Well after much speculation Thierry Henry has indeed agreed a loan deal to join Arsenal for 2 months. The man who scored 226 goals in all competitions for us and was literally idolised by Arsenal fans the world over. But of course he's a different player to the one that left for Barcelona a few years back and is now 34 and playing in the MLS. It's important to remember that he isn't going to be the player we all remember and we can't expect too much of him. Players often under perform during their second spell at a club but I wouldn't put it past him netting at least one before he returns to the Big Apple. Class is permanent.
Anyway now that I've done the nostalgic bit down to business as usual and the visit of QPR in our last game of 2011. Now QPR are a side that have come up from the Championship and just tried to play the same football they played but stepped it up a gear and to be honest is hasn't really worked. Neil Warnock is man I absolutely detest because nothing is ever his teams fault, I'd love to see us smash them into the ground today.
I expect we'll line up similarly to Wolves with a few changes. Same keeper and back four. The midfield might shift around a bit though as Walcott recovered from a stomach problem quickly enough to get a start. I'd expect to see Song, Arteta and Ramsey across the middle as Benayoun drops the to bench. Gervinho on the left and of course RVP upfront.
QPR have got a decent team and a few decent players despite their current position. Helguson and Bothroyd upfront can link together well and provide a real threat the defence will have to be tight to make sure we aren't exposed. Wright-Phillips is another player whose pace causes issues down the wing and although he can't really cross he likes to cut inside so Djourou will have to make sure he isn't given free reign. I reluctantly include that prick Barton in this mainly because he's a thug hopefully Song will bash him about.
This is another match (like Wolves) that we need to win if we're going to occupy one of those top spots. We were unlucky against Wolves but we just couldn't kill the game off and that's what we need to do more clinically. Fingers crossed and Happy New Year to you all. COYG!
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 QPR
3 more points in the bag after a nervy match at Villa. It was close and for a while the match could have easily gone either way. At 1-1 you just felt that there was another goal in it, luckily Benayoun was on hand to head us into the lead and onwards to a win. There were points in the match where we gave the ball away sloppily and against a better opposition we may have been punished but they were equally as sloppy. Their goal was given to them with a poor back pass from the usually solid Vermaelen, he put Mert in trouble and maybe if he had some pace then he would have got there, but he should know he's no Usain Bolt by now. I'm really glad Benayoun got our second cause I still rate him as a good player and he deserved a goal. In the end we got the result and that's all that matters.
So we now look ahead to the rearranged Wolves fixture on the 27th now (KO is the same time) cause the moaning tube drivers have to work Boxing Day (diddums). At the end of the day many people have to work during Public Holidays, so shut up and get on with it. Anyway this is a football blog not a political commentary. This is another game where we just have to win and to be honest we're going to be expected to win easily. Our full back problems are now starting to concern me. At left back Gibbs, who seems to be made of cardboard has suffered another setback and will be out for a further 4 weeks. Santos is going to be out for a while yet so there has already been talk of replacements, but I'll get on to that in a bit.
In terms of danger men, you need to look to their wingers Jarvis and Hunt. They do like to play down the wings and fire balls in all over the shop. I think Hunt will provide the problems as I expect we'll play Miquel who is the most inexperienced of our defenders, with Djourou also being injured. Fletcher is the man on form in the middle and he certainly has some talent. I think our defence however will be up to the task and hopefully will have a solid performance. I wouldn't be surprised if Benayoun earned himself a start after playing well at Villa, in place of Ramsey who has been off form recently. The rest of the squad I imagine will be fairly standard.
3 points would certainly make Arsene Wengers Christmas and keep us in the chasing pack which after the draw the other night is still fairly tightly packed. That was a good result for us and with the yid's game in hand we need to keep the pressure on.
Now I said I'd touch on possible replacements, well not replacements as such more stand-ins if you will. With our two left backs out for a while questions about whether Wenger may bring in a loanee to hold the defence together until we have Gibbs back. Now naturally I thought this was a good idea, until I heard a name banded around from many sources. Wayne Bridge. Now it doesn't take a genius to know that Wayne isn't exactly a world class left back and although his club list is impressive, its long for a reason. Now I respect Arsene Wenger, but a move for Bridge would be diabolical to say the least, luckily he played down speculation earlier, but not enough to stop people talking, please, please, please Mr. Wenger don't subject us to that!
