So hello, here we are and what a day. It's Friday, yesterday was Thanks Giving, I'm sure we've all thanked accordingly and it's now on to the football. Tuesday saw us take care of Standard Liege at home in the CL. I was going a little crazy with my girlfriend being away for a week and here's what I ended up doing that day, an exact recording:
I woke up this morning with the groggy left overs of a night spent smoking endless, potent joints and drinking Simpler Times pig piss larger while fornicating wildly with my now departing girlfriend.
She's on her way home to Florida for Thanks Giving, leaving me for days I'll spend smoking dope like a chimney and drinking like a thirsty beast.
It's 2:45PM and my first Newcastle Brown after my 3 joints puts me a little behind schedule. We've just kicked off and have fielded a strange but assuredly stron starting eleven.
Eboue and Gibbs are in at fullback, while Almunia stays precariously between the sticks. We'll need our young Polack to get it together so we can see the back of Almunia, who can go retire early in Spain and spend his time fishing, drinking wine and smoking cigarettes. Denilson comes in for his first match in a long time with Song and Fabregas in midfield. Vela's central up front with Arshavin and Nasri outside him. With our depth very much on display, let's hope we don't show a soft spot.
My friend Josh is very late and a creepy Gypsy has taken his seet and is playing the accordion.
He's arrived and we've moved away from the music. Arsenal are playing quickly and proficiently without too much penetration but you can feel a goal coming.
Song takes an arm in the teeth. Eboue dives when he should have stood up and scored. Perhaps were it not so theatrical it would have been given, contact is evident. But Eboue is rotten, maybe rotten to the core. But he's our right back tonight and so we get behind him. Also I think he's sometimes pretty good.
They hammer the post, we were very lucky. The ref gives a moronic, slobbering vegetable, drug induced decision to give them a free kick when their left back tripped their left winger. Gallas/Arshavin should have scored from 6 yards out but headed over. Arshavin's head explodes after the collision with the Frenchman who is also injured. Arshavin is bleeding to death while holding a beach towel on his wound. Another one of our troops injured by friendly fire in a battle with a continental enemy. Gallas looks bad too. Like a half cyborg half human cyborg out for brains.
Down to nine men now and Nasri scores clinically after their defender slips. The injured return. Gallas destroys a man's lower body in the box, nothing given. They miss a free header from a corner. Silvestre is warming up in a nightmarish scene on the sidelines, but could be a better option than zombie/rotob Gallas.
Fabregas shoots inches wide. Arshavin gets smashed in the face, surely he's out for nine weeks. We're putting on dazzling jewels and ruby flicks while the crowd watches on in amazement. The enemy tries to smash us up to bits but we score again. Our Brazilian bits one from 30 yards after being smashed in the torso.
2 nil at half time, the one wounded return to the lines and are making the difference. Godo value for our lead, it could be more. Gallas off at half time to return to human form and the 95 year old fish man Silvestre steps in with Senderos receiving no pity or confidence. Cesc shoots wide from 20 yards.
Second half notes are limited for various reasons. Could have been more but it wasn't. We win the game, we win the group, we play Chelsea Sunday.
Anyway, I think that sums up the match pretty well actually. The win has come at a price though and you had to think it was only a matter of time before we were just torn apart by injuries, but this weekend is a bad time. We're pretty ravaged and while we do have some good depth, we are exposed in some places and we could be in trouble on Sunday.
Already existing are injuries to, Djourou, Clichy, Fabianski, Diaby, Bendtner and of course RvP. So, as it stood, we were down our starting left back, good thing we have 4 on the books, down our 3rd choice center back, with our next choices not so choice we're down to threads there, down 1 of a 100 midfielders and both of our established center forwards, one of whom is on the best form of his career.
Now Keiron Gibbs is having or has had surgery on a broken foot bone and Gallas is out with a swollen eye. So, in step Silvester, the worlds oldest Gargantuan, French Fishheaded center back and Traore, an unconvincing, albeit speedy, 3rd choice left back.
Gallas isn't necesarily out for Sunday, he's just a doubt, we'll see what happens and we have a couple of good returners coming back to good effect with Denilson and Nasri. No center forward is a kick in the pants though, lets hope that Eduardo can make up for our missing physicality, which'll be a hard thing to overcome against Chelsea.
