Handbrake Off, And No Manuel Clutch Trouble Please
Feb 19th, 2010 by 'holic
The arrangements are made. Taxi booked, train times sorted, and most importantly of all, arranged to meet a top Gooner for a pre-match Guinness or six! Must remember not to get stuck in to a real session as I am enjoying club level for the first time against Sunderland, and I have promised to be on best behaviour.
With that in mind I would have been happier if we weren’t once again anticipating the loss of a key player. Even Abou Diaby cannot tell when he got the knock on the knee that has ruled him out. Certainly he walked off the pitch unaided in Porto.
Fortunately Alex Song is likely to be fit to return, but elsewhere Arsene Wenger will face Hobson’s choice if he wants to freshen up the side that lost in Portugal. Manuel Almunia is expected to return in the poison chalice that the Arsenal goalkeeping shirt represents. At the back if Sol Campbell has recovered he will surely be preferred to Mikael Silvestre. Emmanuel Eboue for Bacary Sagna is a bigger possibility but unlikely I would imagine.
Song’s inclusion is the only likely switch in midfield, although there are more than a few who would not be sorry to see Aaron Ramsey given a chance. I am thinking we will see the Welshman coming off the bench. Up top there could be a promotion for Theo Walcott if Tomas Rosicky is not fully recovered from midweek.
I can hear the bravado in the pre-match discussions as tongues are loosened by the delicious stout. “If we get an early goal we’ll rip this lot to bits. Twelve to win and this is the first!” But how many of the allegedly smaller clubs have given us a real examination at home? Sunderland may not be at the top of their form, they may also have injury concerns, but we know that no side managed by Steve Bruce will give any less than a hundred percent.
Look at the striking options available to them and you have to wonder if we can keep a clean sheet with a makeshift and under-fire defence. Bent, Jones, Benjani, and Campbell are a pretty solid quartet. It is behind them that the visitors look wafer-thin. If ever Arsene’s fabled ‘handbrake off’ should yield handsome rewards, this is it. They are the only ‘unfancied’ club to have beaten us in the League this season, and retribution is required.
For that reason, and the fact there is just no value out there, I am aiming the ‘holic pound at a high-scoring contest. Ladbrokes, in the ground, are only really competitive on one scoreline. They offer 66/1 against 4-2 to the Gunners, and I fancy some of that. There is a reason it is so handsomely priced, I know, but for a small stake I expect a run for my money with that.
So, lucky everything is being laid out ready for when I step out of the shower in the morning. The ’71 shirt, the red and white striped socks, the new scarf that saw our win over Hull, but missed the United debacle because I forgot it. (See, it was my fault, not Arsene’s!) Now all I need is for everything to run on time.
If you are at the game let’s get behind the boys, even if it takes a while for us to get a measure of control. Those of you who are confined to barracks, I wish you good luck finding a stream. It has been getting a little more difficult of late although I have managed to get a decent sopcast link for most games.
As usual, have a good one, ‘holics. I’ll be back at some point of the weekend with my drunken recollections!
60 Responses to “Handbrake Off, And No Manuel Clutch Trouble Please”
What times the bar open ‘Holic?
Me and my daughter are flying in from Edinburgh (6:15am departure groan…..) so I may need a croissant or two before my Guinness 🙂
(We have packed a pair of goalkeeping gloves just in case).
We really could do with getting some revenge on the broken-nosed Manc after losing up there.
It could be tense if we don’t get an early goal but I am going for 3-1 to the Gunners.
Hello ‘Holic, Have a good one and use your Guinness-powered lungs to cheer them on for all you are worth!
In case anyone was wondering why we have packed a pair of goalkeeping gloves…..nothing to do with Guinness and Croissants – more to do with wingers and crosses 😉
Arsene, are you reading closely here? I think zicoinexile’s daughter could be an excellent signing!
Almunia to get injured in the 3rd minute of extra time, Eboue to commit a stupid foul in the box 20 seconds later, and Fabianski on to save the penalty that would have given ‘Holic the predicted 4-2 score. Got that? 4-1 it is.
Behind the 8 ball….@4
I agree. The gloves certainly wouldn’t be any good to me – I make Fabianski look competent. Just.
Not the first drink then .
Brandy please.
Who are all these punteres, ‘holic?
Quick pint for me ‘holic.
Pop back in later.
Vat of wine please ‘holic.
Now, to read the blog…
They is ‘holics, KT. So are you bringing the folks to FP. They’ll love it 😉
Enjoy the show `Holic! Don’t forget you’re representing all of us so please behave 😉
The people calling for Ramsey’s inclusion are the same ones that were begging for Fabianski between the posts a week ago. Think they know better now?
Glass of port for me. Feeling old today, drank too much yesterday.
nothing wrong with a good pint of the liffey water holic, enjoy it
now holic whats a pint of Guinness and a priest got in common?
black coat, white collar and god help your arse if you get a dodgy 1
Yes we is ‘holics.
