EPL Match Day 37: Arsenal v Aston Villa Match Preview
It used to be that this match up was one to look forward to. It was for me at least a measure of how good Arsenal were playing against Aston Villa. They were always a competitive team and you knew they would give you their all. Oh how this has changed.
Instead of being a marquee matchup of two teams it is greeted with a certain degree of – yeah so? Arsenal’s current form would be no better than a struggle for relegation if they hadn’t been good earlier. Aston Villa – well three wins away from home all season is hardly anything to shout about isn’t it.
There isn’t much more to say about this Arsenal squad is there? The season is pretty much over unless by some fluke of heaven both United and Chelsea suddenly forget their place and wind up losing the last two matches of season (not likely). As Arsenal fans we will begin the long summer of wondering what if – what if Arsenal hadn’t choked up significant leads against Newcastle or Spurs. What if Emmanuel Eboue actually knew what he was doing and didn’t commit the foul he did against Liverpool. What if we had actually beat some of those teams we should’ve but didn’t. Honestly this is all we are left with as well as the potential for an offseason of wondering whether or not the club, the managers and players understand how dissatisfied we are with the current state of things.
Our summer is going to be one of looking at the comings and goings of players to try and ascertain that. We’ll look to see if Wenger finally understands that he has too much dead wood on the squad. We’ll also be hoping that some of the names we are linked to actually come through. For me, I am especially eager to see if Lorient striker Kevin Gameiro actually comes in. To me he is the pefect 9 to Van Persie’s 10. Either way this will be an interesting summer for all of us.
But for now there is the matter of this tie. For Arsenal they have to be keenly aware that anything short of win means that Manchester City have the opportunity to over take them in third and then Arsenal would be in the position of having to play a run in to the Champion’s League by qualifying in.
Team freshman Laurent Koscielny will be out which means the long awaited return of Thomas Vermaelen returns. For me this is the heart of defence and I’ll be interested to see how he pairs with Djourou. Both are good in the air but Vermaelen is more of a finished product. Djourou remember is playing his first full year as a starter and while there are still defencive issues to work out, Djourou has been solid throughout. But Vermaelen is the rock – he is a lot more “steel” to me than Djourou and Kosicelny. He is our version of Vidic and his presence has been missed. It will be good to see him.
How the Match Should Play Out:
I suspect it will play exactly like it did at Villa Park. The Villa defence is woeful. Especially on the road. Look for sustained pressure early from the home side. The question is can the Gunners convert on that pressure. I think they can and frankly given how they’ve been at home since November – 18 league and cup matches without a loss – and the stature of their opponent Arsenal come out with the win.
Players to Watch:
Arsenal: Thomas Vermaelen. The Vermaelinator is back. Sure he won’t be any kind of steely form. But he’s back. Let’s hope his injury offers no long lasting affects.
Villa: Darren Bent. Is there a big club this guy can’t score on?
Probable Starting XI:
Injuries and Suspensions:
Arsenal: Fabianski (shoulder) Koscielny (thigh) Rosicky (thigh) Diaby (calf) Nasri (D – hamstring)
Villa: Clark (hamstring)
Leading Scorers:
Arsenal: Van Persie 20 (16 league) Nasri 15 (10 league)
Villa: Bent 18 (15 league) A Young 9 (7 league)
Last Meeting: (EPL)
Arsenal: 4
Villa: 2
Goals For:
Arsenal: 1.8 (home)
Villa: 1.1 (away)
Goals Against:
Arsenal: 0.7 (home)
Villa 2.2 (away)
Last Five:
Arsenal: LWLDD
VIlla: DLDWW
Goal Difference:
Arsenal: 30
Villa: -13
Match Officials:
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistant referees: Ron Gansfield & Bob Pollock
Fourth official: Andy D’Urso
Broadcast Information:
US: Foxsoccer.Tv 1100 EST
UK: Sky Sports 1 1600 BST
GAMEDAY CHAT: It’s Open!!!!!!
www.youaremyarsenal.com/gamedaychat
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 2
Villa: 0
The Final Word
Well earlier I said it would take a miracle for Arsenal to revive any title hopes – alas as suspected they was never going to happen, as suspected Manchester United won their 19th title today by securing a point against Blackburn. It is only fitting for United that this title was essentially won on a penalty call by Fat Phil Dowd.. Canny bit of subbing by Fergie to swap Dowd for Webb.
