A Very Good Team Indeed
Aug 14th, 2008 by 'holic
I have to say that watching the contest last night already knowing the result meant I was strangely detached from the usual tensions, and my enjoyment suffered a bit as a result. There is the word of the night. A word that should be imprinted on the brain this morning; RESULT.
I had already witnessed the criticism, in some quarters, of our young midfield, and it’s true that they had their work cut out, outnumbered by sly and energetic opponents who enjoyed a fair degree of lenience from the officials. This was however a difficult away leg of a Champions League contest against highly-motivated opposition, and it was not surprising I think that they were unable to impose themselves on the game. That doesn’t mean they will not do so in the future. This was an important lesson in the development of two players, neither of whom is likely to be first choice this season.
Looking for the positives I have to commend the defensive performance. There were a couple of scares when players were allowed to attack the box with little resistance, but I think you can put that down to the fact that Djourou and Gallas haven’t played together much and both will examine those occurrences and learn from them. For the most part they were excellent.
The biggest positives of all were obviously the goals. Regular readers know that Gallas frustrates me, but this was not the first time he has come up with an important strike, and he showed great determination to get into the box ahead of his marker. Fair play to the man.
The second was that most untypical of Arsenal goals. A very well played long ball from Djourou into the path of Walcott, who squared unselfishly for Adebayor to finish. It was perhaps more than the display had deserved, which makes it all the more satisfying given the number of times we have completely dominated sides and ended up drawing.
There is an old saying that the sign of a good team is one that can win when not playing well. We are, therefore, a very good team indeed! We will be even better when the ‘walking wounded’ return. Job done.
46 Responses to “A Very Good Team Indeed”
So it’s WBA on saturday as our first match of the new prem season. Come on you Gunners!
Twente were very average and far from a good a team last night – A good team would have scored 3-4 goals past us and would not have conceded that sloppy goal to gallas.
But apart from that WE WON!!!! YEAH and with Arsene stating he expects a new player to be in the squad prior to the return leg we can relax for a while
As for WBA – i am a little nervous – Defensively we had very little protection from midfield last night – Flamini and Gilberto’s absence was apparent from the start. The youth of Deni and Ramsey was obvious and at time showed distinct weakness. We can all feel happy overall – it was well documented that Eduardo, Toure, Rosicky, Nasri, Senderos, Fabregas, Diaby were all injured and once they return 4-5 of them will slot back into the squad – pretty much a full midfield.
I feel a new Defender and a new (world class) midfielder are still required before we can hope of the league or champions league –
Come on Arsene’s Arsenal We can do it
Paint it any way you like, but fact is this squad is far weaker than it was at the end of last season and all the wishfull thinking or spin that you constantly put on it wont change that. Only one person can change that and so far he’s either incapable or just unwilling to fix it. It pains me to say it but this squad is going to fall way short this year. You “Arsene knows” idiots can attack me all you like as when im proved right you will still be as blinkered and suffer amnesia once again.
After Reading this article i got some funny feeling in my gut. Just like the one 1 got from watching Braveheart!!!
COME ON GUNNERS LET GO CLAIM BACK OUR TITLES!!!
Dear Paulie – History is shouting it to you ARSENE KNOWS!!!!
paulie
i suspect you will be the one suffering from amnesia at the end of the season. of course we were a little short last night with all the injuries, but we did better than the Pool with all their new signings
we are at most 2 players short of last year, but in all other positions we have players one year older and more experienced. and we have some interesting new arrivals that could surprise us as much as flamini did last year (bet you would have said this time last year that he was not good enough – or maybe amnesia has already set in.)
some people just seem to enjoy being miserable and having a moan…..
Paulie,
Please go back to wearing your sandwich board down Oxford St and bewailing the fact that the end is nigh. The rest of us are happy with our meat, fish eggs and lust and thus will continue to ignore you from a safe distance.
Love
CER.
GunUDown – so when we will face Manure we will be in kilts and raise them in unison – that should turn Fergies face red – oh it already is
Well, you can spend the whole season moaning and crying about it on any forum that cares to listen, or just sit back and see what happens. Unless you have some way of convincing Wenger that you know better and can stump up the money to buy the world class player that you want.
I for one, just enjoy watching football and the way any arsenal team plays is always enjoyable. Over the next 40+ games there will be ups and downs but its not about the destination but the journey that gets you there.
