A Little Piece of Pompey Goes A Long Way: Arsenal v Portsmouth, Match Preview
Let the 2nd half festivities begin
When these last two teams met it was in August and Arsenal were starting out the season scoring at will. Portsmouth at the time was in the path of the early season juggernaut and lost 4-1. This time Arsenal comes in winning 4 of 5 of its last matches and in the hunt for the Premier League title sitting just 7 points off of leading Chelsea. Portsmouth meanwhile are fighting for the proverbial lives as they sit clearly on the bottom of the table.
When Pompey visited Arsenal at the Emirates on 22 August Paul Hart was the manager and David James was in goal. No one had an idea then that Portsmouth would be on such a run as to see them trying to stave off relegation. As it is only one team that was in the relegation zone at Christmas ever survived to stay in the first division. Portsmouth are hoping to do just that.
During their last match at home, Avram Grant’s side won against a very wounded Liverpool club. Winning that match 2-0 Pompey still have the lowest goal total at home this season (9) out of all Premier League Clubs. They face a monumental task in beating Arsenal – their last win was a 5-4 scorcher in 1954.
The arrival of Avram Grant has resulted in a mini-turnaround of sorts. He has seen them double their point total and is pushing his side to play the physical game with Arsenal. Grant may not have watched recent Arsenal matches against Hull, Blackburn and Villa – all sides who vowed to get Physical and all sides who went down with emphatic wins by Arsene Wenger’s side.
But really does the Israeli tactician have much choice. On pure talent alone, even a depleted Arsenal squad are likely to shred Portsmouth. He has to find a way to slow the Gunners down are find himself on the end of a result similar to that of his predecessor.
Arsenal for their own part are unbeaten in their last 5 league matches and are once again in the middle of the title hunt. They posted a 3-0 emphatic win over potential top-four side Aston Villa this past weekend and will be looking to carry that Christmas momentum into this match to keep pace with Chelsea and United.
The Gunners have shown something this season that hasn’t been there in recent years – resiliency. After losing to Chelsea in a gut wrenching 3-0 battle at the Emirates. Almost everyone had written this squad off. The doom mongers (fans and pundits alike) were once again claiming that there really was only a big two and that everyone else including Arsenal was playing for sloppy seconds. But much like the beginning of the season when everyone thought they would be fighting for their big-four lives, the squad came out and quickly and quietly proved everyone wrong.
Arsenal are solidly in the big four with Liverpool being the squad trying to find its big four credentials. And yes, there is still a half a season to go and anything can happen, but the squad has shown that it can perform through adversity. Be it injuries, tough losses, doubters, height deficiencies, tight schedules and rough teams, whatever it has been, Arsenal have found a way to overcome that.
The squad goes into the hostile environment of Fratton Park without its chief playmaker, Cesc Fabregas. He of the brief but lethal visit to the pitch on Sunday where he literally destroyed Aston Villa on his own. It will need a full team effort to beat Pompey. The first half of the Villa game, while controlled by the Gunners saw good opportunities squandered. If Arsenal are going to win without Fabregas, they will need to call on every one to pitch in and do what is necessary to win.
My philosophy is to shoot and shoot often. Forget the pretty, sweet passes in the box. Get Begovic tested and put pressure on him and his defenders to make plays. The likes of Arshavin and Diaby need to be the focal point. Arshavin for his creativity and skill and Diaby for his straightforward attack. His size and speed will surely be an asset in attacking the Pompey back four.
If Arsenal want to stay in contention and continue to show they are the real deal it is these matches that matter most. The wins against the lesser clubs are what is going to add up in the end. Ask Manchester United how it won the title. They could care less about the big four. They won 1 time against a big four squad last season. Yet, their record against the lesser clubs was amazing. Against the big six this season Arsenal are 3-3 with no draws. While they need to claim wins or draws against two of them, they really need to keep the foot on the throats of teams like Pompey. That is what winners do. That is what they must do.
