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 
Stats on our attacking midfielders – Arshavin, Fabregas, Nasri and Walcott May 25, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arshavin, Fabianski, Nasri, Walcott.1 comment so far
This is an old stat(dated May 1st, 2009) but still worth a look… courtesy Setanta and Opta
Opta Stats Premier League 08/09 Arshavin Fabregas Nasri Walcott
Appearances 9 19 27 18
Starts 9 19 26 13
Minutes played 768 1,632 2,243 1,077
In front of goal
Goals 6 3 6 2
Minutes per goal 128 544 374 538
Goals in the box 4 3 4 2
Goals from outside the box 2 0 2 0
Shots 29 32 23 30
Shots per game 3.22 1.68 0.85 1.67
Shots on target 14 18 14 14
Shots off target 15 14 9 16
% of shots on target 48.3% 56.2% 60.9% 46.7%
Conversion rate % 20.7% 9.4% 26.1% 6.7%
Distribution
Touches per game 62 102 73 40
Assists 4 8 2 2
Chances created/game 2.67 3.37 1.67 1.11
% of successful passes 77% 80% 88% 83%
Crossing
Crosses per game 2.9 4.0 3.2 3.3
% of successful crosses 31% 14% 20% 17%
Dribbles
Dribbles per game 3.3 1.4 3.4 4.9
% of successful dribbles 50% 73% 57% 53%
Defending
Tackles per game 1.9 2.7 1.8 0.9
% of tackles won 88% 73% 71% 82%
Interceptions per game 1.7 2.3 1.7 0.7
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.
Arshavin inspiring, Arsenal aspiring March 15, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Almunia, Arsenal, Arshavin, Bendtner, Blackburn Rovers, Carlos Vela, Clichy, Denilson, Diaby, Djourou, Eboue, Gael Clichy, Sagna, Samir Nasri, Song, Theo, Theo Walcott, Toure, Vela, Walcott.1 comment so far
The best match of the season and except for Bendtner missing all those chances every single player in an Arsenal jersey on the field player exceptionaly well. Clean entertainment for all fans and neutrals alike, class and style was oozing in every move.
Arshavin was no doubt the man of the match followed very closely by Samir Nasri and Song!!! Ya Song had a very very good match and maybe he is improving at the right time for the team. Walcott has his best match after his comeback and Eboue played a cameo which he will never foget in his lifetime with two goals in this match. Almunia made some crucial saves and our back four were very consistent. The team that started was
Almunia
Sagna Toure Djourou Clichy
Walcott Denilson Song Arshavin
Nasri
Bendtner
Nasri fit well into the slot behind Bendtner and Arshavin also found himself in that role quite often. Nasri had a freekick rebounding of the cross bar and was involved in every Arsenal move forward along with Arshavin and Walcott who seems to be returning to his speedy ways. Diaby, Vela and Eboue replaced Walcott, Bendtner and Nasri towards the end. If Bendtner had not missed out on his chances we would have won this match some 10-0. Great stuff from the Gunners and the home crowd had a good match to remember for a long long time.
Though the first goal was also credited to Arshavin it was rebounded off a Blackburn defender. And when the second half resumed Arsenal produced chance after chance and it was in the 65th minute that Arshavin the star scored his first goal for the team and what a goal it was. Denilson’s measured pass found him on the right flank and then he meandered through the Blackburn defence and feinted the last defender and from a narrow angle hit the roof of the goal. This is what he has brought in the club to do, trickery and clever play from the Russian.
Bendtner’s luck at goal meant that he will be replaced by Vela who produced a cross from the right side which found Arshavin on the left and his shot on goal was saved and Eboue was available for the tap in. That was 3-0. And the last goal was again a Vela creation as he was fouled inside the box and guess who took the penalty, Emmanuel Eboue – The stadium announcer said “The new Arsenal Goal machine, Emmanuel”!!!Well Football can surprise anyone and this team means business now.
But it has been a long time since any Gooner would have gone to sleep with satisfaction after watching an Arsenal match. Tonight is one of those nights, so enjoy it wherever you are.
Clinical finishing Arsenal in FA Cup Quarters March 10, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Arshavin, As Roma, Burnley, Eboue, Eduardo, Eduardo Injury, Kieran Gibbs, Song, Walcott.2 comments
A great display of finishing from Eduardo and Vela sealed our entry into the quarterfinals of the FA cup followed by one of the most surprise combinations for an Arsenal goal ever, a Song backheel and a Eboue drive for the third goal.Well surprises do happen but credit should be given where it is due, Song and Eboue had a good match.
But for me the man of the match was Arshavin. He was making those piercing runs, giving those through balls and looked like doing the unexpected and make the opposition in disarray.Like I have been saying in this blog for some time now, he is going to be the key difference for us from now till the end of the season. And this match saw the comeback fo Eduardo(with the captain’s armband) and Walcott from their long layoff from injury. Burnley should also be credited for not parking their bus in front of their defence and attacking right from the 1st minute. A word of praise for Kieran Gibbs too. He is a star for the future.
