EPL Match Day 3: Arsenal v Blackburn; Match Preview
Anyone for Rugby?
Interesting journey we’ve had at the start of the season – we went to LiverPOOL, then BLACKPOOL came to us and now for Match Day 3 of the EPL season, we head to BLACKburn. I think the EPL schedule makers must have a sense of humor. But I digress. Any journey to Ewood park these days means a meeting with a team managed by one of Arsene Wenger’s true nemesis – Sam Allardyce.
You know Big Sam. He who next to Fat ‘Arry is the second savior of English Football. Except he doesn’t coach football. Its more Rugby than football. You can bet when any team managed by Sam goes into the training room in preparation for playing a team far greater than they are the speech goes something like this:
“Allright boys you know what to do – when you’re on the pitch – stick one into ’em” (that last part should be said rather gruffly and with verve and feeling.)
I’m sorry I don’t rate Sam that much. Yeah, I know Blackburn only lost at home 3 times last season. I don’t have the fixture results but I would wager there were more draws than wins. It’s just me, I don’t know for sure. I just don’t think Sam is a tactical genius. The thing is, the EPL is so good playing at anyone’s home pitch is always a hard venture.
Of course Blackburn are feeling up for the match. They did beat Arsenal 2-1 last year in the closing weeks of the season. I guess it should bear some reminding that most of the team Blackburn will be facing on Saturday were not on the pitch or near the stadium at that match. It should also be mentioned that one inept ‘keeper (rhymes with Sappyanski) gifted a couple of goals after a Robin Van Persie scorcher had taken the lead.
Regardless of all that its likely to be a good match and one filled with grit. It was the type of match two years ago Arsenal and their youngsters wouldn’t have won. But last season there were times throughout the season when the boys from London Colney were battered and clattered and still found ways to win. Call it what you will, I call it maturity and a sign that the boys were toughening up. Its an optimistic view but a real one in my opinion. I know some of more pessimistic and fatalistic readers are lucky to say it was luck. I’m sorry I disagree it happened on a few occassions last season. It is a growing trend.
Arsenal are going to need build off that trend. To me the key for the season is not dropping points early in the season. Eating up as many points as the team can. Chelsea and United have easy trots and should be getting max points from most of their fixtures. As Chelsea have shown they are determined as ever to win the league. It’s not a must win. Not on the 3rd match in. It is however, a momentum builder and a game that will only add to the confidence of the club if they win it.
The team is slowly building back up as injuries and match fitness players are returning. The good news is Koscielny is back. He spent last week on the bench after an impressive debut againts Liverpool. I’ve read a lot of his comments this week and I like what I hear from the lad. He seems prepared and focused and I agree that like Sol Campbell he is an excellent reader of the match. Against good teams this will come in handy and may make up for some of the size he (bulk) lacks. He says he looks forward to the physical side of the game, well this week, he gets his first real test of it. Blackburn will play the Gunners hard and Koosh is going to get his chance to play physical.
The quandry in the match is the starting XI. 4-4-2 has been mentioned by some fans and pundits as a way to go on the field but as Wenger says in the EPL it will only get you killed. As I watched last Monday in the Man City v Liverpool match, he may be right. From an attacking perspective, Arsene is going to have to start rotating players. Unlike City however, I don’t think many of our players are going to be bitching about it. Depth of attack isn’t something we’ve been particually blessed with recently and it was one of the reasons Marouane Chamakh was added to the squad. I expect RvP and Arshavin to rotate up front with Walcott and to a lesser extent Vela. I like Walcott as a super sub especially games where a change in dynamic is needed. Say what you will about Theo but as the first match last season against Barca demonstrated he can significantly alter how a game is being played.
How the Match Will Play Out:
All the pre-game jostling is done. Arsene has tried to suitably prepare, warn, coerce and draw attention to the thuggery that is Sam Allardyce football. Sam dutifully (along with Fergie) reminded Arsene that his championship winning sides were some of the “Dirtiest” in the league. With all that back drop it is now time to play the match. For what it’s worth, I know Blackburn has an impressive run at home, but I really do think we have one of our best attacking squads in a while. Expect Sam’s side to try and back the bus up and absorb that attack looking to muster their own on the counter. I still think Chamakh up front with Van Persie, Arshavin along the sides, and Fabregas and Rosicky supporting in the middle will be too much for even Blackburn’s anti-football. The third and final goal will be scored by Theo who comes off the bench. All that said if we wound up with a 1-1 draw with no major injuries I’d be happy.
Players to Watch:
Arsenal: Andrei Arshavin. He went to the press this week to say two things 1.) Arsenal are title contenders and 2.) Arsenal have unfinished business with Blackburn coming out of last season. How can you not like this guy? He will be primed for this match up I am sure.
Blackburn: Diouf. He’s their leading scorer and will relish the chance to upset Arsenal.
Probable Starting XI:
Injuries and Suspensions:
Arsenal: Ramsey (ankle) Bendtner (groin) Frimpong (knee) Nasri (knee)
Blackburn: Andrews (groin)
Last Meeting (EPL):
Arsenal: 1
Blackburn: 2
Current Form:
Arsenal: DW
Blackburn: WL
Leading Scorers:
Arsenal: Walcott 3 (3 league)
Blackburn: EH Diouf 3 (0 league)
Match Officials:
Referee: Chris Foy
Assistant Referees: Dave Bryan & Scott Ledger
Fourth Official: Lee Probert
Broadcast Information:
US: ESPN2 7:45AM EST
UK: Sky Sports 2 1245 BST
Feeds:
www.atdhe.net
GAMEDAY CHAT: It’s Open!!!!!! www.youaremyarsenal.com/gamedaychat
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 3
Blackburn: 1
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Good day! This post could not be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this write-up to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
Sachin, I agree with what you are saying. Perhaps 3 seasons ago Fred said Wenger was ‘urinating on his own legacy’. At the time I thought it was a bit harsh and a tad crude. At the time we’d tried hard with a core of Adebayor, Hleb, Fabregas & Flamini. However we now have the benefit of another 2 seasons of play (which is 3 off-seasons to restock) and truth is, Fred called it right. The faithful will always eulogise Wenger (for the reasons you state) however that group will be in the minority. When you’re Arsenal’s size you gotta win – that’s your purpose.
I had no illusions that he was chasing a keeper. It was evident to me that he was after another stop-gap if anything, another example of not killng his babes. He wanted Schwarzer on the basis he was almost finished and could ‘coach’. If the transfer didn’t work out Wenger was relaxed because he never saw what we all saw. As a defensive coach he is well below par. He would NEVER have bought David Seaman just like he never buys anyone spinal of substance. No GK, CB, DM, CF. He HAS to be the one lauded as the spotter and refiner of talent – he doesn’t want talent someone else has honed. His talk of buying ‘super super players’ is baseless – it simply never happens. There’s no GLORY in that for him. It’s all rather self gratifying.
That’s why this youth experiment is the ultimate expression of what HE wants. The excuse that we were financially strapped is nonsense and a convenient distraction to obstruct the masses.
One word aptly describes my feeling at this time over the lack of a new GK. FUCK!!!!!!
As with everyone else that follows Arsenal, I am disappointed that we did not acquire an upgrade at keeper, but at 1:01 pm today I was over it. Nothing this team does on or off the field is going to ruin my day or LIFE.
From my own experience, some teams won silverware with an average keeper, and others won
zilch when the keeper was one of our strongest players. Actually the greatest appreciation for winning something is when its unexpected – when minor role players step up and perform beyond expectations.
Our match Saturday had many positive points to embrace ……….like an endless loop, many want to castigate Koscielny and Clichy……but I point the finger on the front line; Samba would have never made that pass to Diouf if RvP hadn’t been lackadaisical. Instead had RvP given real effort to win the ball back or force Samba to square the ball or lay it back, some early effort eliminates a scoring chance.
Now is not the time to write off the season or take a sabbatical.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Wenger isn’t involved in a season-long-match-fixing scam. He does enough to ensure we can challenge for 3rd or 4th but ensures we can’t actually win the title or CL. He then ‘throws’ the domestic cups. Maybe he’s part of a group that bets against Arsenal winning anything.
I’ve been over talking the team up for the past 2 seasons. This ones no different. The odds are too long. You have to expect too many things that are improbable to go our way. That’s fantasy. After the summer passes we’re into the 9 month slog. Wenger’s irrational.
I don’t buy the (no-doubt) well intended support he’s got about trying his best to get a keeper. That’s bollocks. If we need a top keeper you make it a priority and then go out and do it. You don’t leave it until the last day. The fact some fans still buy that drivel is amazing and shows you the power of the personality (Wenger’s) and the human inability to separate fact from fiction. He’s in a safe space where he does exactly what he wants – and that includes swanning off to the WC to pass erudite comments when he could be using the time to sign the players in a transfer market that he himself claims is incredibly hard.
He attracts a greater level of cynicism from an expanding group of supporters with each passing year. Conversely his hard-core support becomes ever-more defensive and irrational and aims invective toward anyone that dares to question what is happening. I can’t believe the level of nasty comments on other sites.
I think the point is well made about Cesc. Wenger has ‘convinced’ him to stay and yet he rewards him with a couple of defenders with no EPL experience and a freebie striker – all ‘made in France’. If you were Cesc how would you feel? Would it make you rethink going to Barcelona? All it does is reiterate that Wenger is inflexible – it’s his way no matter how inadequate that strategy has proved for 5 years (and counting).
As the deadline loomed today, I was thinking along the lines of what you mentioned about Wenger being in a safe place. I am willing to bet that if Wenger came out tomorrow and said that his goal is to not win a trophy this year but in 5 years time, then a majority of the Arsenal fans will be ok with that. Because that would be the right thing to do as Wenger is a legend in the club’s and these fan’s eyes. Afterall, he did lead Arsenal away from boring boring football to the beautiful game. Sure, the beauty ain’t there anymore but that is hardly Wenger’s fault in the eyes of many fans. It’s not his fault that some players gets injured all the time and screw up Wenger’s plans. It’s not Wenger’s fault that some players refuse to buy into the vision and choose to leave elsewhere. It’s not really his fault that some players can’t learn when to leap and prevent goals from set-pieces. No, Wenger is a legend in his own right and he can do whatever he wants, such as covering a WC as opposed to signing a damn keeper. All hail the great legend.