I do think that Gallas will recover and so our biggest problems will be at left back and at center forward. Wenger may be tempted to play Silvester at left back to help out with the set pieces and because they really don't have a right winger, Ballack will always be cutting inside. As long as we keep the ball off the ground and Eduardo is mobile, we should be OK up front. Should Eduardo play on current form though and we may fall flat up front. Chelsea are Chelsea, we know what we're up against. Even if they're not at full strength they'll be strong everywhere. Drogba and Anelka have given us trouble before and our boys at the back have to work hard to stop them on Sunday. I'll love to see Verminator v Drogba battle.
Anyway, more about the players involved tomorrow.
Highbury86
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Late Sunderland Review, Champions' League Preview
Hello,
We'll get right to it. We lost to Sunderland. We were without van Persie and had no ample replacement with Bendtner also out. Eduardo was put in place but didn't fill the role adequately. Nasri was fairly limp and didn't penetrate and Rosicky wasn't as active as we've come to expect. Cesc played fairly well although he again struggled to find good deliveries from set pieces. Diaby was missed as well with Ramsey filling in and playing far deeper than Diaby and not winning nearly as many tackles in the middle. Song was our best player over all and we didn't play too poorly, just very, very flat and didn't penetrate as often as we would have liked. That said we had a few chances that maybe should have been put away and I should also point out that without Diaby, either Nasri or Rosicky seems to me the better replacement as they have a spark and urgency going forward, where as Ramsey is a better replacement for Cesc.
We let in a goal from one of their few chances. Darren Bent reacted quickly after a fairly lucky deflection and we were 1 nil down. It was hard to see us coming back at that point and the longer the game went on the less we looked like scoring. Vela wasn't too great and when he went down the ref was spot on not to give a penalty. We missed the final ball and the mobility and clever play of van Persie and a driving force in the midfield. It's a true blow to our title chances, with each loss other losses seem bigger than before and should we not win today we could fall down a slippery slope as we have a tough patch ahead and need a couple of players back.
Walcott, while ineffective against Sunderland will likely play today. I expect them to hold tight and attack quickly. Hopefully the game will open a little and we can get an early goal to settle the nerves. Settled nerves and some assurance of our quality is needed tonight ahead of the now super crucial match against Chelsea on Sunday.
It looks like we have Gibbs back and he may feature. I wasn't very impressed with Traore at the weekend. I also think Eboue will play and could provide a spark out wide. It'd be nice to win the group and a win tonight will do that. I'm looking forward to the match and am hoping for something of a pick up in performance and a rennaissance of creativity. Let's hope whoever starts central today will do the business up front.
Highbury86
We'll get right to it. We lost to Sunderland. We were without van Persie and had no ample replacement with Bendtner also out. Eduardo was put in place but didn't fill the role adequately. Nasri was fairly limp and didn't penetrate and Rosicky wasn't as active as we've come to expect. Cesc played fairly well although he again struggled to find good deliveries from set pieces. Diaby was missed as well with Ramsey filling in and playing far deeper than Diaby and not winning nearly as many tackles in the middle. Song was our best player over all and we didn't play too poorly, just very, very flat and didn't penetrate as often as we would have liked. That said we had a few chances that maybe should have been put away and I should also point out that without Diaby, either Nasri or Rosicky seems to me the better replacement as they have a spark and urgency going forward, where as Ramsey is a better replacement for Cesc.
We let in a goal from one of their few chances. Darren Bent reacted quickly after a fairly lucky deflection and we were 1 nil down. It was hard to see us coming back at that point and the longer the game went on the less we looked like scoring. Vela wasn't too great and when he went down the ref was spot on not to give a penalty. We missed the final ball and the mobility and clever play of van Persie and a driving force in the midfield. It's a true blow to our title chances, with each loss other losses seem bigger than before and should we not win today we could fall down a slippery slope as we have a tough patch ahead and need a couple of players back.
Walcott, while ineffective against Sunderland will likely play today. I expect them to hold tight and attack quickly. Hopefully the game will open a little and we can get an early goal to settle the nerves. Settled nerves and some assurance of our quality is needed tonight ahead of the now super crucial match against Chelsea on Sunday.
It looks like we have Gibbs back and he may feature. I wasn't very impressed with Traore at the weekend. I also think Eboue will play and could provide a spark out wide. It'd be nice to win the group and a win tonight will do that. I'm looking forward to the match and am hoping for something of a pick up in performance and a rennaissance of creativity. Let's hope whoever starts central today will do the business up front.
