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
AW – 13 years and counting…may beautiful football reign October 3, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal.Tags: Argentina, Arsene Wenger, Arshavin, Barcelona, Cesc fabregas, Champions League, Premier League
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In a world where results and trophies count for success, Arsene Wenger is probably the odd man out. He believes in a style of play and believes more in a way of raising a team that will play that style of play. He doesn’t believe in a club where money can buy success and in that he has been at the right club. Maybe it is fate that made believe in a shoe-string budget when buying players and building a team from the ranks and building a youth team.
Even now,despite the lows in Manchester, this team has won more applauses than other Premier League teams. Wenger’s team generally possess a great technique, wonderful passing skills where they build triangles around opposition players and keep moving forward, which makes the spectator sit at the edge of the seat when Arsenal is on the attack. Probably the only other teams I would love to pay and watch are Barcelona and Argentina. Ok if given a chance I would even watch a championship side!!!
In the last 3-4 years, this team has been playing well in the Champions League and not doing all that great in the League. It is somewhere there and in my opinion if Wenger manages to retain this team which has a nice camaraderie among them, this team will get both the trophies very soon. In Arshavin they have a player who is probably the best thing to have happened to Arsenal in the last 3-4 years. With Cesc in the middle and Arshavin ahead of him, this team will certainly go places under the guidance of Wenger. Wenger has bred a lot of superstars in the world stage under him in this club and I don’t want to even get there now.
To me more than winning all the doubles and the other trophies, the major stand-out point has been the unbeaten run. That was something…absolutely mindblowing. And lets all hope we win the Champions League in the near future as well.
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.
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.
Arsenal complete Champions League check-in August 27, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Arshavin, Celtic FC, Champions League, Eduardo, Eduardo dive.2 comments
The first full match I saw this season of Arsenal and it was a wonderful 3-1 victory at home against the hapless-Celtics at Emirates. Coming into this match, Celtics needed atleast 2 goals to attain parity on the first leg score. Their gameplan was to score an early goal and put Arsenal under pressure at home. Fabregas was injured and Arshavin and Van Persie were rested ahead of this clash.
The team that started had a solid defence in the form of Clichy and Sagna in the wings, with the quick-gelling duo of Gallas and Vermaelen at the centre. The midfield comprised of Diaby, Denilson, Song and Eboue with Eduardo and Bendtner leading the line. Eboue had a good game and I think some of the feints and moves he has in his armour are really world-class, when he pulls them off. his performance was rewarded with a goal which was sweetly taken. Denilson, Diaby and Song played a very disciplined game showing the maturity that they are gaining. If they play like this then my opinion about them will only get better and better.
Bendtner had a decent game where he played a crucial part in the second goal with a elegant back-heel. But he missed a sitter of a header at the stroke of half-time. Eduardo had a great game except for the dive to win the penalty. This will be a mlack mark in his otherwise wonderful performance which involved a curler of a shot which was saved by the Celtics goalie. He is gaining in confidence and will be our 20 goal striker for sure this year.
Ramsey came in and got injured which led to Arsenal playing the last 5 minutes with 10 men. I hope he is back to training and fitness. Wilshere came along with Arshavin with 20 minutes remaining in the match. Arshavin is such a skillful clever player that there is excitement on the field when he is playing. He can make those telling runs, wonderful dribbles and feints and make those killer passes and score some goals. He scored his first european goal for Arsenal and I thought when he was on the field we could have scored a couple more. I love that guy and hope he stays fit and scores many more memorable ones, including a couple on Saturday;)
Credit to Celtics for providing wonderful entertainment in the tie. They played well and hard luck to them for the penalty decision. Not that not having that penalty would have saved them the tie because definitely Arsenal were the better team on the night and also over two legs. Good luch to them in SPL now.
Without Cesc if we could show so much creativity on the field it is quite impressive. The passing and movement of the team on the whole was of high standard. Looks like this team is moving in the right direction in the league as well as in Europe. Now lets hope that we get an easy group in tomorrow’s Champions League draw. There is a wonderful article on the current Arsenal formation here. A good read I would say.