Cesc probably had a talk with Wenger after which he decided he owed the club one more year. That is all Wenger asked of him because that would allow Wenger to see how he would do without Cesc. For Cesc’s sake, I really hope the guy does not get injured this season, like stag pointed out.
Once I placed Wenger on a pedestal. Now, with each passing day, his inactions have stripped any respect I had of this once witty man who put Fergie in his place. Now, any manager can put Wenger in his place. That is sad. It is a terrible fall from grace but how it can never be considered a fall if there are enough people who still hold Wenger aloft with aspects he achieved in the past.
I wish the club luck this season.
They’ll need it.
agree with the above sentiment, that, if you are not
going to try to improve, and address weaknesses that every body
sees and knows exists, WHY FORCE CESC TO STAY?
poor bastard.
hope he doesn’t get injured, and can get out of this HELL in
January… that Arsenal can cash in.
sabatical?
sounds good.
enjoy the season.
I’ll check yall out occasionally.
see you in the fantasy league standings.
and go enjoy the NFL and QPR / PSG …
good luck Arsene.
hope the fans smarten up and not show up when
your idiotic experiment and stubborn arrogant attitude
end in yet another season of FAILURE.
though. surely, we’ll be close to the Top 4, so you can
always point to that and say… “we’re close”.
peace.
It’s basically the same old shit. A few years ago I thought i was being a tad harsh calling Wenger a c*nt, wank*r etc but his idleness has given those rantings some long overdue resonance. He really is as loopy and deluded as I pegged him to be. Amazing what you can pick up from press releases, interviews etc to predict the future path.
All we needed was a keeper and another quality central midfielder and we could have had a genuine stab at the league this year. But again, that person(trying really hard not use expletives) has taken his usual approach of addressing ONE glaring weakness in the squad, and choosing to ignore the others. He’s a minimalist, always has been, always will be.
And it’s good to see the money argument has finally been blown well and truly out of the water this summer. Wenger’s first summer with money, supposedly, and how many players does he buy?
The same amount – for the same amount – as previous summers.
You were spot. On.
well said.
I said it immediately after the Birmingham game that Almunia helped us chuck in late March that he most likely will still be our number one this season. And here we are, guys!
You would think the manager of a team that is woeful without the ball, a team that is mediocre and has never won anything will want to have a SAFE keeper. The worst part is that there is not even a borderline competent number 2 to keep him on his toes. The ENTIRE world knows he is a weak link.
Our 4 CBs have a grand total of ONE year of EPL experience, our center midfield still has the holes and structural weakness that it has had for FIVE years running, we have only ONE central striker fit.
Wenger bullied Fabregas into staying and then produces a team that has ZERO chance of winning anything! If you are going to be trotting out this type of team what is the point of keeping Fabregas?
F%ck Arsene Wenger!
My first post on here since the Liverpool game. I have been reading YAMA almost daily though. I watched the Blackpool game and saw highlights of the Rovers game (meant to record it but forgot). Theo is looking damn good. I am annoyed that we didn’t get a GK, but I am hoping things will turn out OK. We got a CB, so at least part of the problem is solved. Also, Chamakh gives us what we lost from Adebayor’s departure (and w/o the offsides), while Theo looks like he could be the real deal this year.
If our attack gels, maybe we won’t need a new GK. According the the book I read last spring, Soccernomics, Brazil’s GK at the ’02 WC (Marcos) played every minute of every match with a broken wrist. He didn’t tell anyone till afterwards b/c he wanted to play. If Brazil can win the WC with a crocked GK, then maybe Arsenal can win something with Manuel Almunia… maybe. Hopefully.
I just have one question… where the hell is Andes? Is he taking a sabbatical like I just did?
Brazil played with THREE rock solid center backs protected by TWO defensive midfielders and flanked by the excellent Roberto Carlos and Cafu.
They also had the excellent 3 Rs (Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo) upfront striking fear in the opposition.
It was also a seven game competition.
There is absolutely NO basis for comparing that with the situation we have in goal.
Mazza
Now we can enjoy Hleb dribbling every week in the EPL, Yay !!!
I personally think its a disgrace that its only Birmingham who got him. Nonetheless, they are guaranteed more fans and no relegation this season.
Someone on twitter had this to say to Brum fans:
“Brum fans say it with me now: SHOOT THE DAMN BALL. SHoooooooT IT!!!”
Also Hleb is saying he turned down Spurs and Liverpool.
Funny Barca didn’t offer him to us. So much for their desire for good relations with the team.
Not sure if I believe that. Passing on Pool I could see, but why would he pass on CL football for a team that regularly bounces between the EPL and Champo?
Maybe he thought why not go to a team that breaks other players legs as opposed to facing such a team where he could have his leg broken? He was on the field that day when Eduardo’s leg was broken and he still chose to head to Bham. I am trying to make sense of this signing still.
Will be good to watch him more often and see if he’s still got it. I don’t think he has but we’ll see.
“I don’t think he has but we’ll see.”
The most hilarious hedging of bet I have seen in a bit ;-)
Its been a bit of a steep fall for him. Fallen even farther than Arsenal has.
lol
Sigh. Well my fear from April/May is finally proved a reality. Almunia is still Arsenal’s #1. Incredible. But hey, I should give the guy the benefit of doubt. He may have a stellar season and prove to be Arsenal’s greatest goal-keeper ever. RVP may make an incredible recovery and have an injury free season, scoring 50+ goals in all competitions. Rosicky may stay fit all season long and fulfill his long awaited promise. Theo will finally fulfill his potential which surrounded him when Arsenal signed him from Southampton as a partner for Henry. Eboue will have a cracker of a season, providing 10+ winning crosses for Chamakh. Denilson and Diaby will stay focussed in all their games and win all their tackles. Vela will finally start scoring in the league with non-chipped goals. In fact, Vela will become the tap in expert goal-scorer.
Yes, all these great things could happen. If they do, it will all be good. If any of these things don’t happen, then like the last 5 years, it will be down to bad luck. Because everything with this Arsenal squad is down to bad luck. The injuries that Arsenal players suffer by nice chaps, the conceded goals from set-pieces, the embarrasing defeats, all bad luck. In fact, it is Arsenal’s misfortune that they only sign players who are wanted by other teams. Even the board are unlucky. None of the board want to be rich. They miss the old days where Arsenal were a small club. Just because Arsenal moved to a big stadium does not mean they want Arsenal to a big team. So the board have tried their best to put fans off by ensuring the quality of Arsenal’s football is worse, but still the fans keep turning up to the stadium, still the profits keep getting made. In fact, short of selling all their players, the board are puzzled as to why to this team continues to make so much profit. The board have tried to give all their money to charity but other clubs have prevented them from doing that as others don’t want to give their money away.
No mis-management here, just bad luck. Tsk tsk.
“No mis-management here, just bad luck. Tsk tsk.”
Exactly. One of the richest, most storied football clubs in the world today. One of the Big Four, in one of the biggest Leagues in the world. Just a rabbit’s foot away.
According to the Guardian Van der Vaart is at the Emirates. So VdV for Spurs – take it with a grain of salt.
City getting better is up for argument. They certainly didn’t look any better against Sunderland or Spurs.
you keep telling yourself that DAG.
City aren’t better, and neither are Spurs.
hang your hat on that non-sense… and pray.
How does anyone know we didn’t budge on £2m?
How do you know Arsene didn’t want Schwarzer that much?
I mean we’re not in the room. We don’t know what’s going on. We’re going off our own gut reactions and what is written in the press. But no one knows for sure what is going down.
We don’t get a GK. It sucks but the team was good enough to handle bad Keeping and injuries to still contend. It asn’t until Blackburn that we were trully out of it. I argue the injuries finally caught up with last season and the players on the field were either too gassed or not regular starters and got had.
You have rights as fans to be angry because something you wanted didn’t happen. Something the pundits wanted didn’t happen. Oh well fucking get over it.
You don’t want to follow the team this season fair enough – Chelsea and Man City take band wagon jumpers readily.
DAG, if you wanna make the argument no one here was in the room you might as well shut down the board. We’ll never be in the room. Fact is, your contacts led you to believe this would happen. Were they in the room?
How do I know Wenger didn’t want him that much? We’ll have to agree to disagree that Arsene Wenger is as completely in charge of this Club as a Manager can be.
I don’t completely trust anything I read in the football press, or on message boards. But if the argument is to prove a negative–that Arsenal MAY HAVE offered more than 2 million–well, again, how can we have discussions based on information not in evidence?
There’s what we BELIEVE we know, and then there’s what has actually happened.
For me, the two things line up perfectly. So that’s my side.
Here’s the reason why Schwarzer didn’t/won’t/might not happen:
1. Given decided he wanted to fight for his spot at City (more like they threw more money his way if you ask me).
2. Stockdale went down hurt this weekend.
However, as I write this with 30 minutes left – Fulham now have Roma ‘keeper Doni at their place for discussions on a season long loan.
Should be an interesting 30 minutes.
Look, there are reasons beyond every manager/team’s control as to whether a signing goes through or not. In the case of Given, City weren’t ever going to sell to a contender club. Hell players didn’t want to go City, or Chelsea or United. Are Furgeson, Ancellotti or Mancini any less to blame than Wenger?
I’m sorry, to me based on everything I am hearing every attempt was made to sign a keeper. Had Wenger or the board even ignored it then I would be ranting he had to go. But everything says they are working even at this moment to get it done.
I absolutely believe attempts have been made to obtain Schwarzer. I’ve not said otherwise. Just that the attempts are in proportion to Club’s actual desire to get him.
My opinion on Schwarzer has been expressed. Even if we do get him, all this drama created over merely improving on third rate keepers is part of the bigger issue Arsenal has had over the last 5 years (and counting). Schwarzer would likely help with the goal of staying Top Four. For those satisfied with that, it’s a big move. I get it.
