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.
Hull Culled January 19, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Gael Clichy, Hull, Hull City, Van Persie.add a comment
In the end it was 3 points and 3 goals (seems like a long time since we scored more than a goal in a match). Sweet revenge for the defeat at Emirates which was a shocker at that time. HUll almost came back and gave some nervous moments before Nasri and Bendtner scored no. 2 and 3.
Van Persie was instrumental in all the three goals as he is proving to be a very important cog in the wheel in most of the Arsenal victories this season. First one was perfect corner which was nodded in by Adebayor. Second one was a great assist from Persie which sent Nasri clear on the left which was slotted in nicely. The third one came from the right side of the field in a nice one two with Bendtner putting in the 3rd one towards the end of the match.
But Cousin who scored the winner at Emirates, again equalised in the first half to make the match closer than it actually was till Nasri scored. Clichy is to be blamed for not closing in on the player before he crossed to Cousin. Today we were not punished for that mistake.
In other matches, our prime rival Aston Villa came from behind to win against Sunderland. Man United showed their edge when they scored the only goal of the match and maybe in the most climatic finish Chelsea came back from behind to beat Stoke byb two goals to one. Well lets hope there will be a fe weekends before the other 4 drop points and we win!
Lucky Arsenal beat Chelsea December 1, 2008
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Chelsea, EPL, Fabregas, Stamford Bridge, Van Persie.4 comments
Before the match started any Gooner would have told you that one point from this game is more than enough, especially when the team is going to Stamford Bridge on the back of 2 defeats. So when with a bit of luck the team beat Chelsea convincingly in the end, every fan would be relishing in it. It’s really different when Arsenal win. You go to sleep feeling nice, and you wake up the next morning feeling even better, especially after you beat one of the strong, title-contenders.
Chelsea applied pressure from the first half and deservingly went ahead by an error from Djourou, which resulted in an own goal. And when Chelsea went into the break leading by a goal, Martin Tyler made a telling statement, Chelsea has not conceded a goal in the second half of any premier league match this season. Well, whatever confidence a Gooner would have had, got drained there itself.
I should say that the way we played was not upto our usual standard. Denilson and Song to some extent were below par and I dont know how many times we ended up giving wrong passes. It was only in the 60th minute when luck turned in Arsenal’s favour. Van Persie who was clearly offside banged a shot into the right corner using his wrong foot. In another three minutes, Fabregas’s freekick was headed down by Adebayor and Van persie turned and swirled a shot past a diving Cech. Anelka and Kalou proved to everyone that they are not exactly the best strikers that a rich club like Chelsea can afford. It was as if the youngsters were teaching the oldies at Stamford Bridge a lesson.
Gallas returned to his old ground amidst a lot of jeers from the crowd throughout the match, but he would have been one of the many who would have left the stadium happier.
“William was outstanding today,” Wenger said. “Absolutely amazing. He came out of that period with a lot of credit and his commitment is fantastic. He was outstanding today, just as he was against Dynamo Kiev. He shows he is a real fighter. Instead of giving up, he’s a fighter.”
“There’s no problem at all,” Van Persie said. “He’s a respected colleague and a very good player. It’s not my day, it’s our day.”
So it is Wigan next saturday and if we can keep the winning run under the new Captain, it would do the chances of this team a whole lot good. Liverpool come to Emirates on December 20th and I would love to see how this team responds to the current League leaders. Till then…
It is the rich Man City vs the poor-strength Arsenal November 21, 2008
Posted by freekicker in A Cultured Left Foot, Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, EPL, Gallas, Man City, Van Persie.add a comment
It has been quite disturbing to watch Arsenal in the Premier league…one week they go and beat the title-holders in style and the next week they show new levels of incompetency and get beaten at home 0-2 by the Aston Villa. I am not saying that Villa did not play well, they did and that’s why they won. But Arsenal’s inconsistency has been quite unnerving to a lot of us, fans who have been behind the team in ups and downs. The only problem is that for quite a few years now its been only downs and not many ups.
It is true that a bunch of youngsters are coming up in the League cup and they hold a lot of promise for the future, but what about for the now and present. There is a great article by “A Cultured Left Foot” which I believe is one of the best I have read in recent times. Wenger has himself to balme for this season because he trusted this set of players to do well and they didn’t. So his judgement has been wrong about players like Song, Diaby, Denilson, Gallas and to some extent even Walcott. He took a huge risk by signing Bischoff, when he could have signed a played who would have been available to play now. Why is Wenger betting on these kind of things when everyone knows that he had close to 20 million pounds to buy some healthy, world-class player?