Before I wish you a Merry Christmas and leave you to enjoy the festivities I thought I'd throw my opinion in on the Blackburn/Keane/Venkys situation. I saw the protest today which had me wondering how high unemployment in Blackburn really is. But on a serious note, I think those people need to grow up. He's trying his best with the squad he has and it seems that some of the fans even want them to lose so they can hurl abuse at him. I must say I found myself agreeing completely with what Ferguson said earlier, firstly, full marks to Steve for dealing with it as well as he has so far. It takes a lot of bottle for him to take the sort of things that have been said about him and not make a remark about the supporters. Secondly, in the words of the gum-chewing Scot himself "for goodness sake give the man a break". I can understand that they want the owners to have more of a presence at the club, but forcing the Billionaires from India who lets face it basically finance the club to sell doesn't make much business sense now does it? Don't bite the hand that feeds you would be my message to those fans.
Anyway that's enough about about chicken farmers for now. All that's left is for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I'll be back before our NYE clash with QPR. Until then have a good one!
Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Wolves
Well when you look at the game on Sunday, we weren't outplayed, we had a goal ruled out and Joe Hart pulled off some good saves. Maybe a loss wasn't fair, 1-1 I think would have been a more even scoreline but there you have it, that's football. Now that's taking the positives from the game there are negatives of course.
Firstly, our full back situation is becoming more and more of an issue. Its all well and good shoving Vermaelen and Djourou in but there are situations when you simply need a trained fullback. When your 3-0 up and coasting there isn't an issue, when your playing league leaders and you know its going to be a tough match its a totally different story. Obviously Santos and Sagna are out for months and we won't be seeing either for quite some time, but there is encouraging news for Gibbs who Wenger said "He is I think one week maximum away. He could be present at Aston Villa
or the game after [against Wolves]. Of course, you want him back and to
play". Jenkinson on the other hand is neither here nor that at the minute, he was at least 3 weeks away 3 and a half weeks ago so read into that what you will.
Secondly when your 1-0 down and chasing a game it says a lot that the option you turn too is the two men who have a combined total or 2 goals between them all season. Arshavin clearly has something up with him and you can clearly see when he plays that he believes his time at Arsenal is over, bar a rapid return to form. You could tell when the ball fell to him just inside the box and he hit the side netting it was going to the be another one of those. Chamakh on the other hand, I don't remember touching the ball. His career looked so promising when he arrived and whether it was through lack of games or confidence he looks a shadow of the player he was. We just don't have the depth of the other big clubs (bar sp*rs).
Anyway the City game is gone and now we have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and look to the trip to Aston Villa tomorrow night. In recent years we haven't performed too bad up there but in the past it was a game we simply didn't like. We went there and even our own fans expected very little, thankfully though times have changed and they're on a bit of a poor run. Quite frankly with Chelsea playing the yids on Thursday a win will put the pressure on both and hopefully put some distance between us and Liverpool who we only lead by goals scored.
I would expect to see again a similar squad to the one we played on Sunday purely because nothing has changed. So our threats will again come from Gervinho and Walcott down the wings and of course Robin Van Persie up front. In terms of Villa threats well obviously Darren Bent causes problems (lets hope he didn't finish his shopping on Sunday). N'Zogbia has his moments but so far this season he's been pretty poor, hopefully that will continue tomorrow night.
Aston Villa have lost to 4 of the top 6 at home so far this season which means if we want to be challenging for the top 4 we have to keep up the trend and beat this lot. As always with the Premier League if you want the top prizes, you have to play the top football. We were on a nice little run before City and the players still seem upbeat after Sunday so lets hope we can pick up where we left off.
It's been a long one today so thanks for sticking with it. Just a quick word regarding Wolves at Home. Firstly the original date scheduled for the match may be changed. The tube drivers want more money which may make life very difficult for fans trying to reach the Emirates. So the date for this match may change over the next few days, so check the Arsenal site and Sky Sports News for updates. Regardless of that, the pre-match post will be over the next few days I would say probably the 23rd, until then COYG!
Prediction: Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal
I have to say, I wasn't remotely surprised to see us draw AC Milan in the Champions League. We seem to have a habit of drawing the best teams out of the pot. Although I don't think we're going to get hammered, it certainly won't be easy for us. The away leg is vital, if we can nick a goal or two then we have a chance. Lets not forget we do like playing in the San Siro (Inter 1-5 Arsenal, AC 0-2 Arsenal) and Italian sides generally don't perform well against English teams so we shall see ho that pans out. Chelsea drew another Italian team in the form of Napoli.