“Hell players didn’t want to go City, or Chelsea or United. Are Furgeson, Ancellotti or Mancini any less to blame than Wenger?”
We are not Chelsea nor United. Nor even City right now (though the latter, I am fine with).
Wenger is not Fergie.
By choice, circumstance, or talent, the analogies don’t hold right now.
Well, I guess I look at it differently. Schwarzer is a better option than Almunia – that we don’t need to rehash. Plus the role as player/coach would’ve helped both Mannone and Czsznesy develop. I also think it makes us more of a threat to United and Chelsea – though I know I am a minority – I still think we are.
Noone was calling Almunia a third rate keeper when he effectively challenged Jens for the job. Quite to the contrary the majority consensus was that he was a winning GK. It was all over the place.
I was in the minority when I didn’t think that Almunia would prove to be better than Jens. Although Jens never did himself any favours by his behaviour and those two early mistakes in back to back games but I was repeatedly told by people that Almunia would get better with age and everything would work out fine. I have people saying the exact same thing now that Almunia would be fine this time around. But I rather have a situation where Almunia is not allowed to keep making mistakes and never feel his position is under threat. Jens clearly was angry at Almunia and you could tell he was waiting to put Almunia in his place but Wenger never gave Jens that chance again until a late game at Old Trafford by then things were mostly over. Jens did return stronger after his stints on the bench in 2006 but who in Arsenal can relegate Almunia to the bench if things go wrong? Not for a few years apparently.
I was wrong about Almunia, and I’ve acknowledged that before. I was impressed by his reflexes and mistook his shot-stopping for an overall game. Moreover, I was fed up with Jens’ act and receding skills. So that context counts, as well.
Three years have passed since then. And we’re still waiting.
Just to clarify vibe. I was not referring to anyone on this board or AA when I said the above. It was a combination of friends and people I used to run into watching Arsenal games in my city who said that. I think a lot of people were tired of Jens’ antics like you say. Heck, he did manage to do silly things. Like give away a needless last minute penalty away to Spurs on the day that Arsenal clinched the title. Sure 2-2 was enough for the title but it would have been sweeter with a win, especially since a defeat would have left Spurs closer near the bottom.
Sachin….
I never remotely took the statement personally. We all put our thoughts out here. Sometimes we’re right, sometimes wrong. I don’t mind anyone’s opinion, only when people never go back and say ‘I was wrong”.
(While I’m Mea Culping, apparently I was wrong about Bendtner, as well.)
good. Just wanted to make sure :)
I can’t tell you how many times I have wanted to be proved wrong with this Arsenal team. Although I am not sure how we can even tell what is right or wrong anymore as basic definitions of success and winning have changed with this Arsenal team. Such as 4th with Wenger-isque principles is better than 1st with non-Wenger ideas.
@DAG,
From all reports, City assured Given playing time in the Cups, was offered a salary hike and Trappatoni, the Irish manager, told him he was not in danger of losing his place on the national team if he did not play regularly. All factors which combined to satisfy his three major fears for staying at City.
What I can’t get though is everyone saying that City won’t sell to their rivals, when Arsenal sold both Toure and Adebayor to them last season. Is it only Arsenal who will do something like that?
I guess we were of the mindset that City weren’t competitors to us. Something they were correct in.
And anyway – Toure looks dreadful and Adebayor is dreaming of a date in Italy.
YES.
Arsenal are a FEEDER CLUB, trying to make PROFIT.
So, sure… they’ll sell to City.
a) probably got more than they were worth to others, as City doesn’t mind overpaying.
b) Arsenal probably didn’t/don’t view City as a true competitor!
City can SIT on their players, put them in the stands, and not sell anyone. They don’t need money or to balance their books.
so, helping teams they are competing against makes ZERO sense for ManCity.
If money doesn’t matter, WINNING is the only thing that matters… so they aren’t selling or loaning good players to Arsenal or Tottenham or Villa… not going to happen.
@ DAG.
I don’t support City or other Prem.teams…
I don’t need to jump on any bandwagons…
I just won’t be a SUCKER any more for Arsenal.
There are other leagues, other divisions, other diversions, other sports.
I hope Arsenal win every trophy known to man and go 37 wins and 1 draw this year.
But its not happening, and they didn’t do what they needed to do to improve.
You can say they tried, I say bullshit. They had ONE MAJOR WEAKNESS, keeper… and FAILED to address it since MAY.
FUCK THAT.
Good luck Arsenal. You’ll need it.
—–
Add to this the LATE rumors that
Tottenham have added:
Van der Vaart from Real Madrid
and Zarate from Lazio…
and they too have improved their team … who was a few
points behind Arsenal…
City and Tottenham within 3 points… and both are BIG players
in strengthening their squads…
we do the lateral pass that we are so good at…
losing experience and depth defensively…
and going with a goal-keeping tandem that is among the WORST
in all of the Premier League.
At least we managed to loan out Traore… with a chance to sell him…
and loan out a few other young players and save their wages.
After all… making money is the new Prem.League Title…
we always have that to fall back on.
Can’t say I’m terribly disappointed that Scwarzer isn’t coming to Arsenal. He was always my third favorite of the GKs mentioned as possibly on his way to us. We should have done better and sooner. Frankly, part of me wants Arsene to lay in the Mooney bed that he’s made.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=819539&sec=transfers&cc=5901
why would you want the club to lose matches?
Schwarzer is better than anything we have, so it would make our team better THIS SEASON.
Without Schwarzer or another keeper in, there is no point. We are not a better team than last season, and have less experience and depth defensively.
Come on, stagg. You know better than that. Stekelenburg or Given, I would have been excited about. Schwarzer felt like more of a marginal upgrade, for way too important a position. It should have never come down to the 11th hour and us having to feel excited simply to have ANYONE better than Mooney (the bar is low there). Would Schwarzer have put us over the top? Or maybe just sewn up 4th? Meh.
Fact is, Wenger wasn’t even all that excited about MS and that’s why it went the way it did. So he’s got the team he wants now. And, as you keep saying, the Board has the Manager they want.
I’m resigned that it will have to get worse before it gets better. I don’t want it this way, I’m just done twisting my insides over things I have no control over.
Vibe.
Schwarzer is much better than Almunia.
Watch some of his matches last year, especially in Europe.
He STOLE points for Fulham.
That NEVER happens for Arsenal. Our Keeper NEVER steals a point or 3.
—
if we didn’t want to budge on 2 FUCKING MILLION for a NO.1 Keeper… then we were never going to spend real money for the likes of Steklenburg.
and
I maintain, why would ManCity sell or loan Given to Arsenal? They don’t need our 2 million or even 10, and they don’t want to make a competitor for the CL spot better.
—
I won’t want the team to lose. I don’t work that way.
I simply will not watch every game, or get involved in this team too deeply. It is not going to be a better season, and we aren’t going to win shit. Almunia is not going to magically become a No.1 Keeper over night, and we have CB’s that are virtually no experience in the EPL… in front of him.
—
same as it ever was with an hour and 10 minutes to go in the window.
we will tease the faithful with some good matches, and get our ass handed to us by the REAL contenders for the title.
—
I hope we sell Traore, Cesc, Rosicky, Arshavin… sell everybody, and make a shitload of money… then buy some kids… and let Wenger try and keep us up there. He has 4 more years, why not REALLY make it interesting and field an under 23 team?
What do you mean by “field an under 23 team”?
Aren’t we already doing that ??
“if we didn’t want to budge on 2 FUCKING MILLION for a NO.1 Keeper… then we were never going to spend real money for the likes of Steklenburg.
and I maintain, why would ManCity sell or loan Given to Arsenal?.”
I agree with both points. I used those names as examples of GKs that would have indicated Arsenal making a serious commitment to winning at more than a subsistence level. That commitment isn’t there. Of course, Schwarzer is better than Mooney. But I’m tired of the bar being set so low. It’s the same mentality that brings us 4th is the new 1st.
“I won’t want the team to lose. I don’t work that way.”
Nor I. But what I or you want for Arsenal is completely irrelevant. Again, as you have said over and over, the Board is getting what they want.
And Wenger gets what he wants. (Apparently, he didn’t want Schwarzer all that much. Which, as I say, I actually get.)
What we want can get stuffed.
I was watching the amazing 5-3 win over Boro in the 04-05 season.
Reminiscing the old days.
Interestingly, on 2 of the 3 Boro goals, Jens was beaten on his near post. :)
Kiwi, my comments were more directed at Waddle and his brainless comment than Hansen. I mentioned Walcott being 20 because that’s how old he was when they started bashing him. Also, the fact that Walcott was a regular for England at the age of 20. Regardless of what they went on to accomplish in their careers, neither of them found the favor of their country to be regulars at that age, but Theo has.
If you’ve ever watched Sky Sports 1 on game day, Hansen always has something negative to say about Arsenal. He’ll throw down with Charlie Nicolas or Paul Merson in a heartbeat anytime they try and say something good about Arsenal. There is some serious hatred in his tone. My theory is he’s still awful bitter about losing the title to Arsenal in ’89.
Joshua, I’m not sure if you like Walcott or are just of the mind that everyone should cut him more slack.
For me both Wenger and Eriksson have played a key part in his rocky start. Obviously these managers saw something in Walcott otherwise they wouldn’t gamble on him. Yet, I think they’ve both erred to his detriment. Taking him to the WC in 2006 was ridiculous (Sven) and playing him so far up the roster has been negligent and harmful to our clubs aspirations (Arsene).
If or when he comes good and looks lethal I’ll be as thrilled as any. Yet that won’t undo the seasons we wasted playing him when he wasn’t ready. I just don’t buy this using our first team as a nursery approach.
On Hansen, I don’t watch his comments on Sky Sports – and that’s probably a good call on my part. Quite honestly a lot of these ex-footballers are rather limited in their analysis. And as you say they often have deep feelings that blight their limited ability even further.
I guess we knock heads Joshua because you apply a liberal coating of sentimentality toward players that I think need to front up and give a return on the clubs massive investment in them. Same same for Wenger. He’s been given a footballing eternity to experiment with his dreams – now it’s time to front up and win again. If he can’t then he should hand over the reigns.