Highbury86
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Sunderland Preview plus some more
Hello everyone, it's been a while. I've been super busy so haven't really taken any time out to write any blogs during the interlul. The interlul has been and gone now and it was more disappointing than usual. It had such great potential, some good teams playing each other for world cup spots and all that but the seeding system didn't do the spectacle any favors and I know there are a lot of people really slagging off Thierry Henry in just about the dumbest ways possible, but I have to agree with some of it. He obviously did it on purpose and it's just about the worst kind of cheating. There was a lot at stake and it was unfair to Ireland, but part of me thinks that he was just being a little cheeky and was surprised to get away with it. Either way, the result wasn't good and I would welcome a long time ban. All those people calling for him to have gone to the ref and admitted it during the game are mental and the rest of those who are saying he's tarnished his status as an Arsenal legend are super mental. He hasn't played for Arsenal for a few years and this game, although there were a few of our boys involved, had nothing to do with Arsenal, so fuck off to those guys.
van Persie's injury was another awful result of the interlul. It happened in a friendly, which is just an extra kick in the pants. He's bang in form and will be missed but let's hope that the horse placenta and bat seamon he's rubbing into his wound helps the situation. Of course Bentdner's gone for a while too and so our only center forwards left are Eduardo and Vela, both tiny little dudes. Loosing physicality is obnoxious and potentially dangerous but not near as obnoxious as seeing Rosicky, Nasri, Walcott, Vela, Fabianski and Almunia coming back only to see RvP, Bendtner, Clichy and Gibbs fall out. It seems we'll never have a complete squad this season.
Sunderland today and while this wouldn't have been too much of a challenge in the past few seasons they've been running very well in this one and the fact that it's away will make it even more difficult. Of course I think we'll have too much for them in the end but we'll have to be careful. We're still capable of some goals, as any team with Vermaelen is, but we'll be depending on Eduardo, Rosicky and Nasri for them, with Arshavin on the bench after his World Cup disappointment.
Ramsey has come in for Diaby in midfield and while I like to see him, I have to say that I don't like he and Cesc playing together, as they're just a bit too similar. Cesc and Song will be along side him of course and at the back Traore finally gets his chance with the other two left backs injured.
I feel it'll be a bit of a boring game for a while as they're sure to stuff 5 into midfield, which'll make for Rosicky and Nasri dropping back and no real opportunities to counter.
Anyway, there'll be more on the van Persie and Rosicky stuff in coming blogs, for now we'll just watch the game at hand.
Highbury86
van Persie's injury was another awful result of the interlul. It happened in a friendly, which is just an extra kick in the pants. He's bang in form and will be missed but let's hope that the horse placenta and bat seamon he's rubbing into his wound helps the situation. Of course Bentdner's gone for a while too and so our only center forwards left are Eduardo and Vela, both tiny little dudes. Loosing physicality is obnoxious and potentially dangerous but not near as obnoxious as seeing Rosicky, Nasri, Walcott, Vela, Fabianski and Almunia coming back only to see RvP, Bendtner, Clichy and Gibbs fall out. It seems we'll never have a complete squad this season.
Sunderland today and while this wouldn't have been too much of a challenge in the past few seasons they've been running very well in this one and the fact that it's away will make it even more difficult. Of course I think we'll have too much for them in the end but we'll have to be careful. We're still capable of some goals, as any team with Vermaelen is, but we'll be depending on Eduardo, Rosicky and Nasri for them, with Arshavin on the bench after his World Cup disappointment.
Ramsey has come in for Diaby in midfield and while I like to see him, I have to say that I don't like he and Cesc playing together, as they're just a bit too similar. Cesc and Song will be along side him of course and at the back Traore finally gets his chance with the other two left backs injured.
I feel it'll be a bit of a boring game for a while as they're sure to stuff 5 into midfield, which'll make for Rosicky and Nasri dropping back and no real opportunities to counter.
Anyway, there'll be more on the van Persie and Rosicky stuff in coming blogs, for now we'll just watch the game at hand.
Highbury86
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Late Wolves Review, the rest is catching up
So, a lot of catching up to do this afternoon. It was a busy weekend for me and the premier league. I had to tear up the floor boards in my kitchen and replace them with tiles while Man U played Chelsea, Liverpool played Birmingham (that was yesterday, not really the weekend) and we took on Wolves.
The opening 20 minutes of our game was a little tense with the promoted team coming at us hard. They pressed us hard and went forward very well. All their passes were coming off all their players were working hard and they were getting in behind our Songless midfield but never really penetrated too much, except for a chance off a corner and another I can't remember.