Anyways let bygones be bygones and lets hope this weekend against Man City they put up a display which will please all their fans and the coach. The team doesnt have Fabregas (suspended),Walcott (injured), Eboue (injured), Sagna (injured) and Toure (injured). So this means that our right side looks very depleted.
The only positive is that Van Persie is back and he has been on a goal scoring nick in the International friendly midweek.
Lets hope for the best and see if we can get the 3 points against the blue half of Manchester. I seriously believe that we are not fighting for the title anymore as 9 points is a lead which if we have to overcome needs Chelsea and Liverpool to do an “Arsenal of last season”. Lets wait and watch…
And somebody please ask William Gallas to shut up. I think he has gone too far this season and would be better off playing on the field rather than in front of the media. This is probably the last season for him in Emirates.
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.
Persie double delight in a thumping win September 1, 2008
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Denilson, EPL, Eboue, Emirates, Newcastle, Van Persie, Vela.add a comment
Arsenal returned to winning ways and they achieved that in style, thumping Newcastle United 3-0 at the Emirates. It goes on to show that if the opposition deploys an attack-minded football, it gives the Gunners room to exploit and attack in the breaks. The match saw the return to goal scoring form of Van the Man and Denilson score his first goal for Arsenal in the Premier League.
The match featured all the good thiings associated with the North Londoners as they decimated the Magpies in a well contested match. It is credit to the defensive work of Clichy, Gallas, Toure and Sagna that the Newcastle attacks fizzed out without a goal. Newcastle did trouble a bit with Ngogbia and Jonas making some good runs and dominating some parts of the play. But when Fabregas plays the team takes an entirely new dimension in attack.
For once Eboue played his role to perfection and his setting up of the second goal for Persie reminded many of the way Pires played for the Gunners. Like one of my freinds in Malaysia put it, it was Pires in Eboue’s clothing!!! When the Gunners are on song, goals and goal chances come in plenty. It ended in 3 but it could have been 5 or 6. Persie could have scored a hat trick if his powerfully taken shot from an acute angle had gone in instead of pounding on the cross bar. I thought Adebayor played very well and deserved a goal. He gave his heart out and I am sure this effort will not go in vain and he might have got back some of his fans.
Carlos Vela made his appearance after Van Persie got injured (hope it is a minor one) and showed his class and goal scoring instincts when he appeared a bit selfish in and around the box. Nasri combined well with Clichy and Fabregas, everything seems to be on ytrack so far. All Wenger needs to do now is get an experienced central midfielder to support Cesc. With a day left on the transfer window, hope Wenger does the necessary.
Here is a good read on the Arsenal Academy. (financial) necessity being the mother of (youthful) invention
Amsterdam reveals Arsenal fragilities August 13, 2008
Posted by freekicker in Adebayor, Ajax, Amsterdam, Arsenal, Denilson, Djourou, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Mark Randall, Sevilla, Van Persie, Vela, Walcott, Wenger.add a comment
Despite Arsenal retaining their Amsterdam tournament crown the event itself exposed some of the issues that could cost the Gunners in the season to come. After a tremendous comeback in the first game against Ajax, where the side showed a lot of grit and determination to come from two goals to win 3-2, the second match against Sevilla was a little more worrying.
Taking into consideration the quality of the opponents the young Guns were facing it was still a worrying sign that Arsenal’s squad is rice paper thin. Despite this being another pre-season tournament when Sevilla stepped up their game Arsenal were just blown away. The first half was very impressive, taking the lead early on through Carlos Vela who looks to be a phenomenal prospect for the coming and combined very well with Nicklas Bendtner in attack.
Arguably Arsenal’s strongest department is the attacked minded one, the Gunners all ready have two world class strikers in Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie with another on his way back to fitness in Eduardo. However behind them there are emerging talents in Vela and Bendtner with Theo Walcott capable of playing up top should Arsenal suffer a plague of striking injuries.
However when you start to move back through the team cracks begin to appear and the alarm bells start ringing. Going back to the second match against Sevilla the Arsenal midfield’s oldest player at the start of the game was 19-year-old Mark Randall, who you can hardly call experienced having made just one Premier League appearance.
The rest of the midfield consisted of Aaron Ramsey, who looked good going forward but unreliable when defending as he gave away the ball far too many times for my liking. The Gunners also had Jack Wilshire, who looks like another potential superstar and was actually the only midfielder who didn’t look light weight when in a physical confrontation. Finally completing the midfield quartet was Jay Emmanuel-Thomas who looked cumbersome and extremely slow, eventually being switched to left-back with Kieran Gibbs moving up where Thomas enjoyed a better time of things.