How It Will Play Out:
As mentioned earlier, Avram Grant feels his side aren’t playing with enough grit. He also figures that the weak spot for Arsenal is that they don’t like physical games. As I also mentioned he must not have seen much of Alexander Song, Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas this season. Each of them has played with a physical zeal to make even Sam Allardyce proud. Arsenal must, must must, score early and open up the game. Pompey need points. They need 3 points as much as we do and if the Gunners can open up the score early then the game is Arsenal’s for the taking.
Players to Watch:
Arsenal: Abou Diaby. Never thought I would be singling out this guy as a stand out player. But his play in the last two weeks has been huge. He has scored goals and he has been a presence on the field. He has also shown some skill moves to set up his fellow team players. In the first meeting against Pompey this season he scored 2 goals in the opening 25 minutes.
Portsmouth: Kanu. With Jamie O’Hara suspended now would be a good time for the former Arsenal man to step up. If Portsmouth are to fight off relegation then they will need him to be Johnny On The Spot this week.
Probable Starting XI:
This could change if any of Pompey's players have left for ACoN
Injuries:
Arsenal: Gibbs (foot), Clichy (back), Van Persie (ankle), Bendtner (abdomen), Djourou (knee), Fabregas (hamstring)
Portsmouth: James (leg)
Match Officials:
Referee: Alan Wiley
Assistant Referees: TBA
Fourth Official: TBA
Latest League Form:
Arsenal: WWDWW
Portsmouth: LWLDW
TV Viewing:
US: FSC @ 2:30 PM EST
UK: Sky Sports 1 1745 BST
Online Streaming Feeds:
www.atdhe.net
www.iraqgoals.net
www.justin.tv
As a reminder, YouAreMyArsenal.com is not responsible for any content on these sites. Use them at your own risk.
YAMA PREDICTION:
Arsenal – 2
Portsmouth – 0
77 comments
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Greetings! Quick question that’s totally off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My site looks weird when viewing from my iphone 4. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to resolve this problem. If you have any recommendations, please share. Thank you!
Seems like we have already made a signing and he is a striker!
http://youngguns.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/arsenal-complete-wellington-silva-signing/
All of 17 years old, will join us only in Jan 2011 and we paid 3.4M GBP (if you believe the article).
I can’t even be bothered to click on the link, that’s how little I care about Arsenal signing a 17 year old.
At this point, at a crucial point in the season, I simply don’t give a feck about a kid for 2011.
;)
Been reading and listening and thinking a bit about our team in the context of some of these “End of the Decade” stories. It was a monumental one for Arsenal, of course.
Some pundits are neatly dividing it in half, with a first half of plenty and second of fallow, esp. when it comes to trophies. The second half also might include moving into the new stadium and AWs “youth project.” IMO the decade flipped with the arrival of Ambramovich and his money in West London and a new era of madness & disloyalty which has come to characterize English and European football at the highest level. Perhaps the actual turning moment is when Ashley Cole took his famous swerve….
It is massively reassuring that Cesc has pre-empted Spanish transfer talks in the wake of his stunning cameo vs. Villa. Certainly we don’t need any “unsettling” during the month ahead, except the good kind….However, and to quote the Bard (MacBeth), “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well, It were done quickly”….
In the meantime, here’s AW’s latest quote, designed to drive supporters (we of “superficial rationality”) mad:
“Football is not completely rational. The superficial rationality is not the real one sometimes,” he said. “It’s true that we have problems with our strikers. Even I say that. Everybody tells me to buy strikers, but when I look at the League nobody has scored more goals than us.
“We have players who move the ball well and everybody gets in dangerous positions. And that’s why, with the confidence high, everyone can score goals. But we are still in the market.”
Happy New Year, Happy New Decade, (happy window),….
Very well played by the boys. I thought that Portsmouth would put up a better fight but our movement was simply way too good for them. Perhaps I believed our guys might not be on top of their game against the bottom club. Ironically enough, I knew we’d dominate fourth place Aston Villa but thought we’d struggle against bottom Portsmouth.
Question, are we really that good? Despite the injuries to some key players, and the poor form of others, we absolutely mopped the floor with our last two opponents. I saw this real determination against Wolves back in November and if we can keep that work rate and form, we’ll certainly be contenders and likely win the title.