What was for me the best part of the match and a pleasure this season is affording us fans, is that you never really felt like we were going to concede. And if we were to concede you just always feel that we have goals in us. Lots of goals, not to mention that there was just no way that Wolves were ever going to be able to keep up that pace and intensity for much longer.
They didn't score and somewhat against the run of play for the match that far, we scored from a corner. Diaby had gone off for Song and it completely changed the complexion of the game. Song broke up their play and as they kept coming at us, turned the back foot into the front in the midfield and we countered perfectly well and scored a second goal when Eduardo was put through by Ramsey. He played an odd little chipped pass intended for the onrushing Robin van Persie, which seems harsh on young Ramsey who was the simpler option, but the ball popped off a defenders head and looped over the keeper and into the far post. 2 own goals, Eduardo our closest player on both and we were 2 nil up against poor old Wolves.
We still had time to put away a 3rd in the first 45 minutes. Cesc played the ball down the line for Sagna who went bombarding into their half. Cesc went flying forward and the new and improved attacking Sagna played a ball into van Persie's excellent lateral run and he killed the ball with one touch for Cesc to run onto and finish for his 9th of the season.
My recording ran blank for some reason at half time and so I only saw highlights of the second half but Arshavin scored a half decent goal. So we hit four in another game and let in one in the last few minutes again too. We're really flying on the goals tally and after United lost to Chelsea, we're up to 2nd in the league. Liverpool dropped more points and really look out of the race, although you never really know.
Our recent form has a lot of people saying a lot of stuff about us winning trophies, including Eduardo. In some bad news, it looks like Bendtner will be out for a while, as he has to have surgery on his groin. I think at first glance this doesn't look all that bad, Danish player of the year or no, he's certainly not our most vital forward, but he is the only forward with some good physicality who's good in the air and so he will be missed in plenty of games. But this could give Vela a chance to break into the team, but with Walcott on the mend and Rosicky and Nasri back who knows.
More on our depth later in the week.
In other news, van Persie has been named Premier League player of the year. Congratulations to him, I'm not sure when the last time an Arsenal player was named player of the month.
Highbury86
The opening 20 minutes of our game was a little tense with the promoted team coming at us hard. They pressed us hard and went forward very well. All their passes were coming off all their players were working hard and they were getting in behind our Songless midfield but never really penetrated too much, except for a chance off a corner and another I can't remember.
What was for me the best part of the match and a pleasure this season is affording us fans, is that you never really felt like we were going to concede. And if we were to concede you just always feel that we have goals in us. Lots of goals, not to mention that there was just no way that Wolves were ever going to be able to keep up that pace and intensity for much longer.
They didn't score and somewhat against the run of play for the match that far, we scored from a corner. Diaby had gone off for Song and it completely changed the complexion of the game. Song broke up their play and as they kept coming at us, turned the back foot into the front in the midfield and we countered perfectly well and scored a second goal when Eduardo was put through by Ramsey. He played an odd little chipped pass intended for the onrushing Robin van Persie, which seems harsh on young Ramsey who was the simpler option, but the ball popped off a defenders head and looped over the keeper and into the far post. 2 own goals, Eduardo our closest player on both and we were 2 nil up against poor old Wolves.
We still had time to put away a 3rd in the first 45 minutes. Cesc played the ball down the line for Sagna who went bombarding into their half. Cesc went flying forward and the new and improved attacking Sagna played a ball into van Persie's excellent lateral run and he killed the ball with one touch for Cesc to run onto and finish for his 9th of the season.
My recording ran blank for some reason at half time and so I only saw highlights of the second half but Arshavin scored a half decent goal. So we hit four in another game and let in one in the last few minutes again too. We're really flying on the goals tally and after United lost to Chelsea, we're up to 2nd in the league. Liverpool dropped more points and really look out of the race, although you never really know.
Our recent form has a lot of people saying a lot of stuff about us winning trophies, including Eduardo. In some bad news, it looks like Bendtner will be out for a while, as he has to have surgery on his groin. I think at first glance this doesn't look all that bad, Danish player of the year or no, he's certainly not our most vital forward, but he is the only forward with some good physicality who's good in the air and so he will be missed in plenty of games. But this could give Vela a chance to break into the team, but with Walcott on the mend and Rosicky and Nasri back who knows.
More on our depth later in the week.
In other news, van Persie has been named Premier League player of the year. Congratulations to him, I'm not sure when the last time an Arsenal player was named player of the month.
