Injuries 'Arsh On Determined Gunners
Dec 5th, 2009 by 'holic
There are games that live in the memory, and others where the result is the only thing that may just be retained. This one fell in the latter category, I suspect, but was none the less intriguing for that. When was the last time you saw a team select four defenders and six midfield players ahead of the goalkeeper?
That meant an assured control of the football, but an overall sense of nervousness as we wondered where the goals would come from. Early on it was clear that Andrey Arshavin was relishing the responsibility of leading the attack, and not surprisingly it was his trickery that should have seen a nerve-settling opener in the twenty-first minute.
The little Russian lulled Delap into a clumsy lunge, but the resulting spot-kick from Cesc Fabregas was saved by Sorensen, who appeared to dive so early that he was waiting for the ball to reach him just inside his left hand post.
Five minutes later Armand Traore fed Arshavin, and his one-two with Fabregas set up the Russian to get the Gunners deserved opener. Shortly afterwards the opportunity to get a second was lost when the luckless Emmanuel Eboue failed to get out of the way of Cesc’s goalbound effort and cleared off the line.
The quality of the first-half performance clearly had not been adequately rewarded, and yet another injury meant that Tomas Rosicky did not reappear after the break. Carlos Vela brought the average height down even further! Surely that would be the end of the injuries? Sadly not.
After Arshavin had again gone close it was Eboue’s turn to hobble from the action. Every cloud has a silver lining, they say, and the arrival of Aaron Ramsey provided the Gunners with a second goalscorer on the day. Another one two involving Arshavin parted the Stoke defence, but this time it was the young Welshman who started and finished the move. With just ten minutes remaining the points were now finally secure against visitors with limited ambition.
That didn’t prevent another injury, with Armand Traore the victim of an agricultural challenge. Mikael Silvestre got a brief cameo at left-back, and will hopefully understand when I say I hope he is not required to spend an extended spell as our fourth choice left-back.
In his post-match press conference, Arsene Wenger confirmed that Gallas also picked up a hamstring problem today, although I suppose the suspicious would suggest the number of injuries was not a surprise ahead of the effectively meaningless Champions League matchday six trip to Greece.
There is no doubt that Arsenal face a tougher challenge at Anfield next Sunday, and there will be fingers crossed that a strong enough squad will be available for that particular trip. With Chelsea’s reverse in the late game has come a return to the eight point gap that existed between the two London clubs before last Sunday, and of course we still have that game in hand.
Keeping the top two in our sights during December will clearly depend on a number of factors, but right now a little change of fortune in the injury stakes is paramount. A continued hot streak from Arshavin wouldn’t go amiss either. Well played today, Andrey. Now let’s keep it up please.
Thanks Arsenalist for the goal clips.
26 Responses to “Injuries 'Arsh On Determined Gunners”
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No drinks? Back home from the game. Stoke never looked likely to score without help from us. But we were mean today and I like that.
Walking in a tippy tappy wonderland!
It was a bit tippy- tappy too at times, but both Arshavin and Eboue and later Ramsey all had a more direct approach. Thought Eboue did well despite his Arshavin like defending for the opposition. Stoke fans were noisy even up in the gods where we were. The police had to jump inon them a couple of times too. Almost northern monkeys.
Emmanuel Eboue!
@ a football house in my country nigeria.evry arsenal fan enjoyed d game but we need mass attack.gud job
Evening boys. Glad we won for you.
Tippy-tappy is the fotball I love. Unrseervedly. Some fossils may miss the era of big oafs running and puffing after long balls forward but I am not one of them.
We played magnificent football today. Playing Arshavin as a CF was a masterstrike from Arsene. And Chelski’s defeat means we’re definitively in the race for the title.
Oh and there’s barely a sheet of paper between Traore and Gibbs. Really a shame that one of them isn’t a right-back.
Forgot to say that you’re exceeding all expectationsthat were already really high. Great blogs everywhere ‘Holic!
Save a pint or two if that cider for me bartender!
Very tippy tappy. Think Meercats wasted up on his own few moves ahead of rest of team why he kept getting caught offside. He’s a playmaker not a stricker one of the better players overall though.
An interesting (albeit speculative) piece on United’s finances. As you can guess the black hole is starting to overflow on the pitch. It won’t take too long before they follow Liverpool’s path downwards…
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article6945421.ece
Important thing today was the result, despite a fairly average performance. Lets hope none of the new injuries are too serious.
Another cider ta ‘holic.
