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.
Wenger remarks, Celtic tie and what to expect August 7, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsene Wenger, Celtic FC, Champions League, Everton, Man City, Real Madrid, Senderos, UEFA.1 comment so far
The smooth operator that Arsene is in the transfer market, we cannot be sure about whom he is going to buy or not buy unless he does one of them come the end of the transfer window. But he sure has been talking about the money spinning clubs, especially Machester City and Real Madrid.
Manchester City at the moment look like they have a great squad quality-wise, but sometimes when you buy more than three players you take a technical gamble. Yes, sometimes it clicks straightaway but sometimes it takes a few months and Real Madrid are in the same situation. They have bought fantastic players but you have to ask if they will click or not in a few months. Nobody knows. That’s not predictable. If you do not find your balance straight away it can be difficult.
Rightly said, given that Wenger himself thinks that no player should be bought beyond a particular value (in his case I think 15 million pounds will be the maximum). To him that player is not really wanted to make a team that he thinks will play football on the field for 90 minutes and win. He goes on to say
Real Madrid were not 10th last year, they were second. They had good players and a good team. City have more to create than Real Madrid.
A very valid point, certainly Real didn’t need such an overhaul to move just one place on the table. Even with this overhaul I doubt if they will really beat Barca to the La Liga title. And it must be such a suffocating period for the other players who are in the team seeing so many new expensive signings coming in. It is not a good environment to be in.
So it is Celtic FC whom we will meet in the UEFA Champions League play-off round in the Non-champions route on 18/19th of August and the return leg at Emirates on August 25/26th. This is crucial for the team as the group stage of the Champions league means a lot of money for the club, which is needed badly. The tie is not going to be an easy one and keeping the team fit and without injury is going to be key this season. Let’s hope we start the season well enough and carry on the momentum to Europe.
So can we expect more signings and exits from the club in the next couple of weeks??? The answer seems to be “yes”, given the fact that Senderos looks ready for a move to Everton. And given that we would definetely need to buy a defender. And also a defensive midfielder would be an ideal signing to close the season. I seriously think with respect to the forward line we have enough back up in the team, but we will need a midfielder if Wenger intends to play the 4-3-3.
Barcelona – Champions of Europe May 29, 2009
Posted by freekicker in 2008-09 season, Barcelona, Champions League, Iniesta, Manchester United, Messi, Pep Guardiola, Xavi Hernandez.1 comment so far
Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 in the finals of Champions League in Rome…Iniesta masterminded the midfiled with excellent support from Xavi and played rings around the United players. Messi played in the centre of attack flanked by Henry on the left and Eto on the right.
Messi was tackled by two players everytime he got the ball and this strategy seemed to be working for sometime till Eto scored the goal. After that it was Barca all over the football field. In the end it was justice to Barca for a wonderful season, where they dominated Spain and Europe with their attacking brand of football.
Messi boots out Utd with a rare header
The “peppy” Guardiola
The Champions of Europe
The grand welcome back in Barcelona
Chelsea beat us fair and square and next years CL entry May 13, 2009
Posted by freekicker in 2008-09 season, Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, Silvestre, UEFA.add a comment
I do not think we can complain about the 4-1 loss to Chelsea at home…our biggest loss this season and that too coming after 20 unbeaten games in the premier league. We had our chances and Walcott missed a number of them after creating them and Diaby made the wrong choice by going for a shot which he could have left for Fabregas(given our finishing and luck, maybe he would also have not finished it). Well we had our chances and we didn’t convert, Chelsea did that was the difference.
No point in complaining but I thought Silvestre was partially responsible in letting in the first two goals. Wenger could have probably got a younger, fitter and energetic player than him I am sure. He has a sweet tooth for the French players, it might not work all the time. Atleast not on Silvestre. The goal that he conceded in that ill-fated FA cup semi comes to mind. Agreed, that Fabianski came out too early but Silvestre gave up on the chase mich before that. Please sell him.
I would like to make a separate post on how we can improve the squad but I would definetely like to see a experienced goalie and centre-back in the team, next season. Somehow I have a feeling that our midfield and forward line look decent.
The Guardian has a good report on the implications of the fourth place finish. Here is an exercpt from the article
Uefa has introduced play-offs, which will run alongside the old qualification rounds and contain the teams from the higher-profile leagues.