Highbury86
Friday, November 6, 2009
Wolves Tomorrow
Hello from hell on earth - Atlanta. I hope I'm not rubbing anybody the wrong way but this place is awful and is getting increasingly worse. I'm heading back to Denver as soon as is possible. I will miss the BrewHouse, but such is life I guess.
I've got a terrible head ache this morning, likely brought on by the new stress brought on at work. I'm always getting the stress run from my parents about graduate school so I'm used to the lengthy conversations we've been having but it was all compounded by the fact that my boss has now banned all talking or leaning at work. "Stand at attention, always be standing at attention." He's deathly scared of his bosses and is really pretty pathetic and it's part of why I hate this place so much. My head is killing me anyway.
So, onto Wolves tomorrow. They're 17th in the table and struggled in the beginning but have been picking up a little lately. Not that we should be scared, despite what their manager says about coming at us. I can't imagine that doing anything but opening up the park for us to spray passes and move quickly into holes and behind their defenses and score plenty of goals, which is exactly what I expect given our current form.
Fabregas has been on fire lately, 8 goals and 11 assists in 13 games make him Cesc Fabregas statistically and the way he's been playing to achieve these statistics make him Cesc Fabregas all the rest of the time. He's an excellent captain, proving wise well beyond his years in the press, leading by example on the park and no doubt in training and on the form he's in now he has to be the best midfielder in the world. Robin van Persie can certainly attest. Wenger's been singing about RvP lately too and he and Cesc really have been on great form and are playing some outstanding football while being very productive in the goals and assists department.
In other good news we have no new injuries, a rather pleasant little surprise, although we don't have anyone back from injury either, but with Vela, Traore, Denilson, Walcott and Fabianski all very close, if we can just stay fit for the next few weeks we could be up to full strength, which no matter what trophies we win or how many goals we score, would be the feat of the season.
Now, Vela will be on the fringe of the team and hopefully will get some time to prove himself because he has something world class in him and I think we'd all like to see it. Traore might get some chances coming up with Clichy out and Gibbs in to deputize, which means that Traore will likely play in the Carling Cup and obviously for Gibbs should he need a sub. Walcott should slide right into the team, especially with Bendtner out and Fabianski will give Almunia a worry, which'll be good for everybody. Denilson's return is the most intriguing. What does it mean for Diaby? With Nasri and Rosicky back where will everyone slot in. Diaby has been decent in his run in the team with a few goals but he really hasn't wowed anyone with his many giveaways and some slack defending.
Rosicky has been on fire this season when he's played and is a certain starter, up front or in the middle is the question. With Walcott being a likely starter you'd have to say in the middle. But then there's Nasri who showed his class with a great goal in midweek. Denilson is super efficient if not too spectacular and he's come along leaps and bounds and I think we've all come to like the boy. So a rotation of top class attacking midfielders and forwards seems likely to continue but for the first time this season we look like we might have all our weapons loaded.
Anyway, in other news the club have agreed a deal with the next Cesc Fabregas, Fran Merida but the deal is yet to be signed. Finally, as I'm sure everyone knows by now, Kroenke has upped his stakes in the club to 29.9 percent, putting him a fraction of a percent away from his obligatory take over bid. This doesn't mean that anyone has to sell to him but the fact that he's been so quiet is slightly suspicious. We'll have to see how it unfolds.
So Wolves tomorrow, should be another 3 points in the form we're in and I'm looking forward to some good football.
Highbury86
I've got a terrible head ache this morning, likely brought on by the new stress brought on at work. I'm always getting the stress run from my parents about graduate school so I'm used to the lengthy conversations we've been having but it was all compounded by the fact that my boss has now banned all talking or leaning at work. "Stand at attention, always be standing at attention." He's deathly scared of his bosses and is really pretty pathetic and it's part of why I hate this place so much. My head is killing me anyway.
So, onto Wolves tomorrow. They're 17th in the table and struggled in the beginning but have been picking up a little lately. Not that we should be scared, despite what their manager says about coming at us. I can't imagine that doing anything but opening up the park for us to spray passes and move quickly into holes and behind their defenses and score plenty of goals, which is exactly what I expect given our current form.
Fabregas has been on fire lately, 8 goals and 11 assists in 13 games make him Cesc Fabregas statistically and the way he's been playing to achieve these statistics make him Cesc Fabregas all the rest of the time. He's an excellent captain, proving wise well beyond his years in the press, leading by example on the park and no doubt in training and on the form he's in now he has to be the best midfielder in the world. Robin van Persie can certainly attest. Wenger's been singing about RvP lately too and he and Cesc really have been on great form and are playing some outstanding football while being very productive in the goals and assists department.