I won’t argue that Theo going to Germany ’06 was foolish. I won’t argue with the Wenger “nursery” project either.
But I will argue that it’s not Theo’s fault that he’s won the favor of his club and 2 different England bosses at such an early age. They’ve taken a chance with him because he’s proven capable of providing something special at any given moment.
Theo’s a special talent. He just needs time and consistency to develop into the potentially lethal weapon they believe he can become.
Meanwhile, it benefits no one when you’ve got so-called experts using such strong language and being so hyper-critical of such a young player. I believe if Theo stays fit and plays consistently, he’ll show the whole world what Wenger, Erickson, and Capello have known all along; that this kid is special. We’ll have to let time tell that tale.
Think you mean Phil Thompson joshuad.
I think he’s far more insightful than Hansen.
Thank you, Mazza. I did confuse the two. Thompson may be more insightful but he still always has something negative to say about Arsenal.
By the way, soccernet says Alex Hleb, has signed for Birmingham on a loan deal.
Game log: Robin van Persie, season 2010/2011
Game 1: sub. played 14 minutes
Game 2: sub. played 28 minutes
Game 3: started. lasted 35 minutes, injured and out for between 10 days to 4 weeks
But on the positive side, he’s currently averaging 1 assist every 38 minutes. And he’s guaranteed to remain at that level for the next 10 days to 4 weeks.
;-)
Welcome back, Stan. I started to miss your obsession with me.
Couple of things, Josh.
1. in the song, Stan really admired everything Eminem wrote. So your oft-stated analogy falls apart from the jump.
2, I’m not the only one who calls you out on the goofy stuff you sometimes choose to post. (Plenty of examples on here.) I’m just the one you choose to focus on.
3. In psychology, #2 would suggest that #1 is you projecting. Which is understandable. You spend a lot of time among the French. That’s enough make anyone a little loopy.
And with that, good night (good morning). All good.
I focus on you? Child, please! You busted my balls for the better part of a year (mostly on Fred’s coat tail) before I replied to even one of your comments. But you claim I focus on you?
I talk smack to Fred and Stag but we go back 5 or 6 years. I didn’t talk to you because I don’t know you. But you were determined to talk to me.
When I finally did reply to you is when I called you a “psycho-ass Stan”. Only then did you get off my ball sack for a while, but now you’re back. Even half of your posts on this very thread are directed towards something that joshuad has said.
But it’s cool. If we ever meet, I’ll let you take a picture with me. See, I really do answer my fans.
yeah, thats about the way it is with RVP.
He’s a delicate artist that can’t be counted on.
Thought the Chris Waddle haters might like this one….
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article187828.ece
;-)
The long and short of it is that Wenger has taken an approach that makes winning unlikely. We’ve reaped from that field for 5 years. And even when we do get into a winning position (like the FA and League cups) he makes remarkably odd decisions that one can only interpret as ‘he just doesn’t rate them’. In this context he offers players such as Walcott and Bendtner an enormous amount of playing time relative to what their capability deserves. And he refuses to increase our chances of winning by buying players who can perform sooner (rather than whenever their development cycle determines). He also refuses to be decisive with the likes of RvP and Rosicky and Diaby – players who have proven every year to be decidely crocky.
Every season we got the same old tired lines about how confident he was that the squad was strong enough. Of course, they weren’t, history attests to that, and after the first couple of years in the wilderness we could see that. Now even those confident lines are toned down and we are asked to accept CL qualification as the height of our aspiration and to believe the domestic cups are irrelevant. This is blatant nonsense. Wenger is dulling down the very shine of aspiration that he played a critical role in creating. We should still aspire to the title and buy a squad capable of giving it a fair go. That includes addressing areas of perrenial weakness. We should also go all out for the domestic cups – to not do so is one of the most arrogant things I have witnessed in many years of following football (or perhaps even sport in general). He has no right to indulge his own extreme fantasies at the expense of the thousands of fans who support Arsenal. Like Walcott, time is ticking for Wenger. Just as Hansen and Waddle sharpened the knife on the under-performing Walcott so will come Wenger’s turn. Like Walcott, the question is whether Wenger has it in him to deliver the goods. After sentiment is set aside and the objectives of a football club are brought back in to focus it all becomes quiet simple – you either perform or you don’t.
Very much agree.
Agree with Mourinho as well… he said every year for Arsenal, its close… and then next year, and next year, and next year.
There are no more “next years” with Arsenal. Time is UP for this squad. (or manager).
But that decision has to be made by the BOARD (not likely)… or the SUPPORTERS, who can refuse to buy the bullshit, and refuse to show up 60,000 strong every single match.
Neither is likely, so on we go… ad nauseum… groundhog day.
“A lot of these players will not count towards the 25. Remember, it’s 25 players over the age of 21 with 17 having to be home grown, and unlimited amount of players under 21.
I think its 8 players having to be home grown – 17 foreigners.
Re: HTS’s list of players – you left out TR7
Re: Theo
There is no set time frame for a player to develop. Look at Messi, then look at Xavi. Diaby has been with the club for quite a few years. Two seasons (or three) ago when he was placed out on the wing – it didn’t work out. Now many of us want him starting in midfield.
as he seems effective paired with Song in a 4-2-3-1
If we are to collect silverware this year, we need for the players out of the spot light to perform. Diaby, Song, Chamakh, Ramsey, Wilshere, Theo, Rosicky, Bendtner, and Nasri need to play at a level above last season – provide the depth that is necessary to survive a 60 match season.
RVP out for “several weeks”…
that’s just the way it is with him.
might be time to move on.
we need another striker… maybe its Theo.
what’s left in the window?
1 day?
I’m hoping, but… not really positive we’ll get it done.
don’t want to leave you Arsenal, but hey, not spending my season
living and dying every match, when its obvious you don’t give a f*ck
about winning…
make it happen.
please.
or be gone.
Maybe why this is why they’re waiting until the last minute. So we’ll be grateful for…Mark effin Schwarzer.
so does this mean if we don’t sign a keeper we won’t have to listen to your constant bitching and whining on YAMA since you won’t be tuning in?
i actually appreciate your perspective and your right to express it, but it is constant and incessant and frankly a little tiring. i’m sure i’m not the only one who wouldn’t mind the break…
Nowhere near as tiring and mind numbing as the AKB brigade.
Truth is Stag has tried his best to stay positive by reminding us all of how financially sound we are, then his sporting juices kick in and he gets confronted with reality – it’s about hope, take that away and it’s as exciting as being a follower of The Treasury.
I was gonna say…stagg spent most of the Summer on the Profits League spiel. And he swore he wasn’t being ironic.
;-)
He kept it going so long I was almost starting to believe him. Think he broke the sarcasm record with that one ;)
its all about maintaining perspective.
IF we don’t bring in a keeper, and go with what we have, then YES, I am out of the die-hard Arsenal supporters for the season.
I will literally watch PSG in the French League, and Charlton and QPR in lower divisions.
I will NOT invest my time & energy in the club again, because frankly… they are not making the same investment in the team.
IF we don’t bring in a keeper, then I TRULY believe we should SELL TRAORE to the highest bidder… maybe sell off a few players in the January window, and try to make some CASH… and profit.
Either go for TRYING to win a fecking trophy, or just sell and make money… so we all know where we stand.
At the end of the Season… EVERYONE would have universally said the NUMBER ONE PRIORTIY… is to GET A NEW KEEPER.
Here we are, 1 day left in the window, and we still don’t have one.
Please, go back… if you dare, and watch the low-lights of last season, and how many goals & games we gifted between Almunia and Flapianski.
Why would you willingly put yourself thru that shit again, because the club won’t address the issue?
I won’t.
I’ll watch the matches if they are on Fox or ESPN, but won’t buy a fecking Arsenal ANYTHING for a long time… and won’t be the life-n-deather I have been for 15 years.
If we don’t buy… then SELL!
Sell Traore… maybe Eboue… or loan a few players out quick, so we don’t have to pay their wages.
And, I will chime in when we get our assed KICKED again by the real teams in the league… because IT WILL OCCUR.
Joshua on RvP I don’t get it, you mean it doesn’t matter if the player can’t be relied on to be fit? We just chop and change the squad? Combinations don’t matter?
Joshua, for the record, Hansen was the permier CB of a generation at Liverpool the most dominant club team in European football from the 60s to the 80s. And Walcott is 21 going on 22.
Yes, but don’t forget that Josh was once a coach of U-10s and thus understands what it’s like for Wenger to receive criticism.
Bad piece of news for the day if it’s true:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/30/shay-given-stays-manchester-city
Given decides to stay at City. Ergo, Scwartzer will stay at Fulham? Mooney will be our starter for the rest of the season?
Please Lord, don’t make me cry after laughing at Werder Bremen for signing Silvestre.
As I keep telling my worrisome followers the news is all sketchy.
Sky Sports News was running a screen crawl that said Given had left the ROI camp to talk to another team.
Don’t know what is true. I just said until we hear from Arsenal, Fulham or the window closes everything is just speculation.
Not only that but David Stockdale, who’s been Fulham’s keeper so far this season and was on the verge of a first England call-up, has injured his ankle and is out for two months. The Schwarzer deal looks dead in the water.
There are other keepers Fulham are interested in.
Fulham will be concerned with keeping Schwarzer if he doesn’t want to be there. They don’t want to deal with bringing in someone who has no interest in playing for the club.
Sometimes you hold onto a player who wants to be somewhere else…you know, if you don’t get the right offer.
Uh oh.
@joshuad,
as the Brit’s will say, “ye gads”.
Just because we all need a laugh –
Mikael Silvestre has signed on with Werder Bremen.
That makes Spurs’ job easier in the CL. :)
:) :) :)
As Clint Eastwood would say, “Make my day”.
At the moment I’m feeling quite confident that Schwarzer will be coming, but like others have said, that doesn’t necessarily make him our #1 right away. The real question as the deadline passes in 27 hours is how will we fill the 25 names on the roster. (I’m assuming we’ve got no problem with the “home-grown” rule.)
