Arsenal go second in the league November 8, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Premier League.Tags: Arsenal, Arshavin, Eduardo, Fabregas, Gibbs, Ramsey, Van Persie, Wolherhampton Wanderers, Wolves
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Arsenal climbed to the second spot in the Premier League beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-1 away from home. It was not a good first half though the Gunners put in two goals or rather Wolves conceded two own goals. As my friend sent an sms, the way the Wolves set up play in the first half, they were fast becoming lambs for slaughter!!!
The Wolves matched Arsenal attack for attack in the first half and surely had a couple of chances to go ahead. And I think this season Arsenal is enjoying a bit of luck in some matches where one they didnt concede and two scored on the other end when it mattered. Eduardo was lively upfront and was instrumental in pressurising the Wolves defence in making them concede two goals in the first half. Diaby getting substituted with Song (who was rested initially by keeping him in the bench) improved the midfield play.
Ramsey making a rare premier league start was quite impressive and so was Fabregas and Arshavin. Gallas was brave at the back with some impressive tackles and Gibbs at left back was a refreshing presence. van Persie provided a sublime assist to Fabregas for the third goal,coming out of a beautiful Arsenal play and Arshavin rounded off a beautiful goal to finish off in style. We should not have conceded the goal in the last few minutes and Almunia definitely would not have liked it.
Arsenal now have 36 goals from 11 games. Van Persie has 7 goals, Fabregas 6 goals and Arshavin has 4. In terms of assists, Fabregas leads with 10 and van Persie has 7.
A wonderful victory against Spurs November 2, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Premier League.Tags: Arsenal, Diaby, Fabregas, Gunners, Robbie Keane, Song, Spurs, Tottenham Hotspurs, Van Persie
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It is 3-0 to the Gunners!!!
For all the big talk dished out by Robbie Keane, his team just showed the opposite. They lacked in depth as they did really miss their most creative players in Luka Modric, Lennon and Defoe playing against their london rivals, who also missed a trio of creative players in Rosicky, Nasri and Walcott…it is a different matter whether they would have still made the team if they were fit.
Arsenal’s formation seems to be a rock solid one with Diaby and Song playing ahead of the defence and Song in particular looking like an ace when it comes to breaking the opposition moves and stoppinng play. Diaby seriously needs to improve and this is where I feel a Nasri(like he did in the Carling Cup) or a Rosicky can make a positive difference to this team.
Van Persie seems to be hitting a purple patch and Arshavin and Bendtner along with our new goal-scoring midfielder captain Cesc Fabregas seems to be combinign well. Sagna is looking more attack-minded and Clichy seriously needs to get his crosses right. It is amazing that this team seems to be having so much to improve and still doing good. I wonder how it would be once they all combine well and play to their potential. Vermaelen and Gallas are strong behind and the way Vermaelen headed out all the balls to Crouch I am not worried anymore about any tall forward troubling us at the back. I just want to see how Vermaelen will play against Drogba the physically strong forward whom we have not encountered so far.
One last word about Fabregas’ goal. He was absolutely fantastic and I am sure with this one he has become more adorable to the fans…you rock Cesc!
Arsenal hit Blackburn for a six October 5, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Premier League.Tags: Arsenal goals, Arshavin, Bendtner, Blackburn Rovers, Cesc, Cesc fabregas, Fabregas, Paul Robinson, Rosicky, Theo, Theo Walcott, Van Persie, Vermaelen, Walcott
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In a wonderful display of attacking football, Arsenal scored six goals from six different players to win against Blackburn Rovers at home. This came as a fitting tribute to Wenger, entering into his 14th year at the club with this match. Thierry Henry was also on attendance with his family to see the young Gunners take centre-stage despite going behind twice early in the match.
A 10/10 performance from our Captain Marvellous, Cesc was sexy throughout the match. He made 4 assists and scored one in a match which was probably his best in the season so far. He was all over the place. And he made it a point to the Gooners in the stadium that he is dedicated to this club and is not going anywhere in his goal celebration. What a player, what an attitude and what a vision!!!
It didn’t start all that well for Arsenal, when a pretty long free-kick taken by Robinson was headed into the goal as Mannone found himself in no-mans-land, advancing to collect the ball but not able to do so. This was probbaly his in-experience showing in the starting minutes of the match and I can only see him learning from these mistakes. Otherwise he had a wonderful match, not that he had much to do. Arsenal found parity soon through our goal-scoring machine, no not Bendtner, but Vermaelen
. He was felled near the centre of the pitch, but referee waved played-on and the ball was nicely played on to an advancing Vermaelen by Fabregas and he rocketed a shot to the right corner with his impeccable left foot.