In other good news we have no new injuries, a rather pleasant little surprise, although we don't have anyone back from injury either, but with Vela, Traore, Denilson, Walcott and Fabianski all very close, if we can just stay fit for the next few weeks we could be up to full strength, which no matter what trophies we win or how many goals we score, would be the feat of the season.
Now, Vela will be on the fringe of the team and hopefully will get some time to prove himself because he has something world class in him and I think we'd all like to see it. Traore might get some chances coming up with Clichy out and Gibbs in to deputize, which means that Traore will likely play in the Carling Cup and obviously for Gibbs should he need a sub. Walcott should slide right into the team, especially with Bendtner out and Fabianski will give Almunia a worry, which'll be good for everybody. Denilson's return is the most intriguing. What does it mean for Diaby? With Nasri and Rosicky back where will everyone slot in. Diaby has been decent in his run in the team with a few goals but he really hasn't wowed anyone with his many giveaways and some slack defending.
Rosicky has been on fire this season when he's played and is a certain starter, up front or in the middle is the question. With Walcott being a likely starter you'd have to say in the middle. But then there's Nasri who showed his class with a great goal in midweek. Denilson is super efficient if not too spectacular and he's come along leaps and bounds and I think we've all come to like the boy. So a rotation of top class attacking midfielders and forwards seems likely to continue but for the first time this season we look like we might have all our weapons loaded.
Anyway, in other news the club have agreed a deal with the next Cesc Fabregas, Fran Merida but the deal is yet to be signed. Finally, as I'm sure everyone knows by now, Kroenke has upped his stakes in the club to 29.9 percent, putting him a fraction of a percent away from his obligatory take over bid. This doesn't mean that anyone has to sell to him but the fact that he's been so quiet is slightly suspicious. We'll have to see how it unfolds.
So Wolves tomorrow, should be another 3 points in the form we're in and I'm looking forward to some good football.
Highbury86
Thursday, November 5, 2009
All but Through in the Champions' League
Morning everyone, hope you all enjoyed the game yesterday afternoon. I couldn't watch it until about 1 AM because it was on during work, so I slept through a lot of it, but I've just watched it again and we were outstanding.
Clichy sat out with a broken back and so Gibbs came in at left back. Sagna was rested and Eboue slotted in defense on the other side. I've said before that I thought Eboue would replace Sagna at some point in the season but I have to concede that I no longer think so. Sagna has been on wonderful form, perhaps the best we've ever seen, barring that first month or so when he was on fire. What I think is going on is that they'll share time depending on the fixture. When it's a bit more beneficial to have a flying forward attack out of defense then we're likely to see Eboue, when the more defensive minded and solid Sagna is required then we'll of course see Sagna. A fine system that could really help us win some matches.
Vermaelen and Gallas held down the middle and our current midfield 3 played with Nasri slotting in up front alongside van Persie and Arshavin. Despite our injury issues we were able to put out a very strong side with a nice bench as well. We really have some great depth all over. We'll just forget about centerbacks and holding midfielders for now.
We started brightly on what looked like a really cold night and could have scored on 3 minutes. Song won the ball just inside our half and played to Cesc who turned very nicely on the half way line and fed it in to Arshavin who dinked it over to Diaby who passed it on to Cesc ahead of him who flicked it on over to Arshavin who played in van Persie whose right foot shot fizzed just an inch wide of the far post.
We continued to dominate the first half with nice passing and good individual work on the ball to create space. We didn't exactly attack with urgency and didn't really create many more clear cut chances but definitely deserved our 2 nil advantage at half time.
We got our first on 25 minutes when the ball moved from our right all the way back to the middle of our defense for Gallas to storm forward and feed Fabregas on the left of the box. He cut inside and hit a low shot and squeezed in on the near side with a fairly tame shot. The keeper really should have kept it out but we're not complaining. It was a lead that was coming and one that made the rest of the game very comfortable.
The rest of the half was fairly slow and innocuous. They got a couple of shots away but Almunia looked confident and they were never going to score. The new slightly heavier Sami Nasri scored the second after 43 minutes when Arshavin turned neatly and slid Nasri in on goal between the center backs and he stop started both of them out of the game and drove forward to score neatly. 2 nil at the break.
It didn't take us long to find the net in the second half. Just seven minutes in, Arshavin set up his second for Cesc's second as set went on to curl high into the net, over the diving keeper as he bore down on goal. It was a very nice goal and a great finish for Fabregas' 8th goal of the season.