One of the things which was lacking in Adebayor and Bendtner and to some extent in Van Persie was their finishing. If they needed some lessons, they should just see the replay of the Vela goal for maintaining composure and scoring with his leg but thinking from his head…and the Eduardo goal for the turn which broke the offside wall and the heel kick which surprised the goalie on the direction of the shot. Again a strikers instinct in display. He is our poacher when it comes to playing inside the box. One should note that Van Persie got a similar chance like Eduardo’s and he missed and Walcott had a similar one to Vela’s and he too missed. But I am sure these guys will all improve and the team will get better and better as the season comes to an end.
With this result we are 3 matches away from the FA Cup triumph. I know we should not take it too soon, but if this team just displays some consistency we are in store for a cracker of a finish in both the cup competitions and for the league, though we may not win it now. The CL match tomorrow at Roma is going to be crucial and I believe we will score as Roma will be looking to score and therefore opening up space at the middle of the park and back. I would love to see Van Persie starting with Eduardo up front. The likely team:
Eduardo Van Persie
Arshavin Nasri Denilson Walcott
Clichy Gallas Toure Sagna
Almunia
Well this is a good team and I have the confidence that they can beat Roma away from home.
Thanks Bendtner…way to go Gunners March 6, 2009
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Arshavin, Bendtner, Walcott.1 comment so far
The Dane has been quite inconsistent throughout the season, but his 2 goals set us up for the 3 points that we have not seen for a long time. We finally ended the goal drought. This together with Toure’s header gave us a safe 3 points which we can cherish after so long.
If we had not conceded it would have been a good run of keeping clean sheets but I think we look good defensively and what we need is some attacking instinct and some luck to get those goals going. Coupled with this the Villa results going our way we have made ground on 5 points this week and with three points seperating us from the 4th position we should start getting the goals and 3 points going. The luck we can have with the Villa results are going our way and I believe even if they don’ t lose too many, they can draw games. And during those weekends we should be able to get the 3 points from our matches.
Looking forward to Walcott to make the impression after his long lay-off and see Eduardo also play. I have missed the last few matches and haven’t seen our Arshavin, Eduardo etc play. May Walcott get into the groove fast and give some wonderful runs to get a few goals. Go Gunners!
Sunderland and other thoughts October 8, 2008
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, BBC, David Bentley, EPL, Fabregas, Riquelme, Sunderland, Theo, Theo Walcott, Tim Vickery, Walcott, Wenger.1 comment so far
After the Sunderland fiasco I am convinced that in the last couple of years Wenger has not been able to think of a strategy to deal with any team that defends with 10 men. The same happened last Saturday and it was a pain to watch so much of possession being wasted. We did nothing in the final third of the pitch.
Another reason possibly is playing players out of position and not choosing the right combination. Why was Nasri not started in this match and getting Denilson and Song along with Fabregas was not a right move. We did not have any width and the left flank was hardly used. Only after Nasri came in did we see any play on that side of the pitch. The start for this season has been a problem but if we can start showing some consistency it would be good. Now we are left with no choice but to beat Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool if we need a sniff of the top honours in the league.
Tim Vickery, who probably writes one of the best football blogs in BBC, writes about Riquelme, one of my favourite players. He says
I love watching a player who does his part to keep alive two unfashionable concepts in modern football.
One is change of rhythm, the idea that the game can be slowed down before the application of the killer pass. The other is surprise – the ball that no one was expecting, that wrong foots the entire defence.
I call these kind of players the second-thought-players. They always think twice before making a pass. What a common person would think “on second thoughts”, he does it in the first instance itself. The other player I know of who does the same is Cesc Fabregas. He keeps the ball, waits for the right moment before slipping in the ball. He deliberately does that, making the defenders make the first move and commit themselves before delivering that killer ball. I love that guy.
And here is the Bentley dude complaining yet again. Isn’t he the same guy who asked Theo Walcott to leave Arsenal if he dreams of playing for England??? And now the same Walcott has replaced him from the team…Justice done I believe
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.
Angry Wenger after a Frustu match September 18, 2008
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Champions League, Dynamo Kiev, Europe, Gallas, Sagna, Walcott.3 comments
Arsenal return back to England after yet another dismal performance in Ukraine. Dynamo Kiev scored from a very disputable penalty and seemed to take all three points at home when Gallas the new Euro top scorer restored parity with two minutes left. All in all it would be satisfying to come back with a point given the circumstances but I think Arsenal will sink this Ukrainian ship in London in the return leg. Walcott was once again the hero providing the cross from the right which was poked in by Gallas.
Wenger has come out strongly against the Kiev players, especially on their tackle on Walcott…He says
The referee should have sent the left-back off three times because he tried to destroy Walcott.
On the Sagna Penalty
Sagna is convinced he [Ognjen Vukojevic] pulled him with his two hands on his shirt and then went down. We have to deal with that; if you get a penalty you get a penalty.
On the referee not giving enough injury time
I wanted to know how we only played three minutes injury time and then during these three minutes we only played one minute of injury time. Every referee looks to have a different computer to calculate injury time and I still don’t know how it works. He couldn’t explain to me; he just told me he felt it was enough.
The game was a mixture of frustration and relief, frustration because the game should have been over at half-time, and relief because we scored with minutes to go. When we got back to 1-1, Dynamo looked very, very tired but the game was finished with the interruptions. You could feel the game was there for the taking but we had no opportunity to play. We feel we have lost two points but the referee should have sent the left-back off three times because he tried to destroy Walcott.
Next up is Porto at home on September 30th
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.