Wonderful start…now maintain the momentum August 16, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Almunia, Arsenal, Arshavin, Celtic FC, Cesc, Denilson, Eduardo, Fabregas, Gallas, Patrick Barclay, Vermaelen.1 comment so far
You could not have asked for a better start than this. An away match against Everton is not an easy one be it the start or the middle of the season, but the 6-1 demolition job of Everton was the biggest margin of victory in the Premier League. Goals from Denilson (when was the last time he scored), Vermaelen(that is a scoring a debut), Gallas, couple for Captain Cesc and a return to scoring charts for Eduardo.
Like Wenger mentioned after the match, when we are having a match like this, anyone in this team can score!!! Well that is quite true. We do have matches like this once in a while. Song and Denilson did have a good match and it is players like them who have to play like this week in and week out if we have to give a title-challenge come December. Already bookers William have brought down the odds of Arsenal’s title chances from 9-1 to 11-2!!! Mark Lawrenson in BBC had predicted a 2-0 victory to Everton in his weekly predictions, I am sure he is having a great day today. In a way I like it when people under-estimate us and we prove them wrong. I guess Patrick Barclay in Times is the only pundit who gave Arsenal some weightage.
Lets not get over excited by this win and prepare and finish the job at Celtics midweek so that we are assured of some revenue from playing in Europe. And then take it up from there. And one good word for Van Persie, Arshavin and Bendtner who were immense in the match too. Almunia was stellar under the bars catching every corner and cross that came to the Arsenal box. It really feels nice after we win like this
Arsenal Season preview -2 August 12, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal, Carlos Vela, Vela, Wilshere.add a comment
Arsenal have had some very imposing players in the centre of the park and ahead…but recently Wenger seems to prefer players of smaller physical stature, but nimble to adjust with the passing play of the team. So which is why we do not have a replacement for a Viera yet…
Midfield: 3.5/5
Fabregas – The first name on the team sheet and the captain of the team, Cesc is the most important cog in the Arsenal wheel. He proposes the play from the mid-field and strings the passes to the forward line. He is a 4.5 out of 5, but unfortunately his compatriots need to be of his calibre for him to take out his brilliance on the field, which is where we are missing our Viera/Flamini mould of player. A Song or a Denilson is not the solution, unless they improve drastically from their last season performance. Fabregas needs to provide some more bite to the attack, try some more long rangers and contribute to the goals from mid-field. With his new sexy hairstyle, I am sure he will
Rosicky – Our injury man hopes to be back by September post his latest injury. I truly truly hope he stays fit for this whole season and give us some creative edge in the league. I am dying to see him combine with Cesc,Nasri, Walcott, Arshavin etc etc. He is definitely like a new signing for us and lets keep our fingers crossed on him staying fit.
Walcott – Our boy to man story should get completed this year and he should be making a mark in the Gunners team and then make his mark in the England team. His spurts on the right will have to end in good crosses and goal bound runs should have a final product, if not a goal, atleast a shot on target. But I think he has had enough exposure in the last couple of seasons to mature.
Nasri – An unfortunate injury in the pre-season has ruled him out till October, but he will definitely be a key player for the team once he is back. He scored more goals than Hleb(not that Hleb scored quite a lot of goals) and is a good player to pass the ball and keep possession of. He needs to up the ante in the goal scoring department and the second year in the league, he should be a more thorough player for us now.
Denilson & Song – Wenger’s solution for a defensive midfielder rests on these two players, unless he gives more opportunity to Ramsey. Denilson’s dfensive duties are questionable but I do remember the stats which were provided by a guest columnist in A Cultured Left Foot, where the stats proved on the converse. But somehow, these two players are not visibly showing the efforts or the talents once on the field.
Ramsey – He will be playing in the Carling Cup and FA Cup to start with but will slowly get promoted into the Premier League. He has a lot of potential and I believe he could be the answer to the defensive midfielder we are struggling to buy.
Diaby – Where is he? Injured? I do not know what is the problem with him, is it laziness or lack of talent or sheer laid-backness…whatever it is, he better improve or else this is his last year in London.
Forwards: 4/5
Arshavin – The star of last season. Let me not praise him any more, let him prove that on the field.