A few minutes later they almost got back into the game when Eboue lost out in the air on the far side of our box and Pelle fired a volley in from close range but Almunia made a great reaction save to push it onto the bar.
Largely due to the meek crowd, most of the rest of the game was played out rather clinically and at a slow pace but there were 2 more goals.
Fabregas made way after 66 minutes to a standing ovation. He was robbed a hatrick I feel but I'd rather rest him than give him the chance. van Persie was replaced as well with Eduardo and Ramsey coming on.
Gibbs hit a great right footer along the ground just inches wide on 67 minutes, and then we got our fourth with a sublime move that started with an Eduardo backheel on the half way line and saw Arshavin set up another, this time for Diaby, who curled into the top corner. It was some goal, it really was beautiful football.
The very productive Arshavin went off for the last fifteen minutes with Rosicky coming on.
Our performance overall was excellent. After our 3rd and 4th we slowed down a bit but we weren't playing narrow, we were using both wings in the same spell of play. Our fullbacks were attacking plenty, Nasri, who's packed on a few pounds since last season, was very effective and Cesc was all over the place, having the kind of performance you maybe had once every 10 practices when you were a kid, where nothing was going wrong and you were bouyed and effervescent. He ruled the game with some great turns, fine passes and 2 very nice goals.
But still we couldn't keep a clean sheet, Almunia unable to keep out a low toe poke into the near post from the edge of the area.
We're all but through after a fine game and so far, a few blips aside, our season is going swimmingly. Wenger has had some things to say about the current team and Eboue is talking up Cesc. Lets hope for a speedy recovery for Gael Clichy and look forward to Wolves at the weekend. It's nice to have Nasri back and he's looking good too.
Clichy sat out with a broken back and so Gibbs came in at left back. Sagna was rested and Eboue slotted in defense on the other side. I've said before that I thought Eboue would replace Sagna at some point in the season but I have to concede that I no longer think so. Sagna has been on wonderful form, perhaps the best we've ever seen, barring that first month or so when he was on fire. What I think is going on is that they'll share time depending on the fixture. When it's a bit more beneficial to have a flying forward attack out of defense then we're likely to see Eboue, when the more defensive minded and solid Sagna is required then we'll of course see Sagna. A fine system that could really help us win some matches.
Vermaelen and Gallas held down the middle and our current midfield 3 played with Nasri slotting in up front alongside van Persie and Arshavin. Despite our injury issues we were able to put out a very strong side with a nice bench as well. We really have some great depth all over. We'll just forget about centerbacks and holding midfielders for now.
We started brightly on what looked like a really cold night and could have scored on 3 minutes. Song won the ball just inside our half and played to Cesc who turned very nicely on the half way line and fed it in to Arshavin who dinked it over to Diaby who passed it on to Cesc ahead of him who flicked it on over to Arshavin who played in van Persie whose right foot shot fizzed just an inch wide of the far post.
We continued to dominate the first half with nice passing and good individual work on the ball to create space. We didn't exactly attack with urgency and didn't really create many more clear cut chances but definitely deserved our 2 nil advantage at half time.
We got our first on 25 minutes when the ball moved from our right all the way back to the middle of our defense for Gallas to storm forward and feed Fabregas on the left of the box. He cut inside and hit a low shot and squeezed in on the near side with a fairly tame shot. The keeper really should have kept it out but we're not complaining. It was a lead that was coming and one that made the rest of the game very comfortable.
The rest of the half was fairly slow and innocuous. They got a couple of shots away but Almunia looked confident and they were never going to score. The new slightly heavier Sami Nasri scored the second after 43 minutes when Arshavin turned neatly and slid Nasri in on goal between the center backs and he stop started both of them out of the game and drove forward to score neatly. 2 nil at the break.
It didn't take us long to find the net in the second half. Just seven minutes in, Arshavin set up his second for Cesc's second as set went on to curl high into the net, over the diving keeper as he bore down on goal. It was a very nice goal and a great finish for Fabregas' 8th goal of the season.
A few minutes later they almost got back into the game when Eboue lost out in the air on the far side of our box and Pelle fired a volley in from close range but Almunia made a great reaction save to push it onto the bar.
Largely due to the meek crowd, most of the rest of the game was played out rather clinically and at a slow pace but there were 2 more goals.
Fabregas made way after 66 minutes to a standing ovation. He was robbed a hatrick I feel but I'd rather rest him than give him the chance. van Persie was replaced as well with Eduardo and Ramsey coming on.