So that was about the only piece of news that we've had this morning ahead of our huge clash at eastlands on Sunday. It seems that we'll play the same team that beat Everton 1-0 last week. So that means Vermaelen back out on the left, leaving Koscielny and Mertesacker to deal with pace of Aguero and the power of Balotelli. This is going to be a difficult one for our defence, especially Mertesacker who as Paul Merson put it "turns like a submarine". Now usually I'd go through the squad and identify dangerous players but it will be far simpler this week to just pick weak spots. With Clichy suspended I assume they'll play Zabaleta at left back and although he's good, I think Theo may cause some problems with his pace down that flank, especially with Silva prone to wander all over the pitch. Lescott is another player that I just don't think is up to scratch and if Van Persie can get in behind him then hopefully we'll have some joy that way.
Sunday could be a day of classic Arsenal counter attacking football. However letting a strikeforce worth more than a space shuttle batter your defence is a very dangerous tactic so it will be interesting to see how Wenger plays it. That said last year we went there with little hope and won 3-0. However on that day Na$ri was playing for us and just a word on that little French money grabbing wanker, I highly doubt he'll play and if he does, he'll receive a torrent of abuse from our travelling fans much like he did in the Carling Cup clash. That seemed to put him off all evening which was visible when he wanted to be substituted, but sadly for him he misread the board (prick).
I've been trying to figure out if the game on Sunday is a good time to play City. Fresh off their first Premier League defeat to Chelsea, they will be wanting to bounce back. But that will have just reminded them that they aren't invincible and maybe we can use this to our advantage. Anyway only time will tell. COYG!!!
Prediction: Manchester city 2-1 Arsenal
Well I won't go into Tuesday night's game for two reasons: 1) It was totally irrelevant and 2) we had a shocker. Wednesday was far more interesting and I took great pleasure watching both Manchester teams crash out.
Moving on, today sees the club celebrate 125 years in operation and Arsenal yesterday unveiled 3 statues of some legends within the club.
Herbert Chapman who guided Arsenal to 4 league titles in 5 seasons, he was seen by many as paving the way for modern managers with his in depth analysis and advanced training regimes. The second was Tony Adams, the rock at the back who played for Arsenal for 19 years and was our most successful captain. The final statue was that of the true legend that is Thierry Henry, need I say more? Thierry was at the unveiling and he was clearly moved by the gesture and shed a few tears, the pictures on the Arsenal site say it all.
But to the match today. Everton are a club that I quite like, they always put a good fight and are the sort of club that can throw up an expected result here and there. But this season they've had a terrible start and a lot of fans are expecting us to walk this one and in reality we should. Similarly to last weekend this is the sort of game that if your challenging for the top four you really need to win. With Chelsea taking on Man City on Monday we have a big chance to close the gap on Chelsea who are only 2 points ahead of us in 4th.
After losing Andre Santos, we'll have somewhat of a makeshift back four with Djourou on the right, Koscielny and Mertesacker at the centre and Thomas Vermaelen on the left. The rest of the squad I assume would be first choice regulars. Arteta will face his old club and no doubt receive some hostility from the travelling fans but that's to be expected. And of course Van Persie will be upfront and hopefully can continue his tremendous form.
Threats from Everton come from either Saha or Drenthe, I would imagine it would be Drenthe as I don't think Saha will be fit to play. Cahill is always a danger and we know that Everton are pretty useful from set pieces so the back four will be in for a real test. On the left Billy boy can also cause problems on his day (I really couldn't be arsed to try and spell his name).
The club have got some special "celebrations" planned in honour of our anniversary and are urging fans to get to the Emirates early to join in with these. Hopefully the day will have a good atmosphere. COYG!
Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Everton
A comfortable win against Wigan on Saturday, to be expected really. When your a team competing for the top four and the title, there are just no excuses for losing a game like that. However we travelled to Wigan who need to start picking up points and teams in bad positions are always dangerous (Blackburn earlier this season). But we turned up and won easily with 4 decent goals from Arteta, Vermaelen, Gervinho and of course RVP. We're back on track after a little stumble against Fulham.
Tomorrow we return to European action away at Olympiakos. We've already qualified and top of the group to boot, which means the pressure is off and this is clearly reflected in the squad that includes Yennaris, Ozyakup and Eastmond. Along with these we have Rosicky who returns after his thigh issue and Park who is looking for some much needed game time. It will be good to see some of young players get some match time and it won't be easy in the intimidating atmosphere in Greece.
It will be nice being an Arsenal fan tomorrow night, knowing that Chelsea and Man United fans are needing results. To be honest Man City have got such a job on I can't even see their multi-million pound squad pulling it off. To think with one match to go in the group stages that Arsenal are the only British team through at the start of the season would be unthinkable, but here we are. It just goes to show how all that worrying has now disappeared.
