Theo Ensures Safe Passage For Arsenal
Aug 27th, 2008 by 'holic
I was quick to come out and criticise the side for their performance on Saturday. Just as that one setback did not rule us out of contention for honours this term, so the four goal drubbing of FC Twente does not make us suddenly favourites to triumph in the Champions League.
Somewhere between those extremes we have to acknowledge a much-improved performance tonight. I said at half-time that we looked good and they didn’t. I was not sure which caused the other, and it doesn’t really matter.
What does matter is that we beat a very poor side comfortably, and some players who came in for some stick on Saturday responded in the way you would want to see. Let me first mention William Gallas. I cannot hide the fact that I am not his biggest fan, but again he had something to prove, and he did just that. Given a relatively quiet night at the back he ventured forward to score the second goal after Nicklas Bendtner saw his shot parried by the Dutch ‘keeper.
By that time though, Theo Walcott had already made his mark. I thought he was harshly dealt with on Saturday. Given poor service by a malfunctioning midfield he was taken off through no fault of his own. Tonight he scared the living daylights out of the visitors defence every time he got the ball.
On twenty-seven minutes from a typical right-flank burst Walcott cut the ball back, van Persie got an important touch, and Samir Nasri danced his way through to open the scoring. If his striking colleagues were on song the tricky Walcott would have had another couple of assists to his credit by the break.
Midway through the second half Theo finally got the goal his performance had deserved. A quality finish with the inside of his right foot brought unnecessary comparisons with one who has now moved on. The scoring was completed when Bendtner applied the finishing touch to a magical Denilson backheel. The little Brazilian too survived a shaky opening to show that he had put the weekend behind him.
Apart from the goals we could point towards the return of Cesc Fabregas, and the introduction of Alex Song as a second-half substitute, as positive steps towards strengthening the midfield options available to Arsene Wenger. Clearly we would all like to see them supplemented by a new signing or two, and we will just have to wait and hope that happens by next Monday’s deadline.
For now let’s hope a little perspective returns. No, we are not invincible, but we have negotiated our passage to the lucrative group stages far more comfortably than Liverpool, and that one defeat on Saturday remains the only blot on the opening phase of the season thus far.
From little acorns, and all that…
38 Responses to “Theo Ensures Safe Passage For Arsenal”
Half please Bob
Arsenal played very well today.But we need to see if such performances pop up on regular stages or not ??
I meant regular Basis !!
Bob?
Wowee, I must be crazy. I’ve been reading people’s comments on various sites and the common theme I’ve been noticing is Walcott had a great game and Bendtner was shite. Outside of the cross that eventually led to Nasri’s goal and the goal he scored, Walcott’s performance was poor. In the first half he gave the ball away far too often, made some poor decisions, and really does not have the vision to play in others with passes. Bendtner, on the other hand, was much better than people say. For a guy who has gotten limited playing time he was threatening, he tested the keeper leading to Gallas’ goal, and he scored at the end of the game. Shocking display as some have said, I think not. I also hope some of you give Gallas some credit. He looks the part when he’s paired up with a larger CB. The same can be said about Toure. It’s not Gallas’ fault that Wenger puts Toure along side him.
Well in Jackster. I’ll have the other half please.
*toasts Jackster’s firstness*
jrock, you must have watched another match. Bendtner should be the one going on loan. He was completely inept today.
Thanks for popping by jrock, but I don’t think you need any more to drink do you?
😉
The only thing I’ve been drinking is coffee with a bit of soy milk. I suppose I could be wrong, but the only player I found myself cursing at in the opening half was Walcott. Perhaps since I’m not English I don’t buy into the hype.
Oh, and if taking a shot that the goalie parries and ends up being tapped in for a goal, and scoring a goal one’s self is inept, I’ll take more ineptitude please.
I agree to a certain extent jrock. Bendtner started well, but had a 10 minute spell late on in the second half where his touch deserted him, but he played well overall and contributed to the win. Walcott was in and out of the game, but he did make a good assist and took an excellent goal, so he also made a valuable contribution to the win.
I must comment on the atmosphere at the ground tonight – it was much better than usual, with singing throughout and the crowd was actually backing the team. Maybe the boo boys who thought the sky had fallen in after Saturday decided to give the game a miss.
When exactly did Theo Walcott ensure a safe passage?
We we had won the game before that goal was scored.
Walcott thinks assists are more important than than scoring goals.
He was frightened to shoot at goal at times, preferring to lay it off to another player instead when the better option was to shoot. When laying it off he failed to complete the pass most of the time.
He can’t tackle and he panic passes, well attempted passes. He seems to play better on the left than the right, and I would sanction another game to see if he really is over 90 minutes.