Keepers: Mooney, Flappy, Manny, Sneezy, (Schwarzer?) = 4 or 5
Fullbacks: Sagna, Eboue, Clichy, Gibbs, Traore = 5
Center Backs: TV5, LK6, Squillaci, Djourou = 4
Midfielders: Cesc, Song, Diaby, Wilshere, Nasri, Denilson, Ramsey = 7
Attack: RVP, AA23, Theo, Chamakh, Vela, Bendtner = 6
That’s 26 or 27 players and it doesn’t include the likes of JET and Lansbury who are presumed to be headed somewhere on loan. And maybe I forgot somebody?
It seems to me that we can solve the number problem by carrying 3 keepers, but it’s interesting that we’ve got such problems at all. (Who would’ve been dropped to make room for Frimpong?) Is it possible that Ramsey (or Bendtner) will not garner a spot given their long term injury situations? There’s also word that we’re shopping Traore out. But I guess the Clichy to Real Madrid rumors are dead.
Anyhow, not as exciting as just buying good players to guarantee a shot a the title (i.e., it would be interesting to create the same list for Man City) but something that needs to get done here pretty quickly….
The press is abuzz with reports that Traore is going to Juve either on loan or for sale.
Also AW did say one of the GK’s will go out on loan. I guess if we get Schwarzer than one would be sold (hopefully Fabianksi), one would go on loan (Mannone), Almunia moves to backup/FA Cup duties, Szczseny gets CC duties and Schwarzer gets EPL and CL duties.
I’m a bit lazy to check but I thought that players under 21 don’t count as part of the 25?
Have I got that wrong?
And if not, then we’re okay.Wilshere, Ramsey, CheeseyKnee et al wouldn’t be part of the 25. We’d be well set.
A lot of these players will not count towards the 25. Remember, it’s 25 players over the age of 21 with 17 having to be home grown, and unlimited amount of players under 21.
CZ, Theo, Traore, Wilshere, JET, Lansbyry, Gibbs,Ramsey,Frimpong, Eastmond, all will not be regarded as part of the 25.
Based on the new rule we only have about 14 non home grown players over 21 even if we get Scwartzer.
D’oh…
Forgot about the under 21 provision….
Sorry….
Some news for today:
Schwarzer on Sun night: ‘I’m biding my time waiting for things to happen and then I’ll be on move – if you see what I mean.’
Also word is that Schwarzer did not train with Fulham today (Monday) and that there is in fact a meeting between Fulham, Arsenal and Mark Schwarzer
The first comment is factual. I can only tell you I got the second part via the grapevine.
It’s just like we were saying last week, we should get our keeper this window and for well less than four million. I predicted just over two million where I think you said 2.5 million.
I think we need to wait until the very last minute of the transfer window to sign him. The reason being I don’t want to give Almunia a chance to move in this transfer window. If Schwarzer wins the starting spot ahead of Almunia, the Spainiard is a much better bench option than Fabianski.
Six years since his arrival in North London, Van Persie has still yet to reach the landmark of 100 league starts.
The first two years can’t count against him as he was never going to start ahead of the likes of Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Wiltord, Ljunberg, and Reyes.
He’s pretty effective though. He’s only played about an hour of football for Arsenal this season and already has two assists.
To me, he’s like Essien. You make exceptions for him because of his exceptional talent.
One ref did not shy away from giving Sunderland a penalty against City.
But another ref denied West Brom one for blatant holding/pulling in the area by Skrtel on West Brom’s striker.
I think, in the mindshare, Pool are still firmly part of the Big 4.
yup. fix is still in!
I think Arsene’s pre match comments about the referee played a huge part in the game. Yes, Blackburn still adopted their usual tactics but we did not see any malicious fouls like the one by Diouf on Mooney a couple of seasons ago. I think that helped us a lot. Fergie is well known for manipulating the refs before a game and I am glad to see Arsene do the same.
The recent sting of criticism of Walcott by commentators like Hansen and Waddle may well be exactly what the doctor ordered. They have said nothing more than what they see. Forget the excuses that have become ‘truth’ at London Colney, if you appear in 30 games a season for 5 years at a team like Arsenal you’re expected to show the goods. If you can’t – then someone needs to point that out. Walcott in most of those 30+ appearances each season has been rather crap, and Hansen and Waddle have said it like it is. The only reason it has taken so long for the criticism to rise is the small fact of Walcott’s English passport and choir-boy looks.
If the sting of criticism has caused Walcott to try harder to prove that he IS good enough then every Arsenal supporter should thank Hansen and Waddle. Kinda sad that we rely on the Hansen’s and Waddle’s to atone for our over-tolerant club culture.
To judge Walcott on his first five seasons with Arsenal is misguided. He is now only 21 and just beginning his professional football career. If any mistakes were made it was on the part of the manager for playing him too early, and the fans for placing too much expectation on a kid.
“He is now only 21 and just beginning his professional football career.”
____________________
How do you figure that one? He ‘began’ with Southampton and has clogged up a key squad position at Arsenal for 5 seasons.
Yes to Wenger played him in the first team too much too early. No to fans expected too much.
Commentators like Hansen and Waddle have every right to call it like they see it. Football isn’t a charity it’s one of the highest paying ‘jobs’ on the face of the planet. If Walcott wasn’t up to the task for 5 years Wenger should have blooded him sparingly and given the club a better chance at honours. He can’t have it both ways – if he says repeatedly the likes of Walcott are good enough when they aren’t, then he should be big enough to put his hand up and say he was wrong.
Instead, he lowers the bar and tries to talk down our aspirations. Where once he claimed we were title contenders, now he says 4th is ‘winning’.
I concur Kiwi “The only reason it has taken so long for the criticism to rise is the small fact of Walcott’s English passport and choir-boy looks” amusing but oh so true.
We have to blame the manager for giving him so much playing time whilst he clearly wasn’t ready. But I suppose he made assurances of first team football to Theo like he has Aaron Ramsey so felt obliged to keep his promise. It is a big gamble to offer first team opportunities to potential in order for them to sign for you. However Wenger may well be about to reap the rewards of his unfailing loyalty right now. throughout those those 5 years Theo has not played that much, I think, but from a lot of the performances he showed that he should not have been played at all.
Yep, I agree the criticism will do him a lot of good as long has he has the mental strength to handle it and others, like Wenger will reiterate their confidence in his ability.
However I do not think Hansen’s comments in particular were really valid (I have never heard Waddles criticism in any detail). Hansen claimed that anytime Theo has time to think about a situation he makes the wrong decision. As if he can only do things via some sort of animal instinct. Claiming that he has no football brain in that context is saying he lacks intelligence, i think he got that wrong. If he would have said that the guy is simply not good enough, that he doesn’t think about the options before he commits to a course of action, lacks vision or doesn’t perform under pressure then I could respect his opinion. But to claim that he ALWAYS makes the wrong decision when he has time to think about it is ridiculous.
Well this is the guy that said you would never win anything with kids and no doubt ridiculed the suggestion that Arsenal could go a season unbeaten.
Regarding the “mental strength to handle it”: Some recent comments by Theo were to the tune of how is one of the first at training and one of the last to leave. That’s near perfect if you ask me. He keeps up the hard work and I think he’ll be alright.
I also remember some comments a while back where he said something along the lines of how being a footballer is a responsibility as a role model etc etc and how he would do anything to not be caught in a position like t.g. wilshere’s fracas. I think that helps as well…
Let’s hope he can keep it up! 2 games is enough to show that the potential is still there, but the consistency is at least as important.
Fuck Hansen and Waddle. How could old men be so critical of a 20 year old? What were they doing at 20? Certainly not playing for England, fucking haters.
I think Walcott finally getting a summer off and getting a full pre-season in was the right answer. The last time that happened was three seasons ago and he did play fairly well to start the 07-08 season.
The biggest factor slowing him down has been his injury problems. As a young player, you need to play regularly to establish any consistency in your game. Injuries have prevented him having that necessary consistency. We’ll see if he can stay fit.
City’s defense will kill them. That was a stupid foul by Micah Richards. That’s the kind of stuff that would make Gallas sit on the ground and cry, knowing he’s in a team with idiots who do stupid stuff at the end of the game.
Liverpool are in a world of hurt. They looked bad today. Long may the fortunes of our top 4 competitors continue.
Yeah I actually noticed some newspapers talking about a “big three” now.
Mancini looked all woobly at the match.
Did you see the sitter that Tevez pooched over the bar? The keeper was out of the net – Tevez was in there all alone with noone on him. Skied it. Not even our dear old Nicky would’ve missed that big a chance. I’m telling you City seems to be able to play against the big boys but when it comes to the little minnows they put in crap performances.
And that defence they have is suspect. They are lucky to have a keeper like Hart behind them because the cleans up a lot of their mistakes. If they had Almunia and Fabianski as their choice keepers they would be 0-0-3.
Young Jack, got himself arrested today. Wow! It’s got to be because he plays for Arsenal, the haters.
Were you surprised? It’s a bit of a shame with the young English footballers. As a paid sportsman you need to keep an intentionally low profile and stay away from the rif-raff.
From this angle you can see why Wenger goes foreign. You don’t often hear of this type of thing with the foreign players in England – they have left their old social circles at home and probably mix in a relatively tight group when in England. Ironic that RvP came unstuck when he went back to Holland.
Jack should change his name too. It’s literally going to be a milestone round his neck. Hope he makes some wise choices and comes through it, cause I like what he does on the field a lot.
I am telling you it was that low down John Terry’s influence on him. One training session with those eejits from Chelsea and look at poor Jack getting himself locked up.
Though in actuality it looks like they arrested everyone in the car with Jack.
Supposedly there was a fracas with a young woman at the club and Jack was actually trying to play peacemaker (according to his agent).
Man City lose to Sunderland in the 94th minute on a PK by Bent. Hart should’ve saved it – it was an awful shot.
So week 3 and Spurs and City both drops needed points.
playing mid-week in Europe has an effect on ALL teams… and especially Spurs and City who aren’t exactly used to it.
any buffer in points we can get is a huge plus.