And happy to be so…..
A question for any of our resident analysts….
What is the most consecutive games that young Mr Diaby has managed in a red shirt in his career to date? He was obviously unlucky with the horrific lengthy injury he had, but he just never seems to manage to get a run of games.
Just curious.
Enjoy yourself tomorrow ‘holic.
I’ll have a cider, ta.
Come on you Gunners.
Barman, I’ll take anything with quick effect and no hangover. How about a pint o’ Liffey water with a chaser of the clear stuff Fabianski’s been having.
Righty then.
Tomorrow, Bruce’s Sunderland, a manager and a team that proves that you can’t solve a problem just by throwing money at it.
They did beat us at their gaff, but I really do expect our lads to turn them over at the Grove, I’m looking for a big performance from Bendy, he’s got a few games under his belt now and I sense that if he can get the all important first goal then more will follow.
Have a great trip ‘holic sir and don’t forget the “lucky” scarf.
Same again please barman.
Cheers.
I dreamed we kept a clean sheet. Look I can’t be responsible for all my dreams !!! But it’s 2:0 with Cesc t score.
More injuries. What in God’s name is going on? There must be a reason we keep picking up these injuries. It can’t all be down to bad luck.
We need a good convincing win tomorrow. Something that makes us look forward to MOTD. I have a sneaking feeling that Nic B will produce something tomorrow. I thought he worked hard on Wednesday night and will not be far away from full fitness. Bring it on, that’s what I say.
Enjoy going club class holic. Not somthing I have been involved in before. Cheap seats for me…….
Keep the faith.
I don’t want to be another of those making ‘supercoach’ suggestions about playing certain players out of position (eg vermaelen in midfield). HOWEVER – I seem to remember when Sagna arrived, we were told he could play anywhere in the back 4. If Big Sol can’t recover, why not give Sagna a go at centre half. He’s right footed, which means he’s a perfect partner for left footed Vermaelen (following Wenger’s logic, not mine). I reckon the general concensus is he can defend alright and he’s solid in the air, just can’t cross – this would keep him away from overlapping. And plus we have a more than capable deputy in Eboue. Any thoughts? Mind you the last time I remember a french fullback playing out of position was Abidal (I think it was the last Euros) and he got red carded within 10 mins.
…. then this would free up Sol to play centre forward, which would free up bendtner to play left back etc.
Here, here, to all that, ‘Holic. And may the Black Cats turn out to be pussies, not Jaguars when dip stick Steve and his Jallopy 11 arrives on the lot.
And please, Arsenal, no tippy tappets, and no Polish Lada ‘tween the posts this time. Another backfiring back pass, would be too much for my old chassis. I’d likely blow a gasket, lose my cam, get real cranky and pistoned Guinness for the night.
It’s not automatic, but it is likely to be a clutch game. It says so in the manual and we’ll have no AA to call on this week in the event of a breakdown. So who’s likely to be the Mobil 1 up front this time around the track? We can’t afford to blow the points out the exhaust. A draw, and two frozen points would be pretty Shitty Shitty bang bang too. Defeat would be the pits.
We need the batteries to be fully recharged after our Grand Tour to Porto. We can’t afford to stall again if we’re going to motor up to pole position.
I’ve a sneaky feeling we’ll see Sagna and Eboue start. Emmanuel has looked good when given the chance in recent weeks. A Song for Diaby and Rosicky pipping Nasri for the eleventh spot looks to be on the dashboard..
Four – two sounds as unlikely to me as V6 and I’m feeling that the ‘Holic pond is winging its way toward a contribution to a good night out for your bookies bird. I hope not. Would make for a fun filled game. Enjoy it. Hope you’re well lubed, your engine races and your big end is comfy with Arsenal in the driving seat. Don’t get too excited and need a jump start. Classic vehicles like you are susceptible to pinking on low quality fuels so, stick to the scotch stuff, pure malt.
A Gordons GT for me, please, with go faster wheels and chrome trim.
And Theo will likely come on for Rosicky when he begins to tyre.
It will be good if we get off to a quick start. no new injuries please. We should spank them.
‘holic – sorry for that stream thing, although I still haven’t figured out if you were joking, well sorry anyways.
I’d like a pint of carling for our first of twelve please 🙂
I don’t know why but I really have a good feeling that both Wolves and Everton might make us happy.
Just wondering why in the UK you do not get every Arsenal game live. Here in Chicago I watch every game live or on a 90 minute delay on Setanta or Fox Soccer Channel ( which sky owns). is there no local football coverage for certain regions?
If all goes well, Darren’s chrome wheels will be well and truly bent by the end of the 90 minutes. On the other hand, Bendtner could be smiling.
