On And Off The Pitch, Gunners Are Stunners
Sep 13th, 2008 by 'holic
A great week for Arsenal in general, and Theo Walcott in particular, came to an end with the four goal demolition of Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. I’m pretty sure though that Theo would be the first to pay tribute to the magnificent support provided by the travelling Gooners.
From the first chorus of ‘You’ve only come to see Eboue’ the massed ranks of Arsenal supporters outperformed their hosts and must have provided a tremendous lift to the side humbled at Craven Cottage on their last awayday.
They were initially rewarded by a tremendous finish from Robin van Persie after he was set up by a mazy Walcott run and intelligent pass on just eight minutes. Cue ‘holic screaming ‘It’s behind you’ at Paul Robinson, not for the first time and hopefully not the last!
In all fairness we were as dodgy at the back as we were threatening in attack, and I’m guessing that most Arsenal supporters were mightily relieved at the addition of a second goal just before half-time. Denilson, unusually overshadowing Cesc Fabregas, produced a fine run and cross for Emmanuel Adebayor to head home.
In the second half the visitors tightened up at the back and put a stranglehold on the contest with two further strikes from Adebayor, and for the first time this season I heard those magnificent fans singing ‘Give him the ball, and he will score’. The Togolese striker went a long way towards regaining his relationship with the Arsenal faithful today.
The enigma that is Emmanuel Eboue once again demonstrated all facets of his complex personality. I noted elsewhere that he moved effortlessly from right to left flank, and demonstrated a versatility I suspect most would have considered beyond him. He produced one of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt, but made the most of a Warnock challenge with just over ten minutes remaining and once again divided opinion about his value. In fairness I screamed for the penalty in real time, so it was a difficult call for the officials. Slow motion replays left many puzzled by the need for a stretcher to haul the Ivorian away.
I hope the massed ranks enjoyed a stress-free journey back down the M6. They deserved at least that for their performance, which I’m sure contributed to the display by the side they went to cheer. The first of three really tricky away games has provided a valuable three points, and that is three more than the reigning champions got today.
Three weeks after Craven Cottage we have turned things around with a solid performance in hostile territory. Defensively we probably have work to do, but a golden week for Theo Walcott, and Emmanuel Adebayor, has set us up for hopefully a week which could shape much of the early part of the season.
Cheers, you travelling Gooners.
51 Responses to “On And Off The Pitch, Gunners Are Stunners”
Almunia, I worry about still. His decision making is poor and won’t venture beyond the 6yd box unless there is a summer meadow of greenery and no opposition in front of him. His decisions are poor. Apart from the reaching save, I still dont trust the guy.
Otherwise, apart from some minor complaints like Clichy letting balls over his head and Ade not grasping basic geometry, it’s been a good away day for the team.
Eboue will be up or a BAFTA award at the end of the season.
Just a pint tonight please and one for yourself holic. great read.
Bit unfair I think, Jonnie. Manuel looks a class ‘keeper these days. The save you mentioned was stunning, and given the unsure nature of the pairing in front of him I think he has done really well to improve. I’m no longer concerned that he will be beaten all too easily at the near post, and very rarely does he make a decision to come for the ball and not get it. I understand why you might think he doesn’t come enough for the ball outside his box, but I think he is making good decisions about what he can and cannot deal with. It’s not his fault we are crap in the air at the back.
He’s probably out for the next game, so I hope all the ‘Eboue is the anti-Christ’ people are satisfied. It really was a foul.
There.
With Almunia, even our mad-hatter CBs seem more assured than they were with Jens (even when he was in good form).
He doesn’t do spectacular like Shay Given, but that hides that he’s a solid, able goalkeeper. Only bettered by Reina at the moment, imo.
Mouse capturing warrants an extra-large kir royale, I think, ‘holic
I make that 1-1 ey. We agree on one, but how the fuck is Eboue injured from a dive?
😉
I dont know why some people still slate eboue and aluminia.These boys are giving their best.I have seen eboue improve the last three games,and there is no way anyone of us can slate him….I knoweveryone is entitled to say what ever they want but we should stop slating players for no reason
Aluminia looks assured in goal,his decision making is very very good..He has improved tramendeously….
However,i am very pleased with the way we played today, what a complete performance from the lads.I am sure if we continue playing that,the sky is the limit to what we can achieve this season.
Watching some of the replays on Eboue doesn’t help. I think he does dive, but I alo think that as he goes down the Blackburn player does catch his trailing leg which forces him to lose his control and twists his leading knee.
Or something like that anyway. I’ll have a pint of that black stoutydrink, the extra cold one please, you know, the one from Ireland.
Cheers.
One last drink before bed.
Eboue was stretchered cos if u look closely to e challenge, his right knee went perpendicular to the ground when his body position at that instance is so low. he might have buckled it. there was indeed contact too with his calf. so he din exactly dived but he did exaggerate e fall like he always does.
vela could make an impact like walcott in champions league!! any takers?
I don’t think it was a dive, Eboue just has the misfortune of being preceeded by a reputation for the ‘theatrical’. This is the second time he has been injured and accused of ‘diving’ and ‘cheating’, which seems very unfair to me, and even more so, when it’s coming from his team’s own supporters.
