What A Difference A Week Makes
Aug 30th, 2008 by 'holic
A week on from the debacle at Fulham you have to say this was some performance by Arsenal. Newcastle just a fortnight ago were perhaps unfortunate to depart Old Trafford with only a point. We should bear that in mind.
Apart from a five minute spell early in the second-half the contest at the Grove was one way traffic. Newcastle, weakened we must accept, were swept aside with a typical Arsenal performance. It is also fair to say it did not owe a great deal to the returning Cesc Fabregas, although the home side did look much more composed and balanced with him around.
In the opening minutes we were denied a penalty when Robin van Persie was flattened in the box by Coloccini, and moments later William Gallas missed from point blank range. Surely it was easier to score?
The first goal came in the nineteenth minute when alleged one time Arsenal target N’Zogbia handled an Adebayor cross and Robin van Persie crashed home from twelve yards. Before that, and after, the quality of Arsenal’s passing threatened to rip the visitors to shreds.
The second goal could have been the sixth, but the build up and finish was absolutely sublime. Emmanuel Eboue may be the most frustrating individual to wear the red and white in recent years but he exchanged passes with namesake Adebayor and then played a deft backheel to put van Persie in for a second thunderous strike of the half.
The Geordies may have grabbed something early in the second-half when Butt took a break from kicking people to plant a header on the bar, but the third Arsenal goal was just a matter of time. Nasri and Adebayor set up Cesc’s midfield partner, Denilson, for his first Premiership goal.
Adebayor’s contribution, a part in all three goals, was understood by an appreciative crowd who sang his name once more. He will know however that he needs to maintain this level of effort.
Eboue was substituted in the second-half, and I am pretty sure it was planned by Arsene Wenger so the Ivorian could get a rare ovation from the home fans. If that was the case it worked.
There remained just a little bit of nonsense involving the waste of space that is Joey Barton. The cynical would suggest he was delighted with that, so we’ll ignore it, and the over-reaction of his manager.
Now a week ago I went to bed feeling I had contributed to an unfair over-reaction to an embarrassing defeat at Craven Cottage. This victory doesn’t rectify what went wrong then, and it doesn’t mean we are suddenly champions elect again, but the quality of the football played by a much-maligned side was superb.
How about we enjoy the weekend, pray for a significant signing before the transfer window closes on Monday night, and let the two Emmanuel’s enjoy their weekend. Adebayor and Eboue were matchwinners today, that’s for sure. Let them enjoy it for once. What do you say?
31 Responses to “What A Difference A Week Makes”
I can’t argue with that at all. The team played badly at Fulham and deserved the criticism for the performance. They have clearly been stung by it and were much better in the last two games as a result. It was a great match, everyone made a vital contribution and I intend to just enjoy it and not worry about potential signings etc for now.
In comparison with last saturday, the team “clicked”. It was an exciting match to watch and had me wishing that I had indeed travelled. Arsenal in full flow, in the last of London’s summer sun, is something I really miss.
At the end, the scoreline flattered the visitors. That this was the case is a reflection of the fact that we’re still coming up to full speed. There was much to like today. The great news is there’s MUCH more to come in my opinion. Robin Van Persie looked like he’s nearly there. For me, Adebayor has some way to go to recapture the heights of last year.
It’s with the youngsters that my hopes for more lie. Denilson took one more step forward and his goal will surely build confidence. He needs to keep working on is defensive game though. Nasri is looking good, Vela looks like a tremendous prospect and then there’s Theo.
I’m five hours behind you, holic. You’re probably throwing up the zzz’s by now. I’m off out to raise my glass to some fantastic football today.
it is funnay how we all cry and whine when we lose a game or two and call the players bad names or like fire AW sack Gallas Ebue should go back to Africa we should’ve sold ADE when we had 24 mill at the summer RVP suck we need big name players kids can’t win us anything. but when we win a game or two like this week saddanly we are world beater and we don’t need any new players we say AW is the best coach in the world Gallas the best captain ADE one of the best srikers in the world Ebue a world class we got supper stars we will win the CL EPL maybe the world cup it will be intersting to see what happens next week and you guys and grils( if any)will say. i will just say this lets have faith in our team and support them through the good and bad time always prais them what ever they do we don’t want to show the other fans our weaknes. GOONERS 4LIFE cheers.