Lastly, Song has been nothing short of fantastic this season. Think, he’s only just turned 22 so he’s, more likely than not, going to get a lot better. Sometime in the next three years, this team is going to be one of the best the world has ever seen. Only a fool would be interested in leaving; que Ade, Hleb, and Flamini.
Josh made the same point about the team in the GDC–about being the best in the world in 3 years and I brought out another “cultural” reference…Veruca Salt (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)…”But I want it NOW!”….
That’s the cry of many Arsenal supporters, and with the transfer window opening (TOMORROW!) and the other top teams in England (and Europe) not entirely convincing, the opportunity seems to be sitting right there at the tips of our fingers….
It’s tougher than just buying a player or two or three and then dancing our way to the trophies. The current squad looks promising and the much discussed triumvirate, Song, Denilson and Diaby, appear to be bearing some fruit, though the one is off to the ACN (with another nice match and a much deserved goal), another seems impaired by what might be a long term injury and the 3rd, who just signed a contract extension, might finally have rounded a corner and be a player we can actually count on, though nobody, it appears, is willing to stand by that idea, quite yet.
For me the tough game coming up will be Bolton away, as it will be an opportunity for their new manager to validate whatever glimmers of hope his team might show with an actual result against a “big” club; one that famously struggles on wintry nights in the North. It’ll be a test of our focus and resolve and maybe a spot where a new signing or someone back from injury (or are these things now one and the same?) can show his true merit. It’s a game that will go a ways to suggesting the answer to the question above (“are we really that good?”)
Steve, I’m going to mildly object to the analogy between any of us and a spoiled, entitled rich girl. Perhaps that would have been fair in ’06/’07, but it’s been awhile NOW. ;-)
OK. well, if there is no harsh punishment, what would be the “incentive” NOT to break the rules?
—————————
Stag, going bust is due to club’s inability to manage their finance properly.
Fail to balance the book is merely a case of stupidity, but it’s not a crime, it did not “break any rule”.
Nobody wanna go bankrupt, with or without that extra “incentive”.
Thanks Steve for giving me the lowdown on Spinal Tap.
Yeah, I do feel like I am somewhere in between the fire and ice. ;)
Besides, it shouldn’t matter if a person is PP or NN. We come here to read what people think, not merely to note the poster’s name and think – ah! this is an AKB or doom monger.
Last night’s win feels great. Ok, Portsmouth are not the greatest team, but we were hardly at full strength ourselves. Delighted for Ramsey, these are games where he should gain experience and confidence. Happy for Traore too, he has impressed. Still feel sad for Vela, wish he gets more playing time.
As I said before, I am pretty sure Arsene is going to sign someone in January. He isn’t going to let this great opportunity to win something after 5 years pass by just like that. Surely one, but we all hope two experienced players will come in.
2009 was not the greatest year for Arsenal. In fact, the highlights for me were the two defeats in April (Chelsea in the FA Cup and ManU in the CL). Ok, not exactly a “high” light, but that is what I remember the most, sadly. :(
But it has ended on an extremely positive and encouraging note. Let us hope that 2010 brings a lot of fun and happiness to all Arsenal supporters. Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous 2010.
Thanks to YAMA and Michael. Cheers !!
In the game day chat I showed a quote from Derek Smalls (Spinal Tap) to our friend Nipuna (finally getting some much needed sleep at the moment I hope):
“We’re very lucky in the band in that we have two visionaries, David and Nigel, they’re like poets, like Shelley and Byron. They’re two distinct types of visionaries, it’s like fire and ice, basically. I feel my role in the band is to be somewhere in the middle of that, kind of like lukewarm water.”
He seemed to like it….
That was EXACTLY the quote I was thinking of, but I was concerned something might get lost in cultural/humor translation, and it might inadvertently come across wrong. Glad it didn’t! :-)
While I enjoyed the “comfortable” nature of the match, I think we’re flattering to deceive a bit here. Great fans notwithstanding, Pompey are more than woeful as a team. As JoshD pointed out they have some strong athletes, but after their first ten minutes of playing hard resulted in nothing, they gave very, very little and made it quite easy for us.