If Liverpool fail to win tonight, we'll stay 5th only 2 behind 4th and in the right position. We're gonna be there or there abouts, talking to friends today myself and a Chelsea fan agreed Tottenham are over performing and we both expect them to be brought back down to earth with a thud. So hopefully we'll have a good Christmas period in preparation for the New Year.
Anyway I've drifted off topic but the game tomorrow is essentially irrelevant to us, if we win great if not then its no big deal. With Olympiakos needing a result I think the game will be open and a good one.
Prediction: Olympiakos 1-1 Arsenal
Evening all, what an odd weekend its been in the world of football. Many people including myself are still getting over the shock of the sad loss of Gary Speed. When I heard it on the radio in the car it was one of those moments where you stop and think "I can't believe I've just heard that". It was a day as many people said when the football becomes irrelevant and I have to say full marks to those players brave enough to play after hearing the news 15 minutes before the team talk.
The sheer number of tributes that have been paid are a testament to what a true gent he really was. Everyone talks about what a lovely man he was and he was a real good guy on the football scene. He was also one of those players that everyone liked, he simply had no enemies. The reasons to why it happened can wait, naturally my thoughts are with the wife and two children he leaves behind, I hope they get the privacy and respect they need at this hard time.
So we're through and top of the group to boot after a favour from Olympiakos who did a number on Marseille in France. We looked much better defensively and apart from conceding in the dying moments we had a good night. Song had an outstanding match and that was apparent when he beat 3 players and delivered a wonderful cross for RVP (who else) to power into the ground and give us a deserved lead. He got his second with a real old school Arsenal goal. Corner, flicked on at the near post, open goal and there you have it.
Sorry but I have to keep this rather short and sweet. We take on Fulham this weekend at the Emirates who have had a really poor season so far. Only 11 points from 12 games and a team that at home we should really take apart. Their man on form this season is Johnson whose scoring mainly in Europe but he's still finding the net. Dempsey and Zamora are also dangerous in the right position.
So I imagine Wenger will play a team similar to the one that started last night. However after Gervinho's piss poor effort we may see the little Russian start instead, but that's up to Wenger. It was nice to see Diaby come on to a good reception and it would be nice to see him rack up some more game time especially as he gives us a bit more of an attacking threat. Not that we particularly need it.
In other news its nice to see that this weekends match will be dedicated to Save The Children, a very worth cause. All the players will be dedicating their days wages to the charity along with 50p from every matchday programme. There will also be a special matchday raffle to help raise funds.
Right that's your lot for tonight. Until next time COYG!
Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Fulham
Good morning all, once again its Champions League week. I was watching Napoli play Man City last night and a few things occurred to me, firstly its not an away day I'd particularly fancy but mainly the importance of keeping qualification in your hands. Now for Man City fans its all dependant on what Napoli do, not that I have any sympathy with those Manc pricks. On another quick note before moving on to the Arsenal, I really hope (should we both qualify) that we don't draw Napoli, but we'll deal with that should the time come.
Anyway now to Arsenal and there's a mix of team news ahead of tonight. Firstly some good news (I know right), Abou Diaby is in the squad tonight for the first time this season and it would be good to see him get some game time as I do think we've missed his attacking threat and power at times. I think he gets a bad press which is unjustified and a lot of this maybe because people are expecting him to be the next Viera and that's a huge ask. Whether he comes on as a sub or gets subbed I don't think he'll play a full 90 due to fitness etc. In other news Rosicky has picked up a "small thigh strain" which usually with Arsenal means he'll be out for months. Its a shame cause I think he's played really well this season after a nightmare last year, lets hope its a speedy recovery. The news from Wenger is that Van Persie will start which is promising. So I reckon it'll be something like this: Szczesny, Koscienly, Vermaelen, Mertescker, Santos, Song, Ramsey, Arteta/Diaby, Gervinho, Walcott, RVP
And the internationals draws to a close after seeing England beat the world champions and scrap past Sweden. It was still boring to watch. Congratulations to the Irish team who smashed Estonia and qualified lets just pray England won't draw them cause we'll lose.
Anyway we return to the Premier League this weekend and we travel to Premiership new boys Norwich. Norwich have been a bit of a surprise package this season and have played well but mainly on away days. Their home form hasn't been mind blowing and to be fair we should go there and get a result.
We seem to have escaped the Internationals without major injury (touch wood) so hopefully our team will look fairly positive on Saturday afternoon. Our man RVP only played one game when the Dutch coach very kindly let us have him back so we could nurture him and wrap him in cotton. But seriously its a good thing, these pointless internationals are simply another game for players to get injured and fatigued.