The fourth-placed Premier League team will enter the final play-off round, together with the fourth-placed finishers from Italy and Spain and the third-placed finishers from Germany and France. These teams will be joined by the winners of ties between the runners-up from Portugal, Holland, Scotland, Turkey, Ukraine, Belgium, Greece, Czech Republic and Romania, plus the third-placed team from Russia.
The 10 teams will then be divided into five seeds and five non-seeds, based on their Uefa club coefficient, and drawn seeds against non-seeds, with the winners of the two-legged ties advancing to the group stage.
Arsenal are certain to be seeded, given their consistent level of achievement in Europe, but the danger would lie in them drawing an emerging team who, because of a lack of a recent track record, are not afforded seeded status. Italy’s current fourth-placed team, Fiorentina, fit that profile, as do Germany’s third-placed team, Hertha Berlin. Even Valencia, currently fourth in Spain, would not be guaranteed to be seeded. Nor might Arsenal relish being drawn against Sporting Lisbon, Shakhtar Donetsk or Celtic, all second in their leagues at present.
The better team won May 6, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Arshavin, Champions League, Europe, Kieran Gibbs, Ronaldo.1 comment so far
There is no doubt in my mind that the better team amongst Arsenal and Manchester United won over two legs and qualified for the finals. Manchester United beat Arsenal 1-3 at the Emirates and with an aggregate of 4-1 will play in the finals in Rome. The other finalist will be decided tonight from the Barcelona and Chelsea match at Stamford Bridge.
Going into the match Arsenal needed to score 2 goals and concede none to reach the finals. The crowd was the loudest I have heard in the Emirates and the flags which were distributed in all the seats were a sight to watch. Maybe that inspired the team for the first 5-6 minutes where they fought tooth for tooth for every ball and was dominating the play. United had no clue. Then came the first killer blow. A advancing Ronaldo on the left side crossed in front of the goal and the youngest player on the field, Kieran Gibbs, who had a mammoth game in the first leg, keeping Ronaldo under control, slipped and could not recover enough to beat Park’s shot at goal. Taanng!!! So now Arsenal need to score 3 goals for a outright entry into the finals.
Within another 3 minutes, Fabregas lost the ball and in trying to recover the ball Van Persie fouled Ronaldo (though Ronaldo went down too easily)and in the resultant free-kick, Ronaldo unleashed a fierce shot which dipped and curled in and caught Almunia by surprise (he should have saved it, but I guess it was one of those things). Well this goal virtually killed the tie. Expecting this Arsenal team to score 4 goals against this United side will be asking for too much. Felt bad for the crowd who had been behind the team and was positive about a fightback from the team though we had conceded a goal. The game was buried in the 11th minute.
The rest of the match was something that just passed by. Arsenal was trying to break through the midfield-defensive wall of United and were unsuccessful.United on the other hand substituted their players who were on yellow card and also scored one more in a counter attack.
So Arsenal’s title hunt comes to an end and probably the only thing left to do for the season is to win all the remaining matches in the premier league, which include a match each against Chelsea(next weekend) and Manchester United. Finishing third looks difficult as it is not in our hands(Chelsea has to lose two matches and we have to win all our remaining matches). The differene between finishing third and fourth is an automatic qualification to the Champions League and playing a qualifier which could also be depending on the luck of the draw a 4th placed team from Italy or Spain or some Eastern European team.
Its time for Arsene to think of what is lacking in this team, a central defender (very urgent) probably. I think with Song and Denilson maturing,Rosicky hopefully back for the next season, I feel we have a good midfield back up. Not to forget Ramsey. If we do not lose Van Persie and lose Adebayor, the forward line will still look healthy with Eduardo, Bendtner, Vela acting as back up to Van Persie and Arshavin. I feel we have a good team for the next season if we can keep the flock together.
More later.
5 good reads before the CL clash against Man Utd April 29, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Alex Ferguson, Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, BBC, Champions League, Europe, The Guardian, The Independent, The Times.add a comment
1.Daniel Taylor (Guardian) looks at the tactics that Ferguson is going to employ against Arsenal
2.Matt Hughes (Times) talks about the conflics between the two managers
3.Ian Herbert (Independent) looks at the threat of Walcott and others against Man Utd
4.Daid Pleat(Guardian) analyses the keyclashes in tonight’s match
5. BBC match preview
Arsenal in Champions League semis April 16, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Champions League, Europe, Villareal, Walcott.add a comment
Its been a while since I blogged but I should put in a word for the entry into the semi finals of the Champions league where we take on a lacklustre Manchester United. Villareal were without their influential midfielder Senna and Arsenal has three of their back four injured and Fabianski at goal.
