Congratulations to Niklas Bendtner today, his goal put us 1-0 up after almost 90 minutes of extreme defensive football. The crowd were getting on the teams back towards the end, but with Vela and Bendtner on we managed to penetrate the Bolton wall. I am frozen, it was bloody cold in the Emirates today. Highlights and more analysis to come. Also well done Kolo, he captained the side to our 7th game unbeaten, and another clean sheet!
Tag: premier league
Arsenal 1 – 1 Liverpool: Dealing with Long Balls
Arsenal 1 – 1 Liverpool: Robin Van Persie 24, Keane 42
I have to agree with Arsene Wenger. Had Adebayor not been given a second yellow in the 62nd minute Arsenal could have won today, however, the score ended 1 – 1.
Van Persie scored a lovely first half goal, after a long pass from Nasri put him into the box, and he slotted it past Reina. Liverpool responded just before half time. They were hoofing massive high balls down the pitch the whole game, and this time it fell to Keane, being chased by Djourou and Gallas, and he put it away, not much we could do.
Cesc got injured before half-time, and it seems that he has injured his knee ligaments which is grave news, meaning Diaby replaced him after half time, and went on the wing, with Denilson in the centre.
We didn’t have any of the ball early in the second half, which suprised me, as I thought that we would push for a goal. Just when we were getting a grip on the game Adebayor was sent off. A disgraceful decision, a second yellow. The first and second for nothing almost, neither were yellow cards, and this handicapped us.
After the incident the atmosphere intensified. It was like being in Turkey, Liverpool were booed and whistled whenever they were in possession, and we fought very hard.
I was proud of the way we played in the second half, and I totally agree with Wenger’s comments, that had Ade not been sent off we could have won. There was the feeling round the stadium that we were heading for a goal. The fact that Fabregas is injured, and Ade will be suspended makes me feel that we will be fighting for 4th place this season and nothing more.
Middlesbrough 1 – 1 Arsenal Highlights: Did you expect any better?
Middlesbrough 1 – 1 Arsenal: Adebayor 17, Aliadiere 29. Highlights here.
Arsenal came away with a point from the Riverside this afternoon after another poor display. An early Adebayor header was cancelled out after Aliadiere put in an equaliser, Tuncay picking up a deflected Clichy clearance to cross in.
Update: After pondering over the game I’ve decided I was a little harsh. We did create a lot of opportunities, but we don’t seem to have the strength to be able to get all 3 points in games like this season.
You would have thought that Arsenal having rested players during midweek would have been out of the blocks and at Middlesbrough. But although we played good passing football we yet again lacked any incsiveness or width.
Luckily we are not out of the running for the title, due to Man U and L’pool both drawing today, showing just how good the rest of the Premier League are getting.
However, our inconsistent form, mistakes, and weak squad will never win us trophies. We lack any balance in midfield at the moment, and we desparately need the return of players like Eduardo and Rosicky. Wenger needs to reinforce this team in January, and wisely.
Wenger told the BBC:
“Nobody believes in us but we can show we still believe and keep going. At the moment, my team needs encouragement more than anything.
“Today was a game we would have lost at the start of the season. But now we have a better defensive balance and we are more of a team.
“We just lacked a little bit of that extra little thing that comes with confidence but we are a young team and that is why it is important we just keep belief and keep going.”
I think Wenger has a point, we do lack confidence, the team has a lot of talent, and we are playing better than some games earlier this season, but this isn’t good enough at the moment. We played some good football at times today, but we didn’t get the result.
Arsenal have the potential, but to be winners you need results, and we need that now.
Loss to City shows what a bad state Arsenal are in..
Man City 3 – 0 Arsenal: Ireland 45, Robinho 56, Sturridge (pen) 90 Highlights here..
Yesterday we saw a second defeat in a row for an Arsenal side which was very poor. Yes, we had several first teamers out, and yes, Gallas has put the club and captaincy into turmoil, but you would have expected more against a side who have struggled to win games this season.
Almunia was named as captain as Gallas didn’t travel. We conceded 3 relatively soft goals, but it could have been more really. We had one good chance after Ramsey came on and put Bendtner through, but apart from that it was a poor game.
Wenger looked resigned to defeat, and the players just couldn’t get a grip on the game, even Clichy was making uncharacteristic errors, a mix up between him and Silvestre allowing Ireland to get the first goal just before half time.