Holic, you will love club level. On the few occasions my brother couldn’t make it, I got his club level ticket. I do hope Arsene dose give Ramsey ago I believe we have a future Cesc in him. Just imagine 2 Cesc how unfair would that be to the rest of the PL. With Song back it dose give Cesc more licence to roam and we know how dangerous he can be when let loose. Song has stepped up to the mark this year and has really took the next step in his footballing career. The cover he gives our defence is invaluable and he will only get better. The lost of Diaby is a huge blow again another player who has stood up to be counted. His constant injuries are a massive concern we need him fit he gives us the height we need in midfield and he is also a constant threat going forward. he will take on players and go round them, he holds the ball up well and bring others in to play. I have stopped going on the Arsenal web site to check on the injury situation as it has become far to depressing and the figures they quote are normally out be 2 weeks any way. So and so had a set back a new injury in training a recurrence of the same problem. That’s it we will have to move training grounds this one is cursed. Probably some spurs fan or Harry himself sacrificed a couple of chickens on it.
Well I am hoping for a comfortable 3-0 win today with Bendtner getting them all to give his confidence a huge lift.
Come on Arsenal !
Snir Gueli
Not wanting to speak for the landlord, but I’m fairly certain that you don’t need to apologise!
I have a relaxed feeling of melancholy about the games today – hopefully a nice pleasant surprise. Fingers crossed that I get lucky with the lottery of which game is shown live over here. There’s always one.
Best Behaviour?
Heh
Off to the game.
Come on you Gooners!
Arsenal 1971, moving training grounds would indeed be a positive first step, and sacrificing a few fowls at the Chelski training ground might help a bit more. We could sacrifice a 13 pound wild turkey on top of Cashley’s car and pour 13 bottles of Wild Turkey whiskey over the top.
8 Ball, I would go as far as an ostrage if I thought it might help or all of Bernard mathews stock. But seriously I know Arsene has looked into the training ground, maybe change coaching style. I have no idea what the answer is and sadly at this moment nor do Arsenal.
The mighty toffees batter Man U 3-1. Come on Arsenal !!!
It sure looks like Man U borrowed our handbrake today! Do we have a spare one for Chelsea?
Neville beat Neville and Rooney beat nobody !!
now when Chelski go behind on the handbrake turn everything will be all rite
come on you Reds
1-0 HT a very good start and very pleased Bentdner has got his goal. Hopefully this will give him some confidence.
2-0 What a lucky lot we are
best player is difficult between Eboue, Nasri, Song and Vermaalen but why is it always so stressful
I wouldn’t call it lucky, it was heavy going at times but we should have won by more really. Man Utd’s defeat made it a decent day all round. Now for the acid test next weekend.
A clean sheet, two goals and three points from a game we controlled from beginning to the end.
I’ll take that, thank you very much!
Lager please barman, biggest glass you got.
Cheers.
Good show fron the players we had. Bendts got his goal, Eboue was the passmaster, Theo showed pace and we scored the first PL penalty of the season. Plus Manure got beaten by two goals at a ground we scored six. Satisfied gooner here. Will not nitpick at all today. No sir-eeeee.
Indian Pale please, something bottle fermented. Vintage. Cheers.
Good performance from all the lads, we still did not look like we are in form yet, we need these wins so we can have a go on that winning streak.
Eboue was fantanstic today…so was everyone…
Come you Gooners!!!
Disapointed not to see Vela get a good amount of playing time today to try and spark things up. Never the less 3 points is 3 points!
He was injured, Chicago. Groin strain.
Guessing he was injured in warm-up because he was in the squad today.
Hey,
Immense performance by Eboue today. And I think this is one of the best blogs around alongwith Arseblog and Cultured Left Foot.. Keep it Goonersih!
3 points and a very good performance from start to finish with the traditional scares along the way. We could of finished the game earlier but credit to their keeper he made a couple of good saves. Talking of keepers, Almunia didn’t have much to do today but he was alert and doubled up as a sweeper a couple of times and nice to have the clean sheet too. Eboue had a great game, Ramsey good solid performance driving at them at any given opportunity. Cesc covered every blade of grass and Bendtner got a goal. Good days work all round. Theo ran the left back to in an inch of his life, shame the final ball was pretty poor. But much better second half from him all the running had some end product if only we could get some consisty out of him but to do that we will have to keep him off the treatment table as well as half the team.
Well done lads.
Garrincha Eboue had a great game
A good 3 points although I thought we were average. We did not play that well in my opinion. We were not clinical and lacked sharpness when it mattered. We gifted Sunderland golden chances which we all know a Drogba or a Rooney would have put away.
Vela was fit, on the bench and warmed up for sometime before Denilson came on. Eboue was awesome, Ramsey looked more than suited at this level and Cesc looked like he needs 2 weeks holiday.
3 points is 3 points, but let’s not kid ourselves. We will need to improve on that.