Wenger will give him time to improve, but that should be with him on loan, not in our team until he proves he’s worthy.
No hype jrock, but he tore the left-back a new arsehole in the first half. I like Bendtner a lot, but his second touch tonight was invariably a tackle. He really struggled, but I take your point about the assist and the goal, and I’ll raise you an assist. The ball bounced off him for Theo to go through for his goal too. But he was pants tonight 😉
jrock, you’re spot on! And I AM English….
So much praise for Walcott, when he still doesn’t look ready. He had an easy time of it against an inept full back, and took too many wrong options. He still remains unable to beat a man and can only run in straght lines. Where is all the praise for Nasri for christs sake? This guy looks the nuts!
Good point about Nasri, but what fucking game were you cunts watching if you don’t rate Walcott tonight. Blinkered don’t begin to describe those of you who want to be critical for the sake of it.
Lay off Bendtner, he had a good game but it just didn’t go for him tonight. He could easily have had a hat trick given a bit more luck.
Compare him to the messiah that is RvP, who hardly touched the ball, and he looked like Eusebio.
He also has more talent in his right eyelid than Ade has overall
And I dress like a spice girl while juggling dead slugs.
Im devastated. I was due to watch the match on a certain site that have shown all of our games so far but to my disgust it didn’t broadcast and i missed the entire game. Delighted with the result even if I’m still to see it.
I am however upset in one respect. If we had gotten another poor result then Wenger would have no choice but to invest but now i feel he will use that performance to justify buying nobody.
I did watch the scousers with a ‘pool fan friend and Alonso’s passing was short and neat. Whether he will be allowed to join us is another thing.
I was also hoping that gallas would either cock up or get injured so Wenger would drop him. No such luck though and instead he scored. Delighted for Walcott and Bendtner. Hopefully they can both stake a claim for a regular starting berth this season.
OK folks, after reading these posts I must wonder what game many of you were watching. I am by no means convinced of this team’s quality (Le Boss should splash some le cash… seriously), but one player you cannot criticize is Walcott. I can tell that most of his naysayers have never coached anything more than a playstation squad because if you had, you would realize one truism – SPEED KILLS.
I have coached American football, but this principle applies just as well to this football. Walcott has speed in spades. You can teach the rest (decision-making even quickness), but you cannot teach speed. Any honest doubts as to the game changing aspect here need only recall the second leg Champion’s League game at Anfield last year. Walcott’s decision making will improve, but having him on either wing is much better than loaning him out.
As far as Bendtner is concerned, his decision skills are barely equal to Walcott’s and more detrimentally, he thinks he is a far better forward than his skills suggest. True, he has height (you cannot teach that either), but his first touches tonight were as bad as they were last year. I will credit him with a drive to shoot before passing. As we saw tonight, good things happen when you make the keeper do his job – the rest of the squad desperately need to learn this lesson. But, really… you cannot honestly rank him above Walcott.
The real subject for criticism here should be Percy (I will not give him the “van” or worse “RvP” until he does something worthwhile on the pitch.) Are you kidding me? Is he injured? Did he sex some girl (or boy?) before the game? Any degree of service is wasted on him right now. Arsene should sell him off and use the proceeds to acquire a difference-maker at forward. Hell, Cisse would have been better. We have given this guy what two, three seasons? His performance has deteriorated in every season.
I’ll sum up with this, Arsene needs to splash some cash. Don’t look now, but Messrs. Keane and Keegan are quietly building teams with quality scorers and solid defending. The Toon will NOT be an easy win on Saturday.
First of all, I did watch the Arsenal v FC Twente 2nd leg, just to be sure… While Bendnter got to look back and said he did not do well, neither should Walcott congrat himself for a good performance.
Where Bendnter did poorly was his bloody touches; he simply couldn’t get the ball where it should be and lost it too many times… from early 20 mins when he could have a 1-on-1 if he took down Fabregas’s long pass more subtly. So he tried; oh, another thing, he didn’t defend as diligently but we knew it so it’s not new.
On the other hand, Walcott did improve but seriously he’s still poor. Except pounding on the 2/3 loose balls around the box and did something, what did he achieve the rest of time? He hussled, chased, etc – all granted but when he ‘got’ the ball he lost it in less than 3 seconds most of the time as if his feet were playing ping-pong with the ball. That to me, he’s lacking poise/ composure… of course people would say but he scored and was showing poise! Sure, the goal aside then.
Btw, Denilson didn’t play well either; may be better than the Fullham game and did a few little tricks (the assist) but when he’s where he should be (ie MF) he did not perform well enough – still losing the ball too easily/ or passed wayward/ or poor choice of passes etc. There is a lot to learn mate, if you want to be the next Flamini, as Denilson stated during pre-season!
