'Ello 'Ello, Listen Very Carefully Arsene
Aug 15th, 2010 by 'holic
Blimey, where do you start. I can’t remember the last time I watched a game where we scored an important late goal and my blood was still boiling. Welcome back the emotional roller-coaster that is Premier League football.
I should of course start with the positives, having pleaded on Twitter with someone else to do the same. So I will. For forty-four minutes I have to say all of my pre-match optimism was being justified. We controlled the midfield, and therefore the match, thanks mainly to a willingness by all to compress play into the Liverpool half of the pitch.
Forget for the moment that Liverpool under Hodgson will be more than happy to defend deep and deny attacking sides space in which to work. What that did was present me with an opportunity to cash in on my pre-match punt on Thomas Vermaelen to open the scoring. Sadly his three opportunities came to nought.
Alongside him however another story was breaking. I’ll be the first to hold my hands up and say I was really worried that Laurent Koscielny wasn’t ready for Premier League football. With the ball in front of him for much of the opening half he looked very solid indeed.
Unfortunately the match hinged on a challenge on him as the half wound to a close. Let me say straight away that this was not another Taylor, or another Shawcross type challenge. Those who debate the red card however cannot have played the game before. If you want to block a clearance you throw yourself in the line of flight of the ball. If you want to let the defender know you are there you throw yourself directly at him. That is what Cole did when he left the ground to make that out of control challenge. Nine times out of ten that will be a red card and rightly so. He didn’t intend to cause serious injury, but he certainly meant to take the man and did so.
I would have more sympathy with anybody who suggested it was no worse than two Gerrard challenges and one by Jack Wilshere which attracted one yellow card between them. Martin Atkinson doesn’t believe in inconsistency between different officials. He prefers to be inconsistent himself, in just the one game.
The incompetent oaf in black levelled matters when he awarded a second yellow card to Koscielny for an accidental handball in the closing stages, having ignored a deliberate and blatant handball by Ngog earlier in the half. Hence my fury at the final whistle. This is our second best referee. Not too surprising though when you consider who is regarded the best! Good referees and good goalkeepers are extremely thin on the ground these days.
Which brings us to the goals. Again, hands up here. I was pleased to see Almunia get the nod out of what we have available, in the same way that you might be pleased to pick your favourite Spice Girl. The four options aren’t that attractive. He’s gone full circle though. The near post vulnerability that haunted his early days at Arsenal have returned. Listen very carefully, Arsene, I shall say this only once. Buy a goalkeeper.
Full marks to the ten men of Liverpool in that second half. They knew they had to work harder than us, and did. We helped by stopping knocking the passes around for fun as we had in the first half. Diaby and Wilshere were overrun and Arshavin was reduced to an onlooker, again. He says himself he is not on his game at the moment. A kick up the backside in the form of a place on the bench beckons. We have too many good players in the squad to carry passengers.
Reina kept the home side ahead with excellent saves from a Walcott free-kick and a Rosicky shot, but then produced the moment that all Arsenal fans had prayed for since the redundant Spanish squad player forced a Barcelona shirt over Cesc’s head in front of the cameras. He proved that we didn’t have the only poor Spanish keeper when he contrived to chuck a ball returning off a post over his own goal line. Like a baby asked to clap for the first time he chucked his hands in opposite directions but they didn’t meet in the middle. How we howled with glee!
Time remained for the incredible sending-off of Koscielny, who had by then settled fears about anything that got in behind him, having twice given Torres a head start and still overtaken one of the most dangerous strikers in the game. I thought that this was his weak point. I’m delighted to be proven wrong. Grimandi knows!
Arsene afterwards was at his best. Apparently he didn’t see Joe Cole’s challenge, but thought that Koscielny was outstanding. Problem is Arsene, he will now miss the next game and apart from Nordtveit we don’t have another fit central defender.
Listen very carefully, Arsene, i shall say this only once. Buy another centre-half!