We won our first final!
I’ll comment later on the game, meanwhile have you seen this video?
http://goonertalk.com/2010/02/19/video-thierry-henry-scoring-at-12-years-old-world-cup-competition
he come from Africa,he is better than Kaka,eboueeeeeeeeeeee 😀
Eboue and Song prove you never write off a player to coming good.Song is one of our most important player, Eboue is a cult hero for many gunners (include me ).
i though we play well ,but we could have kill the match early .great day too as Manure lost .
listening to the buffoon Hansen on MOTD make even better.yes a two team title race….won by a third team hopefully.
need to sleep,tripple shot of Absinthe for me
‘Eboue’tiful and eccentric. Arsenal regularly irritate and delight in equal measure and today was a live and fitting example. Nasri’s silky skills and Eboue’s direct running made for an eminently watchable affair but the continuing persistence to pass the ball into the net coupled with shoddy defending meant it was a nervy one too.
Still, Nick and Cesc got the goals so I’m not going to complain. Kudos to the ref for not shoving his head in the sand like a deluded ostrich when Cesc was felled in the box. The Manc molestation at Goodison means that this is another good matchweek for us.
Just continue plugging away boys.
Didn’t get to see the game but 3 points is just what it sounds so hurray for us, Eboue and co. The other main issue at hand is whether ‘Holic has gone over to the prawn sandwich brigade as of this weekend’s game. Waiting to hear the news …
Can Eboue play at left back? I’m serious….
His overall play was so refreshing, hugging the line, cutting in, running at defenders and mixing it up. His bursts into the box will create assists and goals. We’ve looked a bit lacking in the goals department and I think we’ve got to include him if that match is a sign of where he’s at.
Steve T & 48 – I think Ramsey does look like he is going to be something special but twice yesterday he put the side in trouble by just being a bit too cocky. Just to needs to learn when to keep it simple, which I suppose will come with experience.
But the chance you refer to started with Ramsey and was compounded by Silvestre foolishly trying to push up and play Jones offside which was almost back to our cataclysmic defending. I have to be fair to Silvestre though other than that aberration I thought he defended well yesterday.
It was a strange game yesterday – on another day we may have scored 4 or 5 but for virtually the whole game I never felt the points were safe.
My final point about yesterday – I watched MOTD when I got home last night and could not believe how positive they made Walcott’s contribution look yesterday – I thought his performance typified what is so frustrating about this Arsenal team – yes he is fast but there is no end product
However, I’ll settle for the 3 points and move on – we will need to be more clinical in the weeks to come.
A small bottle of Peroni, please ‘Holic.
53Tim Merrick- Eboue left back – you serious? Wasnt that whwrw he was ‘playing’ when he was bood off the pitch? Hes an instinctive player whos always played on the right. Hes not really got the football brain or the tactical knowhow to play left back. Hes a right back who great at bringing the ball forward – and most often doesnt make the most of the situatuions he creates. As a defender Sagna is better but Eboue offers nore going forward. Thats fine against sunderland but Sagna starts away to Stoke.
54zicoinexile – they did big him up quite a lot didnt they? He put in a good shift but mostly wasted the good stuff he did by making the wrong choices or simply not keeping the ball under control. But he looks to be getting his confidance back. Thats a good thing. Theo is another player that plays better when not too much thinking is involved. When his confidance is high and hes playiing on instinct hel run at players all day and make runs in behind the defenders and just play and not worry so much. You could see in earlier games he was afraid to do this in case he lost the ball, that fear stunts his game and invariably he messes up. Yesterday however he took the handbreak off a little at at least was a threat, unlike previous games. Heres to a stong end of season from Theo and the boys
@55 – it was simply a question.
Eboue’s ability to bring (and keep) the ball in the final third was just nice to see from a full back. I agree Sagna is a better defender but our lack of goals was the point of the idea.
When he was booed off the pitch isn’t relevant now. Or is it? Nor do I think we should ever boo our own off the pitch, but that’s another topic entirely.
I guess I’m hoping for something more inventive than Sagna (or Clichy) just scooping over 4-8 crosses per game that the opposition just chuckle at as they bash it back up the other end.
I know…I’m clutching at straws a bit…I’m happy we won but would love to see more runs at defenders and/or having some more impacting width – I think our narrow play is our biggest problem (Apart from goalkeeping and ability to get cut open on counters).
Eboie was in midfield when booed off. I would like to see a
bit more chances created off our corners as one even went right through the middle of six yard box. on a couple of corners we even had only 3 attackers in the box to go after the ball. why we don’t flood the box with players on corners while still being cautious of counter attacks beats me.
eboue*
‘We gifted Sunderland golden chances which we all know a Drogba or a Rooney would have put away.’
Well at least we know we won’t be playing against Drogba or Rooney for the remainder of the season! (in the league anyway)