Now if these are the replacements for the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri then Arsene Wenger will be praying that none of his first choice midfielders pick up an injury. Once again it’s a question of Wenger putting his faith in the kids, but judging by what we saw at the Amsterdam tournament that faith may be misplaced. Obviously the Gunners won’t be facing opposition of the same quality of Sevilla every week, no offence to Hull or Stoke! However they will be facing a different type of opposition, the likes of Bolton and Wigan won’t be playing short, quick passes and will use a lot more physicality. See what the odds are that Arsenal can over come that physicality here.
As Arsenal have demonstrated over the past they don’t respond well to be bullied around the park, anyone remember losing to Sheffield United not so long ago? My biggest fear is that we could suffer the same fate when Arsenal travel away from home. Looking at the defence doesn’t fill me with hope either, although I was impressed with the way Johan Djourou performed, he outshone his Swiss counter part Philippe Senderos.
However that’s were the praise stops because once again Justin Hoyte showed he is no where near good enough to play for Arsenal. Why Wenger continues to press forward with Hoyte is beyond me because he was skinned time and time again by Diego Capel. I thought that his performances in the humiliating defeats to Manchester United and Tottenham would have been enough to seal his fate. Wenger should take however much Middlesbrough are offering and run. The other thing that worried me about the Arsenal defence was Gibbs playing at left back, surely Armand Traore should have been in there. Now if Traore was injured then I can understand but then that raises another worry that if Gael Clichy and Traore were to pick up an injury then we would play someone who is normally classed as an attacking midfielder at left-back.
Now there is no way Wenger is going to be able to solve all these problems before the transfer window shuts but with 20 days left until it does close the French magician can sure up the midfield, hopefully with the signing of Gohkan Inler who looked a decent player in Euro 2008 with Switzerland. A defender would be nice as well and never count Wenger out on shocking everyone by bringing in someone, much like he did last year with Lassana Diarra. We can only wait and see, whilst I hope that all my doubts are laid to rest within the opening weeks of the season. Check out Arsenal’s odd for the new season here.
Dutch dominate June 14, 2008
Posted by freekicker in Anelka, Bronckhorst, Euro 2008, France, Gallas, Gomis, Henry, Holland, Nistelrooy, Sneijder, Thuram, Van Der Sar, Van Persie, van der Vaart.add a comment
Great stuff from the team in orange!!!
Holland qualified from the group of death in style beating France 4-1 in another stylish victory. So in two consecutive matches they have made a mockery of last World Cup finalists, beating Italy previously 3-0. The team has shown all the flair of its coach Marco Van Basten in the way they play.
Robben’s substitution made all the difference in the way Holland switched on the style and pace. The first half ended with the Dutch leading by a Kuyt goal. The second was one of the best counter attack goals that you will see this season, a neat work from Nistelrooy, a swift run and cross from Robben and a clinical finish from Van Persie. The third was a Robben special from an acute angle. He had very little space to plug he shot which is what he did. The picture will show you how much little space was left for him to make an attempt.
The last goal came in the injury time adding insult to injury to the French team. The ever improving Sneijder with a trademark finish to seal the win. Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Persie, Robben, Bronckhorst and Nistelrooy are the players who make this team click with their attacking flair. except for Nistelrooy who is past 30, this whole bunch of players will be there for the long haul for the Dutch. Van der Saar was also quite impressive under the bar.
As for the French, it has to be said that they played better than they played against the Romanians. But age shows especially in defence. Gallas has dropped his guard towards the end of the season with Arsenal and with the ageing Thuram were no match for the Dutch attacks. Henry has lost some of the gloss off his skills, with his mess of a easy chance with only the goalie to beat. Anelka and Gomis were both out of sorts. The team needs a complete overhaul.
Anyways, three cheers for the Dutch!!!
No point in creating if we cannot complete April 4, 2008
Posted by freekicker in AC Milan, Adebayor, Anfield, Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Bendtner, Eboue, Eduardo, Fabregas, Flamini, Gunners, Liverpool, Rafa, Rafa Benitez, San Siro, Van Persie, Walcott.add a comment
The first leg at Emirates turned out to be quite a frustrating one for Arsenal as they scored first but in less than three minutes Liverpool equalised through a defensive lapse and then minutes and minutes of possession and control of proceedings did not yield the winner. This has been a season of missed opportunities like last year, where they created a lot but the finishing left a lot to be desired.
A footballing team like Arsenal will always create chances in any match (unless they play really really bad). Wenger philosophy of passing football, maintaining possession and playing in the opposition half will go waste if he cannot find a striker who can finish off these chances. Even converting one quarter of all the chances created can yield 3 points or a victory in every match the team has played so far. Such has been the creativity of Fabregas, Hleb, Walcott and even Adebayor for that matter. But when it came to finishing, Adebayor himself has left us disappointed, so has Van Persie after coming back from injury (and going back to it) and Bendtner, whose enthusiasm is understandable but finishing undefinable.
