EPL Match Day 21: Arsenal v Birmingham: Match Preview
This has been a difficult season to write about. As with every match I am upbeat, I have a sense of renewed hope and my outlook for the team only changes at the conclusion of each tie. It’s a rinse, wash and repeat kind of mentality. I see the positives, negatives and everything in between of supporting this team. We had the euphoria of Monday and the let down of the draw against Wigan. So, how to approach Saturday’s match is an unknown to me.
Arsenal come into Birmingham in third place in the league. This is the second year in a row that have ended the year in third. The go away to the stadium of light against a team that you just don’t know what you are going to get. Well, that’s not entirely true. You are going to get a defencively sound team, that much is for sure.
The paradox that is Birmingham is this – they have scored only nine goals at home this season but only one team, Everton has actually left with all 3 points. Alex McLeish’s side have only won one of their last nine premier league ties, however, yet they have only conceded one goal in six of those matches – that stretch includes ties against United, Chelsea, Tottenham, and Man City.
For Arsenal it is likely we will see most of or not all of the squad that was so good against Chelsea. Diaby is out with an injury (again and let’s hope for good) and after Wenger’s scathing criticism of his side’s performance against Wigan, it is likely he will lean on this squad as his leaders. For sure, as we have discussed – this crew, specifically the crew that played Chelsea, is good enough to beat anyone, even a team as determined as Birmingham.
Defencively, I think Squllaci sits again and for me it has more to do with Koscielny than how inconsistent Squallaci has been. Koscielny plays well against a solid defender. In the beginning of the season, he was fine paired with Vermaelen. Against Chelsea, he was also solid. In that match he was paired with Djourou. We need to tighten the defence as it has been 7 games without a clean sheet. One of our longest runs since the 2001 season.
Attack wise if we lead with the attack we had against Chelsea, I have no concerns. There is enough patience and professionalism to uncrack their defence. The problem will l be the Brum keeper Foster who in my opinion is the reason they have been so stingy. He has played better than Joe Hart and is showing why he needs to be considered England’s number 1. We will need to take every chance we get and make him work. Shots should come from inside and outside and forget about being pretty – just be ruthless when around the box.
All in all we need more than a point to go into the match against Manchester City with some sense of momentum. We have a game in hand against the powder puff blue of portion of Manchester a win today and a solid result on Wednesday and we will put some heat on their title aspirations. A lacklustre performance at Birmingham is only going to place further pressure on the team we don’t want or need.
How the Match Should Play Out:
I don’t expect Arsenal to press much on Brum. They are hardly an attacking htreat and they will likely give us the ball at free will. They will just play a 4-4-1-1 and sit 9 men back and look to counter which is how Zigic got his goal against at the Emirates. I expect to see Arsenal patiently see how Birmingham is going to set up against them – whether they will press or load the box up. From there look for Fabregas to be the catalyst to unlocking them. As always I am going for the win because the realistic chance to get the 3 points is possible.
Players to Watch:
Arsenal: Theo Walcott. Theo has the ability now to change a game from his first touch. e is showing more and more that he is the talent he was supposed to be. He will benefit from an in form Van Persie and Fabregas.
Birmingham: Ben Foster. To me this is England’s great hope in goal. He has simply been the reason why Birmingham don’t concede many goals. It inspires his defence to play firmly in front of him. If Birmingham are to steal anything from this tie it will be due to him.