Walcott had one of his best European matches and his goal was a cool finish from a deft pass of Fabregas of a Eboue pass. Adebayor scored his 8th consecutive Champions League goal in 8 matches in which he has started. Van Persie rounded off a penalty in the 69th minute to kill the tie. Song, Eboue and Fabregas were brilliant and it seems the young Arsenal team is now gelling together and producing results.
The best thing is Arshavin is fresh and raring to go in the Premier league and FA cup so we have one creative guy waiting to perform. With Eduardo also expected this team is looking really good. Gibbs deputising for CLichy is also in his elements and looked confident in the CL tie. Walcott was causing all sorts of trouble for the current European Champions left back, Capdevila.
The weekend also sees us taking on Chelsea in the semis of the FA cup. Chelsea played one of the best European matches in drawing with Liverpool 4-4 and hence qualifying for the semis with an aggregate of 7-5. It was one of the best European ties I have seen and I was quite happy that Liverpool lost. Sweet revenge for what they did to us 2 years back. With Arshavin etc available for the weekend I am looking forward to that match.
Last weekend’s league match in which we beat Wigan 4-1 took some time coming, making many a fan nervous. Arshavin has been a catalyst who has come and improved the team and Fabregas has been looking very effective with Arshavin as you see that these two are involved in almost all the Arsenal build ups. Anyways lets see if we can win at Wembley on Saturday.
Rome was not built in a day March 12, 2009
Posted by freekicker in A S Roma, Arsenal, Champions League, Europe.add a comment
It will take 3 more nights like this or better for us to get there to play the finals. Well what matters at the end of the (European) night is that along with Manchester United, Chelsea ( both with not all that great display), Liverpool (very inspiring form), Barcelona (Quite decent play), Bayern Munich (Absolutely stunning performance at this level of the competition), FC Porto and Villareal (again not all that much to write about), we are also in the final 8. So now we wait till March 2oth to know who our opponents will be and I hope it is not any of the English teams or Barcelona or Bayern.
We played pathetically and I think Roma realised from their previous match that they should not give so much room to us and kept us tight throughout the match. How I wished we had scored atleast a goal more in the previous leg. Almunia was good under the bar and our experienced defenders Gallas and Toure let in a goal which could have been avoided. Bendtner had so much trouble controlling the ball after his first and second touches I can’t express here. He will dribble past one…two defenders and in the process take the ball so much away from his body that he kept on losing possession. Same was the case with Diaby. I am still saying that we should now start every match with Persie and Eduardo upfront. We need some creativity and clinical finishing to take us where we want to be.
But lets all forget that and relish our Champions League Quarterfinals entry and build up on our league form starting this weekend.
A fitting reply in Europe…but doubts persist October 2, 2008
Posted by freekicker in Adebayor, Arsenal, Champions League, FC Porto, Gael Clichy, Gallas, Van Persie, Walcott.add a comment
Arsenal beat possibly their toughest group opponents in their group in Europe, Porto by 4 goals. “Complete performance” termed it Wenger, but I still feel that Porto did have their chances and a better team would have made this core line look like 4-3 or 4-2.
Standout performance to me came from Theo Walcott. Everytime he had the ball there was an excitement. He has improved quite a bit and I feel this year he will score some goals and assists. Well he better…
It is nice to see both your key strikers scoring goals and Adebayor did have some chances to score a hat-trick but he missed out. He provided an assist to Van P for his goal.
Fabregas was regaining his touch with some awesome through balls. I thought he had a very good match and he is getting used to playing next to Denilson.
The doubts I have are on our defensive form. Though Wenger came out and praised the defence a day before the Hull match, I seriously feel that they lack the discipline, especially from Gallas. There was a specific incident where Gallas went ahead on the left side and passed it to Nasri who lost possesion. Porto were starting an attack and our man Gallas was leisurely coming back to the line when Porto forced a save out of Almunia. Gallas should have rushed back to protect the goal instead of hopping back to the backline. Sometime I feel he needs to be shouted at. I still have this grudge against him for shouting at Clichy(one of my fav Gunners) for giving away a last minute penalty against Birmingham, which started the slide last season.
We need to win consistently in the league to top it and the next one against Sunderland will take us a step closer to that goal.