Jack Wyltsheare to score?
That’s a fiver I won’t be seeing again.
‘holic, a) I think the defender caught the back of Eboue’s fall (he had starting diving a little earlier, granted). But b) I suspect he got injured when he fell. Because he fell quit awkardly, I could see how his ankle got injured, it didn’t look so good.
Eboue is showing class this season. Lots of ignorant Gooners will be eating their words about him sooon. Need him fit. Rosicky looks like he’s got serious fitness problems. May have to fork out for a wide boy come Jan.
Need some height in central defence too. Otherwise Arsenal are best side with Chelsea this season.
Or what Snail said 😉
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.
And Passenal too.
Before I am slaughtered can I point out I did say it was one of Eboue’s best performances in an Arsenal shirt.
But that was a dive, and you know it…
He did dive.
It was a foul though (the defender got nowhere near the ball and launched a desperate tackle), and he was touched and he was injured falling down.
Or indeed what you said Ollie, it is so difficult to tell from the replays online.
Cheers!
EBOUE IS OUR LEADER
Come to see Eboue,
You’ve only come to see Eboue… 😀
Fantastic to be arguing about this after the Fulham fiasco…
I certainly will not be going Cottaging again
It was a truly awesome performance from the gunners.. Eboue played well until he got injured.. It was good to hear the fans singing the Adebayor song..
By the way, did anyone notice we have 4 centre midfield players playing alongside each other wen Ramsey came on for Eboue. Ramsey and Cesc(who would have thought this??) played wide…
did anyone notice we had 4 centre midfield players playing alongside each other..
small correction.. 🙂
Eboue is starting to fulfill promise he showed in his early career. People still forget that he is still finding his feet in midfield but he is coming along in leaps and bounds. If anything our weakest link is Gallas. He has been shit recently and I cannot understand why Wenger won’t drop him for Djourou instead.
Fair enough point Goonerholic, He has improved but I dont agree that he’s good enough to be our #1 and Almunias’ CB pairing have 400+ EPL matches behind them combined, in contrast to his 50+ EPL matches as #1. They should know better regardless of inexperience working together. It’s one failing I have felt for quite a while regarding GKs, that AW will, I hope, prove me wrong sooner rather than later.
PS: Eboue is a better midfielder already than he could ever have been as a defender. His mentality, demeanor have always conveyed MF aspects IMO.
I can’t believe that no one has mentioned how much calmer — and how few times the back four were bothered — once Song came on and completely took the space in front of the back group.
We have plenty of offense — we’re going to get goals — so why not ease the pressure at the back by letting Song have that position and we can all relax and wait for the goals to come at OUR end.
Denilson is up and down, but he does NOTHING to help the defence. The difference once Song was introduced was amazing.
The guy has become total class. Those performances in the ACN and the Olympics were no flukes.
And Wilshere, by the way, looks ready to make an impact right now. He was only on about four minutes before that gorgeous reverse pass to send Ade clean through for the fourth goal.
I’m not a person who says to trust Arsene blindly at every turn, but the way he’s built this team is spot-on — and a lot of people who have slated some of his new players will be singing about them soon enough.
It wasn’t long ago that people were saying Theo was a bust, that Song didn’t belong in Prem, that Hleb couldn’t be replaced — and hell, Nasri’s better than Hleb in every department AND scores.
Why automatically doubt when the manager has such a history of correct decisions on players?
Makes no sense.
I think Almunia did well, he lower the tension of our CB. Just look at the save he made on McCarthy shot, that’s world class.
calif steve, I think it was ramsey who slot in a pass to ade.. not wilshere.
after wilshere came in, ramsey was positioned as a second striker or attacking MF, because we have 5 MF (cesc, rams, song, denilson & wilshere)
overall, defensive wise, we look vulnerable, how on earth did cruz get few easy, open header in between kolo and gallas? scary….
EBOUE KNOWS!
@California Steve,
My sentiments exactly, once Song came on we had a solid defensive presence which also provided cover for our CB’s.
Can’t understand why he does not start in place of Denilson. Without Song our team defense is crap because Eboue, Denilson and Fab are always surging forward and leaving the back 4 exposed, especially since our wing backs are also involved in the attacking phase.
Be honest, if you were Eboue when Warnock launched into that awful challenge, wouldn’t you do your best to get out of the way?
Last season I was criticising Eboue along with the rest of you, but to be fair, he’s been surprisingly good in central mid. He has also (probably) cut out all the cheating and diving.
As for Almunia, he’s not a great keeper. He doesn’t pull off spectacular saves like Seaman, but nor does he ever make the sort of cock-ups you associate with Lehmann, Robinson, James or Reina. He’s a good, reliable keeper and doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
And I agree with CaribKid. The way we play often leaves our back four exposed. Mostly they deal with it fine, but once or twice a game, we will have heart-stopping moments. The way to prevent it is to use the central midfielders as a defensive screen.
But then we wouldn’t be able to play the wonderful flowing football we all love to watch. We’d be just like every other boring, safety-first, percentage team. We don’t want that, do we?