Gibbs hit a great right footer along the ground just inches wide on 67 minutes, and then we got our fourth with a sublime move that started with an Eduardo backheel on the half way line and saw Arshavin set up another, this time for Diaby, who curled into the top corner. It was some goal, it really was beautiful football.
The very productive Arshavin went off for the last fifteen minutes with Rosicky coming on.
Our performance overall was excellent. After our 3rd and 4th we slowed down a bit but we weren't playing narrow, we were using both wings in the same spell of play. Our fullbacks were attacking plenty, Nasri, who's packed on a few pounds since last season, was very effective and Cesc was all over the place, having the kind of performance you maybe had once every 10 practices when you were a kid, where nothing was going wrong and you were bouyed and effervescent. He ruled the game with some great turns, fine passes and 2 very nice goals.
But still we couldn't keep a clean sheet, Almunia unable to keep out a low toe poke into the near post from the edge of the area.
We're all but through after a fine game and so far, a few blips aside, our season is going swimmingly. Wenger has had some things to say about the current team and Eboue is talking up Cesc. Lets hope for a speedy recovery for Gael Clichy and look forward to Wolves at the weekend. It's nice to have Nasri back and he's looking good too.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Alkmaar Preview
Well, hello and welcome back to the Champions' League. A win in our game and an Olympiacos draw or win in the other fixture sees us through tonight, something I'd put a lot of money on. We've got some bad news ahead of the match with Bentdner and Clichy out for a while each with serious injuries. Bendtner's groin will keep him out and Clichy's back is suspected of being fractured, which could keep him out for up to a month. Gibbs will deputize and Wenger's praising the boy in the press. No doubt the boy's talented and we all have a soft spot for him, as he's from London and seems to have a good head on him, but I don't know about this World Cup business and it may put some unnecessary pressure on him ahead of what could be a lengthy spell in the side.
So we're now without Denilson, Clichy, Bendtner, Djourou and Fabianski and of course Theo, but on the plus side we have Rosicky and Nasri back in town. Denilson should be the next to come back with Theo next and Fabianski shortly after. It looks like Clichy's a month and Bendtner will be 3 weeks. By then Gallas and Eduardo will be injured.
One man who won't be injured who'll be providing our firepower tonight is Robin van Persie. The man's on great form, scoring goals for fun in the last 6/7 and will be looking to continue his form. He has been a rather streaky player and I don't doubt his scoring run will continue tonight.
Arshavin will be looking to get a good performance for the first time this season. He's been decent in some games and a little sub par in others, but he's really yet to hit close to his form last season.
Nasri or Rosicky should certainly see some time tonight, as I'm sure Ramsey will, tonight may be the beginning of his usurping Diaby in the interim while Rosicky wiggles back into the starting 11. I'm really hoping for a good performance from the team along with a nice hefty win. Qualification for the last 16 will give us the option of resting some players ahead of some important league games so let's hope the Greeks come through and it happens tonight.
Not much other than that. There's no real need to talk about the other team. They're not doing all that well in the Dutch league and I don't expect them to do us much damage at home. I'm sure they'll be up for a fight but I think we'll just have too much for them.
See you after the game.
Highbury86
So we're now without Denilson, Clichy, Bendtner, Djourou and Fabianski and of course Theo, but on the plus side we have Rosicky and Nasri back in town. Denilson should be the next to come back with Theo next and Fabianski shortly after. It looks like Clichy's a month and Bendtner will be 3 weeks. By then Gallas and Eduardo will be injured.
One man who won't be injured who'll be providing our firepower tonight is Robin van Persie. The man's on great form, scoring goals for fun in the last 6/7 and will be looking to continue his form. He has been a rather streaky player and I don't doubt his scoring run will continue tonight.
Arshavin will be looking to get a good performance for the first time this season. He's been decent in some games and a little sub par in others, but he's really yet to hit close to his form last season.
Nasri or Rosicky should certainly see some time tonight, as I'm sure Ramsey will, tonight may be the beginning of his usurping Diaby in the interim while Rosicky wiggles back into the starting 11. I'm really hoping for a good performance from the team along with a nice hefty win. Qualification for the last 16 will give us the option of resting some players ahead of some important league games so let's hope the Greeks come through and it happens tonight.
Not much other than that. There's no real need to talk about the other team. They're not doing all that well in the Dutch league and I don't expect them to do us much damage at home. I'm sure they'll be up for a fight but I think we'll just have too much for them.
See you after the game.
Highbury86
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