I also thought Sagna dropped off a little this season compared to his stellar performance last season. And did RVP train? You just coulnd’t get as wasteful as this guy!
Oh dear. Reading through some of the comments anybody would think we lost last night!?
I think we need to be a little more positive. Sure FC Twente were a poor side. Nevertheless, we were leagues better and that could be seen from the starting whistle.
Positives? Cesc made all the difference. We were more cohesive, had more will, had more desire. We bossed and commanded well in the middle of the park. Nasri was excellent and, so far, seems far more effective with loads more end product than Hleb. The Gallas/Djourou pairing looked more capable at the back, although I personally feel it should be Toure/Djourou with Gallas on the bench. Walcotts performance for me WAS most definitely a positive. He is a confidence player. His touch improves as he gets more confident. He is by no means the finished article (as is Wayne Rooney for example) but has bags of pace and can take defenders on all day when running at them….and when given the ball. And he can assist. Occasionally he will be selfish and shoot. That is essentially his job and he did it *quite* well yesterday. Credit where credit is due. Any further expectation or analysis of the player is pointless IMO. Clichy was fantastic. Sagna was dependable (although strayed forward a little too close to Walcott).
Negatives? Once again a little too profligate and wasteful in front of goal (how many chances do we need before we score for goodness sakes???!!!!). RVP needs to sharpen his shooting skills (although that will come). Bendtner needs to work on his touch. Denilson needs to be MORE dependable and commanding in midfield (need we mention once more; a more high profile class leading DFM seems urgently required??). Maybe our forwards need to go on a team building outward bounds course or something because they don’t appear to function well as a unit.
Nevertheless we won 4-0. Incidentally 2 of our goals came from midfielders (another area where we struggled in last seasons campaign). Credit where credit is due!!!
Jackster again? Well drunk!
Ooh….one further area we urgently need to give attention. What the hell is wrong with our set piece offensive play (corners and free kicks)??
The defending team may as well stand there picking their navels as far as I’m concerned because we NEVER look threatening in front of goal from set play.
Shocking!!!
Apart from which; last nights display was positive 🙂
I think people see what they want to see.
Denilson had one poor moment early on when he was obviously a bit jittery, but he settled in and had a very good game after that.
He had a nightmare against fulham, but he’d been very good up until that game.
He has certainly made a very strong bid for the berth next to Cesc.
I think we are strong enough, just AW’s selections were resopnsible for some of the issues that cropped up.
Sure, a body here or there might not be the worst thing on the planet, but it certainly isn’t a “must have” as many are trying to suggest.
The problem with young Theo is that he isn’t nearly as good as many would like him to be.
He’s very quick, yes, but pace is an attribute, a very useful one, but it’s not the only thing needed to play football.
It also makes a player very 1 dimensional if that’s all they rely on, just ask michael owen.
Theo had a very good game last night, but he wasn’t anywhere near MOM or “world”class” or responsible for solving world peace last night or any of the other drivel immediately spewed forth whenever he isn’t falling on his face (and even sometimes when he is).
He needs space to use his speed (and no, this other myth that he is being “played out of position” is just yet another excuse for him), and last night he got space.
Credit to him, he worked hard and put in a lot of effort, but trying to compare him to TH14? Sorry, not even vaguely in the same universe, never mind close.
Bendtner didn’t have a lot going right for him last night, but from a positive perspective, he got into some excellent positions. He’s a little out of sorts, just like RvP, but it will come.
The same applies to RvP. Yes, he looked very out of sorts last night, but you can’t fault him for effort. A little patience, it will come right for him.
Djourou had a good night. I am pleased that AW managed to find those two furry little orbs in his jocks and put him back in the starting lineup.
And yes, Nasri is the Mutt’s Nuts!
2 home appearances. 2 goals. I hope he keeps it up.
If he can play like that when he’s got a virus and puking, then I await this season with great anticipation.
Morning.
Walcott has a half decent game and people complain about it.There seems to be almost an anti-english bias going on here.From a manager who gets accused of not giving English players a chance all I`m hearing now is the only reason Walcott is playing is because he`s english.Shall we alll start booing him now.
If you think a player is not trying then then you can get the hump is anyone accusing Walcott of that.
Booing players because of lack of form is pathetic.Do you think the players want to play badly.Complain to the club,e-mail the manager but during games shut the fuck up.
The back cover of The Gooner fanzine is hilarious try to check it out.
Very good point well made Gonko. Completely agree re Walcott. The lad is listening to the fee paying faithful going to see his performances week in week out…..and trying his damnest to respond positively!!
Better still, he has no self-important attitude (like other English players we could easily mention)….yet just wants to play football and better his game.