Anyway, I have jest you do have to have some amount of respect for the Red Devils. And for Fergie and for Ryan Giggs that makes 12 titles together. A picture of consistency and an absolute desire to win. Sadly, it is something I feel that is lacking at Arsenal.
I also read with delight this week comments made by Roberto Mancini about Cesc Fabregas. After beating Spurs in the mid week, Mancini was asked what player would get them over the hump and possibly win the title. He said Cesc Fabregas. The press looking for a story immediately took that as a sign that City were going to go after Fabregas – the fact that most of the papers ran with it as a major story is quite comical. Mancini did not say – we are going after Fabregas, he responded to the question. The press then went on to say that Mancini would use David Silva, to convince his Spanish friend to persuade Fabregas to come to City. There are a couple of issues with that story.
First if the English press had actually been paying attention, they would know that the only place Cesc has said he would agree to a transfer to is Barcelona. He especially made it a point of saying that he would never play for another English club outside of Arsenal. For sure Arsenal would never sell Cesc to another English club – if they were to sell him at all.
Second is this whole David Silva friend thing. I would like anyone to dig through the articles on Cesc and see where he mentions the whole David Silva is my friend. It’s never happened. The only players he ever mentions are the core of Barcelona. He never mentions anyone else. Sure, they are teammates on the Spanish side but nothing more. There is no “friend” between the two. In my opinion its another case of lazy journalism. Trying to stoke the fire for a story – Cesc transfer saga part deux – that will likely take place throughout the summer. Rather than actually report the whole story the English sporting press take the easy road and create stories from nuggets and make a story that isn’t one. Alas – writers wonder why the English supporters mistrust them so.
As for Cesc going, while I am no longer of the ilk that we would be lost without him, I still think he is here come this fall. The financial situation at Barcelona has not improved. All accounts say they will not improve their bid over last season and will actually come in lower. Arsenal don’t need to sell – he is under contract after all and finally I am not sure the Barcelona fans want him there any more. The gaffe in the Champion’s League looms large for Fabregas. In the aftermath of that match over 50% of Barcelona fans said they did not want him there. Any way, we shall see won’t we.
The final nugget is this – it shall be an interesting Sunday at the Emirates. As the last home match of the season the players will do their traditional walk around the pitch. There is certain to be a vocal group of dissatisfied fans. No doubt the predominant voices will be those who will cheer the squad but it will be interesting to see. Especially given that prior to the match a group of supporters in black and yellow will march to the Emirates in an attempt to get the board to hear their grievances agains how the club is being run – especially in light of the recent ticket price hikes. The organizers have been absolutely clear this is not a Wenger out march or an anti-team march. It is a march against the continual squeezing out of the core fan base.
While I applaud the organizers I do doubt it will have any lasting impact on the club. Unless we are talking thousands of fans it will be brushed off as a noisy group and that is all. I wish them all the luck and will pray they achieve something.
Till next time.
Stay Goonerish!!!
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Arsenal has become a joke.
I really hope all those empty seats and reports of booing will not deter the imaginary “40,000 fans” on our imaginary season ticket waiting list!
I also hope the imaginary “40,000” are sufficiently AKB since we might not have ANY really quality players next season. These new fans who are allegedly dying to get in on the season tickets scam would hopefully be content with the names of Eboue, Chamakh and other random clowns on their overpriced jersey shirts.