Anyway on to the team that we will face, the Canaries. Pilington, Holt and Morison are the men on form at the moment and they can certainly produce some good stuff if they're allowed too. However they've gone twelve games without a clean sheet and hopefully we can exploit this and pick up where we left off. The international break came at a bad time for us as we were putting together a nice run of form, picking up where we left off is the next task.
So I think we'll see something like: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Santos, Song, Ramsey, Arteta, Walcott, Gervinho, RVP. There was a ridiculous idea that we might not start Van Persie this weekend, which is the most idiot suggestion, for gods sake he's a footballer playing in the best league in the world, if we aren't going to play him in the PL then where. I honestly can't see that happening and if it does then I'll be shocked.
On a side note, it was nice to see Henry training with our players again, it brings the memories flooding back of the good times we had when he played and the great goals he brought us. But that was the past and we have to deal with the present. So hopefully this weekend we'll bring in 3 more lovely points. COYG!
Prediction: Norwich City 0-2 Arsenal
OK once again I have to apologise, this last week have been a bit hectic with all sorts of things going on. But as of today normal service will resume with a match build up and preview and so on. However we now have two weeks of utterly pointless shit. Internationals, are enough to put anyone to sleep. Especially watching England, now I don't know how overseas readers feel about this, but basically I find watching England play is the most tedious, dull and painful experience. England win 5-0 and I still find it boring. I'm all for getting behind the country and being patriotic but when we watch that shit its hard to get excited.
So the internationals are times when Premier League football goes and has a little break and our players normally go and get injured. Lets hope that isn't the case. But all of the hype and normally scandal of the Premier League get forgotten and the most interesting piece of news we've had has been the whole Poppy situation. They have overturned it but haven't done themselves any favours over here by creating a fuss about it. That testicle-faced prick Blatter showing that he is as much of cunt as we all remember.
Anyway, Arsenal news, well there isn't a lot of it to be honest with you. The site goes off with stories of our players on internationals which is boring as hell. Transfer news is also banded around but going into that would be totally pointless. As always just as we pick up some form there's an international break, we just have to hope that we keep our players fit and our momentum when we travel to Carrow road a week on Saturday. If we can keep this little run going into December then we will have certainly showed what we can do after a start that was our worst in years.
The performance against West Brom was solid and I do mean solid. Attacking, defending, the works. Admittedly it was helpful that West Brom offered virtually nothing going forward but it was as close to a typical Arsenal performance as we've come all season. All of the signs are promising lets hope we don't fuck it up in typical Arsenal style.
That's about it so until next week, have a good weekend.
Again I have to apologise its been a hectic week. So once again I'm doing a report on the game last night. Well it wasn't the best game in fact a 0-0 is normally about as dull as they come. We just didn't look dangerous last night and our key players were poor and were on the bench.
Santos is still yet to convince me that he is a solid left back. He's great going forward and all but I noticed last night that he was caught out of position and his passing last night was shocking. I lost count of how many times he sold our attackers short. To be fair there were very few players that impressed me. Ramsey had a shocker, myself along with the whole of the Clock End saw the opening for him to smash it in, but he delayed and was blocked off. To be fair to the lad hes still young and its a lot of pressure on his shoulders so the odd off game is to be expected.
Firstly, I apologise to you for not posting a Chelsea build up and prediction, I just never got around to it this weekend so apologies for that. I'll be honest, I was gonna predict us to lose 2-1. At the half I had the score, at full time I was miles.
So the game kicked off and it was clear that no side had set out to defend. There were attacks at both ends and we looked wobbly in the defence. Chelsea had 2 or 3 great chances to open the scoring as we were carved open. Then with the miss of the game, the ball was slid across the box to Gervinho who missed from 6 yards. Moments later RVP skied the ball from 7 yards. Then Chelsea were clinical, Mata breezed past Santos who apart from scoring had a shit game, and crossed for Lampard. The prick had a grin on his face after that went in, 80 minutes later he was skulking off down the tunnel.
The game was totally open and we engineered a chance or two, but the one that we needed came after 35 minutes. A beautiful ball from Ramsey through to Gervinho who unselfishly passed it across to RVP who had the simplest of finishes, 1-1. Chelsea then once again put the ball in the net, after again beating Santos who was a mess. But it was ruled out for offside and rightly so. 7 minutes later though, it was 2-1. Mertersacker beaten to the ball by John Terry who let it bounce off him and in, shocking defending. And that wrapped up the half.