116 Responses to “'Ello 'Ello, Listen Very Carefully Arsene”
No arguments here at all.
I’ll have half a bottle of red from in the vicinity of Madrid, to celebrate Pepe throwing not just the toys but even the ball of the tram.
1st i hope
See HOLIC!!! u said what i said yesterday!
wilshere is woeful, he caused the goal and i cant even remember any blog highlight that because he his english, almunia had a great game to me, wilshere in todays game is rated 3 for me
OFF the tram that is.
Saucer of milk for Ivan, please, ‘holic
Well written Holic, couldn’t agree more.
Martin Atkinson should have never given Koscielny a second yellow as it was not intentional I wrote this in you earlier post but hey I have given up on the English refs years ago.
We looked like we needed Song, Denilson and Fabregas out there, Nasri faded in the second half and his mistake led to the goal I think. Diaby looked like he got jaded too.
Give credit to Liverpool they played well with 10 men, either way I will gladly take a point from Ainfield and Reina’s blunder.
Bring on Blackpool I say…
I’ll take a point at Anfield anyday of the week.
Hopefully Djourou will be fit for next week’s clash against Blackpool.
fidogunner…u fuckin mad? almunia had a gud game? he flapped 2 times!
THE FUTURE OF SPANISH BENCH WARMING……AND THE FUTURE OF FOOTBALL BLOOPERS DVDS…..PEPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Holic, how come no one’s mentioning Nasri uninspiring performance? He got the keys to our play from AW in the absence of Cesc and didn’t do what was asked of him.
I expected him to kill ‘Pool with his through passes but he just passed left and right with no real threat.
Rosicky was far better and always looked for the goal in the time he played, he created a shot and the goal.
I’m also pleased with Diaby’s discipline to keep back and understand he was playing the holding role today in Song’s absence but I can’t wait for him to get a more central role and have a massive season.
I’m positive AW will bring a center half and after what he said in the press conference when asked about keepers. If he didn’t want to bring a keeper he would have said “no”- But instead he said it’d be better he didn’t talk about it cause it’s ruining his keepers’ confidence. He’s definitely bringing a keeper.
Whoever we buy, I will still have jitters when we defend. I just feel we can’t keep clean sheets and have to always outscore the opposition to win.
I only will start feeling confident about our team if we start to keep clean sheets on trot.
Rosicky had the determination in his eyes where as other players lacked that. He should have started. Our best player today.
Holic, if memory serves you werent impressed with vermealen this time last year, he didnt turn out too bad now did he?
I was at the game and Cole’s challenge looked well bad from my viewpoint.
Liverpool played like an average away team at home, so it was always going to be a slog to get anything there and after the Cole sending off, that only made it even more so. However, to blame Almunia for a goal that was the result of a Wilshire mistake is a bit much mate.
A new keeper and at least one CB to come in this week (oh please make it so!) and we are set.
We were missing cesc, Song and RvP, while Diaby (who bossed the midfield today) who hasnt even featured in pre-season.
1st game of the season, away from home against a much vaunted big team. I’ll take a point and a VAT thanks!
I hope the fact that we nicked a point doesn’t disguise what was really quite a poor performance from us. It was galling not to see Fabregas make the bench – is there something I missed regarding a late injury? Chamakh didn’t really show a whole lot, despite helping Reina to score, and Arshavin was anonymous after the 30th minute. Glad RVP got to play a bit, though would’ve preferred to see him on earlier. Very, very relieved that we didn’t have yet another shattered leg on our hands – the scousers showed themselves to be utter cretins by booing Koscielny. Massive improvement from all needed for next week.
Most worryingly, we are going to have to buy a centre-back from Outer Mongolia or somewhere where the Premiership isn’t shown if we don’t want to get completely and utterly fleeced by the selling club, given our circumstances.