Probable Starting XI:
Arsenal 4-2-1-2-1 Birmingham 4-4-1-1
Injuries and Suspensions:
Arsenal: Diany (thigh) Almunia (ankle) Frimpong (knee), Vermaelen (Achilles)
Birmingham: McFadden (knee)
Leading Scorers:
Arsenal: Nasri12 (8 league) Chamakh 10 (7 league) Walcott 9 (6 league)
Birmingham: Gardner 5 (4 league) Zigic 4 (2 league)
Last Meeting: (EPL)
Arsenal: 2 (Nasri pen 41′, Chamakh 47′)
Birmingham: 1 (Zigic 33′)
Last 5:
Arsenal: WWLWD
Birmingham: WDDLD
Goals For:
Arsenal: 1.7 (away)
Birmingham: 1.0 (home)
Goals Against:
Arsenal: 1.1 (away)
Birmingham: 0.8 (home)
Goal Difference:
Arsenal: 17
Birmingham: -3
Match Officials:
Referee: Peter Walton
Assistant Referees: Mike Cairns & Ron Ganfield
Fourth Official: Anthony Taylor
Broadcast Information:
US: FSC 12:30 EST
UK: ESPN UK 1730 GMT
Feeds:
www.atdhe.net
www.iraqgoals.net
www.jason.tv
www.myp2p.com
GAMEDAY CHAT: It’s Open!!!!!!
www.youaremyarsenal.com/gamedaychat
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 3
Birmingham: 1
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A NEW YEAR NOTE: To each and every reader and participant of this blog – thank you for your continued support. You are to me the best group of fans out there, warts and all. You make writing this blog an easy thing to do. I hope you and all your family and friends have a prosperous and happy 2011.
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I am delighted that Silva and Balotelli is out for the game and we have a full squad.
Hopefully DJ can be partnered once more with Koz as this is our best defensive pairing right now. RVP can be rested for Chamakh but the rest of the lineup should be like the previous one against Birmingham.
This should be a more difficult game than against Chelsea as they will be hard to break down and it could easily end up 1-1. This is just another in a series of must win games since Manu edged to victory today by way of Nani.
Kolo and Ade mix it up…no mention of headbutts, specifically.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/04/manchester-city-kolo-toure-adebayor
@Name, that’s insane. good prep for the game tomorrow. guys just can’t seem to leave arsenal and continue with happy lives.
@Name, that’s insane. good prep for the game tomorrow. guys just can’t seem to leave arsenal and continue with happy lives.
@Name,
Now I’m just ‘Name’? Man, I only thought the re-design was a little cold before. :-))
@Name,
Ah, I see. I’d been logged out and it now let’s you post when you’re logged out. Now I feel like myself.
In any case, yes, it appears City’s togetherness seminars are doing the trick.
Man City preview out tomorrow morning –
But –
David Silva – out
Mario Balotelli – out
James Milner – in.
I personally like Nasri/Fabregas (both fit) against De Jong/Barry.
I haven’t seen Balotelli too much, but I think that Missing Silva will be huge for Man City. He is easily their most creative player and I’m not sure who else they have that provides a good link to the forwards.
Dennis Bergkamp was introduced as the Ajax Youth Team Manager today.
Is this the long road for him to become heir apparent to Arsene?
Oh and David Silva – out for the Man City match
@ Josh:
Frimpong? Are you serious??
The guy never even suited up for ANY official Arsenal match EVER before … yet you are listing him as a significant option this season??
Holy Moly.
Besides, I am not talking about the summer. I am talking about RIGHT NOW. We need more bodies … forget quality (!) we are NOT going to survive with FIVE players in three positions for the rest of the season.
I assure you, if we go ahead into February like this we will get to a situation where we struggle to get three fit midfielders on the pitch. It is extremely predictable because it happens every single season.
fred,
yes, i’m serious about frimpong. we all know he hasn’t played this season. my point is we started the season with him being a legitimate option. once the season starts and one of your players picks up an injury, what can you do until the transfer window re-opens? besides, we’ve just played half a season without frimpong, not to mention diaby and fabregas who have also missed most of the season, and we’ve done fairly well. we’ve got fabregas, song, denilson, wilshere, ramsey, rosicky, and nasri, not to mention eboue and djourou who’ve proven they can play in midfield, and even eastmond if things really get desperate. if push comes to shove, that’s ten options with a possible but unlikely eleventh in diaby for those 3 spots in midfield. while i won’t argue quality being an issue, the quantity seems to be okay. i’m hopeful as this is the fittest arsenal has been in the past five years.