Nice one ‘holic, mines a double cognac, double port – same glass…complicated and aromatic, like I like my football…I love tippy tappy, some of the one touch stuff in the second half was so sweet…
And Wenger is one of the smartest, most prudent, shrewd operators – he is the eleventh man, the way he distracts the press, shoulders the blame, shifts focus. Last time an Arsenal player (bar Edu) took a pasting in the press? Probably Gallas…before him? Very clever.
The flaw is obvious though…Wenger hates attitude, hates arrogance…but it is the quality…or rather the attribute of the winner. AFC is full of lovely boys who speak well and for all their wealth, are humble…we need some c****, like Cole, or dare I say it, Henry; vain, egotistical, greedy assholes…who want nothing more than to be adored…not 22 euro dandys who like poetry and speak five langages and would never cheat on the girl they have been seeing since they were six…
Just a couple of big, nasty arseholes…and then we would win everything.
Does Chelski’s two losses on the trot equal a mini crisis?!
Man City about to go down the road of injury crisis? Bridge and Richards both out for a month or two?
Mine’s a martini and I don’t mean maybe. Out of vermouth, not an olive in sight. Tippy tappy my ass.
Andy B: I know your point is not meant to be taken literally but I’m not sure a guy’s outlook on fidelity and relationships has much to do with how he plays football.
Get in the hole!
Only one team was ever going to win today. Some excellent football. Could and should have been a much bigger margin, but the three points are golden after a poor spell.
I’m hoping, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Song, Fabregas, Denilson, Nasri, and Arshavin are all absent vs Olympiakos. We should then have the core of a strong team for next week’s Liverpool game.
If giving Emmanuel-Thomas a run out is a good idea, there’ll never be a better time than Wednesday night.
Thought City made Chelski look ordinary in the extereme. Drogba’s two touches amounted to diddly. City mid-field easily outplayed Chelsea as did our mid-field last week. Big difference was the power of the City front line.
City’s No 25 had a strong game. Nice goal, moved from wing to wing creating a lot of width and space. Good ball winning in the midfield and some good defensive work. Great contribution to reducing the eleven point spread. Good man!
A Togolese Black Russian and tonic please, barman.
Evening all.
As i posted this Afternoon, I believed that the result would be much more important then the display today.
The result – a nice two goal win, with the added bonus of a clean sheet, which is always a good thing to have, although I must admit Almunia made me nervous a few times in the first half.
The performance – well, there was only really ever one team in it, Stoke seemed to just sit back and let our lads play, which they did well with typical Arsenal finesse. The game shouild really have been wrapped up within the first half hour, as it wasn’t, the futher the game went the more I was praying that Stoke wouldn’t nick an undeserved equaliser, but a nice strike from young Ramsey put my fears to rest.
I thought Arshavin was outstanding in his lone striker role and proved that you don’t have to be big as long as your smart to be an effective striker. With a little more luck he could of easily had a hat-trick.
Speaking of luck, here’s hoping that ours will change in the injury department, and the knocks we picked up today are not to serious.
Another pint of that Cider for me please ‘holic.
Cheers.
Cheers multibloggerholic
I think it’s time to sign Arshavin for my FF team. Russia not qualifying for the WC is understandably a downer for him, like being dumped by a bird you really love. But he’s got a new bird now and he can score for us all season long. Fuck Russia Andre and learn to love the Arse
Good morning all.
He was in mine, Hat, but I had to offload him when fiddling the strikers to get some fit players into my team 🙁
My pick for the visit to Olympiacos:
…………………..Fabianski………………..
Hoyte…..Senderos……..Silvestre…….Eboue
Ramsey…..Wishere…….Randall (or Coquelin)…….Merida
………….Watt………Emmanuel-Thomas
And the wining eleven at Liverpool:
…………………..Almunia……………………
Sagna……..Gallas……….Vermaelen……..Traore
Nasri………Song……….Fabregas………..Denilson
……………Eduardo……..Arshavin………………..
Lazy Sunday afternoon.
What do you think, ‘Holics?
Hoyte is on loan. We play 4-3-3, anyway, though JET as target man is not a bad idea. Vela will probably start, and so will Wilshere, Ramsey, Merida and Coquelin/Eastmond (or Song, to get in to rythm) As for defense: total mystery, but hopefully no Traore, he needs to stay fit.
Ah, BtM, I would leave Eboue and Ramsey at home on Wednesday, although you have probably nailed next Sunday if they are all fit.
Right, think I’d better go to bed now.
So a quick hello and a glass of clear water please.
I haven’t even had time to read this blog yet.
In other unrelated news, I see Lille mounted a comeback and won, so Bordeaux are a few points clear now!
See you for the Hull game!
Tres bon indeed, Ollie. Have a good return to Madland.
Eboue needs to learn how to shoot and esp at goal
he cld be a breakthru player if he perfected that aspect of his game