Against the run of play, again Balckburn found the net, this time a deflection of Gallas into the goal. That was pretty much of what Blackburn could do, other than a legitimate penalty shout, which the referee did not give. Not that it mattered in the end though. Almost immediately after the second Blackburn goal, Fabregas put through van Persie, who seems to be taking these kind of goals as a regular fare these days. Please note that by this time, Arsenal were playing flowing football, with our flair players Arshavin and Rosicky involved in the thick of thinigs. Again a nice lay-off to Arshavin on the left saw the Russian squeeze a goal past Robinson. So at that time the score read 3-2.
It was not over and the second half was again Arsenal at its attacking best. And this time, Fabregas in trying to feed van Persie first and then Rosicky, got the ball back from the Czech, chested it and hit a loose left foot shot for a goal. This was a deserving finish that makes the captain our join top scorer in the league with 4 goals along with Vermaelen. Enter Theo, and he must have been barely in when a good counter attack saw Arshavin pass the ball to Cesc, who had the vision to see Walcott coming on the right to lay the ball on his path. A neat finish from Walcott was all it required and that was what he did precisely. 5-2.
The captain was substituted to a thunderous applause and in came Bendtner and Ramsey to play out the final 15 odd mins. Bendtner got time to increase his goal tally with a glorious finish with his right foot, which was a nearly impossible stop for Robinson. All’s well and that ends well. Despite letting in 6 goals, Paul Robinson had a decent game otherwise it would have been some 8 or 10 goals!!!
Top scorers for Arsenal in the Premier League
Fabregas, Vermaelen – 4 goals
van Persie – 3 goals
Arshavin, Diaby, Eduardo, Gallas - 2 goals
Bendtner, Denilson, Ramsey, Rosicky, Walcott - 1 goal
Fulham vs Arsenal preview September 25, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Arshavin, Craven Cottage, Fulham, Theo, Theo Walcott, Walcott.add a comment
Arsenal travel to Craven Cottage for a tricky tie against Fulham. Tricky because Fulham at home is a well organised team. Arsenal have had a couple of tough matches away to Fulham.
The good news for Arsenal is that our most influential player this year, Arshavin (yes he is more influential than Cesc this season) is back from injury and should play a part in the game at some point of time. So is our English star, Theo Walcott who is back. I am looking forward to seeing him play this season and see the difference and pace that he can provide to the team.
Possible starting line up
Mannone
Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy
Song Diaby
Rosicky Fabregas Persie
Eduardo
Look forward to a thrilling encounter with Arsenal emerging winners
A comfortable victory in the end September 19, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Bendtner, Eboue, Eduardo, Fabregas, Rosicky, Van Persie, Vermaelen, Wigan.add a comment
Arsenal finished off Wigan comfortably in the end. The scoreline which should ideally have been 8-0 or something was 4-0 after 90 mintes. It could have been 5-0 after the two added minutes as Arsenal finished the match with a chance which the unlucky Van Persie could not convert. With this win, Arsenal are sixth in the league( temporarily of course as it depends on the Liverpool result) with 17 goals so far in 5 games, which is by far the highest in the league.
Vermaelen turned out to be the star with two well taken goals, one with his head and the other with his left leg, a sublime finish. He is slowly becoming a crowd favourite with his play, both at the back and in front off set-pieces. His first was a towering header jumping above the Wigan defence and then a one two with Eboue on the left, and a finish which will make Van Persie jealous kept the Gunners two goals ahead. After that every touch of his was cheered by the crowd.
The third was again a good move of the numerous ones created by Arsenal today with Clichy taking time on the right before delivering a weighted cross to Eduardo whose strike hit the post and came off couple of players before it went to Eduardo again who smashed it towards goal and off Eboue into goal. Eboue will get credit for this goal. And a word about Eboue here, he had a good match and this is the same match last year in which he was booed out by the Gooners. Three cheers for him for his performance which will make us forget the previous one. And a word to all you Gooners, lets not boo our own player. As long as he is wearing an Arsenal jersey, lets just support him.
And before the fourth was coming there were chances galore with Van Persie missing a nice through chip from Fabregas and Song going it all alone before hitting the outside of the left post. And there were some good moves too. Diaby was replaced by Ramsey and Eboue and Eduardo made way for Bendtner and Rosicky. This ignited some new moves with Rosicky being more involved and Bendtner also getting more exposure to the passes. He combined with van Persie on the right before crossing to the near post were a limping Fabregas found the net. Hope our captain’s limp is temporary and he will be back to fitness soon.
So that was a well deserved 3 points and lets hope the team builds on this.
More than just a game!!! September 17, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Vicky.Tags: MTJAG
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A friend of mine, Vicky and myself have decided to collaborate and converge our Football and Cricket thoughts together in a sports blog MTJAG. It stands for “more than just a game”. The blog was born a couple of weeks back, but we have actively started contributing only since yesterday.The way we like to say it is
MTJAG take immense pride in providing pointless analysis, meaningless and often biased opinions, polished turds camouflaged with interlectual wisdom. MTJAG aims to be the rehab for the sports addict, but in truth, we want to provide the cocaine for your pain. Because , everyone knows it’s More Than Just a Game. ( we didn’t intend it to rhyme).