We are showing a nice level of quality throughout our ranks and we’ve got a certain strength in depth that should see us through the next several matches if we stay focused. However, IMO, we need an upgrade if we’re truly to contend for the league title and go anywhere in the CL. Cesc returning (they’re saying 10 days currently) will be a big boost, but we need Dudu to make something of his super-quick moves and touches, and Arshavin to do likewise with more consistency. Nasri, Ramsey and Diaby looked very good today but I see them as useful additions not game-breakers against the better teams. And defensively I feel that we will miss Song as we already miss a competent and confident keeper. Traore has stepped up nicely but I don’t even want to contemplate what might ensue if we were to lose any of Sagna, Gallas or Vermaelen.
December has come and gone and we took 16 of 18 possible points. Very well done. On such a run it’s hard to argue that we should mess with the chemistry of the squad, but I know I’m not alone in feeling that we need more reliable quality. I’ve been calling for a DM/CB with size and pace (Vermaelen’s cloned brother perhaps–who could slot straight in for Song esp now that Denilson’s back is out again) and a mobile striker with maybe a bit more size than the guys we had out there tonight. (Average height of AA23, Nasri and Dudu is perhaps 5’6″?). RVP seems gone for the season and Bendtner’s hernia/groin has a Rosickyness about it and even Theo is hurt again (surprise, surprise…). I pray Dudu finds his cutting edge and Vela starts doing something/anything (FA cup match would be a perfect place to start) but it seems the timing of the transfer window couldn’t be more perfect….
So (for me) a nice win tonight (felt a bit like an early round of one of the domestic cups) nobody (else) injured, but nothing really proven….
OK.
The “realists” have been saying that for a while now. We NEED incoming players (2) in January, to address current issues, injury, and fatigue, and TALENT. If we want to compete with Chelsea and United for this year’s EPL, then we simply can’t watch the window open and close.
If we are just trying to be competitive (as we already are)… and make a nice tidy profit again, then we will do nothing.
Very nervously excited about the transfer window opening.
I would LOVE to see the likes of Craig Bellamy come into this squad.
Yes, he might be a short-term, 2 year player… but the attitude, confidence, edge, and style… would really help our club.
Wenger said he likes him as a player, it would be up to Man City to sell him.
Make an offer. If they say no, get someone else.
The younger strikers would know he is only here for a few years tops… RVP is back next year (fingers crossed)…
Just my 2 cents.
We REALLY have a chance right now. In the thick of the fight… 4 points back with one game in hand… at the end of 2009.
LETS GO FOR IT ARSENE.
The time is NOW.
If the funds are there, f’n USE THEM.
Make a run at the league and CL and FA Cup.
Failure to do so would be criminal.
One thing I don’t like the way FA due with the clubs in financial troubles:
When a club in financial mess, more often than not was due to the bad management of the board. Once the club is put into administration, the way I see it, the “punishment” is already enough. Cos you can’t sell or buy player. Other clubs can just come and take away your best players at their will (as the decision of pricing the players is taken away from you).
As if this is not bad enough, the FA will dock you 10 points almost by default once you find yourself in administration. More often than not, the old owner (those who put the club in trouble at the first place) would just sell the club and go. In the end, it’s the club’s supporters who’s suffered.
Luton Town started last season with a ridaculous 30 points docked before a ball was kicked. They might as well send them straight to Blue Square Premier to save them from the trouble.
I agree with all of this. Punishing the fans for the actions of the owners.
OK. well, if there is no harsh punishment, what would be the “incentive” NOT to break the rules?
There is already no punishment for the people who decide whether or not to break the rules (i.e. the board).
There are however, still deterrents. Most owners/directors/board members are business/financial people, and they are well aware of the financial ramifications of this kind of thing.
Well, I thought this was one of our better played matches this season.
VERY important in terms of the title race, easily could overlook last
place Pompey… missing the Maestro Cesc-uous…
and… I think we played a very good … complete match.
Never in doubt, mostly dominated after about 15 minutes on… and there were a lot of players contributing.
I thought Nasri was excellent… Ramsey was very good (fantastic goal)… Song was very good… Eduardo is still not right, very lucky on the goal, and, HOW is that not an OWN GOAL?!
Big win… and excellent display of what we are capable of, even without Cesc, even if it was agains the last place team.