We’ve just gone to a tricky away game, in a place where we traditionally find it tough. We’ve limited the opposition to a few half-chances while totally outplaying them and winning 4-0. Why are we not celebrating?
J-Rock of course people cfan complain at Eboue for diving.
He’s been better this season and that’s obviously a great thing for us, however that doesn’t make his diving and bad antics sometimes acceptable.
Eboue gets payed an awful lot of money to play for the Arse, I don’t think it’s very respectful of him to be a play-actor. As for if it really was a foul I didn’t see it but you must have heard the story of cry wolf. It’s hard to sympathise with someone who pretends to be injured so often when he really does get injured- and by all accounts it was a dive anyway from what I’m told.
I thought Almunia’s save late on, where he gets down low to his right was excellent.
Gerry, that is the whole point. The way we play the game means that the back 4 will be more exposed at times than other teams, so you have to take the rough if you want the smooth. I’m sure with Eboue out on Wednesday, Arsene will play Song in the middle to give us more defensive solidity.
Very good post, holic. I liked your focus on the fans’ contribution and Ade’s rekindling. You do good work on building harmony.
A great many positives for me from today’s game.
– If Robin stays fit for the entire season we’re in with a real chance.
– Denilson’s game is growing with his confidence
– Ramsey’s through ball for Ade’s third was beautiful. He’s going 2b GREAT
– Ade’s scoring again! Let the good goals flow.
– Song looked really good when he came on.
We looked superb going forward. We creaked badly at the back. Sharper teams would have taken advantage. There’s more work needed across the back four, and more containment of the opposition’s attack in mid-field.
Overall though, the Auld Shabeen faithful left happy.
Eboue is king
When has Wenger ever put faith in a player and that player has failed him?
Eboue is learning how to become a Mid-fielder and he will be a very good one in time to come. Look at wenger faith in Theo when most were calling for his head. I will suggest lets give the rest of the players that wenger is grooming to fulfill their promise:
1. Vela
2. Song
3. Eboue
4. Ramsey
5. Wilshier
7. Johan D
8. Denilson
9. Walcott
These are all young guys and the next generation of Arsenal Greats to come along.
In Wenger I trust, because Wenger Knows even if he makes Mistakes along the way, this only shows he is simply human.
Eboue did indeed dive, I for one found it really funny. I’m almost certain the injury is nothing more than a knock when he hit the deck in his usual dramatic style.
On a more serious note, he is a great member of the squad, he is happy to be plonked anywhere on the pitch and judging by his last few performances, he is starting to display why, during times when the arsenal boo boys doubted him, Wenger has maintained faith in Eboue’s quality.
Eboues ability to take on players and great pace has always been marred by his end product and inconsistency. Once the heat is on this season, the raise in standards of the right wing options are really going to pay off.
Almunia is a legend, he stepped in really well for ‘Lame Man’ last year and i dont have any complaints about the lad. Almunia for England keeper!!
Goonerholic could you give me the HTML for the Teenage Cancer Trust Tag by any chance so i could post it on my blog?
Cheers mate
On its way to the email address you left me Goon…
A very encouraging performance, even though a team with more quality upfront than Blackburn would have caused us problems. Theo had another good game and Adebayor got up and running with his goals. Can we please have an end though, to the constant criticizm of Almunia. Everywhere on forums I read things like “although Almunia isn`t the best, he once again kept a clean sheet”. I ask you, what more do fans want. Unless he starts making howlers, he`ll do for me. Finally, I really do think its time for Arsene to take Eboue to one side and tell him to cut out the theatricals. I sat embarrassed watching the TV last night. If he has to do it he`d be better saving it for the C. L. final.
Bang on goonerash (42).
Eboue is Arsenal through and through. And improving wonderfully. Sure he played the theatrics a bit BUT, lest we not forget, he WAS fouled!!
Almunia too is quality. He deserves more respect from us fans IMO. He has had to step into some fairly big boots left by some heavyweight former goalkeepers (Lehmann, Seaman et al). And has done so quietly but more than capably!
‘Then Kolo almost netted from a corner and Comrade, who had been a little quiet but by no means infuriating, hit one from range that was both on target and required proper saving. Praise the Lord.’
Still laughing…
Eboue didn’t dive or even exaggerate. Look at it again, Warnock’s right leg catches Eboue’s left heel just it was raised for the gallop. It was quite fullsome contact when you look at Warnock’s right leg and not the left leg he orignally lunged in with. As someone else pointed out, Eboue was accused the same at Anfield two seasons ago when he was injured and out for three weeks.
I think I’ll just have a beer, ‘holic
I’ve had some nice spanish liquor tonight, but a malt of your choice to get me to bed would be nice.
Cheers ‘holic.
Eboue is a much more important player to us than most people realise. It’s nice to see him start to blossom in what is still a relatively new role for him. There was definitely some contact on the pen. So I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Defensively he still offers us good balance. Moving to the left side of midfield snuffed out the threat of Emerton.
On a side note, did anyone see the superb performance from Nacer Barazite? The Arsenal youngster inspired Derby to their first win in 362 days.