@arsession,
your point about vermaelen playing with different cb partners is legit. i only mentioned the barcelona tie as it was clear that barca targeted vermaelen. they didn’t pick on song or even silvestre. but it wasn’t just the barcelona games. he was exposed several other times before his injury without gallas. like i said, technically, he’s brilliant. the barca tie was like the adam sandler flick, the waterboy, where before a kickoff, the kicker was scanning the other team’s players saying “where’s my bitch! where’s my bitch!”. that’s how xavi, messi, and ibrahimovic did vermaelen.
you can’t blame almunia or denilson for either of those goals in the first tie as ibra is world class and going to score most of the time against any keeper. and after denilson came on, nothing barcelona did went through the middle. everything thing barca did went around the flank or over the top and behind vermaelen. every time barca tried to come through the middle, denilson won the ball or forced a bad pass.
@joshuad,
Again, Frimpong NEVER even played league cup … if you are going to talk about him we might as well talk about Coquelin, Eastmond and Lansbury who have played TWO years of league cups. To list Frimpong is ridiculous.
Secondly, my point (AGAIN) is that RIGHT NOW we are short.
When has Djorou played DM for Arsenal? And if he does, doesnt that mean we then have only TWO CBs. If the woeful Eboue plays in midfield doesnt that mean we have only ONE RB and cant rotate Sagna??? How does that help?
So in essence our backup plan for rotation is to take the BACKUP in OTHER areas of the team leaving those other areas free of backup?
And please dont mention Ramsey. He had his leg snapped in half less than 10 months ago … it is quite unreasonable for any one to list him as an alternative this year.
So no, we dont have “ten or eleven” options … we have five. A couple of niggly injuries and we are down to the very bare bones and then EVERYONE will blame our “unfortunate” injuries, INSTEAD of planning for them BEFORE hand.
This is not rocket science you know, it happens every year.
fred, your point about wenger’s management of squad depth is not completely valid. at the start of the season, we looked well stocked in both midfield and defense. don’t forget that we started the season with frimpong and vermaelen fit. those two, picking up long-term injuries so early in the season, has made things look a lot worse. the reality is we can only carry so many players in the squad.
going into the season, i thought the only position we were light at was center forward. chamakh remaining healthy has been crucial in our play this season (same for song). however, being the only fit striker means he’s been beaten like a drum and his performances have suffered as a result. i’ll reamin out of the little bendtner/chamakh debate but chamakh’s played a lot of bpl football for his first season and we wouldn’t be where we are without his contribution.
concerning the defense, i have a theory which suggests wenger bluffed to the media about the significance of vermaelen’s injury. like a groin injury, it’s difficult to put a timeline on an achiles tendon that’s only suffered a partial tear. it’s a frustrating injury because there’s not much a physician/therapist can do about it. a complete rupture is simple as it requires surgery. a partial rupture requires time and patience. that means managing vermaelen. i can imagine that, just like any other young jock, he’s far from content sitting on a treatment table and may be pushing himself too hard too soon. who knows? the reason i suggest wenger bluffed is to prevent pressure from fans to buy another defender. like i said, it’s just some shit i made up.
personally, i don’t rate vermaelen as highly as i did twelve months ago. like everyone else, he took me by surprise coming into the team with his determined approach, crunching tackles, and those thunderbolt goals. technically, he’s brilliant but tactically, barcelona exposed him in a bad way. it’s too easy for clever players to set traps that vermaelen will fall for. it’s why i suggested he have another old head (gallas) next to him for one more season. but i’ve only seen him in the same games you guys have and gallas decided to leave. we’ll let time tell the truth.
@joshuad, looking deeper into your references on TV5……most of us knew little about Vermaelen on his arrival. His early performances exceeded our expectations. B4 Barca, very little to say negatively.