Jimmy you’re the idiot mate. how about the fact all you arsene haters were proved wrong last season? i seem to remember hearing exactly the same rubbish and then we went and competed no problem. just relax a bit, yes we;ve lost “one season” flamini and “3 goals” helb, but are they that hard to replace? surely nasri, ramsey, plus eddie, RVP and rosicky back from injury is more than enough to cover those two?
i meant paulie of course!
No jimmy son, you were correct first time. Catch you later kid.
I did not like the match last night. But the result gave me immense satisfaction. After all it counts not the performance.
Personally I have an opinion to make regarding Gallas, Senderos, Toure. Why not play Gallas as a defensive midfielder infront of Toure and Senderos, allowing Sagna and Clichy to bomb forward, with Cesc behind the two strikers and Walcott on the right and Nasri on the left tucking in. That formation has been staring us in the face for months and it can be tried. That way we wont loose the marauding runs of GC+BS and the fluency of the midfield since Gallas can cover the centrehalves. Desailly did it. Why not Gallas?
What do you others think?
paulie well said i agree with you this is an AKB sight they do not believe in any criticism of the manager or the team even though it’s constructive
spot on paul-all these guys were so happy to slag us off last year, then we went and proved them all wrong and they seem to forget about that. do these people not realise that the likes of theo, song, djourou, clichy, denilson, bentdner will all ahve imporved? plus the new signings and of course the returning vela
manny-constructive? you’re wrting them off before the season has even begun mate. all we have to go on is preseason (in which we won the dam tournament and beat madrid), and last night, where we won 2-0 away from home with 8 injuries in the CL. there’s nothign to criticise mate, wenger has said he’ll be certainly signing another player, what more do you want?
paulie – “catch you later kid”?? you sound like a really cool guy….
thank god everyone is picking on paulie rather than my comments lol
F*ck off MOd you wanker… 😉
cheers Frichie – i feel wanted now
Mod… What a stupid comment… 😛 Haha I’m Just kidding 🙂
I agree with Jimmy, we have a lot of positives to take from our pre season… and with one more signing certain (probably a CM or DM) we should be happy! No-one should write us off before seeing what we can do, that same thing happened just last year and I think all of those critics were silenced, especially thinking we wouldn’t even make the CL!!
Almunia
Sagna Toure Senderos Clichy
Walcott Cesc ???? Nasri/Rosicky
RVP Adebayor
With some OK back up in the likes of Diaby, Bendtner, Vela, Wilshere who looks promising, and that extra mystery signing… looks like a good team to me.
Don’t get me wrong here, i think we should have some other form of backup for defence, but to me Djorou and Song have come a long way over the last couple of seasons. And I won’t suffer from ‘amnesia’, if I’m wrong I’ll happily come back and issue you a public apology, but I hope you do the same (pretty unlikely) if you are proved wrong.
I just don’t think anybody can write off any team before they have seen them properly in action, and until they see the completed squad!! Damn, i even think Hull could stay up this year!
Anyway, Rant over.. COME ON YOU GOONERS!
P.s – Arsene…(Definately)… Knows 😉
Joseph, not a bad idea but methinks toure would handle midfield better than gallas (he was a midfielder before) and can do a flamini better than flimflam himself – athletic, kick like a mule, not afraid to takie a shot.
gallas-djourou is a woking-ish combination
SOME OF YOU ARE EITHER THICK OR NAIVE – BOTH PROBABLY
WE WERE SHIT LAST NIGHT AND NEED AT LEAST TWO NEW SIGNINGS JUST TO COMPETE – THAT IS COMPETE WHICH DOES NOT MEAN BEING ABLE TO BEAT THE SCUM NO.1 AND THE SCUM NO.2.
GET REal you limp muppets were shit
Hello. I am not happy with our present squard. Am also not impressed with the new signings on board (I believe that I have the freedom to express myself). I agree with Paulie and the points he made. It is not a garrantee that because we faced similar problems last season and surprised many that it would repeat itself again. Even Wenger knows that. Thank you.
You are perfectly entitled to express an opinion here ray, that’s what blogs are for. It would be appreciated by all though if people could explain their arguments a little more succinctly than ‘we were shit’.
We were not at our best, it’s true. Believe it or not the other top sides don’t play well every time they step out on the park either. Some people seem to want us to fail so they can continue to wallow in their fake misery.
We played badly, we won. That’s a great sign. Get a grip.
El Tommo
Obviously you believe that if you SHOUT LOUD enough people will listen to you. ‘Fraid not, son.