Fair play to the little fella. I, for one, respect him for that!!!
No one is booing or even considering booing Walcott.
However, every time the kid does even vaguely ok (sometimes even when he doesn’t), the English media and fans just about ejaculate over the entire web about it.
He had a very good game. Well done!
However, he wasn’t MOM, nor did he mastermind and orchestrate the entire victory while the rest of the team sat in the stands.
What irritates the living shit out of non-English Gooners is the ridiculous hype and hysteria everytime the guy so much as farts.
Read the headlines today, you’d swear he was the life and soul of the party out there, saved the world from evil, made world peace happen etc.
Be a bit more realistic, and people might appreciate him a bit more.
It also galls one hugely when we see the usual punch bags like Eboue get slated to hell and back, even when he’s had a decent game. The double standards are frightening.
On top of that, one suspects a major portion of the reason behind Eboue getting slated is because the English media and fans are trying to trash him because they think he is in the team instead of Walcott, so they try and rubbish him to get him out the team.
Personally, that disgusts me.
And no, it’s not Theo’s fault, but it IS the fault of the English media and fans.
It clearly does irritate you Mike. I happen to agree wholeheartedly with your point about Eboue, who is a lot better than given credit for (the press love to dress him as some kind of pantomime baddy whose only objective is to get at least one of the opposing team members injured or sent off – aka John Terry). But that should detract us from objectively assessing Walcotts performance 🙂
My only point, which I tried to make in 22, is that he had a good game and we (and he) can draw some positives from that. As I say, to some extent more than other players, he thrives on being confident. IMO he has to believe – and then he will do. Personally, I’m able to form an opinion devoid of what the press would like to assert (mostly in order to sell papers).
Blimey, us gooners will argue over the minutest detail.
I was quite pleased with the performance and for me, one big difference was that we pushed further up the pitch and hurried their midfield – the same way Fulham did to us on saturday.
I think a major force behind this greater ‘positivity’ was the fact that Cesc was on the pitch and, captain or not, he leads the play and makes all around him look better.
Torres (he’s not english by the way) didn’t do much for Liverpool yesterday, but received accolades when he scored in their first game of the season after a similarly anonymous presence for most of the match. Theo made one, scored one, I’m happy with that and I know he’ll improve with more starts under his belt – so give the lad a break!
One of he best things about our club is the cultural diversity.I`ts something we should be thankful for.I`ve supported this club for fourty years and in that time I`ve heard
“We`ve got to many Irish players”(Yeah mediocre players like Brady,Staplelton and O`leary.)
“We`ve got to many black players.”(Yeah players who didnt try like Rocastle,Davis ,Thomas and Wright)..
“We`ve got to many foreign players.(Yeah players with no quality like
Bergkamp,Henry,Viera and Pires.)
A players nationality doesnt matter.If you are an Arsenal player you will get my support.If you are an Arsenal fan you are my brother.
Mike if you take notice of the English press you will drive yourself mad
I stopped taking notice of them when Desmond Hackett retired..
Nice one gonko, I hope that brings an end to the jingoism debate.
The only thing that should matter is does the player give his all and does he play for the shirt. Over-acting shenanigans as sometimes seen from messrs. Van Persie and Eboue will not endear them to fans.
Can anyone tell me if Vela is unfit or has a problem. He really impressed me in pre-season and yet has only warmed the bench so far – I would have thought that with 20 mins to go last night he would have deserved a run out?
*hic*
Rasputin, I think AW is wrapping Vela up in wool cotton as this is a heavy wc qualifying period right now. He’s leaving again next week for another qualifier.
Thanks marcus,
Do we give priority to international games over the interests of our own domestic and CL campaigns?. It appears we can get results without him but after waiting so long to get him over here I am keen to see him play. I think he will score goals for us in an ‘Eduardo way’ – guess I’ll just have to be patient.
Listen, I grant that the boys gave good effort on the pitch, but if you think a 4-0 result against 1/Twente is an indication of good times to come, you are sadly mistaken. Unfortunately, I think we might get a wake-up call on Saturday. We have some bright stars for sure (I cannot abide any of you pogues who continue to bash Theo), but we have some glaring personnel and attitudinal weaknesses as well.
Arsene simply has to shore-up the backline. I’m not sure of the answer – but Gallas is not the answer. Eboue and Diaby are just about useless as well. Those of you who are making excuses for Percy and Bendtner also need to wake-up and smell the coffee – they aren’t the answer either.
I still proudly wear my colors deep in the heart of Texas, but it would be easier if we scored more, drew less, and gave those manx lovers something to grouse about.
Awww yeah! It looks like we received a friendly group draw this time around. Porto, Dynamo, and Fener… time to lock and load boys!! You may fire when ready.