy moments in the early hours of the game with Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini moving the ball with pace and trickery in dangerous areas, while Raheem Sterling looked impressive as well when he had the ball. The first scare came when Luis Suarez went past Per Metersacker only for the BFG to pull him down earning himself a yellow card. Carl Jenkinson also misplaced a pass across the central defence area but luckily we were not punished.

Our first goal came in the 31st minute after a misplaced pass from Captain Steven Gerard was intercepted by Thomas Vermaelen who passed the ball to Podolski to counter in a devastating fashion. The German’s forward pass to Cazorla was returned by a carefully threaded through ball to his left foot for him to deliver a ferocious low shot past Pepe Reina. Yes! We broke the deadlock and gave the annoying British press one less thing to talk about. The counter was sharp, effective and clinical, making a case for Lukas Podolski. He is not the most flamboyant player out there but he is as deadly as ever. He does not fluff around and needs a half chance to whack a shot in. I love that about him! I have seen a certain Arsenal STRIKER try to pass the ball back 6 yards from goal- that should explain it better.

The second half came and Liverpool had a penalty shout in the 51st minute when Luis Suarez went down in the box after a he appeared to have out-foxed Metersacker. Howard Webb ignored him and I think that was based on his ridiculous diving pedigree and for me that would have been a soft penalty to give. Liverpool later replaced the rather quiet Nuri Sahin introducing the skin head (Jonjo Shelvy) to increase the pressure on us.

In the 68th minute, Santi Cazorla made it 2 after combining brilliantly with Lucas Podolski once again down the left to score a heartbreaking goal.  He hit it hard and low to make it clumsier for Reina. 2-0 and we killed whatever motivation the Liverpool players had left in them with the way we defended effectively. We were tight and organized making it difficult for them to create too many chances and at the end of the day; we left Anfield with 3 precious points.

Analysis

As we all know, Arsenal have now gone 3 games without conceding a goal- the first time on 88 years. Now you might think it is too early to start making noise about the immediate influence of Steve Bould but if you look back at the way we have defended since 2006, you will understand better. At no point in the game was our defence “all over the place” and this was a phrase commonly used by commentators and journalists when referring to our defensive discipline.

Once again, our defence looked “coached” and we made sure Mannone did not have much to do (besides making some impressive stops). I once made a point to one of my Arsenal pals that a great defence is not just about 4 players and a goalkeeper, it is a team thing. Mikel Arteta and Abou Diaby fully understood their primary responsibility of not exposing the back 4 and our forwards tracked back to help out. Times without number, Lucas Podolski tracked back to double up on Glenn Johnson and any other Liverpool player that tried to trouble Gibbs down the left. Jenkinson put in another fearless shift making sure Raheem Sterling does not steal the headlines and Metersacker recovered well from the early yellow card he received. Thomas Vermaelen produced another fine captain’s performance leading the team from the back; it is vital he stays fit this season and Arsene Wenger was quick to say after the match that the injury he picked up late in the game is not a serious one.

The midfield once again did its job effectively with Abou Diaby stealing the headlines. The Frenchman can be frustrating sometimes but you will hardly find fault in what he is currently doing. He serves as a pivot in midfield supporting Arteta in defending and bursting forward at will to ease the responsibilities on Santi Cazorla. He was everywhere and gave Liverpool all sorts of problems with his body movement and swerve. That brilliant reverse through pass to Giroud after an amazing run from deep was his best move of the game.

Santi Cazorla was brilliant again and he keeps reminding us that he will ease that pain we felt when Cesc Fabregas left for Barcelona. It will be very interesting to see how the team will line up when Jack Wilshere and Thomas Rosicky return to the side. Wenger reckons Wilshere is 4 weeks away and he had said a week ago that Rosicky is close to returning as well. Diaby is playing like a beast in midfield and Arteta and Cazorla are untouchable- it will be interesting.

Olivier Giroud played like a man under a lot of pressure and who can blame him? He has been singled out as the main man brought in to replace Judas Iscariot and that is a huge responsibility. The chance he got from that Diaby’s pass should have been put away but again, his finishing let him down. He also fluffed a clear header from a corner kick in the second half and I quite understand the impatience of some Arsenal fans. The way Gervinho has played since he joined and the way Chamakh ended up are not great examples helping the French man at the moment. This is when Arsene Wenger’s player management skills will be needed, we need him to come out of his shell and prove to us that he can hold his own amongst the best in the world. Lukas Podolski is getting more accustomed to the pace of the premier league and he looked sharper today. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had a rather quiet game as he did more of covering than attacking before he was substituted for Aaron Ramsey. I hope the knock picked up is not too serious as we will need all our key players fit this season considering the size of our squad.