So do drop in there once in a while and leave your thoughts…
Enjoy the football wherever you are
~the freekicker
Man City beat Arsenal after Ade disgrace September 13, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Man City, Rosicky.Tags: Adebayor incident, Adebayor stamp, rosicky comeback, Van Persie face stamp
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Man City deservedly beat Arsenal last nite 4-2, with a classy performance. The scoreline is no indication of the difference in quality, but shows how badly Arsenal can lose matches when they do not concentrate on the match and don’t defend together. The result ensures that Man City continue on their unbeaten run this season along with Chelsea. Arsenal two consecutive losses doesn’t mean that we are in bad shape as does our first two emphatic victories suggest that we are in top form this season.
Arsenal dominated possession and not any finishing in the first 20 minutes. The point that having possession without any goal is of no use was proved to us by City when a goalkeeping lapse or slow movement by Almunia put City in the front. Almunia has been making such costly mistakes in the last two matches and needs to be pulled up for this. The goal did not have much effect on the Gunners as we were again let down by lot of possession and slicky passing without any end product.
Song’s yellow card meant that Wenger had to substitute him to bring in some action in the second half. Rosicky’s introduction meant a fresh lease of creativity for the team,after Cesc was having a pretty bad game. Denilson and Song who had combined well for the first few matches but they were not getting the job done this time. Diaby and Clichy were not contributing their part and there was too much pressure on the team in every counter-attack.
Arsenal equalised and Man City got a goal back as well as 2 more in a space of ten fifteen minutes. Rosicky scored the second goal and then there was a period of ten odd minutes where the team could have scored a few more and equalised. But it was not meant to be and we lost, in a really bad manner.
About Ade, I was not his biggest fan, but used to like him for producing some wonderful goals and putting in the leg work in a some matches for us. He was mature enough to handle the fans as the fans were mature enough to handle his frequest flirting with other clubs. But what he did to Van Persie deserves atleast a 3 match ban and fine and what he did to the Arsenal fans after his goal is unpardonable. You are not just ignoring your fans after scoring a goal, but also insulting them by showing how much you have against the Arsenal supporters than for Man City supporters. With this incident he might have even lost the respect of some neutral Arsenal supporters. Lets stop it here and see what the FA will do now.
And the gooners could have thrown stuff into the ground, but not at stewards who were doing their jobs. You do not have any right to injure a person, who was there doing his duty. Whoever he is, I think he deserves an apology from all us Gooners. Sorry bro.
Welcome back Rosicky for the Man City game September 12, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Man City, Rosicky.Tags: Rosciky injury
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Arsenal take on Man City at Eastlands with two of our previous players playing against us. Toure is captain for this match and Adebayor will be all charged up for this match. Lets hope both of them have a poor match.
The most important thing that happened in the previous international weekend was the return of Rosicky, who played for 56 minutes for Czech republic. The moment I saw this guy in the 2006 World Cup I knew he was a special player,especially after Wenger had signed him. He is a delight to watch and I will love to see him combine with Cesc and Arshavin and Walcott and Nasri and Persie…
May we have a winning weekend with Rosicky probably scoring a goal too
FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying update September 11, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Africa, Asia, Europe, FIFA, FIFA World Cup 2010, South Africa, South America, World Cup.Tags: World Cup 2010 South Africa
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South America
It would be highly unfair if Argentina doesn’t qualify for the World Cup. They were the best side in the last world cup and unfortunately they came up against Germany and a tactical flaw in the substitution meant they were out. Currently they might finish fifth with a play off against one of the North/Central/Caribbean team. They are one point behind fourth placed (last automatically qualifying position) Ecuador with two matches against Peru at home and Uruguay away.
Already qualified: Brazil and Paraguay
Europe
Already Qualified:Spain, England and Netherlands
With unbeaten records in their respective groups Euro Champions, Spain, Capello inspired England and attractive Dutch have qualified for next years World Cup. It has been impressive showing by all the three teams in the qualifying, needs to be seen if they can carry forward this to the finals.
Asia
Already qualified: Japan, Australia, South Korea and North Korea
The first three looked like sure shot contenders for the Asia spots for the World Cup but it was the fourth, North Korea which is making an entry after 44 years. They had a good outing in 1966 when they were beaten in the quarters. So lets see how they will fare this time.
Africa
Already qualified: Ghana and hosts South Africa
Ghana which is one of the power houses of Africa became the first team from Africa to book its place other than the hosts South Africa. Since 1990 the African teams have been giving the European and South American teams a tough time. So lets wait and watch who else qualifies from there
