First Of The Summer Wine?
Apr 4th, 2009 by 'holic
There is something about the first sunshine of spring, Arsenal playing at their expansive best, and winning a couple of bob, that lifts the spirits. The Guinness is sliding down a treat this evening.
Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fabregas, and Theo Walcott probably owed their starting roles to the knocks picked up by others in the international break, but all three caught the eye in an impressive Arsenal performance. I’m sure though they would all be quick to point out the victory was built on the basis of a solid base in midfield provided by the oft-maligned Denilson and Alex Song.
Whilst it was Manuel Almunia who was called upon to produce the first save, from de Jong, City were flattering to deceive, and just eight minutes in the first ‘holic pound yielded dividends. I didn’t back Adebayor to score first because I could not be sure he would start, but instead took the 6/4 on him to score at any time. He duly obliged by heading home a flighted free-kick from Cesc after Robinho had over-enthusiastically charged Sagna off the ball.
With competition for places hotting up the big man needed that goal, and the second which arrived in a very one-sided second-half. Just four minutes in Cesc provided another delicious chip into Adebayor’s path and the finish (shown above) was clinical.
The scoreline will not surprise anybody. City have not travelled well this season, and only really contested this game in the first half. The hyper-critical would suggest that we should perhaps have added to the margin of victory as we dominated after the break. Having followed my preview by punting on 2-0 I will not be one of them!
The only concern evident on my stream was the sight of Walcott applying an ice-pack to a heavily strapped knee on the bench having made way for Eboue. Theo was on the receiving end of some solid challenges and must be a doubt for the trip to Villareal on Tuesday.
Goal provider and scorer also departed early having picked up some valuable match practice. Cesc was allowed to strut his stuff in the final third by his younger companions, and seemed to enjoy his afternoon. He wasn’t the only one. Tougher challenges may be on the horizon, but we look in extremely good shape.
25 Responses to “First Of The Summer Wine?”
Denilson was fantastic.
Having slagged off Song ever since he joined for not being good enough to make it at Arsenal, I am absolutely loving being made to eat those words by the quality of his performances of late. Turning into a genuinely solid midfielder. Long may his progress continue!
As for Adebayor… Unlike a lot of others, I never had any doubts; the man is a top quality finisher. End of.
โIf only we sold Ade and bought a big centre half and a defensive midfielder we would be good.โ Or “Song/Denilson (choose whichever) will never make it at Arsenal.”
Total wankers. Asene Knows Best.
I’m going to put the BtM crystal ball in the bottom drawer, ‘Holic and start relying on your predictions. It was quite clearly written in my crystalline structure that the result would be 4-1 with Ade getting three and Song scoring from a header. There isn’t a crystal ball repair shop in the area, so, the only solution is the one above. Well done to you on your several recent flutters and continuing fine posts to boot.
Glad you mentioned Song and Denilson right up front. Both were quite splendid and I have long since forgotten that French fellow who used to pretend to be a DM and is now languishing on the bench in the land of ice-cream. Good all round stuff. Theo has really come on this season too, despite spending most of it on the surgeons table or lifting weights.
And off they ran at the end to strains of Thin Lizzy belting out “The Boys are Back in Town”, even better than “Move on Up” after the last home game. With The Who playing “Pinball Wizard” for Cesc at half time, there must be someone of our vintage on the gramophone at the Grove, Holic?
was at the game and for me denilson was MOM today. the formation we used allows the young brazilian to do what he does best: simple football. he broke up play consistently and then moved the ball on to the likes of cesc.
song was also good in the def mid role, but city were total powder puff and were embarrassingly poor in the second half.
our one bad moment was when fernandes walked into acres of space in our box, but thankfully he missed. the team defending on that incident was woeful, but our luck seems to have turned.
good, easy win ahead of villarreal. perfect.
ill have a bottle of rose al.
The normal 6X and a touch of Weller please.
Great game and a great atmosphere. I do not want to sound harsh but if we had brought our shooting boots it would have been a cricket score. We were that good. I will comment further after MOTD.
London Pride please ‘holic.
Heh. I’m glad Ade made my reverse Jinx came true. He doesn’t like paying my faith in him back in the past so right before the game i had to say “nah, i’m nervous because Ade’s back.”
Well well. 2 goals then.
Due to some crappy cable bullshit, the first half wasn’t shown on cable. ‘holic could you enlighten me on arshavin’s performance in the first half?
And also, Eboue came on on the 68th minute and contributed a few good runs. I thought he deserved a mention ๐
they are back!!!
cesc is back! (no wonder!) and ade is back (silence the muppets and myles palmers!)
my only uneasy feeling was the lack of enough link between them and the man who revived the team (Arshavin)
i hope they will soon syncronize and….then……way to go
OK Steve-o,
Actually Arshavin had a quiet first half, although twice he nearly scored. Funnily enough they were probably our best pass and move plays before the break.
I do think when everybody is fit he may play in the centre alongside Cesc when we have a five in midfield, although that may leave us a little exposed defensively if we tried it with only a four and two up.
We at last not only look like the old Arsenal, but seem to be adding consistency to the performances. We looked sharp and incisive today. We created chances and looked dangerous. We are now really jelling as a team. There is a cohesion about or play that troubles teams. Then you consider those that were not available today and it makes you realise that we are not in bad shape at all.