1st tie with Barca – After the 1st 10 minutes, we settled into our game. Gallas is injured right before halftime with score 0-0. (b4 that Arshavin off in the 24th minute) Song has done a terrific job as DM.
45th minute, Song has moved to CB and Denilson is on as DM. Yes Vermaelen was victimized in the 2nd half but is this unusual for any CB combination playing against Barca? 1st time in the season Song partnered with Vermaelen.
After his brilliant shot blocking exhibition in the 1st 15 minutes, Almunia makes a poor decision to come out on the 1st goal to Ibrahimovic.
I’m not saying we deserved to win – but how we finished the match left every Arsenal fan proud. (imo)
2nd tie – Song injured, also missing are Cesc, vP, Arshavin; Sylvestre is CB partner with Vermaelen, and we know that Sylvestre was a liability.
For me, I was ready for Gallas to find his future away from the Emirates. Like a volcano with his emotions, unpredictable atmosphere followed him on the pitch and in the locker room. I see Nasri’s development blossoming after his departure AND for the team to bring in new players and make space for DJ to show his justification.
Arsenal need leadership and most of us feel Vermaelen can be that type personality.
Totally agree about the start of the season and the loss of Frimpong, definitely a good option to back up Song.
David Pleat swoons over Song.
Strong in the tackle, he can burst quickly with the ball to leave the man he dispossesses but his most important contribution is in setting the tone from the midfield third by giving his colleagues further forward the benefit of a quick pass before they get tightly marked. He rarely kicks it; he strokes it easy and early. Simplicity is genius.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/jan/03/birmingham-city-arsenal-david-pleat
for you guys who haven’t seen this yet, it’s hleb crying about how much of a mistake it was to leave arsenal. he even goes on to point at his birmingham shirt implying that it should be an arsenal shirt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWfe8CUCOOI
sorry alex. i’ve loved you since the old stuttgart days, but there’s no way back, slick.
@joshuad,
LOL. His career fall has been pretty phenomenal. I was never a fan, but what I remember most about him (besides his pre-assists and zero goals) is his mouthing off AFTER he had left the club.
I dont understand players who after leaving a club continue to talk smack.
for you guys who haven’t seen this yet, it’s hleb crying about how much of a mistake it was to leave arsenal. he even goes on to point at his birmingham shirt implying that it should be an arsenal shirt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWfe8CUCOOI
sorry alex. i’ve loved you since the old stuttgart days, but there’s no way back, slick.
@joshuad,
His candle burned out long before, his legend ever will…..
@Mazza,
Hahahahahahah !!!!!
@Mazza,
Hahahahahahah !!!!!
Most of us made some kind of New Year’s resolution (on a personal side).
All of us would like to see this year produce some transformation over the previous years.
Noteworthy for me (but not in any order of priority):
1) a year of ‘better’ health for all players
2) refraining from using the term ‘doomers’ in my description of others opinions and patience to acknowledge their point of view
3) a raised level of respect for Arsenal from pundits and media
4) Arsenal achieve silverware(s)
5) not allowing myself to experience emotional stress – ‘do or die’ result with every fixture
6) hoping that the team produces a level of performance that will influence our Captain to stay with the club
7) more smiles from our Manager
Finally saw a replay of the match and….I’m (still) glad we won it! It was niggly but nobody (I think) got hurt. As always, we looked shaky with just a 1 goal margin (soooo much easier watching knowing the result….) but, overall, we looked quick and determined and much better than the opposition. It didn’t hurt that we got the first goal relatively early, but there seemed an attitude that we would overcome whatever came our way including the bad pitch, bad weather and their physicality. RVP and Cesc look to be playing with very good spirit even if they (esp. the former) aren’t completely sharp.
I don’t see much happening in the transfer window unless we get an announcement that TV5 is out for the season and we’ve bought another CB. With Ramsey set to return we’re bound to see some competition for Wilshere taking the form of rotation as we get into the FA cup and the CC semis. It’s not ideal, of course, to have the broken leg boys (Ramsey and Diaby) pushing Denilson and the 19 year old and spelling Cesc and Song, but that’s the scenario. Given that ALL our forwards are fit (and in decent scoring form) it’s not the worst turning of the calendar that I can recall….