@Fred, the are only imaginary if you can prove it, you still haven’t. i agree with you that the “official” number is “optmimistic”, but you have not sufficiently demonstrated that it is “only 1-2k”. it would be great to know the “truth”…
@jroybower,
Asking me to prove that the cooked up number of “40,000” is imaginary is the equivalent of asking me to prove that Santa Claus is imaginary, or to prove that the tooth fairy is not real.
The person making the claim has to prove his claim.
The “40,000” claim is a big lie that can not even be backed with anything.
Follow the logic, Dein inadvertantly told us we had a 20,000 wait list back in 2004 in an interview. Then we had just finished a season as Invincibles. And we had a 40,000 stadium.
Fast forward 7 years of winning absolutely ZILCH, an exponentially degrading squad, ALL our quality players looking at the exit door, the highest tickets in the world, a 6.5% increase AND a stadium with increased capacity equaling the 20,000 in 2004 BUT we now MAGICALLY have 40,000 new North Londoners who are very wealthy and want to throw it away on Eboue and Denilson??
Sorry, non AKBs do not buy it. There is a complete logical disconnect between having an alleged 20k waiting list in 2004 and a 40k waiting list in 2011. Man U does NOT have up to 10,000 on their waiting list. Personally, I strongly doubt we have ANYBODY on our waiting list.
If you want to believe the corporate board lies of the Arsenal LLC, Inc, PLC feel free. They NEED as many sheep to believe as possible.
@Fred, bah bah black sheep.
@Fred, bah bah black sheep.
@Fred, the are only imaginary if you can prove it, you still haven’t. i agree with you that the “official” number is “optmimistic”, but you have not sufficiently demonstrated that it is “only 1-2k”. it would be great to know the “truth”…
1 game to play.
I’d say its likely we now end up 4th… with City riding the high of making the CL AND winning the FA Cup.
(which should ALWAYS be the last match of the season, not in season… it just ain’t right!)
The rumors will run rampant from the death of the season. Already running with Bayern interested in Nasri… we could sell Nasri and Cesc… Bendtner… and make 60 Million between them.
Not buy a soul… lose in the qualifying round of the CL in August, and it would make this season seem like the GREATEST most exciting thing since the Invincibles.
This has the potential to be the Titanic…
On the BRIGHT side… think of that 60 Million coming in!
wow… the debt will be beaten down in no time!
woooooo hoooooooo. :skeleton:
@stag133,
Dont worry, the club would still have the “40,000” on the “waiting list” beating down the doors dying to throw away their hard-earned cash for the highest tickets in world football (in a recession no less) to watch Eboue, Diaby, Denilson and co. strut their stuff on a weekly basis.
But Fred, CL qualifiers make money for the team (winky face….)
Tough times for the Arsenal and the supporters who actually hope for wins and such….This evening my London gin actually tastes dryer than usual, which, upon reflection, is not really such a bad thing…..
I’m looking forward to reading the first hand accounts of the protests/empty stadium/etc….
Also, having done a quick calculation before shaking my first martini, the 6.5% increase in ticket prices will ONLY create a gain in revenue of approx 10 mil pounds. (30 matches x 60,000 seats x approx 5 pounds extra per seat actually = 9 million…..) Wouldn’t it be a grand gesture of the new owner to rescind the increase? Or maybe he could fire Wenger instead, though paying the remainder of his contract might exceed the additional revenue……
Long term, in order to compete with the two “bottomless pit” clubs (Chelsea/City) and the one that out earns us (United) we’re gonna need to do SOMETHING. Getting the home support on our side would be a big plus, maybe enough to get a newbie ref (who was that guy?) to make a call or two in our favor.
We need better players and we need the players we have to play better. The latter seems easier than the former but there needs to be a collective desire to make it so. This season cannot end soon enough and then some changes will have to happen–hopefully ones that allow whoever remains to do better next season.