Yep, great performance. Thought Denilson started off a little sloppy again but had a cracking second half. Eboue was fantastic today, which I’m really glad to see as I think he gets way too much abuse from sections (well most) of the stadium. I was certainly up off my seat applauding both players during their substitutions.
Of the players that came on, thought Vela was absolutely electric. Excellent footwork and while he looks lightweight, thought he used his body incredibly well to keep the ball – low centre of gravity and all that.
In fairness, we played a very, very poor Newcastle bereft of attacking players. The only player that’s looked genuinely exciting for them this season has been Gutierrez, but he was up against Clichy today who absolutely bossed him. In fairness to Gutierrez, he’s unlikely to meet a classer (and pacier) full back at any point this season. Was quite funny though to see him switch flanks during the second half…. only to discover Sagna’s no slouch either. 🙂
Actually I’m not, BtM, but I should be. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
And you Passenal. Cheers for dropping by and sharing your thoughts.
Now I am heading for zzzzzzzz’s.
Cheers all.
Unfortunately “Bergkamp’s the man” it doesn’t look like there is much more to come from RVP! after a fantastic game in which he showed just glimpses of what he can do at full match fitness the old curse has struck again. wenger has said he is having an x-ray to examin the extent of the damadge but unfortunately the pesimist in me tells me to fear the worse! samir had a fantastic again and even our defense looked capable today! as said above eboue is unbelievably fustrating but he performed today and he provides some good depth to our squad in multiple positions. If we can bring in a defensive midfielder before the window closes or even alonso i am very hopeful as an arsenal fan that we can really win something this season!
COME ON YOU GOONERS!
Well said `holic.
Fanatastic oerformance.
Said it before in other forums, but we will go as far as Eboue can take us this season. And we may even be surprised just how far that could be.
Straight face, I promise.
I’m down unda in OZ and didn’t get a chance to see the game so I had the fingers crossed when I checked newsnow!
Get in there boys! Made my day. Only saw clips of the 3 goals but loved the 3rd.
Hopefully V Persie is just badly bruised. IF it was broken I don’t think he would walk/limp off? Fingers crossed. If that is the case he’ll have a few weeks to heal
Anyway the next news will be the revealing of the new signing…..FINALLY
Both Manu’s did have good games. Everything was clicking for Arsenal. I enjoyed that immensely.
wickeddeflection.com
What about Vela…..this boy has got it . He could open a can of beans with that left foot. From a defensive stand point think Song will be more effective in the holding role.
Well, well, well… evening ‘Holic. Cheer’s gooners, a Pimm’s for me please. Rasputin and the rest of the gang can rightly give me some stick for not having the most optimistic of outlooks for this game. I was a bit suspect of your projected 2-1 victory, but the boys came out like gang-busters.
Your analysis was spot on as usual. It’s too soon to start building the shelf for silverware, but no reason to start rending our garments either. Any word on van Persie’s (yes I he has earned the “van”) knock? It didn’t look too bad, but he was under serious abuse the entire match. Everyone played hard, but we STILL need atleast two signings. I am still unconvinced about the Toure/Gallas pairing, but I’ll be patient and positive.
It was a great game to watch, and it was great to give the three Magpies in my pub some grief – after which I bought them a round. Till the next time…
Great team response after the lows of last week. I had RVP down for a goal so it was nice to see him bag another. Ade looked much more composed when running at defenders and Eboue, for once, got the applause he deserves (I’m bemused by the stick the lad gets – although will agree he can be frustrating) after a fantastic performance.
NB. message 3 said, Somalia….I think you’re wrong!! Get a grip…..no one has said we are world beaters after one single match-winning performance. Let’s enjoy the win and look forward to next week.
I know it’s early but a Bloody Mary would be most welcome
Some other sites are reporting that Vieira has signed a 1 year contract and it will be officially announced this moring – Can this be true?
I said on yesterday’s blog that this was nonsense. I’m a huge Vieira fan (from his old days with us) but I’m not sure he’d be more than a squad player for us now and didn’t Wenger once say that he would never take a player back?