As we kicked off for the second half, we came tearing out the blocks. Nothing could have prepared me for the second half. 3 minutes later Santos showed us that he should probably be a winger rather than a defender as Song slipped him in and he smashed it through Cechs legs. That drew us level and from there we never looked back. After 56 minutes of the game, we took the lead for the first time as Theo Walcott drove the ball home sending the 3,000 travelling Arsenal fans, me and my father into total hysteria. We dominated possession and battered Chelsea, but we sat back too much and they equalised 10 minutes from time. However Santos was blocked off by the lumbering Lukakalaka, whatever his name is.
It was this point that I picked the wrong time to get a beer. I opened the fridge to hear my father go ballistic and hurl a barrage of abuse at John Terry that I won't repeat on here. I charged in to see the racist fall over and allow RVP to run on to it, round Cech and pass it in, once again cue hysteria. Its a goal that Arsenal fans will watch over and over again, and will spark YouTube edits with the cartoon banana slip noise. Chelsea threw men forward in an attempt to grab an equaliser, but this ended up being their undoing and with 2 minutes of added time remaining, the game was dead. Arsenal broke 4 v 2 the ball was passed to RVP who fizzed his shot into the Chelsea net after a weak hand from Cech, at this point I was prancing around the room like I used too when I was 10 and I watched us score any goal. Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal. Stamford Bridge was even quieter than normal and as usual the Arsenal end was making all the noise. The whistle went and as the Chelsea players drudged off, our players and fans celebrated with scenes that reminded me of 2004 at WHL.
A truly remarkable game of football. Who says top 4 games are boring eh? A good start to the weekend and I have a shit tonne of fantasy league points with RVP's hat trick and Walcott's addition.
Till Monday, enjoy this weekend and brag horrendously on Monday!
Another positive result, 3 more points on the board and we are most definitely moving in the right direction. We started with Chamakh which is because Wenger is trying his best to protect RVP especially against a team such as Stoke. However Chamakh continued his well shite run at the moment, he just doesn't seem to have anything going for him which is a shame, especially as I like the song we sing about him ( here it is for those unfamiliar with the Chamakh song) after a fair amount of Arsenal possession we broke the deadlock with a fabulous ball over the top from Ramsey for Gervinho to chest it down and rifle it past the keeper. This was the start of what was to be a great day for the Ivorian.
However after a dubious free kick Crouch won for falling over we were undone by a set piece (surprise, surprise). The ball pinged around our box and fell to the lanky twat who poked it home for a yard out. This called for the introduction of RVP, who came on and immediately looked dangerous. He linked nicely with the Gerv who pulled it back for him to slot it home. The in almost a carbon copy, but on the otherside of the pitch, Gervinho once again pulled it back for Van Persie to slot it past the keeper (although he probably should have done better). And that was that, a good performance 3 points and up to 7th, lovely.
Well we play Bolton tomorrow night but I honestly haven't got a clue who we're gonna play because I probably don't know all of them. It would be nice to see Park start for a change as we spent a healthy amount of money on him, I'd like him to show us what he can do. I would also imagine that Oxlade will start along with the likes of Miquel and other err young players.
In terms of the Bolton team we're going to play, well that's equally as mysterious. It will be a challenging team and they will no doubt give our kids a run for their money even on their current form. The likes of RVP and Ramsey will be rested and left to watch from the stands, well its two more on the attendance I suppose. Tickets are still on sale and some as cheap as £10, to be fair you'd pay more to watch most League 2 sides, so if you have nothing to do why not get down there and give our lads some support.
Good to see Vermaelen happy in training again, hopefully he'll be back soon. The prediction today is a total stab in the dark, so yeah. COYG!!
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Bolton
We cut it fine, but we did it, in the last minute of the game. When the cross was slung in I had given up, the game was dead and nothing was happening. Gervinho missed it (typical) but had he not, it wouldn't have fallen to Ramsey who had time to think (dangerous) but did well to fire it past Mandanda. To be fair Marseille offered nothing and were poor throughout, I'd have taken a point but obviously 3 is better than 1. It leaves us looking fairly solid at the top 7 from 3, 3 games to play and I'd say one more win and we're there, the magical 10 points.
Stoke are a team that we have struggled against in recent seasons, mainly away but Stoke are the sort of team that on their day give us many problems. They're Arsene Wenger's worst nightmare: they play physical, they don't give away space and they're good from set pieces. Also the lumber some frame of Peter Crouch and the bulk that is Kenwyne Jones are the sort of strikers we hate to defend against. But Stoke have suffered badly after playing in Europe this season and hopefully this week will be no different.