Like I’ve said before, it’s a dream that wholesale changes will occur. Hopefully we’ll “take some losses” on players who have reached the end of the line, but the vision of a team of unknowns rising collectively will be the (continuing) mantra moving forward. Maybe we’ll re-invest in new players (more likely on better contracts for ones we have…..), but I wouldn’t hold my breath. If that doesn’t work for you, then you might as well root for City in their next two matches AND in future seasons….There is no question that they have a better chance at winning (additional) trophies than we do…..
Still, I appreciate that people are actually discussing individual players and tactics (like RVP all over the pitch trying to get us back in the match today)…. Personally I don’t think a “false nine” is bad tactics but you need more than lumbering oafs (Bendy/Makh) playing with him to make it work. Maybe if Theo hadn’t lost all confidence and Arsh hadn’t been drunk again (I shouldn’t throw stones living with all the windows in MY house….) and our midfield was more than kids and the un-dead (buying better players would’ve killed them…..) we might’ve been in with a chance……
Ah well, next year…..
@highburyterracesteve, I know you joked about it but I seriously thought that the extra CL qualifier game might end up being seen as a bonus by some associated with Arsenal, provided the team makes the CL group round, because it will generate extra revenue. And even more of a bonus would be that the extra fixture would be with the new ticket increase prices. If that is the case, then I can see 4th place becoming once again the cherished spot over 3rd. Yes it is a gamble because the CL qualifiers are no longer easy match-ups for the big 5 leagues but given that so much has been gambled with Arsenal over the last few years, this might seem like another roll of the dice to squeeze that little bit extra profit.
@highburyterracesteve,
Well, there goes our one chance for change. Arsene has convinced, a la Cesc, Pat Rice to stay on for at least one more year.
Next year we will have the same old assistant coach, the same old players, no defensive coach and no fresh ideas as to how to turn this malaise around. Obviously, for whatever reason, Arsene is just plain reluctant to change, which is a far cry from when he hit the scene years back and revolutionized diets and and training methodologies.
What’s wrong with that picture. Someone who was so willing to create change has now suddenly become resistant to the very fibre which created his success.
More and more I think it and’s going to be a long season next year unless Kroenke gives him a swift kick where the sun don’t shine.
Sincerely hoping I live to eat my words.
@Caribkid,
“Someone who was so willing to create change has now suddenly become resistant to the very fibre which created his success. ”
That’s still the one thing, above all else, I can’t wrap my head around when it comes to Arsene Wenger.
@ChicagoGooner,
I have often wondered about that myself with no logical conclusion. Maybe he is just unwilling to accept that his ideology could be imperfect and it has now become an obsession.
Complaints like “they play anti-football” or “their pitch was not in a proper condition”, tend to indicate that he wants everyone else to play on his terms rather than realizing the real world situation of what is. ergo, loss of reality.
How the Serie A has fallen.
The Bundesliga has now displaced the Serie A as the third best league in Europe according to the UEFA coefficients.
So the Serie A now loses one of its CL spots to the Bundesliga!! The Bundesliga now has four.
For anybody growing up in the 90s (or who watched the game in that decade) its just hard to imagine.
The top leagues in Europe are now: England, Spain, Germany (4 CL spots), Italy, France, Portugal (3 CL spots).
The Netherlands on 9th place is also another dramatic decline from the heady days of the early 90s.
@Fred, From the late 1980’s until mid 1990’s, I saw more Serie A than any other league. A big reason for that was access because I got 2-3 Serie A games per week but only one English League fixture. Yet, I enjoyed Serie A back then. The decline in Serie A play has been on for a while but I finally gave up watching it a few years ago. I think there was one fixture where the game play time was 44 minutes. And there were other Serie A games that season where the time was slightly lower. That was it for me. Yet, I have still tried to watch fragments or highlights.
On another note. Sampdoria’s relegation is not surprizing given the downward spiral they have been on but it is still a rare thing to see a team go from 4th to 18th in the following season.
@sachin,
Yeah me too, back in the early 90s, Serie A was the premium league and was always on your TV. Everybody talked about it. And I was living in the Netherlands at the time (which had a strong league).