Wait, aren’t you always saying that all the players on Man City have lots of big game experience and it will help them? Shouldn’t they all be used to playing in CL/Europa League games? The extra games shouldn’t affect them that much, particularly this early in the season.
multiple games EARLY in the season, when some players are either still fatigued from the WC, or not match fit… is a problem for MOST teams.
no team is out of that equation. Chelsea United Arsenal… didn’t have to play in Europe…. they all won.
Spurs and City DID play in Europe. Both lost.
that’s not an accident.
Funniest story I heard fromyesterday’s match:
Blackburn fans chanting to Cesc – “Aren’t you supposed to be in Spain?”
Arsenal faithful replied – “Aren’t you supposed to be in the Championship?”
Classic.
were the Arsenal faithful singing that to Blackburn…
or to Almunia!
:)
Especially awesome when you consider they had months to come up with their chant, while the Gooners response was on the fly.
love it!
Spurs lose to wigan! Excellent gives us a bit of a buffer. It would be nice if we can get a bit of a gap on spurs and pool that way we wont have to watch our backs the whole season
that’s why I want Spurs playing in Europe… its new to them, and taxing on the players.
@joshuad,
Good shot stoppers are a dime a dozen. Every team in the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A has a good shot stopper. What makes the the difference is the other abilities such as ball distribution, command of defense and command of the penalty area. Yes, every GK will make mistakes, but the good ones have short memories and will save a lot more than they will concede via errors.
If you are satisfied with a good shot stopper as your GK, then fine. However, in my world, I look for the edge of having one who contributes to the overall form and organization of the team and who can bail out the defense at times when they slip up.
The overall team has to be strong though Caribkid. Look at Reina and Liverpool. Considered one of the best goal-keepers in the world but look at the cock-ups he’s made in the last two league games due to outfield players playing at a level not befitting of Liverpool football club.
If you think back to 07/08 our team was solid and intelligent ; hard-working and compact. In that context, Almunia bailed us out against Spurs saving Robbie Keane’s penalty at the Emirates, in a relatively rare poor team performance.
A keeper should save the team every now and then, once every five games or so. Any more than that then there is a problem with the team and until you sort the organisation out then you’re gonna concede goals. Look at Shay Given at Newcastle. Supposedly great goal-keeper, but they got relegated.
Understand, I want a keeper, too. But for now, Almunia is the number 1. I just don’t want him out there losing points for us by flapping at balls he’ll never reach and the ball bouncing off his head and into the goal like he did last year. He did that today.
If staying rooted to his line is what he has to do to ensure he doesn’t give up bullshit goals, fine by me. I’d rather concede a good goal than a bullshit goal. I’d rather him be on his feet and in a position where he’s tough to score on than rolling around on the ground and leaving the goal exposed.
No, he’s not good enough and we need a new keeper but, until then, I welcome changes to his game that give us a better chance to win.
This is what does my head with Robin van Persie. You need your core to be available more than not – with Robin he’s not-available more than he is. It’s the wrong way round. You CAN’T build a winning team around a guy like that. I feel for the rest of the team. They desparately need to gel together and yet they have this marquee player that is guaranteed a start whenever he’s fit and yet is horribly fragile. And truth is Wenger can’t start him continually even when he is fit because his body doesn’t cope with that schedule. So the team keeps getting chopped and changed to cover for Mr Glass.
It’s laughable. 3 games in to the season, his first start after being rested and he can’t even last 45 min’s. Despite his talent we’d be better selling him and letting Chamakh and Arshavin work up a style between them.
sad but true…
RVP … #10 now… is fragile.
we’ll be lucky to get 20 games from him again…
and we might be short of strikers with RVP and Bendtner out regularly.
You’re being very gracious, kiwi. After you have repeatedly made the argument, with statistics and all, it would ever be thus with RVP.
We didnt look great out there but how many times have we been the “better” team and lost or drawn.
Happy with the result! I was raging after watching glitchy on that goal bring on gibbs! lol
Tottenham in the CC! Fantastic! Should be a good game.
After watching Man United and Chelsea games I’m not feeling too good about our chances this year. Both teams look very strong but I think this season will come down to who gets the results against the second tier teams ( mancity, pool, everton, aston villa and arsenal(?) ). Unlike other seasons where if you could sweep the bottom half of the league you had a good shot.
yes, Koosh gets beat, ball goes by Vermaelen first… and you rage at Clichy.
makes sense.
I dont have a problem with vermz position I believe another player was coming and he blocked that area.
Koosh got beat yes but from that position its no guarantee goal.
Glitchy on the other hand was in no mans land and because of that they had a simple tap in!
The goal scorer was Clichy’s man on that play.
Koosh didn’t get turned he got out muscled. Frankly he should’ve gone for the tackle.
Vermaelen didn’t get the ball coming through the middle but had cut off the man coming down the middle – he did have his man.
Clichy didn’t know or see where his man was.
Almunia did the only right thing and tried to attack the ball.
I think it was Vermaelen’s man, and he left him.
It’s obvious my nurturing comments on Theodore are working and he responded showing a little more application. Early days, and you know my tendency to effusively praise him, yet I did ask whether he could contribute again and he did. Well done Theo…. let’s see it continue.
It’s summer and sunny so I’m not reading too much in to this but 3 points at Blackburn is a nice tonic. Chamakh didn’t look too perturbed with the Blackburn bully boys. What’s this Robin injured – never. Diaby’s a funny guy, some times he seems to have it, often not. Today I thought he played a valid role within the team. Rosicky looked lightweight and off radar – of course the apologists will ask for more time, after all he’s coming back (again). A nice footballer but you can’t do much if your body isn’t strong enough.
Cesc was off his usual game, and Rosicky came on for him and was completely anonymous.
Just saw Theo’s goal again. He absolutely laced that ball. That was a brilliant goal.
Hell, he broke the side netting.
Overall I thought our intensity (applying pressure on the ball) was good. Yes, Song and Cesc looked out of sync
with some of their passes, but on the whole we had good midfield play, especially from Diaby.
For me, the players who stood out and made a difference with their confident play: Almunia, Theo, Diaby, Sagna, and Chamakh.
Kocielny had one miss- judgement, but on the whole, for only his second league contest,
he was steady with Vermaelen. For all of the long balls served into the box, I thought Arsenal collectively looked
determined.
As others have pointed out, I don’t think Schwarzer or Given are a step up from Almunia – at least for me not what I’d like to see as #1 keeper for the club.
Yet, I cannot pass out criticism today for Almunia’s play. Today, I did not see him rooted to his line, as he was very active around the 6 yd box.
This was a good result for Arsenal. No one could have predicted Theo’s contribution at the start of this season……a transfusion in energy up front that has been missing since Henry.
“As others have pointed out, I don’t think Schwarzer or Given are a step up from Almunia – at least for me not what I’d like to see as #1 keeper for the club.”
I can understand peoples reservation about Schwarzer BUT Given????
Woooow!!
Maybe you really need to re-watch some of Almunia’s gaffes from last season.
How exactly is this young, inexperienced team going to win anything when even if they work hard, battle away in a tough fixture they can still CONCEDE at ANY time – are you FORGETTING THE BIRMINGHAM game just a few months ago?
A team of Arsenal’s size should have a SOLID keeper … no buts, ifs or maybes.
If Almunia was that good why did Wenger drop him THREE times last season??? Why did Wenger say he had no number 1???
The lack of memory on this board is incredible.
a-fecking-men
No one is disputing the past gaffs of Almunia. I spend time watching other keepers and as I said above, I’m not impressed with either Given or Schwarzer.
If your talking about bringing in a real quality keeper, then Given and Schwarzer would not by my choices.
I never said that Almunia ” was that good ” your words. You or others made the remark that he was rooted to his line (or stays rooted to his line) and that was not factual for the match today.
I can’t remember anyone posting here that believes Almunia will lead us to silverware.
Oh and Tony Pulis and Stoke have written the FA and the EPL complaining about his comments.
They’ve threatened to sue.
So word is Van Persie is out 10 days with an ankle sprain. With the international break he shouldn’t miss a match.
Oddly enough half of the England team are coming up lame ahead of the EURO qualifiers.
Happy with the win. Happy with Wigan’s victory as well.
While I’ve never been a fan of Almunia, I’m not a Schwarzer fan either. He had a very descent vein of form in the final third of last season where he looked damn near unbeatable, but form is temporary and won’t last. Has anyone ever considered him before this past spring?
I’m not convinced he’s better than Almunia. Even if he is better, he’s not four million pounds plus wages for a single season better. While I would certainly welcome a new keeper, he should be decicedly better than what we have and worth the dough we spend on him. We’ll see what Arsenal does.
you have utter disregard for this season…
4 Million GBP is PISS change… for a No.1 keeper that saves us points or wins us points in a few matches.
That’s the difference between Almunia and Schwarzer / or / Given…
they won’t likely GIFT points like our keepers did last year… to opponents…
and they will save our ass on occasion too…
If Arsenal does nothing before the window closes, we are no better than last year, and possibly weaker in depth.
Stag, I would love to get a new keeper in. I’m just not interested in paying 4 million for Mark Schwarzer.
Let me break it down for you. If Schwarzer plays for one season and he’s on wages of 30k a week, we’ll pay 107 thousand pounds a week for Mark Schwarzer. An old-ass man at the end of his career will be the most expensive player at Arsenal (behind Fabregas) and he’s not even close to world class.
Are there keepers worth that much? Perhaps. One thing for sure, Schwarzer ain’t one of them. At best, he’s marginally better than Almunia. Schwarzer for 4 million in the last year of his contract is not the right answer.
why the hell would you care about the price?
whether we pay 2 Mill, 4 Mill or 20 Million?
ITS NOT YOUR MONEY!
and it makes the team BETTER.
Oh leave Fabregas alone … at 70% he is still by far the best mid we have and still the best in the country.
I am not sure I buy the “not-motivated” argument, but I am sure even if it is true, once the transfer window closes and we win a couple of games he will get “motivated”.
As for midfield: I still think we need Mahmadou Diarra or someone like him. Song and Diaby would learn a LOT from him. We can then loan out Denilson to Benfica.