We have struggled at times this season as we have all no doubt alluded to. However, having seen the way certain players have played today you can only have good feelings for the future. I have always been a fan of Denilson. I think he is young and very talented. For me he has come on leaps and bounds this year. I have never been a fan of Song and have voiced that opinion on here several times. However, today I thought he was phenomenal.
Add the likes of Van Persie, Eduardo, Diaby, Nasri, Rosicky, Vela to those that played today and teams will be quaking in their boots.
One positive from all the long term absentees may well be the development of certain young players. I am more than hopeful that we can claim a trophy or two this season. As for the future? Well who knows? Keep this bunch together, add the odd one or two and we are up there with the very best. So for all you doubters the answer is an emphatic yes, Arsene does know.
What? 6x all gone? Iโll move on to the Bass then if you donโt mind?
Keep the faith
Sorry, one last point. Bar one blip, kolo and Gallas look a great pairing at the moment.
And Villarreal got a thumping today………
Song and Denilson were awesome today, they are maturing before our eyes, which in a way vindicates Wenger’s faith in them. Arshavin is the one who led this revival by always showing class every time he played. Looking at the table, i can’t help but wonder what our season would’ve been, if a player of Arshavin’s class was signed in the summer. We look forward to next season when hopefully, the injured players will be fully back, and some of the young players will be experienced enough to last a whole season.
Just what we needed, an easy win against City (so immensely rich yet so, so poor)! We were a bit fortunate when Fernandes missed that chance, because he really should have buried it. But other than that, they offered very little. Almunia was only called upon to make routine saves.
Strange that City travel so badly when you consider who their sponsor is.
Part of me wanted us to show a bit more urgency and really batter them, but it ended up looking like a casual training session as we coasted through the second half, saving our energy for a more important fixture on Tuesday.
Great to see Captain Fab back and looking hungry. And as others have said, won’t it be great when (if ever) we get everybody fit. What a stunning range of attacking options we’ll have. Opponents will look at our bench and sh*t themselves.
Arsene really does know.
Agree fully that Song and Denilson were great – nice to see after all the doubts expressed earlier – yes, me too. Song’s physical presence is a plus as is his ability in the air.
One or two defensive errors from Gael and Gallas but fortunately luck and Almunia – who continues to look solid in goal – were on our side.
All in all a great team performance with everyone showing a willingness to work hard and defend when necessary – even Ade and Theo. Theo definitely adds something extra to the attack so I hope the injury to his knee isn’t serious.
Come on Arsenal!
Good result and it sets us up nicely for the Villarreal game in mid-week. Let’s hope that we can get our whole squad back and fully fit soon. If we can, we’ll be a real handful for any side.
http://thenorthbank.wordpress.com/
Hey ‘holic is it just me cause yesterday i noticed cesc has a tatoo on his arm, tell me is it something ive missed in the past or has he gotten it during his time out? Great game by the way, we were brilliant!
there must be someone of our vintage on the gramophone at the Grove, Holic?
They were playing some Noel Coward then?
Just a straight Jameson’s for me please ‘holic, I’m on a diet.
Hey ‘Holic,
I’ve just started a very simple blog (goonerpanther.wordpress.com)on Arsenal. I’ve enjoyed reading your site over the years and have linked your page. I might probably also refer to your site from time to time in my blog, hope this is ok.
I have to say that I am slightly disappointed at the last minute winner that Manure scored earlier. Even though the Villains would have closed the gap to 5 points, I was hoping for a draw.
Barman, young Snail getting dangerously close to yellow card territory with Noel Coward comment. Mike Reilly would have been on that one like a rat up a drain. Slight redemption though on commentary on Manure’s last minute winner. I too had been hoping for a draw and was disappointed to see those red tails go up again. Still a lot to play for. Third not beyond us and we’ll have a very big say in who wins everything.
for once i thought we got essien on our squad. i’m talking about song. if only he a bit faster and as tenacious as flamini..but he still got a lot of room for improvement. denilson was solid as ever, hardly put a foot wrong. eboue i thought had a good 20 minutes. ever since his confidence back, so does his form. i’m not concern anymore whenever he’s playing. almunia i think is the most underated gk in prem league. when kirkland(they said future england no 1?) spilled some shots that almunia would catch with ease, i wonder when people will recognized how good almunia is. the 3 guys that got back, fabregas, adebayor and theo all look good. i’m impressed with walcott, when compare him with lennon who is the most in form right winger in england, somehow walcott bring more fear factor to opponent than lennon does. i dunno why but defender more afraid of walcott than lennon. fabregas impressive as always. he just got back and straight away got 2 assists. his 19 assists last season certainly not a fluke. i wonder come end of season he can still top assist table when he’s been out for 4 months. arshavin now can take a few breather, with cesc on the team, he don’t need to play top gear all the time. the rest, toure looks like he back to his best. his direct running really amazing. gallas when he shut up, his football is better. clichy and sagna now go forward more often than earlier in the seaon. overall, fantastic arsenal performance.
Steady on BtM, I can’t go around dishing out yellow cards to people for truthful observations.
Who’s Noel Coward anyway? ๐
Pretty Things bass player I think.
Just a quick hello as I have to be busy. No first wine for me, just some energy drink (I know you don’t serve that) as it’s an evening of packing and not being social for me.
Cheers.