In fact it may be the best….(at least since 07-08)….City is obviously a big match on Wednesday but then we’ve got a run of very tasty fixtures until the clash with Barca, that SHOULD present more opportunities to employ the depth in the squad and foster competition for places. As always, maintaining continuity and focus and keeping players fit and hungry are the biggest challenges. It would be a VERY refreshing change if we could (like I think we did at Brum) let the opposition be our worst enemy, rather than ourselves….
@highburyterracesteve, Agree with your recap.
other points:
Sensational chemistry ‘evolving’ with Cesc, vP, AND now Nasri.
From experience, players that deliberately cross the line of fair play – pay for their “transgressions” in spades. vP’s tumble to gain a free kick and questionable non-call handball produced a match some would describe as Bendtneresque. How many easy scoring opportunities did he flub? Its easy to rationalize that he is still returning to match fitness, but here is a player that has been in training since early November and all his bungled shots were from close range. I felt sorry for Arshavin, as he delivered a surgeon like flat pass to a breaking away up the middle vP, only for vP to fumble to collection.
Johnson for Birmingham.
Young players lack consistency, especially in their decision making. When we start Theo and Wilshere, as fans we need to accept the risk and possible impact to our efficiency. With Ramsey returning, its likely we’ll see both (Jack and Aaron) sharing that DM spot next to Song.
Vermaelen is one of the keys to any success during the 2nd half of the season. The CB trio of DJ, Squil, and Kos, can and will get overworked. We will need all four to stay fresh.
Cesc’s back up is Rosicky.
The rumor that Vela might go on loan to Bolton, I would favor. Vela needs playing time and what better way to evaluate (on loan) the player than with a club in the same league. Bolton is a club that needs his attacking skills (also a Wigan, West Ham, Fulham, or WBA) and have an attack minded playing style. I follow Bolton anyway – because I enjoy the play of Holden.
With so many fixtures this month, we need to utilize everyone and everyone must raise their game.
Watching Chelsea think they’ve won — and then eff it up gives me almost as much pleasure as watching us win. No. More!
Wow, crazy game at the Bridge. Chelsea down 2-1, but Terry/Drog score 2 goals in the last 6 mins to give them a 3-2 lead, only for Villa to equalize in stoppage time. Match ends 3-3
@ChicagoGooner,
I said at the beginning of the season, that Chelsea’s defence would be their undoing.
For those of you that didn’t see the match:
MOTD Highlights can be downloaded here:
http://bit.ly/eK2OtC
@DaAdminGooner,
Thank you DAG. I hope I am not the only one for whom new year’s after-effects prevented the viewing of this match… also all the bowl games.
Good to hear we won- ever since the Eduardo assualt I have disliked Brum. I will definitely watch the Man City game.
I read an article on a blog in which the blogger claimed he had inside information that despite Arsene claiming he has no interest in the Jan transfer window he is in fact in the market for a 25 yr old German. Being the sceptic that I am I think it was probably a ploy to get more hits, but it was interesting reading nevertheless.
The best names thrown up were Adler a GK, Mertascker a CB, and my favourite Podolski – these were reported as being 25 year olds (I haven’t bothered to check).
Personally I cannot see Arsene going for a GK with Fabianksi and more importantly “Schezny” waiting in the wings, is Adler any good anyway???
Mertascker, I think not, if Wenger really wanted him he probably would have bid for him prior to Kosch or Squilla, with Djourou playing so well and Bartley to come home I see no need as he is no better than Vermaelen, Kosch or Djourou at least in IMO.
Podolski I have rated highly since the Euro 2008 when I first saw what he can do when he is on form. He is an explosive player that is strong and can shoot very well too. I could only see him signing as a wide player rather than a CF but he is versatile. His arrival would indicate that someone must be on the way out though, and I cannot see where he would fit in unless we are going to have a surprise departure in Jan or the summer in one of those positions.