Van Persie – The main contributor of our last season, with respect to goals and assists, he has signed a new deal and hopefully signed on a lot of responsibility too. He will have to guide the youngsters in the team and deal with the pressure of scoring for a team which missed out on a lot of scoring opportunities. Look forward to more from Van the man.
Eduardo – Our main target man, the clinical poacher, we would like to see him playing more frequently and staying healthy. We missed him last season and I would like to see him together with Van Persie.
Bendtner – With Adebayor gone, Bendtner will be the default link-up player in the forward line with a lot to prove this year. Wenger has a lot of confidence in him and it is time for him to repay his faith. He needs to miss less chances which anyway this team will be creating.
Carlos Vela – He has had a good start to his career in the league last year. But he will be the player to look out for in this year. He is starting in the Mexico team that is playing US this week. He has the skills and the talent to be a star in this team. We will see a lot of sub appearances from him this year.
Wilshere – Our player of the pre-matches, he has shown a lot of improvement and is pegging for a place in the reserves list, if not in the playing XI. But I think he needs to play more regularly in the Carling Cup and FA cup to justify a place in the League. But we will hear a lot of him this season, that is for sure.
I do not have any doubts on our forward line. They are a good lot and to me they are as good or better than the forward line of many of the top teams in the league. I have a hunch that Vela is going to be a star this year and will shine in the league and Europe.
Realistically we will finish in the top 4 but I seriously doubt if we can win the league. But we can finish anywhere between 2nd and 4th in the league with a chance of finishinng strongly in Europe as well.
Arsenal season preview – 1 August 10, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Season Preview.add a comment
It’s that time of the year when you have to analyse the strengths and weaknesses, review the gaps of last season and if the new signings have been able to plug those, gloss over the new ones who might wear the jersey this season, predict the position in the league and in Europe. This is definetely going to be a difficult season for the club, both in the EPL as well as in CL. So lets start looking at the team now…
Goal Keepers :Rating 3/ 5
Almunia – He had a very good season by his own standards. He was brave at times and a bit nervous at others. But if he can produce a season like last one, I think we can look at having a top 3 finish. He will be dealing with a new central defence combination and this could be quite crucial for the overall defensive record for the team this season.
Fabianski – I need some more confident performances from him before I can say that he is actually going to be our future goalie
Vito Manone – Well too young and raw to make a comment
So, though Goalkeeping doesnt get discussed when we look at the shortages or excesses in the squad, we seriously have some problems if Almunia gets injured or loses form. Maybe we need to buy one of the experienced stoppers like Green or someone the next time they are available.
Defence:Rating 3.5/5
Sagna-Gallas-Vermaelen-Clichy – This will be the preferred back four and I think if Gallas doesn’t goof up and Vermaelen adjusts quickly to the pace of the Premier league, we have a solid back four. Clichy and Sagna had a wonderful 2007-08 and were in the Premier League team of the year. But they let themselves down with some occasional shabby performances and injuries last season. So this is a chance for them to come back and prove a point.
Ebuoe – Djourou- Silvestre-Gibbs – The back up for each of these four positions have actually got some experience playing last year due to various injuries of the starting four. Djourou and Gibbs have certainly matured into future stars. Ebour if he can control himself, provides some wonderful runs and breaks. He has a good skill to run with the ball. Song is a good utility player who can play in central defence as well as in the holding-midfield role.
The rating is 3.5 and not 4 because we have no idea how Vermaelen will adjust to the new surroundings and team-mates. So it all depends on him to make this rating go up and in the process have a strong defensive set up for the Gunners.
Toure, all the best August 3, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Kolo Toure, Man City, Toure.add a comment
Its been a while since I blogged. Ade left us, I did not like him that much, but nor did I hate him…but I was upset, angry and pissed when he used to run himself offside or miss some sitters or not make an effort for a ball. I guess he has chosen his destiny and he will disappear like a Hleb who it seems is moving to VFB Stutgart!!! And where is Flamini???
One of my favourite players in the team, Kolo Toure, the man who put in 110% on the field, left us for Manchester City. He will be missed for all the efforts he put in the field, for those solo runs from defence, for those tearing-all-powerful shots on goal, for those shouting at Eboue for giving away the ball etc etc. All the best Kolo, hope you have a good 36 games in the league!!!