We might have been better starting Ramsey, because he was the best player in the second half after he came on, and putting Song to CB with Djourou at RB. That might have added some creativity, because for most of the game we had none.
Our squad is threadbare at the moment – Toure, Sagna, Fabregas, Rosicky, Eduardo, Walcott, Adebayor were all unavailable, and they are all first choice players for me, not to mention the fact that Gallas isn’t going to play any more. I applaud Wenger for dealing with Gallas and I think a new captain will do us good but there are some problems in the squad which have been apparent during the building of this new generation.
We don’t have the strength and depth to play at the top at the moment. Our team this season is probably the weakest that we have ever had under Wenger – conceding 18 and losing 5 before December shows you have far we have fallen.
I think the first team would be acceptable if all the injured and suspended players mentioned above were fit and playing, but we still would have very little depth in the squad. Players like Denilson and Song aren’t ready, neither was Hoyte yesterday, and at the moment Bendtner doesn’t have the quality to be a first team player either.
Wenger is a fantastic manager, but he seems to have got himself into a bit of a mess. Losing Flamini, Gilberto, Diarra and Hleb last season was disastrous, and we haven’t got a midfielder who can fit the defensive role.
Leadership is another problem, Gallas has exposed some deeper problems in the team, and I think we need to make a clean start, bring in two or three new faces in January, name a new captain (Fabregas?) and get on with trying to build a successful team.
Obviously we are lacking in confidence, but we have gone from a team which was last year only a few points away from the title, to one which now may struggle to get 4th place.
Arsenal 0 – 2 Aston Villa highlights – Arsenal don’t have what it takes..
Arsenal 0 – 2 Villa: Clichy 70 og, Agbonlahor 80
Today didn’t start well for Arsenal, we lost the coin toss, and Villa chose to switch sides, so we were attacking the north end in the 1st half, the players prefer to attack the north in the 2nd! Overall I witnessed a a very disappointing Arsenal lose to Villa, with two goals in the last 20 minutes.
It could have gone better for Arsenal, we had most of the possession, but we couldn’t break into Villa, who defended in numbers, and cut out our passes. In the first half Villa got a penalty which was badly taken and Almunia saved, but apart from the goals they didn’t have many chances. Villa’s goals came on the break, both times an Arsenal player was fouled in the build-up.
The refereeing was shocking all game, Denilson got a yellow within minutes of kickoff, while Villa went unpunished for their fouls for much of the game. One of our best chances of a goal was ruined by Riley stopping play for a VIlla player down, while Sagna went down seriously injured in the second half and play didn’t stop – leading to Villa’s first goal.
Agbonlahor and Young’s pitiful celebrations right in front of our section didn’t really do much for my impressions of them, Agbonlahor taunting Arsenal fans, and they wonder why people throw things at them?
I think all in all we can say that Arsenal aren’t consistent enought to win the title this season. We still have defensive frailities which haven’t been resolved, and when we have Adebayor and Van Persie both out we don’t look like scoring.
Bendtner is a player with potential, but he can’t play on his own up front. On that point, I don’t think we got the tactics right today. Starting with 5 in midfield and Bendtner upfront worked against Man Utd, but we could have exploited Villa’s weaknesses better if we had started with Adebayor and Vela paired, which is what the Boss did at the end of the game.
A poor result, a 10 years ago we were a very different team, and I wouldn’t expect us to drop points at home. We are now 9 points adrift. Arsenal can challenge for the title still, but right now we haven’t got any consistency at all. I’ll leave you with Wenger’s comment (BBC):
“We can play very well, but at the top level performances have to be consistent. I always say the first sign of quality is consistency, so this was frustrating after beating Manchester United.”
Arsenal 2-1 Man Utd highlights, super Sam!
We did it! I still can’t quite believe it, but we beat Man Utd 2-1 at home. Nasri’s two fantastic goals gave us 3 points! We played with a weakened side, and we had just come off the back of some awful results and we still did it! The lift this will give the team will be amazing. The game started tentatively, but we got into our game as it went on. We defended hard throughout the match, and we did close the game, bringing on the likes of Toure and Alex Song. We still conceded in the 90th minute, to a goal which we couldn’t have saved, and that put us in for 6 horrible minutes of injury time. But a great win and special mentions to Nasri, Gallas, Fabregas and Diaby who all played fantastically!