Any other ideas of who this mysterious German could be (if he be real at all)?
Happy new year to all!
Good win … but one that is expected from any team looking to challenge for a title anyway.
————————————————————-
Two news items struck me today:
1) Emmanuel FREAKING Eboue signs new long term contract!!! Can anybody remember when he was supposed to be the new Garrincha? I guess putting on some major weight and running far less will guarantee you are new contract as long as you accept bench and mascot duties.
I wonder if he is still on his 60kpw wages.
2) Wenger out with his yearly nonsense about how we will not buy anyone because it is “difficult to find better players than we have now”. Sigh.
Meanwhile the situation in Central Midfield is extremely dicey not even talking about quality but quantity. We literally have only Fabregas, Song, Wilshere, Denilson and Rosicky standing for the three slots. And we are going to be playing twice a week here on out!!
An injury to say Song and another niggly to one other and we will need to flog the same players to death each game … ensuring we collapse in March – like we always do.
Central defense is equally dicey.
Wenger never learns.
What is equally puzzling is how we let our Norwegian U-21 captain, Norveidt, go for a sell on fee only, while never really giving him a chance to compete at the CB and DM position where we are thin.
@Caribkid
I liked Nordveit and thought he would develop a fruitful career at AFC as he was so highly rated when he came and did look fairly impressive from what I saw. However his last loan spell as a DM in Germany was terrible from what I heard, probably knocked his confidence a fair bit .
With him being probably 6th choice CB with Vermaelen and Bartley returning. Also behind Song, Frimpong, Coquelin and Eastmond in the out and out DM role he chose to leave, that is undestandable, as I don’t think he fancies being 3rd choice RB either. I am not sure whether he was offered one, but he did not sign a new contract and for us to get a sell on fee (and a reported 800,000) rather than letting him go for free like Merida is the most we could have hoped for with his contract to expire in the summer I think.
Anyway all the best to Hardvard, hope he establishes a successful career and gets us a massive sell on fee somewhere down the line.
@Fred, Ramsey and Diaby together count for one player, meaning we would have 6 competing for 3 places.
Agree about an injury to Song, altho Denilson and Wilshere at least have some experience now of playing defensively. Trading one of Rosicky, Denilson, Diaby for an out and out DM to compete with Song would make sense, but of course Wenger won’t do this.
If you are right about Vermaelen not playing again this season, then we’ll also be lacking at centre half. However if he comes back before the CL resumes, then I am comfortable with what we have.
@rocka,
Do you trust either Diaby or Ramsey to last more than the first 20 minutes of a real contest.
Ramsey will understandably pick up knocks and Diaby is hopeless.
We had a few moments to deal with. They should have had a penalty. Van P’s freekick (from which he scored off a deflection) was pretty soft. They hit the bar in the last minute.
But overall we were in control and definitely had it sewn up in the second half. It’s amazing what a third goal can do around the 60m mark to suck the life out of the opposition. Especially if you hold strong for the next 10mins and nix any chance of a nerve-tested fightback (unlike with Chelsea).
Good points include Cesc’s returning mojo and leadership; Nasri’s confidence and trickery. Wilshere’s engine and relish for tackling. Theo was okay, not great. Song and Djourou were solid. Van P. just needs more playing time, but he’s on his way. Fabianski did fine.
Given the range of our performances this season — from abject to impressive — and our lack of consistency, I’m not totally sure how we’ll fare against Man City. But if we keep this form going, we should be good for a win.
:beer:
I think the ref was pretty poor yesterday. RvP’s foul was pretty soft, but Cesc got fouled pretty hard in the same spot earlier and no foul was given. Johnson could have been red carded very early for a bad tackle, and Bowyer should have got a straight red several times.
Excellent performance.