As for defense: Squillaci should start the next game. The only way Koz can stop a big striker is by fouling him and getting carded. He should sit, watch and learn.
The reality is, after the Barcelona saga, Fabregas was always going to be scrutinized about his motivation to play for Arsenal. Missing the pre-season will affect most Arsenal players. Theo missed most of the pre-season last summer and look at how he started last season as opposed to this season. I agree; Cesc will be fine.
Concerning Diarra, he’s kind of old to be starting out in the BPL as a midfielder. He’s never been the quickest and the injury lay off didn’t help. The fact that Mourinho would prefer Lass to Mahmadou is indicative to how good he might not be anymore. Lass has been absolute crap for the past year. The work as a mentor could be useful. I know you’re a fan but, personally, I would pass.
Madrid are willing to let him go for 5 million. At 29 he is younger than Squillaci! He is just 1.5 years older than Essien.
He is the SAME age as Arshavin.
Three years ago, he was an absolute beast – technique and physical wise. For me, he was the “original Essien”.
Sure it would be a gamble after the 1 year injury lay off, but for 5 million euros, it is an acceptable gamble. He isnt any more of a gamble than continuing to play Rosicky. Class is permanent, just a change of scenery is usually required. E.g Eduardo.
Can you think of any other DM/CM we could get who is experienced, very good but cheap (due to baggage).
All our CMs are young and inexperienced. He would definitely add something significant (physically and teechnically) at worst.
PS: As for Mourinho not starting him … that has nothing to do with quality. Lass (who we should never have sold) is younger. Plus, most teams in the world (except Arsenal) always try to ditch players who have had a Rosicky type injury no matter their quality.
All in all, we are winning absolutely NOTHING without strengthening the CORE of the team – central midfield. I cant think of any other CM/DM with his experience or quality who is available for 5 m and his club is willing to sell. I cant think of any other CM that we can bring in before the window closes.
And if we dont bring in any DM, it would be the 6th consecutive season of completely ignoring that position.
PSS: Diarra at his worst is about 10 times better than Denilson.
is there any rumor to Arsenal being interested in signing Diarra?
we aren’t even interested in a DM, even though I agree with Fred, in that we really need an addition… in that area, and have for years.
Still want a keeper first and foremost, and that’s gone quiet as well.
hope the win didn’t paper over the gaping holes… in Wenger’s mind.
I totally agree, he could be a good mentor for the young scraps. My fear is it’s kind of late in his career to be introducing himself to the pace of a BPL central midfield. Do you think he could keep up?
If Arsenal maintain the formation they played today, 4-2-3-1, he would work. However, I can’t see him along side Fabregas in a straight 4-4-2.
I heard on the French news yesterday of a rumor linking Liverpool to Diarra to replace Mascherano. Despite his experience, Diarra can’t replace the range of Mascherano. However, Gerrard can. Perhaps Hodgson is considering bringing Gerrard back into midfield. Too bad Arsenal don’t have a Gerrard-type player.
I think he would fit in perfectly.
Salgado was 32 when he moved from Madrid to the EPL. Hierro was 36.
Again remember he is the SAME age as Arshavin. Makelele was 31 when he came to Chelsea.
Diarra at 29 is not an old man in a retirement home.
Diarra is a DM, not a box-to-box guy. A rightback like Salgado will have to do more running that he does. And Salgado is doing just fine at a physical club like Blackburn.
This a player is “too old” thing is an idea that has been indoctrinated into Arsenal fans from Wenger! Inception! I remember folks saying Arshavin, Pires and even Squillaci are too old!
And yes, he is to play in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 like a DM should.
PS: It does not have to be Diarra. Any proper DM would do. I just cant think of any other one we could get for cheap, who is Francophone (to please Wenger), and who Wenger can claim he re-habilitated.
If Wenger goes out and buys some no name DM in his mid 20s I would be happy … but at some point we MUST deal with our major and long-running problem in central midfield or else we are winning nothing.
Mooney was never really tested today. As usual, he stays rooted to his goal line and therefore puts pressure on our somewhat height challenged defense. As I have said time and time again, Mooney is a decent GK, just not compatible with the Wenger project. Give me a Scwartzer any day over our current crop outside of CZ.
Our GK sights have been set so low that we shower praise on our GK’s based on the fact that they do not make mistakes versus the manner in which they affect the game overall. Mooney would be perfect at Blackhole because he is a good shot stopper, can kick the ball down field and has Samba to clear any high balls in the box. At arsenal, he is a liability.
Is the fact that Almunia stays on his line an indicator of his goal-keeping quality? Would you want your keeper coming off his line or diving for a ball that he knows he can’t get to? That’s how he got chipped quite a few times last year and maybe he’s learned his lesson. How many times has he dived at a ball that bounced off the post and went in off his back last season alone? If he keeps his feet, when the ball bounces off the post, he can gather it.
I’ve never been a fan of keepers coming off their line if they can’t get the ball. When that ball is on the way, you will know whether you can get to it or not. Besides, Almunia is a good shot stopper so let him stay on his line and do what he knows he’s good at. Let the defenders defend and Almunia just has to be sure to not allow any bullshit to go in. He’s punching above his weight wearing the Arsenal uniform. If he sticks to doing what he’s good at, it could earn us a few points this season.
Great win, although I wasn’t convinced at all by the performance. We faded badly again at the end, with Diaby and Song losing battles time and time again, which meant our defence as getting exposed too much by the end. But our defence held firm and we got lucky with a few calls and bounces as well, that could have easily fell to Blackburn players. Anyway, we got the win.
Positive performances were Theo Walcott and Manuel Almunia. Walcott was great, always switched on looking to be incisive. Almunia was generally great at the back, claiming a ball in the first few minutes that Fabiansku would have flapped at without doubt, and patrolling the area as well as could be expected. Blackburn are a tough proposition, can’t forget that.
My priority would still be a central midfielder. Diaby cannot play ninety minutes. He plays well for large chunk but when you really need midfielders to show strong core power, when the game gets scrappy, Diaby gasses, gets his legs tangled up, and is a liability.
I didn’t think Almunia was good or comfortable in the first half.
I thought he was much better, as was the defense, in the 2nd half.
I think you have unrealistic expectations of what a goal-keeper is supposed to do, and your not the only one.
I half want to see Schwarzer come in or Given just so people will realise all goal-keepers make mistakes and shock horror ; Manuel Almunia actually does some things better than these supposed upgrades.
Opinion has been formed of him though and as a result he brings a negative energy(sometimes given impetus by his own distribution problems) and so it’s probably for the best that he moves on and we rid the side of the pre-conceived vulnerability that seems to egg on our opponents.
Agree that the performance was less than convincing but the team as a whole looks a lot tougher and more determined….And that element is what I think got us the needed result. Chamakh looks the antithesis of RVP’s “delicate flower” and Koscielny recovered well from the early bouncing balls and getting rounded (and pushed off) for the goal and had an outstanding 2nd half. Clichy still appears woeful and worrisome…16 million and he becomes Jose’s problem? That would be a no-brainer….
Our “skill” players (Cesc, RVP and Arshavin), combined with frightening looking (unplayable?) Theo, did just enough to create the first and scramble in the second, while Song and Diaby, and later, Wilshere and Rosicky played with enough commitment that Blackburn always looked like they could only score from the set pieces or from a break (as they did).
Also agree that Mooney performed to expectation and made no Flappy-style errors, but he also stayed mostly rooted to his line and really doesn’t inspire any sort of long term confidence. I don’t necessarily think that he should be dropped as our #1, but I really hope we get Schwarzer in, send Flappy (and maybe Mannone as well) out to some faraway club and have a threesome of Mooney, Schwarzer and Sneezy as our keepers. Please, please, please….
Great result…now to finish the transfer dealings and survive the int’l break….(And a very pleasing Spurdefraude in further North London…)
I’m a bit concerned about Fabregas. Not usually one for all this body language talk but his heart doesn’t seem in it and in general something is not right. RVP ignored him when Fabregas complained about not getting a ball, and Arshavin ignored him when he scored. Fabregas is usually the most animated when we score and in both goals he was nowhere to be seen during the celebrations.
I think reality is setting in for him(regarding not getting Barca move) and the EPL no longer stimulates him.
Agreed…generally. He made one impressive defensive run that made me think he was into it, but that was it. And the leadership element seemed absent. Luckily there seems a good spirit up and down the remainder of the squad that was sorely missing at the close of last season.
In his play today I thought Cesc looked pretty committed to not getting hurt (he pulled out of a couple of 50-50s) and he made a few sloppy giveaways and none of his usual game-breaking passes.
That being said, you can almost feel how the defense freezes up when Cesc is on the ball and scanning the pitch, assessing his options….I’m still glad that he plays for us.
If that continues week in and week out I’ll give it some creedence. Right now I think it is more to match fitness.
please tell me what Clichy did all match that was “woeful and worrisome”…
on the goal, Koosh gets swung like the barn door, and Vermaelen leaves his man, and watches the ball go past him…
other than that play, what did Clichy do wrong?
he’s the scape-goat for anything that happens apparently.
Koosh was at fault for the goal, not Clichy.
sorry.
Koosh got beat by a player that is pretty fast I might add, while Clichy stood there watching while a striker walked up right behind him and side-footed the ball into the net.Clichy didn’t even notice he was there – that is why he is at fault for the goal, probably more than Koosh who was simply beaten. Clichy showed absolutely no positional awareness.
bullshit.
not buying it at all.
Oh and while we were busy watching the match –
Carling Cup Round 3 –
Spurs v Arsenal (Sept 20)
I have to say it was an entertaining match to watch.
As billed, two completely contrasting styles… and the referee
let the teams play, it was physical… but there were not bad fouls, just physical football.
1 yellow card.
I think the ref did a very good job.
We did look very good going forward at times, but it was also
very scary in our area … especially in the 1st half… when the defense and Almunia were very shaky.
I thought we were much better in the 2nd half for the most part.
What I like best was our determination… tracking back… and pressing Blackburn up the pitch regularly.
It was an important victory, and there were more positives than negatives, especially getting 3 points.