I am worried about Song being gone, as we don’t really have anyone in his mold… but the schedule for January is not exceptionally tough…
so we should be able to survive and hopefully thrive.
Enjoyed the match, with it being so easy!
That’s a nice feeling that I miss.
With the 4 goals today, Arsenal have scored 51 goals faster than any other team in the EPL. They lead Chelsea with a GD of +30.
Under the circumstances, very good performance I thought, and I haven’t been able to say that about an away game in a long while.
Ramsay was simply outstanding. The complete midfield performance. Got stuck in, moved well and didn’t fall into the trap of giving away cheap possession while the likes of Diaby and Song began to switch off.
Excellent Smithers.
vibe4arsenal Reply:
December 30th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
;-)
You know nip, one of the reasons you’re such a great poster is that I have no idea whether you’re an optimist or a realist. And it absolutely doesn’t matter. (So don’t tell me!) You’re sort of like the Derek Smalls of YAMA. We need you the way Spinal Tap needs a calm, centered, pipe smoking bass player. :-)
Thanks for bringing consistently bring good stuff to the party.
——————————————
Vibe, u pointed out something I been always wondering myself as well….
I had no idea Nip is a Pete or Nick either!
It’s nice, innit? Only The Shadow knows.
He could be a flip-flopper?!!
;)
Yeah nip, I think we have a really strong depth of squad. The depth of the squad is not decided by the “cast”, or how many big name players we have in our squad, but the fact that whether our players are able to “get the job” done when the team is hit by injuries.
Agree for attack and FB’s, but this is not at all true for CB or GK.
Andez. Seriously?
We have ZERO depth of squad at certain positions.
We will be negatively effected by Song leaving for ACoN. Unless Vieira’s coming in of course!
;)
Pompey’s fans are amazing. They are without doubt the best fans in the Prem.
But Portsmouth is doomed. They are on the way to go bust. Why it is so important to balance the book? Look no further.
Balancing the book is important, but so is winning. I’m not saying this with regard to Arsenal, but teams in general.
Pompey is going to be relegated b/c they cannot balance the books. But had they balanced the books, would they have had a squad good enough to capitalize on the big teams’ failures and win the FA Cup 2 years ago? Probably not.
If you ask their fans, “Was winning the FA Cup (the biggest prize a team like Pompey is realistically capable of) worth unbalanced books and spending a few years in the Championship?” I bet a lot of them would give a definitive “yes!”
Of COURSE they would take the TROPHY… and unbalanced books.
They are not DOWN yet, and as Joshua mentioned, they have some talent and athleticism. Grant is a good manager too.
Portsmouth winning the FA Cup was massive for their supporters.
And they have magnificent support… agreed Andez.
Oh, and I totally agree about their fans. Totally inspiring, and it’s one of the reasons I hope they stay up.
Arsenal covered the range of goals tonight — set-piece (albeit deflected), passing and low shot, solo effort & strike from distance and a header (with plenty of passing in the build up) to round things off. Great stuff. And just to show that Arsenal are still human and not invincible, a defensive lapse allowed a Pompey goal, followed shortly by a failed Almunia punch :)
Not sure if Bolton will hire a new manager ahead of the Arsenal tie but whatever happens there hopefully does not give Bolton a lift next week, or I should say next year/next decade.
Does anyone know if Ramsey is naturally right footed or left footed?
British players are known to be one-foot players, so it’s great to have a virtually two footed British player in our team. I seem to remember Ramsey is a right footed player, but the power he hit that strike with his left was impressive. Few players could strike the ball as hard with his weaker foot.
I was asking the same question on GDC b/c I was amazed. Either way that goal was impressive. He used all right-foot touches to set it up, and finished with a brilliant southpaw strike.
Ramsey’s dominate foot is his right.
Another super performance. The kind champions should be putting in. Missing players? Doesn’t matter. Control the game, score some goals (lucky on the first, but so what?) and then cruise to a nice 4-1 win.
Happy for Song and his first goal. Sad for Vela, still not getting enough game time.
Portsmouth are in a world of hurt. I think this is a good game to get some of the subs some quality minutes.
Because it’s been so, um, easy?
Indeed.