Arsenal vs. Man Utd, make or break time, plus competition ends
We’ve got Man Utd today, I’m off to the game in a few hours. Bendtner has been making comments about how we can still win the title.
I think we can win the title but today is a real test, we will be written off if we don’t get a result, and the team spirit will be very low, but if we do win we are still in.
In the end we aren’t much through the season and it’s a long season, so we will see what Wenger can pull off.
Also the competition to win the shirt is now closed, the winner will be announced on Monday! You can still sign up to our news feed though, here!
Toure stays positive as Arsenal look to get back to winning ways
This is a guest post by sports writer Thomas Rooney
To say that tomorrow’s game against Manchester United is crucial would probably rank as the biggest understatement of the season. After three games in all competitions without a win, it is vital that Arsenal at least avoid defeat against the Premier League champions.
If this fails to be achieved, then the confidence will be at an all-time low and the chance of Arsene Wenger’s side launching a title challenge would seem all the more unlikely. A nine point gap, even at this stage of the season, would probably be too much.
Speaking ahead of the game, Arsenal defender Kolo Toure has revealed that he and his team-mates are viewing the Manchester United game as a potential turning point for their season. The 27-year-old has said that a win would be ‘really fantastic’ and would prove to the critics that Arsenal ‘would be there for the title’.
Sometimes these type of comments have to be taken with a pinch of salt – what else is Toure going to say other than a win is important? However, this time around, the Arsenal man is bang on the money. A victory tomorrow would do wonders for the belief in the dressing room could be the start of a long unbeaten run for the team.
As Toure rightly points out, the season is ‘not in the second half yet’ and therefore it is important not to panic. However, I think he knows as much as anyone that defeat at the Emirates tomorrow really could have a detrimental effect. Arsenal will continue to ‘fight for the title’ regardless of the result, but this fight would be made a hell of a lot easier should they pick up the three points.
In terms of the team news for tomorrow’s clash, Arsenal have been hit with a number of injury problems. Theo Walcott, Bacary Sagna and William Gallas are doubtful, while Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Eboue are definitely out of the game.
These injuries mean that Nicklas Bendtner and Carlos Vela are going to be charged with the responsibility of breaking down Manchester United’s defence and getting the goals that win Arsenal the game. Neither of these youngsters will hold any fear going into this match, so perhaps their raw talent can prosper.
Overall, it is going to be a game where Arsenal fans arrive in hope rather than expectation. However, should the team pull together and produce a winning performance; it really could be the start of the turnaround.
Stoke City 2 – 1 Arsenal highlights, Delap, defence and attack
I don’t want to be too negative but today Arsenal played pretty poorly. Two long throws from Rory Delap allowed Stoke two relatively easy goals(Fuller ’11, Olofinjana ’73). Those throws are not easy to defend against, especially if you are Arsenal, weak in defence and hate balls into the box.
When playing against a team who have scored over half their goals from Delap’s long throws you would think that Arsenal might have been more prepared than they seemed for these. Maybe they are undefendable?
Stoke worked incredibly hard all match to give us no space and we really had very limited chances, our goal came in extra time – Clichy’s shot took two deflections and went in, his first goal for Arsenal, it started a small revival, but the 93rd minute is way, way, way too late.
We couldn’t get anywhere, and the exclusion of Nasri, RVP and Walcott, in exchange for height and power with Diaby, Song and Bendtner didn’t really pay off.
The game was worsened by the sending off of Van Persie for barging Sorenson after he teased RVP with the ball, and injuries to Adebayor – who looked in a lot of pain, Walcott – who has probably dislocated his shoulder again, and Sagna.
This means we may be without our main strikers for the games aganst Fenerbahce and Man Utd at home.
Our title bid may be over, Wenger even seemed depressed, when asked if it was the end of our title bid after the game he said “lets win the next one, and see after..”
Arsenal 3 – 1 Everton watch the highlights here!
Just a quick one:
A great result yesterday, poor at the start, but we came back welll in the second half. Song played much better at CB than at RB, also Silvestre did well. Walcott and Nasri add pace and flair on the wings. Ade looked a bit lazy, but we got the goals from Nasri, RVP and Walcott, we just need to lose the complacency!
Hibbert was an idiot – dirty tackle on Denilson, and then he tried to strangle Clichy and got a yellow – the refereeing yesterday was pretty atrocious at times.
Cheers!
ArseSpeak 