I think there will be a few changes to the team that beat Marseille on Wednesday. Sadly for the lad Jenkinson he picked up a knock and will miss this one so expect to see Djourou starting at right back. Another change that I really hope we see is Gervinho in for Arshavin who apart from a maisey dribble was complete shit on Wednesday and the Arsenal fans are rapidly running out of patience for the little Russian. Apart from that I think the team will remain from those that got a midweek run out.
Well Stoke threats will come from Delap's throws as always and Crouch who is the perfect man to nod them in, elsewhere Walters and Jones are dangerous on their day. Pennant is doubtful but no doubt he'll be a menace should be play any role. The true test for our defence will be tomorrow when they face a totally new threat from the speed of Marseille. We shall see how they cope.
I know I'm back-tracking but I just want to say that Koscielny was absolutely fantastic midweek and my hat goes off to him. Now he's not my favourite player and he has had a lot of, sometimes fair, criticism but he really showed what he can do and that can only be good for his confidence, a top class performance.
This is a tough game to predict but either way I can't see it being a romp by either side and a scrappy game is on the boards I think.
Prediction: Arsenal 1-0 Stoke City
We got there, after a blinding 25 minutes, a wobble and then a dominant second half, we got our 3 points and mainly thanks to that man upfront RVP. Our second goal was tremendous and as much as an equal for Larssons finish that gave Szczesny no chance, I instantly thought back to the goal I saw him score against Wigan in our final season at Highbury. He came to our rescue again and I began to think, where would we be without him? As good as his current form is it's worrying that he appears to be our only source of goals, should he get injured, touch-wood he doesn't, we'd be in trouble. People also seem to think that we're back to old ways, however this is ridiculous we're far from playing classic Arsenal football.
Anyway tomorrow sees us take on Marseillie in France and a game that I'm not sure about at all. They're having a few problems domestically at the moment, much like us and sit 15th in a 20 team league. However they took Dortmund apart at home last week and that proves that they are dangerous. Its gonna be testing tomorrow night and their fans will get behind the team. They have some real threats in Loic Remy who is on form this season, other threats come from Valbuena, Gonzalez and Ayew.
Apologies that this is late folks, I had a bit of a confusion yesterday but here we are. Sunderland at home tomorrow, in a game we really must win. With teams around us dropping points, we can capitalise and take a big jump to 10th possibly. I know 10th is nothing to write home about but its better than where we are. Sunderland are in equal amounts of shit, they sit a point below us in the table and also really need to win.
In recent years this fixture has been rather dull with last seasons game ending in a disappointing 0-0. So a goal fest it is. Sunderland to be fair haven't got much of a team with some high profile departures last season including the strictly "football-only" move of Gyan to the middle east. However with the acquisition of the worlds best footballer Nicholas Bendtner they should be doing much better.
Bendtner of course wont be playing tomorrow due to his loan terms. So that leaves them a little light upfront and I suspect they'll be playing Ji supported by Sessegnon. Both have been well lack luster so far but that can't last forever. Other threats include Lee Cattermole and Larsson on the left.
In Arsenal terms we have the return of a defensive trio of Djourou, Koscielny and Squillaci. So with Sagna out I would hope we will play Jenkinson that will be both a test and good experience for the lad. The article on Arsenal.com headlined Koscielny - I'm happy to play right back, did give me a scare earlier when I thought Wenger was going to do something stupid, but reading through I fairly certain the back four will be: Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny and Gibbs, right to left of course. The middle will be fairly standard with Walcott and Gervinho on the wings and RVP alone upfront as usual.
I really hate the international break, mostly because England play the shittiest, dullest and most tedious football I have ever seen (and I've seen Gillingham play). On top of that they throw games away in the last minute and piss everyone off. The other reason I hate internationals is the fact that Arsenal seem to almost close for a few weeks, nothing comes out of the club and that makes blogging hard.
The internationals hopefully gave the team time to go away and clear their heads. I'm hopeful that some time away will do everyone some good. However in the current state I highly doubt it. Everything about the club that we all love is crumbling and we need to stand tall and keep the faith cause at the moment it doesn't look like anything will change soon so we just have to hope something clicks.
There are two ways to look at the situation. The first way is the "optimist", we're currently in a blip and we'll pull through and everything will sort itself out. There are very few people that are looking at it this way. Then we have the "pessimist", which is that the very foundations of the club are being shaken and the club is on the verge of collapse, this is the much more popular view. I don't quite think the club is going to collapse, but we need to sort the defence and everything else and sort it soon. We're seeing the same problems week in week out and its frustrating, we can all see it so why can't the team and the manager. I can't remember the last time the Emirates had hundreds of empty seats every week and practically anybody at the moment can get hold of them, not that they want too because we're playing so poorly.