2-0 at half time. Nice and easy does it. Another confidence-building goal for Eduardo – even if it was a hefty deflection. All i want for xmas is him to get his extra 10 percent of sharpness back.
Let’s look forward to another two goals in the second half.
A lot of changes to Portsmouth tonight. Should be a little easier but not easy by any means.
Starting XI – Almunia, Sagna, Vermaelen, Gallas, Traore, Diaby, Nasri, Ramsey, Song, Arshavin, Eduardo
Subs: Fabianski, Silvestre, Eastmond, Rosicky, Wilshere, Merida, Vela
Speaking of pecking order, what the hell happened to Wilshere? Is he hurt? Or is he just not one of Arsene’s favorites? Last year, the way I saw it, he wan’t too far behind Ramsey in development terms.
and Vela?
Theo injured is surprising? ;)
By the way, where did you get that info?
I suppose Eastmond’s inclusion officially puts him ahead of Coquelin in the pecking order.
I got it from John Cross who covers Arsenal for the Mirror.
Is Denilson in or out?
He’s out with back injury (BBC)
SURPRISE – Theo Walcott is out injured. Craig Eastmond makes the squad for tonight’s game.
I don’t agree with you because I think everyone knew that Portsmouth was going to strugle this year. However, I think they have a group of fantastic athletes. I like this side and said so a few weeks ago. We should win comfortably but they may really be up for the match. If they play us tough and their keeper is in form, we could struggle. Likewise, they didn’t get paid again so they may be a bit disgruntled. Much will depend on their attitude.
This is probably the quickest and most physical back line our short front line have played against in a long while. We’ll see how it all plays out.
I am on GDC.
I know there are 2 more hours to go for the game. But heck, it is 11 pm here. Everybody else in the house is asleep. I’ve don’t have to get to office tomorrow and there is an Indiana Jones movie on the tele.
Roll on!!
Am at work. I’ll probably be on and off GDC.
I’m sure we all have heard of ” … once in a blue moon …”.
Guess what, the moon is likely to turn blue this New Year’s Eve:
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/091230-blue-moon-eclipse.html
Let’s hope Arsenal will take advantage of this rare occurance to win the league ;)
did someone just mention 15 year olds?
well well… the Daily Mirror has Arsene hot for Raheem Sterling,
a 15 Year Old at QPR!!!!!!
Perfect Arsene… he can step right in … maybe in 2016!
Let’s hope he gets him in January, don’t want to wait on that one!
;)
Without Cesc-uous, we will probably struggle, so its would be nice
to have Rosicky available. I would expect Pompey to be up for the match at home, and the longer they are in it, the more they will believe they have a chance to take points.
We need a HERO, again… a player or two to step up their game, and
make sure we WIN today. Diaby? Denilson? … probably Arhavin, but he can’t slump and pout because there’s no Cesc.
Even without Fabregas, I’m looking for this team to press the action for at least thirty minutes of each half. That’s what championship winnings sides do, and it’s even what the Arsenal sides of 05/06 and 06/7 did. Play in their half, have them defending and on the back foot, and generally wear them down. A ten minute spell of them pressing the action and having some break throughs is expected as well. Anymore than that though, and there’s a problem.
I want us to play like United did at Hull.
Without the Rooney penalty. ;-)
Job done.
This is such a funny line –
“One reason for all this secrecy is probably just plain economics. If Arsenal have suffered multiple long term injuries to our midfield and strike force and we go around announcing them as such it will make our acquisition of 15 year olds that much more expensive. Nope, better to wait until after we sign Huntelaar to a half season loan before we announce that Bendtner’s completely crocked.”
from
http://www.7amkickoff.com/2009/pompey-v-arsenal-injury-updates/
What’s really funny is the idea that anyone is fooled by the secrecy. If the truth of the injuries is generally understood in the blogosphere, it seems a safe bet Managers/Agents and everyone else also knows.
What can I say, vibe?
Arsene Knows! :)
;-)
You know nip, one of the reasons you’re such a great poster is that I have no idea whether you’re an optimist or a realist. And it absolutely doesn’t matter. (So don’t tell me!) You’re sort of like the Derek Smalls of YAMA. We need you the way Spinal Tap needs a calm, centered, pipe smoking bass player. :-)
Thanks for bringing consistently bring good stuff to the party.