Even the midfielders who have had goal scoring opportunities, have disappointed. Take Fabregas, who on a one-on-one with the goalkeeper shoots straight at him nine out of 10 times. How many goals could he have scored this season, only he knows. Eboue has been also one of the main culprits and I think he has maybe made the goalie save one or two times maximum this season. Hleb has had lots of opporunities to shoot, but hasn’t. Flamini I would say has had the least number of opportunities to score, but he has also not taken his chances. So this is an area where the team needs to improve.
Eduardo was considered the solution for this finisher problem in the club, but unfortunately he wont be back till end of this year. We can always blame the referee for not giving us the penalty (which was as clear as water), or Bendtner for stopping Fabregas’s prod at the goal (he was off balance and did his best to get away, I think). but if we dont score from the chances that we get, then we will end up ruing our chances after every match. Adebayor missed a sitter at the end of the 90 minutes against AC Milan at the Emirates, but we made up for that at the San Siro. Anfield might not be the same.
Liverpool certainly has an advantage going into Anfield, but I would like to see how Arsenal bounce back. The Gunners can score in any ground as Rafa himself said, but its how Liverpool react after (if) Arsenal scores first that will decide the tie.
The Saturday clash against Liverpool in the League would be again an interesting watch to see who all play and who all get rested. I would love the momentum to be with Arsenal and see them win.
3 points and fighting spirit back for the Gunners March 30, 2008
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Bolton Wanderers, Cesc, Champions League, EPL, Fabregas, Gallas, Liverpool, Premier League, Theo, Van Persie, Walcott.add a comment
What a topsy turvy game it was at Reebok Stadium, where Arsenal have not won in the league for the last six years. And they were going into the match with their worst streak in 9 years and being 3rd in the league this season for the first time. The setting was not good at all. To make matters worse, Diaby comes up with a very bad tackle and deservedly gets the red card. In a few minutes Arsenal find themselves 2 goals behind against a confident Wanderers.
Like they say, when the going gets tough the tough gets going, maybe with a little bit of luck. The second half saw Bolton pressing hard for another goal to seal the match, but a lucky break sees Arsenal getting a corner and from it resulted the first goal. Campos doesnt clear the ball and butts it across the goal for Gallas to come running around the side and slot it in. 2-1 the score line.
Another clever passing from the left flank saw Hleb being fouled inside the box and Persie made no mess of the penalty and the score read 2-2, with minutes to go. Wenger knew that this was a game where the momentum was fast shifting to Arsenal and he needed to get those 3 points to fight for anything left of the title.
And that came from who else, but Fabregas who had a inconsistent game where he did make some telling contributions as well as some uncharacteristic mis passes. His shot at goal, took two deflections and went in.
Credit should also be given for Wenger’s substitution that came just before the hour mark and from when Arsenal started coming back into the game. He changed Adebayor for Bendtner, Walcott for Senderos which meant Walcott played in quite an unusual role. It was a 3 man defence with Gallas and Toure holding firm and Clichy mostly on the assault. Walcott was on the right wing on his own and he did trouble the Bolton defence quite a bit.
Later on in the press conference Wenger said :
‘I can’t remember a better comeback, being 2-0 down and with ten men. Everything went against us, but we kept going.’
So this match should give confidence to the Gunners in their match against Liverpool in the Champions League. If Everton can do us a favour and beat Liverpool, the European match would be nicely set up. But Diaby’s red card means that the Gunners are further depleted for their League engagements for the next 3 matches.
This has been another match where Arsenal have saved points coming from behind.
Aug 12, 2007 v Fulham (h) 2-1 Hleb (90)
Aug 25, 2007 v Man City (h) 1-0 Fabregas (80)
Oct 7, 2007 v Sunderland (h) 3-2 Van Persie (80)
Oct 28, 2007 v Liverpool (a) 1-1 Fabregas (80)
Nov 3, 2007 v Man United (h) 2-2 Gallas (90)
Nov 24, 2007 v Wigan 2-0 Gallas (83), Rosicky (85)
March 1, 2008 v Aston Villa (h) 1-1 Bendtner (90)
March 4, 2008 v AC Milan (a) 0-2 Fabregas (84), Adebayor (90)
March 15, 2008 v Boro (h) 1-1 Toure (86)
March 30,2008 v Bolton (a) 2-3 Gallas (62) , Van Persie (68), Fabregas (90)