Fab is really coming back into form, Van Persie is bringing the midfielders into play better than Chamakh ever will, and Nasri continues to excel with quality players around him. Theo was his usual mix of good and bad, often in the same play.
Koscielny needs to work on his passing out of defence, several times he passed to the opposition putting the team under pressure. He does look more comfortable next to Djourou, who is easily our best central defender right now.
Re the Chamakh-Bendy argument, If you could combine the two then you would have a great striker. Bendtner has great intelligence, but lacks the technique. Chamakh has a good first touch and hold-up play, but his inability to shoot means he may never be more than a handy back-up.
Man City will be an interesting test, but current form makes me feel pretty confident.
@rocka,
Three months ago when I said Djorou was clearly our best CB, everyone was jumping on my back … now its taken as common knowledge … lol
@rocka,
Nice to have you back Rocka.
Agree Fab is getting into gear and I think the fact he can now see he has a partner playing up to his level in Nasri has given him a new lease of life. He doesn’t want to be the out and out best player in this team, Nasri emergence and a trophy or two may convince him to stay a little longer.
Yep RvP’s link up play is on a next level to Chamakhs but his wastefulness has also been superior to Chamakh at this stage of his return. He miss controlled/missed at least 3 clear cut chances over the last two games, I want to see the MvP from RvP ASAP ;-)
As for the CBs, I agree Djourou on his current form is better than the other two at present. He has played 4 games in a row with near excellent performances that is good enough consistency for me. But to be fair to Kosch and Squilla this is their first PL season playing in a side that has generally DF pretty poorly from MF so far this season, it cannot be an easy transition. Vermaelen was really impressive last season but I am not sure whether you noticed he started this season pretty poorly by last seasons standard.
As for Chamankh let’s give him a season and a half, Nasri looked relatively useless in his first season too. Maybe he will prove us wrong and we will find out he can shoot after all :fingers crossed: :-D
Basically missed the match due to power outages at home and then at the cafe where I had a poorish stream for the 2nd part of the 1st half….
I’d be interested in what people have to say, but it seems that maybe people prefer to write when we lose or underperform…. Or maybe New Year’s activities are taking precedence….
Certainly the result seems good (to me at least)….
@highburyterracesteve,
Whenever someone makes the “people dont comment when we win” argument, we disappoint in the very next game, so I hope you havent jinxed the team again :-)
@highburyterracesteve,
I think the New Year activities are taking precedence HTS. Maybe the rollercoster ride is also partly to blame, people are tired of getting their hopes up after a good result like Chelsea and then the deflating Wigan performance. I think you will see a lot more comments when we string a few good results together.
A great result though, I felt we played better for parts of the Wigan game but of course we get no points for artistic impression. Looking forward to the City game and hopefully giving ManUre a humbling at the Emirates.
COYG! VTH!
Well the first half was nervy – but the second half was all Arsenal and strangely enough – never thought we were going to concede here.
This crew has to be the crew that gets the call against Man City on Wednesday.
Starting XI:
Fabianski, Clichy, Sagna, Djourou, Koscileny, Song, Wilshere, Fabregas, Van Persie, Walcott
Basically the same squad that beat Chelsea. They need to stay healthy.
By the way, Happy Birthday to Yound Jack Wilshere – 19 today.
Also – if you want to donate more – don’t use the donate link right now. I am working on fixing that. If you want to send more than $1, go directly to Pay Pal yourself, select send money and send it to daadmingooner at youareyarsenal dot com
Yeah happy New Year y’all. Concur with Carib, great work DAG thanks. You need to work out how to give choices as to how much we can donate via Paypal, so we can show you a little more appreciation.
Anyway COYG!! I have a feeling we will win this one, hopefully we will give a good performance too.
I would just like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy new year and may all your wishes and dreams come to fruition in 2011.
Would also like to to give honorable mention to DAG for his tireless and unwavering support in proving a forum for us AFC malcontents.
HAPPY NEW YEAR and may we kick their butts tomorrow.