Positives included Theo… who looks like he’s ready to make an impact this season, and looks confident… team defense… determination and urgency…
Negatives include RVP going down with injury yet again… we might actually need another striker, with RVP AND Bendy out…
We were shaky near the area… as always, and Almunia still doesn’t exude confidence.
Blackburn played their style… they have no choice, its all they can do, especially against better teams. Long balls, set-pieces, and physical play. But today, we weathered it, played hard… and finished a few chances for the 3 points.
VERY ENCOURAGING WIN.
still need a keeper.
3 days left in the window.
I am by very bummed as I was too late to make my fantasy changes for this weekend. Keep forgetting we are 5 hours behind :)
Theo played well again and hopefully he will continue to do so and prove my proclamation of him being a “chicken head” wrong. Although Theo scored I have to give MOTM to Sagna.
Like you said Ozi, although giving up a few sloppy passes, Diaby and Song played well defensively and provided some much needed height on set pieces.
How can you not love Chamakh. Never looked like scoring but his work rate, unselfishness and defensive work is exactly what we need. Cooch is a little sloppy at times but could be good once he gets adjusted. Vermaelen as usual was great except for one misplay.
Every time I see Clichey play he makes at least 2 horrible mistakes each game and 1 always gets punished. He is not a bad player but has suffered from “chicken headedness” the past three seasons.
Almunia? Well Mooney was being Mooney. Never left his line to claim anything in the air, distribution was good when he played it short but totally woeful when kicking down field.
Scoreline was as I predicted and I’ll definitely take the 3 points all the way to bank.
Oooops, forgot to mention Wilshere’s cameo. Love the little thug; he has no fear and is not intimidated regardless of size.
My favourite part of the match – his completely running through Samba.
True.. forgot to mention that highlight. Gotta love Wilshere! And he’ll never get punished for thuggery cuz, well, you know, you wouldn’t want to take that part away from a british lads game.
Koosh gets turned like a gate… and Vermaelen is standing near Clichy on the goal…
but its Clichy’s fault?
he did nothing else wrong the entire match.
Right, the negatives:
-RVP breaks down, but at least we’re not caught off guard.
-Cesc off the pace. I hope its a lack of sharpness and not a lack of motivation
-Kos had a 10 minute period where it looked like he might do a cygan
-Clichy needs to learn to look around. Their goal was completely preventable. Most would blame Kos, who made the smallest of misjudgements and allowed Diouf to nip in. Couldn’t do much once he was wrongsided. But it still could have been stopped had Clichy marked his damn man! I watched the replays and not once did Clichy look around to see what’s around him. Anyway…
The positives:
-I am STOKED about our pressing. We didn’t let them settle at all, esepecially in the second half. It was fantastic. We keep that up and we won’t repeat our record of last season (being the team that dropped the most leads)
-The Makh is a worthy replacement. Loved the way he handled Samba and he rotates well with Theo
-Theo: He’s on fire. Showing little signs that he isn’t as unintelligent as we thought. A couple of moments come to mind. One where he hit a ball first time back to Diaby when Theo of old would have taken a touch and allowed the defence to regroup. Another where the Theo of old would have returned a ball to Sagna straight away. This time he seemed to go for it, saw the defender commit to that side, saw some space down the centre and charged through there, THEN found Sagna in a lot more space.
-Diaby and Song covered really well. A few sloppy passes, but they improved as the game went on and IF they keep it up, along with the hard working attitude, can we FINALLY see some of that potential coming through.
-Kosh after his jittery moments came back in the second half strong. I’m happy with our 4 CBs.
-Sagna is a BEAST
does Vermaelen have no responsibility on the goal?
he was watching along with Clichy.
and Chamakh “handled” Samba alright… he hugged and held him every time in the box, and was lucky not to get a penalty.
After Kosh was beaten, I don’t think vermaelen was left with too many options. If he marked the man, then diouf is free to 1) open up the angle before scoring or 2) pass the ball in the space between almunia and vermaelen rendering vermaelens marking useless. It probably wasn’t perfect positioning but at least he had an idea about what he was doing.
Yes Chamakh with a bit of anti-football in return. Not sure how I feel about that yet, but it was good to see them get a bit of a come uppance!
Vermaelen sure looked useless as the ball went right past him!
and its not anti-football…
there was no anti-football in the entire match!
It was out of reach Stag. Nothing he could do there unless he imported an octopus tentacle to attach to his boots.
And the game was a lot cleaner than I expected. Kudos to that. But if someone did to one of our players what the Makh did to Samba on that occasion, I would be a bit annoyed. But not anti-football you’re right, noone tried to take a chunk out of anyones foot.
by the way, DAG I think you have may have cracked a code with the fixture computer. This along with the fact that Man Utd should play Man City on the Munich air disaster anniversary.
Next up following the Rovers – the Wanderers.
Big Sam must have disappointed his followers today. There were multiple occasions when arsenal had more than 3-4 touches in succession in the second half without getting kicked down. He must be mellowing.
Cesc still appears to need more time it seems. And always funny to see tough men crying at the slightest touch or nudge, such as Samba. Big Sam’s schooling obviously only applies to toughness dished out in one direction.
Amusing that everytime Theo did something worthwhile, the camera switched to Fabio. When Theo was first signed, I always thought he was going to be Henry’s partner but then was surprized he was put out wide instead. But maybe that might finally be changing. Late in the second half, he moved centrally with Chamakh pulling out wide. Nothing came of it but wonder if this option will be deployed more.
Van Persie sub. Chamakh in.
I just do not know what to say about Van Persie.
Incredibly disappointed Rosicky isn’t playing centrally. And Diaby? Don’t even get me started.
A good test early in the season. I don’t care about a clean sheet, just the 3 points
and continued positive play.
As I said, Diaby makes it.
I would have preferred Sicky to Theo, but I guess now is the time for him to show that he is more than a flash in the pan.
Good News: Denilson doesn’t even make the bench.
unconfirmed lineup:
Almunia
Sagna Koscielny Vermaelen Clichy
Song Diaby
Fabregas
Walcott RVP Arshavin
Edit – Damn, DAG beat me to it. Maybe that counts as confirmation
I missed two on our starting XI:
Almunia, Vermaelen, Kosci, Sagna, Clichy; Song, Diaby, Fabregas, Theo, AA23, van Persie
Subs: Chamakh, Wilshere, Vela, TR7, Gibbs, Eboue, Flapianski
Is it just me or do Kosh and Torres look like twins here… or close brothers. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23871576-blackburn-bullies-dont-scare-me-claims-laurent-koscielny.do
And the most pointless post award goes to…
Less than 2 hours to go. You lot ready to get your fantasy butts kicked? :P
Schwarzer has reportedly told Fulham – sell him now or they can expect to getnothing for him next summer and he will sign a pre-contract in January.
Ladies and gentleman – it is going to get ugly with players wanting to leave.
If he has only one year left on his contract, what does he mean by “expect to get nothing next summer” ?
It means he is leaving sooner or later without signing a new contract. Sooner (now) means they can get something as opposed to nothing.
Robin Van Persie has scored 10 goals in 9 games (all competitions) against Blackburn.
You just know that we won’t keep a clean sheet today, don’t you?
It would have helped if Arsene had got a proper GK and a proper CB before this game, instead it is still Mooney and Kos being thrown into the fire.
Can we score twice to win this game? On paper we are capable of it, but that doesn’t mean anything, especially when we needed a hugely lucky own goal to scrape through a draw in our last away game.
This game (like the Pool one) will tell us a lot more about how Arsenal will do this season.
I think Diaby will start. Something about height, physicality, presence, blah, blah.
“You just know that we won’t keep a clean sheet today, don’t you?”
Heh. Spot on. I haven’t felt confident about our chances of a clean sheet in a long long time, though I see your point, today is almost a given. Maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised.
I’m liking the comments made by the squill. He looks ready for war. Keeps going on about duels and how he’s good at winning them. Niceeee. With him and Verm, hopefully we’ll have the option of putting out a CB pairing that can go toe to toe (literally) with the likes of the Blackburn thugs. It’s too bad he can’t play today (and I should wait until I see him play before raising expectations too high).
On the other hand, it’s going to be the first real ‘physical’ test for Kosh. It’ll be interesting to see how he copes. And if he gets sent off for clocking fat walrus sam as they leave for the half time break, he will instantly turn into an Arsenal legend… One can only dream…
My one worry involves corners as Almunia will be crowded out as Big Sam & his followers will instruct their teams that if one Arsenal goal keeper can be crowded out at corners, then the other is fair game as well. And since Almunia is not brave enough, if he is obstructed even more, then it could be ugly. So Arsenal need to be strong to not concede from a corner or free kick. And then hopefully Pedersen will not be allowed a long range shot.
Will Diouf last the 90 min? Either he will injure an arsenal player or rightly get sent off. He was schooled after all in the Bolton way of things. So he does represent a double force of evil.
The one good thing I can take is this awful fixture will be over and done with so early in the season and Arsenal won’t have to face a trip to Blackburn until February or so when they will meet them in the F.A Cup when a young Arsenal team will trod out while the senior team will be busy with other important matters.
The game is at 5:45 am for me. Yikes. Will need a really dark roast to get through it. Although a long range scorcher from Cesc, a dash/near post goal from Arshavin and a nod down from Chamakh might help matters — these 3 are my picks for your scoreline DAG :)
I expect one goal to be given up by Arsenal from a set piece with mooney and/or Clichey being culpable.
AFC will concede a comical goal from a set piece in the dying seconds of extra time in the first stanza.
We will totally control possession in the 2nd half but will not score until the 78th when substitute AA scores a cracker from just inside the box after deftly leaving 2 defenders in his Russian nuclear wake.
Allardyce will send on a substitute with orders to kick the bleeping crap out of all the Arsenal players, which he will do. Unfortunately, one will be in the penalty area and Cesc will open his 2010 account from the spot in the 89th minute.
2-1 to the Arse.
Like MLK said, “I have a dream”.
Spot on the scoreline and AA did score a nice one but he failed to score when he beat 2 defenders and tried to take on a 3rd.
So looking forward to your next dream :)