Any chance the moaners could wait until theres been a real failing?
I’m gonna sit smugly and enjoy a 2 goal lead for the return game. It wasn’t pretty but we won, is it too difficult to enjoy a win in that fashion?
Rather than risk a barrage of f’s and c’s, I won’t give my opinion of the game and our midfield/defensive performance. I am hugely relieved we won the game and that’s all that matters.
I would like to ask if anyone can explain why we are apparently so poor at PR?
We know PHW is a loose cannon and is likely to come up with a statement or two that is not helpful and that Arsene will always give a considered answer to a question irrespective of whether it is open to misinterpretation. There have been some of the contradictory and confusing reports coming out of the club in the last few months.
The ‘chequebook’ statements going into the euros – the ‘I believe Hleb will stay’ and letting poor old Cesc declare his love for Villa when it must have been known at the time that those sort of funds were not going to be available, and this last ‘Henri’ stuff was not particularly helpful. I’m sure there are plenty of other examples I could dredge up.
All I am saying is that it hasn’t helped reduce the angst of supporters or done much for our profile in the footballing world and more importantly to prospective new players.
I feel that since that Orange c*** was shown the door, a lot more responsibility has been dumped on Arsene regarding transfers. It seems that since Dein left (and I’m NOT suggesting he should return), Arsene has had to shoulder ALL of the burden of signing players, and unfairly I would say. I think he, and the club in general, would benefit from someone in that position to hammer out potential deals when Wenger finds a target he wishes to acquire. Just a thought.
Only saw the highlights of the match, and although the goals were 1) ugly and 2) not vintage Arsenal, it’s the result that matters. We’re in better shape than the scousers, anyway.
I’m fed up with the doom & gloom… it’s come from the press and infected our supporters more than ever. I agree we are short in central midfield, but that’s common knowledge and whining about won’t help. Arsene has said there’s one more signing coming, so as difficult as it will be, we must be patient.
Finally, Paulie & all the doubt-mongers: you’re muppets. You want signings? Go support Spurs, we’ll see who’s ahead of who at the end.
i was a bit uneasy about how uncomfortable we looked on the ball, in the first half. denilson ramsey and walcott could do no more than the simplest passes, often not even that. but walcott in particular impressed me in the second half with the effort he put into defending.
also, cameroon have brazil in the olympics on saturday, so we should have song back after this weekend, and he is a much more assured and physical presence in the DM role.
Ooh…. first of the regular crew.
Not KTb (she’s enroute to France). No Ollie, and still no Jackster.
I’ll have a pint of your finest whiskey please barman.
*waits patiently to catch the eye of the barkeep*
Get me one while you’re there Hazza, ta.
Nice work again, ‘holic. I think the important thing to remember about the qualifiers is just to get through – whether we win 1-0, go through on penalties or spank them 10-0 on aggregate.
The score’s irrelevant, so the fact we won away from home, with a severely depleted squad, and put ourselves in a great position to qualify is fantastic. The squad definitely needs a signing – as we all know – possibly two (but not likely). Let’s look at the positives, as there are some, instead of ripping into an agenda and looking for things to reinforce this instead of what happened on the pitch.
33 already how did I miss it? Oh I see Jackster’s made it with Theo’s old number.
+ Sly was playing for Twente? :-s
Kir Royale please, ‘holic…
Brett I think most people would agree that it is you who is in fact the muppet. You agree that we are in fact short of players but yet have the audacity to tell people to go support spurs for daring to comment on it. Some of the stupidity of you people amazes me but you Brett are a prize prick and the funny thing is that you think you’re clever. What a joke you are sonny. Wake up son.
the problem with idiots like paulie is that they never say anything new or interesting — they post a million times on all the blogs saying exactly the same thing:
the team is shit
Wenger is shit
The Board is shit
The club is shit
Anybody who disagrees with the above is shit
I know better than anyone else
That’s the entire sum of their comments, nothing else.
Ok, we get it.
Utter boredom.
Why even bother to read them, when you can repeat verbatim everything they’re going to say before they even type it?
rasputin, what the hell is so awful about AW’s comments about Henry this week? What a whiner you are. I agree the club PR machine is often crap, AW’s public comments are often problematic, contradictory. You talk as if Arsenal are somehow unique in this. I guess MU and Chelsea have brilliantly consistent, ethical, effective PR machines. All other managers are paragons of consistency and clarity. And honesty.