Does that mean Nip a true fan or better fan? Or, is it a case of he’s less plastic? ;)
Sorry Nip. Just couldn’t resist :)
Ha Ha.
Never heard of Derek Smalls or Spinal Tap. So I don’t know if it is a good or bad thing. But it absolutely doesn’t matter. So don’t tell me!
:)
Oh, man. Google ‘Spinal Tap’. A comedy classic.
Hopefully Arsenal will turn it up to 11 today, Vibe!
And we don’t get trodden on by dwarfs. ;-)
Have to agree. Nipuna is just a constant cog that plays an important role in the spine of YAMA and before, AA.
So much for the new financial regulations.
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=nonwire_soccer/09/12/30/CHELSEA_STORY_CHELSEA_-_0004C.html
“The reduction will also enable the club to comply with any regulations on debt levels which are being discussed by the football community.”
Tonight’s game reminds of the Pompey game in April 2006. Arsenal desperately needed 3 points to beat Spurs to the coveted CL 4th place. I was in Shenzhen at the time and woke up at 3 am to see the game.
Arsene sprung a huge shock by dropping Gilberto and starting with Song (first league start) and Diaby in CM. After taking the lead, we conceded to a header by Lua Lua (the shorted person on the pitch). Diaby was the culprit in defending.
Maybe that is why I am reminded of the game. Four years later, it is time for Song and Diaby to show how much they have improved. The stakes are much higher this time. A draw will not suffice.
DAG, are you sure about that stat in the preview?
“As it is only one team that was in the relegation zone at Christmas ever survived to stay in the first division.”
I think it might be that only one team that was in last place at Christmas has ever staved off relegation. Not 100% sure though.
Anyways, another great write-up for what will hopefully be another great game. Despite the usual Arsenal worries being present (long injury list, physical side, winter away game) I am confident about this game and see no real reason we shouldn’t get three points so long as the boys put in a half-way decent performance.
I almost want to call this game “critical”, but is it really? If you start using that word for games like this then what do you call CL knock-out games, FA Cup semis, Top 4 league clashes? But that’s one of the things I love about football, compared to American sports: Every single game matters. Whether you’re fighting for the title, a CL spot, a Europa spot, or to get out of the relegation zone, then a game in the middle of the season against a team nowhere near you in the table is still of huge importance. No American sport has that. You could say College Football is like that, but it only lasts for 12 games over 3 months- it’s not a 38-game 9-month slugfest. In the US, things never really heat up until the postseason gets close, and even then not always, considering the NBA and NHL let in over half the teams. Long Live Football!
That is true. I always wonder what’s the point of having a “regular season” when playoff is what it matters in American sports.
What i like about American sports is their salary cap. That ensure a fair playing field.
But lottery is going too far. Losers should not be “rewarded” by any mean.
The interesting thing about American sports is – for a capitalism country, the system of their sports work more like under a communism concept.
While football in Europe, in some ways, it’s like capitalism at its worst.
CG, you are right. Only one team has broken the “bottom at Christmas” curse – West Brom.
So Bendy is out for three more weeks. My suspicions proved true. I thought that Arsene wouldn’t talk about signing a new striker unless Bendy was out for a while. I guess he will back in April. Oh, well!
So Liverpool put the brakes on Villa. Hmm, doesn’t bode well for their top 4 ambitions, if they can’t beat Pool at home. ;)
Anyway, time to get away from the chasing pack and plant ourselves firmly amidst the title aspirants. Two wins will put us above ManU and 7 points ahead of Spurs in 4th place.
PS: What a finish by Torres! Can we get him in Jan? ;)
Also the Telegraphy has called Arsenal’s Invincible Squad its Team of the decade:
http://bit.ly/52et9x
Cool article. Glad they didn’t pick Man U’s EPL/CL winning side or Chelsea’s record points side. The former, though difficult, has been done, and the latter lacks the special quality that a perfect season has.
Rosicky is in the squad travelling to Pompey.
Arsene admits admiration for Craig Bellamy but does not think City would sell him.