Now, the Serie A is actually closer in quality to the French league than to the Bundesliga (according to the UEFA coefficients anyway).
The UEFA coefficients takes data from the previous 5 years, so that whole scandal, Juves relegation and Milan’s short decline really screwed the league.
Other than that, you are absolutely right, the amount of time-wasting, diving, etc was just ridiculous. Now they are paying for it.
NEW PREDICTION:
In a short while (after we have secured fourth place), Wenger is going to come out and tell us that he wont buy until we have gotten past the CL qualifier in August.
Ofcourse that would leave us with just 3-4 days till the window shuts. And then we would do fuck all, and he will claim that “he tried” but there was no time to get anything done. :-D
PS: The CL qualifier has gotten much more tricky than it has been in the past when we could get some pesky East European side. Now we are going to be getting the third place team of Germany or fourth place team of Italy and Spain!
Fun times!
I didn’t bother to watch the game . Honing my Dragon speech to text capabilities was absolutely far more important.
Not surprised at the result or the fan’s reception after the game.
Not to panic, but if this season does not force the Board and Arsene to take a long, hard look at how they are doing business then Arsenal is destined for far less greater things than we have all expected for the past few years.
This summer will reveal all, good or bad.
Not meaning to overly pick on RvP …. but at this point the situation up top is just ugly.
Yes, he is on a statistical rampage …. BUT the way he is deployed right now is REALLY BAD for the team!
For most of the time the Girls were in possession of the ball, we had NOBODY anywhere near the Villa center backs, not to talk of being anywhere close to the penalty box.
The team has NO anchor whatsoever with him.
He roams around as a pseudo playmaker while also being the LONE striker. He just isnt fast or strong enough to try to pull an Henry. Even then Henry didnt roam around as much as RvP does now.
On too many occasions you see Sagna (who isnt exactly the fastest) breaking down on the right. The only players running with him are Arshavin on the far left and Thick Theo running right beside him. RvP is behind (busting his gut at a SLOW pace).
But ofcourse he snatches at chances and makes the most of them (like he did again today) …. but overall he is very bad for the team’s shape and chances for next season.
PS: When is the last time we scored a regular, pre-meditated goal??? All the goals we score these days are completely unplanned …luck.
so 4th place is a successful season…
right.
spin it for me.
nobody thought it possible that this team could get a top 4 spot.
what an amazing feat by Wenger.
new manager and a clear out of many players…
its the only way forward.
@stag133,
LOL.
Personally, I really hope Man City take all 6 points from their remaining two games AND that Fulham destroy the Wenger Girls next Sunday.
That way, there will be absolutely no chance of Wenger and his AKB minions “spinning” anything to try to convince us that the club is “statistically” better.
I loved the way Villa scored two non-setpiece goals. Just days after A. Wanker lied that his team was pretty good in that area.
But not to worry, we can still sell off Fabregas and Nasri because Wilshere and Ramsey can “easily” carry the team. As they have done so successfully!
Wow….that was rough….I guess the ref wasn’t intimidated by the home support, nor was our squad likewise motivated….(kinda sad to see Andrey do his best running as he was getting subbed off in maybe his last Emirates performance…..)
To the rubbers….I apologize for jinxing the team by posting my “negative” scenario on the previous thread….
In the end the crowd reaction is probably the biggest story, including Cesc and Nasri (was he texting his agent?) and Fabio Capello, who probably will put Bent and Young on his team while letting Pearce have Walcott and Wilshere. My feed cut out before the “lap of honour” but I heard the boos. Where do I go to buy stock in yellow and black scarves…..
And there goes our pre-season…..10 points from the last 9 fixtures. I thought 15 (from 10) was possible, but I didn’t believe we would collapse to this extent. It’s as if something is rotten at the core…..Does the Emirates cup get bumped forward to accommodate the CL qualifiers?
And I don’t even want to talk about the fantasy league….Would a couple of Squillacis have bought a Hangeland? And what happened up at Anfield?