Our next game is in 2 weeks against Southampton at the Emirates before we head to France two days later to face the current Ligue 1 champions in the Champions League. Every Arsenal fan will be hoping our boys don’t come back after the international break with niggling injuries, it is vital to keep up the pace. Victoria Concordia Crescit!!!!!

NB: Did anyone notice I just wrote an Arsenal piece without mentioning Theo Walcott? I hope he got the message.

Follow @MDGunner on Twitter.

Liverpool v Arsenal Preview (plus The Sinking Feeling)

Before I post the match preview by @itsKingDavid, I will share my feeling as the transfer deadline passed yesterday:

It was a familiar sinking feeling in my stomach because we, Arsenal, have been here before: The point of awareness that we have a decent squad and perhaps one or two ‘quality additions’ will set up the team to really compete for silverware in the new season, and unfortunately that same point where the board/Wenger feel the squad is okay at it is and no addition is made and we end up scrambling for champions league position at the end of the season. The early business of Podolski and Giroud (and later on, Cazorla) got everyone feeling upbeat about the way we went about our transfer business this summer –  mitigating the effect of the loss of the best player in the League last season. But like Wenger would say “we started the summer really well, made some crisp moves and looked sharped…but we dropped physically in the second half of the summer, played with the hand brake on and lacked a bit of energy/drive/ambition/petrol/engine oil“

It’s really sad because I know we are not set up to win anything this season, but if (IF) we manage to keep this group of players together through next summer and NOT SELL OUR BEST PLAYERS AGAIN, then next season might just be the one. No one will argue we probably have the best starting VI on paper, but after that. Meh.

Another puzzling point was the sale of Alex Song with no replacement, I wonder how Arsene intends to set up the midfield later this season. I feel playing Arteta in the DM role denies us of a better part of his game – although he’s done excellently well so far – and do we really expect Diaby to be 100% for the season? We can’t rely on Wilshere getting back to full form till next year. So what really happened with Song? Why was our most defensive midfielder and arguably most improved player from last season sold without replacement? Will Coq step up? I will leave the questions for another post later in the season when we have some answers.

Over to @itsKingDavid now for the preview to tomorrow’s game, because that is what this is all about:

I’m happy transfer period is over!!!! Speculation is over, A is going, B is coming, C is having a medical, D spotted boarding a plane to London, E is discussing terms e.t.c.  We had couple of guys go out on loan for the rest of the season, good luck to them. No more transfer activity till January at least. Even though I understand the disappointment of some fans at our inactivity on transfer deadline day, All those “Wenger should have bought this or that player’’ doesn’t matter now. The real work begins now; we have to get behind the players in the squad.

Our next game is against a Liverpool team which like Arsenal is still trying to find its balance. The Liverpool game would be much more different from our first two games. Brendan Rogers would attempt to play more on the ground; this clearly suits us as we express ourselves better against teams who play in this fashion.

For team news,  Szczesny  would be having a test on Saturday to determine if he would play. In his absence, Vito Mannone who had a loan spell at Hull last season did well, he mentioned on the official website that the Stoke game was like the games he played in the championship (that’s where Stoke belong lol). Much improved central defender, Laurent Koscienlny would be back in the squad, it would be interesting to see who Wenger and Steve Bould starts in central defense. We have been solid in that department this season so far. Bacary Sagna is not yet available; Carl Jenkinson should continue his impressive work at right back. Kierran Gibbs would marshal the left side of defence. Santi Cazorla and Vice-captain Mikel Arteta in the midfield, Wenger might consider replacing Abou Diaby in the squad to keep him fresh and not put too much on his legs. We are still waiting for our attackers to gel, there hasn’t been any chemistry so far, I hope this happens rather sooner than later. So many questions surrounding our attacking trio. Should Arsene start Poldoski on the left wing where he seems to be more involved and effective while Giroud play central attack or start Poldoski in central attack? A lot of tinkering needs to happen fast! Liverpool haven’t looked solid in defence, Theo Walcott should be able to exploit that. It’s about time we hit the ground running!

You can follow @itsKingDavid @HexyDre @WaZoBiaGooners on Twitter.

If you have the time, check out this lovely piece by @Gingers4Limpar: Does Arsenal’s latest transfer window show a “lack of ambition”?

Up The Arse!