Apparently the scum are interested in Diarra – they will soon have the biggest squad of wantaway mercenaries in the Prem. Good luck they’re welcome to him!
sorry y’all but a none drinker here, can’t stand the stuff prefer playing my 1960 classic les’paul. Good victory, I watched the match on the the tv and I recall the announcer saying not if the arsenal would score, but when they will score, love it! I was ill seeing RVP limp off the pitch again, man that boy must have pretzels for bones, snap at a glance…. Any news on him yet from anyone?
Nice bit of balance in this piece. I think we were all somewhat overwrought after the Fulham performance and it was easy to start thinking the worst. But similarly we can’t start thinking the best after a couple of good wins against weak opposition (Toon had several players missing who featured in their game at the Mancs).
Two players I want to single out for special mention:
Nasri – clearly a top, top player and doing exactly what Hleb failed to do. But what bottle the little guy’s got! Apart from the fact that he’s not afraid to get stuck in generally, I loved his trip on Barton. Barton went in very hard on him and, although he played the ball, I don’t think it was as innocent a tackle as most posters do. He deliberately followed through with his body into Nasri as a sort of “here’s what you’re going to get every time you get the ball” warning. Then there was clearly an exchange of words, with Barton grinning at Nasri and giving him some lip. Was Nasri intimidated (as Hleb and, probably, even Pires) might have been? No chance. The trip a couple of minutes later was Nasri’s way of saying “I’m no push over so don’t take the piss.” Great attitude, great heart.
Denilson – had the stinker of all stinkers against Fulham – couldn’t find an Arsenal shirt with any of his passes, lost a lot of 50-50s. The only thing you could say in his favour was that he never hid. Yesterday he was back in the hot seat again (obviously helped by having Fab alongside him) but he got stuck in and played with determination. Not everything came off for him (still a few wayward passes) and he was hardly one of our star players on the day, but I thought he was very brave and will only get better.
Fantastic performance from the team, though I worry about Ade, as he looks frightened to shoot at goal. I wonder if all of his shenanigans over the closed season, and the subsequent fallout with the supporters is having a negative effect. Let’s hope this is a part of the humbling process and that he has learn t a valuable lesson but will rediscover his goal scoring form, particularly as RVP continues to look injury prone.
I hope you don’t find me disrespectful ‘holic for not always debating the theme of your article. I agree 100% with your piece and would only add that the fuss the players made of Eboue when he created the second goal showed me how much they want him to succeed. Like many, I haven’t always been an Eboue fan, but team spirit is important (as AW keeps telling us) and if the players want him, I want him.
I guess the more measured correspondents on this site don’t even want to enter the Vieira debate until there is some concrete evidence that he may be coming. For me, the greatest benefit would be what the likes of Ramsey, Denilson and Diaby could learn from him even if he didn’t take to the pitch.
hi Rasputin,
can you please give me the site you got the news about Viera? honestly, i dont want him to be the ‘next signing’ but i have such big respect for the lad- any news related to him (and TH14, P7,DB10……..) is always interesting to me.
………..he was also in the stands yesterday with Silvister………
Still basking in the rosy glow of yeterdays match
So many positives,even Robin`s ankle is not as bad as feared and he has joined the dutch squad for the upcoming internationals.
Eboue must have wondered what the noise was when he was subbed.The crowds applause is something he is`nt to used to.
An all round team performance.
Gael Clichy is rapidly ataining legend status.He is the best full back in the league.His level of consistency is remarkable.
Carlos Vela promises great things.
Looking forward to a cameo appearance by Samir “Slicer”Nasri in the new Saw film.
Hi kgoon
Most of the speculation re: PV is on the ‘Le Grove’ site and a correspondent entitled ‘arsenal insider’ claims to know definitively that it is going to happen. I’m still skeptical. But I do love the guy (PV that is) even though he’s probably not the ideal signing for us.
thanks Rasputin
Wikipedia – (not the most reliable source of information) reports that we have signed PV on a one year loan deal??????
‘Holic, only coffee for the moment, please. Late, late night and the missus didn’t appreciate it much. Top it all off, I read rumors of West Ham offering 8mil for Djourou. Please tell me Le Boss is not seriously considering that. That’d be the wrongheaded move of the year so far.