All told, the less said the better…..
@highburyterracesteve, the only bigger collapse has been my fantasy team the last few weeks. :(
and the award for most like AFC goes to…
@highburyterracesteve, the only bigger collapse has been my fantasy team the last few week. :(
and the award for most like AFC goes to…
@jroybower, me.
I have had the worst collapse of the top 5 in the fantasy league over week 35 & 36. Of course, I had enough silly decisions long before that but those two weeks were just poor for me.
@sachin, you have to finish in the top 4 as the qualifier for the AFC award!
maybe you’ll get the spuds award! ;)
i’ll be doing a complete write up and analysis shortly after the end of season for DAG to post.
@sachin, you have to finish in the top 4 as the qualifier for the AFC award!
maybe you’ll get the spuds award! ;)
i’ll be doing a complete write up and analysis shortly after the end of season for DAG to post.
Thankfully there are only 38 games in the season and not 39 or 42 like a long time ago. Otherwise, the free fall might have continued a bit longer.
@sachin,
At this rate, if there were 42 games we wouldnt finish in the top 8.
@Fred, Which is why I am glad the season will end next week. The bottom of this barrel will finally be reached.
Chelsea drawing with Newcastle at half-time in a yawner. Ancelloti’s last home match? Jose Enrique out of contract….Would he be any worse than Clichy and/or Gibbs at LB? He might be faster than both of them…..
We need to win to keep City at bay, not to mention the home support…..Otherwise, not much to get excited about, except the fantasy league finish and maybe scanning the crowd for some yellow and black scarves….
Question: What’s up with the (US) TV this morning? Both my Fox Soccer stations are saying that they’ll be showing ‘Pool-Spurs. This would piss me off as it costs me $15/month (my total outlay supporting the team/league)….Am I gonna have to find a stream? Hell, even if Arsenal aren’t on I should get a second match (maybe West Ham trying to keep their heads above the relegation line at Wigan)….
Anyhow, not much to be excited about, but I’ll head to the GDC if anybody cares to join me….
Manchester City didn’t choke, and I’d suggest their fans are rather happy about their cup win + CL football. Nothing like a trophy.
It seems Rice is to stay. Yawn. Not surprised – why change the mediocre?
And an Arsenal protest to happen. Some say bad/poor timing. I’d say perfect. Why wait until the end of season? Truth is, when the season ends there is NO meaningful analysis of what happened just a sense of (immeasured) hope for the new season. No, now is the time, before the players saunter off to sun themselves. Let them and the manager and the board and the majority owner know that many don’t agree with the status quo.
If you don’t like the push back – tough.
@Kiwi,
Congrats to City – 35 years is a long wait.
Not surprised actually about Pat Rice – Wenger has not wanted him to go. Still think there will be some staff changes though. Just my eternal optimist – until reality tells me otherwise I keep a positive outlook.
Noone has argued the protest is bad timing. The biggest argument is – will it really achieve anything. The overwhelming response is no. I’ll be watching the twitter feed to track the reports. Should be interesting to say the least
@DaAdminGooner, bad timing?
surely, the club would prefer they gather at Hyde Park on a Tuesday afternoon in July.
Will a protest acheive anything?
NOT THE POINT!
You will never know, unless you have the protest. If you say, oh, that won’t do anything, lets go get some shirts and a scarf and a 9 GBP beer… we’ll all be stuck with more of the same shit.
The game.
Not caring at all about it.
Hope there are not any injuries.
@DaAdminGooner, bad timing?
surely, the club would prefer they gather at Hyde Park on a Tuesday afternoon in July.
Will a protest acheive anything?
NOT THE POINT!
You will never know, unless you have the protest. If you say, oh, that won’t do anything, lets go get some shirts and a scarf and a 9 GBP beer… we’ll all be stuck with more of the same shit.
The game.
Not caring at all about it.
Hope there are not any injuries.
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