The only thing we as fans can do is get down there and get behind the team and staff. They need us to fall back on at the moment and we need too. Great support at WHL as always aside from the problematic chanting from both sets of supporters. We need to bring that support home and lift the players.
Anyway now that I've set out my one point plan of how to save Arsenal from impending doom and ensure we win the quadruple, on to some real news. Well surprise, surprise Vermaelen doesn't look as if he'll be back for Sunderland. We really need him back soon. Brighter news in the fact that Djourou and Kosicielny appear to be fit to play. So we have a few defensive options to go with, unfortunately I'm not entirely sure we have the combination of players to do the job but we shall see.
Check back for the Sunderland build up on Friday. Also shocking plug but please check out and like our facebook page.
COYG!
It's that time again, the derby. After the so called "friendly derby" today we have what everybody whose associated with Arsenal and Tottenham sees as the best English derby, myself included. Forget West Ham, Millwall thats a thugs derby. The hatred between Arsenal and Tottenham is unrivaled in my opinion and that always shows on the pitch. So many historic moments have come in the North London derby, the most prominent for Arsenal fans being '71 and 04.
Before I go on to look at teams there are a few things I want to say. I'm genuinely nervous about tomorrow and that doesn't happen often but I really am. Listening to the SSN panel I agree with them on nearly everything they're saying (for once). The pricks are firm favourites to win tomorrow for the first time since I can remember and I'm not surprised. We are going into this shot of confidence and about as defensively sound as Burton Albion. If we fail to get ourselves up, we could get embarrassed, so its down to Wenger to do his job and really get the team motivated.
Call me pessimistic but I can't see anything other than a Tottenham win tomorrow, now people will be quick to point out that they haven't had a blinding start and so on but the derby is different to every other game of the season. They know we're weak at the back and I think they'll really give it a go. It also seems impossible for Adebayor not to score, its written on the wall. If I was a bookie I'd have him odds on to score in the fear of losing a small fortune. That brings me nicely on to teams.
It seems that Song will have to start at the back as we're out of fit centre backs. Expect to see Sagna and Gibbs start on the sides. The midfield I think will be Ramsey, Arteta and most probably Frimpong to try and give us some power in the middle, that will bee a key area tomorrow. I look at their players in the middle and they don't have a big powerful midfielder to hold the ground and that could be where we will split. They'll play Modric, Parker and Sandro (I'd say) who are all relatively attacking, when we counter that's where they'll lack numbers. We have to play Gervinho and Walcott/Oxlade it will be Walcott but the point I'm making is Arshavin was absolutely shit midweek. He was lazy and didn't look bothered and in a derby all 11 players need to pull their weight and we all know he wont. RVP upfront as ever.
COYG!
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Arsenal
We return to Champions League action tomorrow night against the Greek side Olympiacos and we have already had some less than encouraging team news, more on that in a bit. Firstly Saturdays performance was just what we needed, a win and maybe more importantly for the defence a clean sheet. Surely that will help to boost the defensive confidence. RVP got a brace with the second being his 100th for the club, I was a little surprised to hear that as I felt he'd scored more than that but I then realised he has been blighted with injury for pretty much the whole of his career. An impressive count none the less. Hopefully we can build on that and string a few results together and go from there.
After a brief scare on Wednesday night, it was nice to see our young guns come back to boss the second half against Shrewsbury. Kieran Gibbs equalised with his first goal and a great header at that, much to the delight of the 45,000 fans who bothered to turn up. The stats people were flicking through their books after Oxlade scored his first goal for us making it two Englishmen in one game, a rarity for us. It was also good to see Benayoun score his first and the game was dead.
The weekend was a disaster. It certainly was a game of two halves, the first was us playing well and looking good to take the three points. New boys Gervinho and Arteta got their first Arsenal goals and two good ones at that. The only downside was conceding to Yakubu but overall it was promising. The second half was an unprecedented fuck up. After a suspect free kick was given the ball was chipped in without force or direction, hit Song on the knee and went in. Quite why the ball wasn't sent skyward or gathered by the keeper is beyond me. Moments later we were losing, the ball was smashed through our defence to Yakubu who was just offside to finish. Poor defending again. Another attack and we were 4-2 down. The ball slid into the box and Koscielny looked as if he could have been playing for Blackburn with the ease that he passed the ball into the net, 2 own goals. Pitiful. We got one back with a great Chamakh header and had chances to equalise and even win but we spurred them all.