So many of you D&G merchants overscrutinize the club’s and AW’s public comments like they have Biblical Force or something. You take it so f—–g seriously, ignoring the fact these are just games they play with the media. Nothing unique or new in this. Grow up.
El Tommo,
Were we shit last night?? Well we won! FYI you are shit today!
another thing about the whining little One-Note Paulies and Le Grove babies is that THEY WANT TO SEE WENGER AND ARSENAL FAIL. For paulie, it’s not about Arsenal or even Wenger, it’s about HIM.
paulie wants to be proven right and piss on the rest of us.
paulie’s greatest desire is to see Wenger fail abysmally with Arsenal and have us relegated.
Just so he can come on the blogs and shout “NYAH NYAH NYAH I TOLD YOU SO!!!”
paulie breathed a huge sigh of relief when our season collapsed in March last season. Until then, he and his ilk were miserable because the team were doing so well.
Never posted here before butI’m (finally) sick & tired of those like Marcus who suggest that anyone who dares suggest that Arsene sometimes gets it wrong, that the board might get it wrong or that all is not 100% okay want to see the club fail. Utter rubbish.
Since we’re in a ****ing contest, I was born at Whittington Hospital, N5 and my grandfather was a season ticket holder before me. I have no intention of supporting Tottenham, nor do I want us to get relegated. I also think the football we’ve played under AW is the best we’ve ever played, certainly since I started going in the 1970s.
However, in the first half last night we were overrun. Not because we were unlucky or because of officials or even injuries but because we are too lightweight. I wouldn’t trust Diaby (given his injury record) and don’t want us to sign another 16 year old.
Do I trust that Arsene will buy an experienced defensive midfielder? No, not after his “I’m here with my chequebook” comments at the Euros. I simply hope.
I’d love a Johnson type player (slightly above average DM who will not set the world alight but will not go missing on cold, rainy nights in the NW and will not need 6 months to settle). That sort of player will be invaluable against the bottom half of the Division and the FC Twente of this world. That’s what I’d like, but I worry (really) that we’ll get another 17 year old who looks like being a world beater age 25. If anyone knows where Ray Parlour mk2 resides then let AW know, c/o the Emirates.
Andy
Whittington Hospital is not N5 mate – N19 I believe and nearly halfway to Tottenham!
But most people were concerned about the team last night and the injuries – I should think Wenger especially!
But most of us her are sick of the moaning from the Paulies and Thommos of the world who only seem to get any pleasure in their constant whinging.
Paul – you’re absolutely right, I’ve just googled it so you live & learn (and, in fairness, I couldn’t read when mum brought me out!)
I still maintain that some of the “moaning” is simply discussion – surely we ALL want the club to do well but some of us are worried by the activity this summer.
I understand we don’t have the spending power of the Chavs or Spurs, it’s the constant influx of u20s whilst all the experience has walked.
Marcus if you’re going to respond to other peolple’s comments please make sure you you read and understand them properly!
I commented that the ‘Henri’ stuff was not particularly helpful (not awful as you proclaim) after first stating that ‘Arsene will always give a considered answer to a question irrespective of whether it is open to misinterpretation’ – some fans desperate for new signings thought that he meant Henri would come back as a player which obviously isn’t going to happen. It was no the sort of statement the fans were expecting to hear just before a CL qualifier – see what I mean…….
Why does a person who brands other correspondents as ‘boring’, suggests that some would be happy to see us fail just so they can gloat and generally seems to hold other peoples views in contempt spend so much time and effort on this forum.
Just ignore us. You are so sure you are right. We’re bored with your constant condemnation of the views of other fans. What you say is easy – what is hard is to open your mind to the possibility that there may be a problem.
Fever Pitch summed up totally what the essence of being a football fan is all about. Its like being bi-polar. There are fanstastic highs and incredible lows. If you wait all week, spend your hard earned going to the match and lose dismally – you feel utterly drained and despondant, but come monday morning you are thinking of the game ahead and by friday you can’t wait to be back on the terraces. Being a football fan is about suffering and joy. It is in your blood -t hat is why, however good or bad your team you can never change. We are just extremely lucky to be Arsenal fans particularly in the ‘Wenger Era’ which has been the richest in the club’s history (IMO)
A light and lager, a vodka and orange, a martini bianco with ice, and a pint of Guinness for me, please holic, an extra cold one at that. Where are the nuts in bowls today?
Andy, Whittington baby here as well. Take no notice, it’s an Arsenal hospital through and through. 😀