Rasputin, didn’t know your name – I wish I could come up with an explanation mysterious enough to befit your historical status as Russian talisman… but anyways (then again – maybe I DO know who you are!) 😉
Word is van Persie is fit enough to join the Dutch for international duty so that is good. Just a question: past glory aside, is it worth it to hire on Viera to mentor the youngster? I’m just saying…
Interesting European Games
The baking heat of the Virginia sun necessitated another few TV games and a few glasses of vino in the air conditioned cool. A great opportunity to see a few of our ex’s and some of our could be’s in action.
FLAMINI was first up as Milan slumped to a one nil home defeat against the spaghetti eaters of Bologna. A very average first half by the flamster saw him relegated to right back for the secon half where he remained fairly anonymous.
Then up to Birmingham for a boring 90 minutes (sleep came near as the red wine kicked in). Gareth BARRY didn’t really turn up. ALONSO had a fair game for Liverpool. But was he really better than Denilson can be if he’s allowed to develop?
Then off to Spain to see HENRY, HLEB and YaYa TOURE in action for Barcelona against a team with the standing of Fulham’s reserves. Rubbish! TH’s career is sinking slowly into the Iberian sunset. He didn’t show as Barca slumped to a majoe one nil upset, and was substituted after 60 mins. i won’t say more. YaYa Toure hardly registered a positive either and was replaced after 60 mins by Hleb. They stuck him out on the right. his contribution was minimal with a few flickers of the nonsense that used to drive us mad. Nasri for Hleb is GREAT outcome.
But there WAS one who impressed. He was magnificent in every aspect of is game as Udinese strolled to an impressive 3 nil win.
He was, of-course, Goran Inler. He’s said he’s not coming this year and wants to stay at Udine. Target him for next year Arsene. He’s class!
BergKamp-
What package do you have in VA to get the La Liga matches? I get the EPL through Fox Soccer Channel and Setanta broadband, but I would like to see some Spanish or Portuguese ball at home. Is it Gol TV?
Thanks.
NEXT 27 HOURS ARE SILVER CRITICAL
The shutters will thunder down exactly 27 hours from now to mark the closing of the current transfer window. These hours are critical for Arsenal in two respects.
The first has nothing whatsoever to do with the window and everything to do with RVP’s ankle. If he’s fit, the silver dream lives. If he’s not, the squad isn’t strong enough for a challenge of invincibles proportions. Sure, we’ll score quite a few. We have some great strikers who can play off world class colleagues. But we won’t have that extra bit of something that true world class players bring to a team. In Robin’s case, the ability to score, link the mid-field to the attack and hit dead balls better than anyone on the planet.
The second has everything to do with the window. AW has two choices.
– Add at least one quality mid-fielder and drive the dream.
– Don’t add, develop the youngsters, and replicate last year’s “nearly”
Both are not on the cards. If it’s the latter, we fans will need to have faith in the future as yet another year slips tantalisingly past without trophies to show.
A midfield comprised of any combination of Eboue, Walcott, Cesc, Nasri, Diaby, Denilson, Wilshere, Ramsey, Song, Djourou, Rosicky, will do OK. Just OK (assuming the latter two are fit for ~80% of the time). There isn’t one permutation that will elevate them to world class this season. A buy is a must if we’re to compete to win the trophies we all want this time around.
Hi LoneStar,
The La Liga games are shown here on GolTV (Spanish channel, but curiously sometimes has English commentary, once even had my fellow Scot Andy Gray on there).
Watch out too for the ESPN Spanish cannel ESPN Deportes (that was the only one showing last Wednesday’s game against FC Twente)
Bergkamp,
Thanks for the swift reply and confirmation. My cable carrier doesn’t yet offer GOL TV. I will get it when it comes on line.
Have a Warsteiner on me. ‘Holic could you oblige? 😉
Message 28 BTM. Great message if I may say. I agree completely. I guess this is a rehash of what many posters have been uttering for a while now. An Inler type defensive midfielder is key to moving the company onto the next level. Although it appears he has recently signed to remain at Udinese for at least another year.