Yeah man what is this shit with Almunia ,send him home,is okay but gonna costs us points…what the fuck is he paid for…
1-1 at anfield…i will take that at any day, any russian vodka for me barman,
Today, Wilshere looked a bit overwhelmed. There were a few times where he should have backed himself and headed directly towards goal. that’s when he is really threatening. He was at fault for the goal too, but i’m ok with that, he’ll come good. Like xiper, i’ll take a point at anfield and like the rest of you, we need a keeper and a centre back, pronto! Alex song is not a CB and we don’t want to be bleeding new talent against a team coming off a 0-4 win with nothing to lose .
Considering who was missing we looked alright – especially defending. Lesson learned today – don’t f**k around in your own box…I thought we learned that in the first half as the defending when needed was urgent and balls were cleared out.
Agree – thought Rosicky looked great when he came on.
2nd yellow was hideous for Kos.
Better result for us than them…Reina made the match look closer than it was…till he made is especially close in the 90th minute. 4 points on tap vs Liverpool this season – I’ll take it.
Eboue over Walcott on a semi-regular basis…yes please.
Really good game today
With fab out, rvp out, daiby only match fit, denilson out, song out and almunia in goal, arshavin playing injured
add to that
wilshere an 18 yr old in midfield
Diaby didnt played a single game in pre season
and two players on debut we did really well to come out with a draw with all these things
Bring on a new keeper and CB backup because Kos looked awesome and we are ready for the title
what more could any of you people want from a team playing at anfield
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Give it a rest with the moaning FFS!
Re.fidogunner
I think you must have watched a different game.
I thought Wilshere had a good game. I liked the way he wasn’t going to be bullied by those nasty Scouse boys and his yellow only goes to emphasise that he’s prepared to get stuck in. He is certainly 1st team ready.
As far as Almunia is concerned, I wish he would become a “stay at home” goalie. It’s when he leaves his line that the flaps and misses occur. But he did save from that rapidly becoming a dirty thug, Gerrard.
Karma is a wonderful thing. Sevile win 3-1 against the supposedly best team in the world, then the Karaoke King Reina scores a brilliant goal. via Chamakhs header and a post. OK it was only a point but this team The Mighty Arsenal looks like we are ready to take on anybody. Vannot wait for the Chelski, Manks and Citeh games. The Awesome Arsenal are back and hungry for success.
fidogummer Wilshire was making his first full start at Anfield of all places.He is 18 FFS
On the other hand Almunia Diaby Arshavin and Eboue can have no excuses
We should be really suprised at Almunia he’s fucked up before and still Wenger picks him and even more amazingly he makes the clown captain!!!! We need a keeper now
Diaby was crap.Why cant he pass the ball to a teamate?
Eboue is just a headless chicken.He creates jack shit
Arshavin should give his wages to charity after his no show
At the end of the day nothing has changed since last season.We must sign a keep this week
Sorry but you cannot blame Wilshire for the goal. It was Clichy’s fault entirely. He is the experienced player and under no pressure chose to pass the ball back across his own goal area. It isnot the first time that glichy has done this and we have conceded a few goals beacuse of it.
To think, we were gifted a point by a man arsene was apparently willing to part ways with 20-25 million for.
those blaming jack i feel are a bit harsh, for me arshavin didnt bust a got 2 get on 2 the slightly wayward ball and could have tried a bit harder! Either way a point at anfield can not be sniffed at and i thought for the most part we gave a good account of ourselves, we were found at little wanting upfront, shame for chamack 2 not be able 2 get more involved but 1st prem game specialy gainst top class oposition was always gona be tuff 4 him, but im confident he will get 2 grips with english game sooner rather than later! And i felt koscielny was steady at back and unfortunate 2 get sent off! And i thought nasri woz excellent in 1st half but woz not as effective when he woz dropd back in2 midfield when theo came on! Our goal keeping situation obv needs addressing but we all know that! I am at a loss as 2 where cesc woz tho? Anyone know?
Excellent post ‘Holic.
Great point at Anfield – but in all the blaming going on I’ve seen noone point the finger at Clichy. It was his ridiculous misplaced pass that resulted in the goal, and the number of times he got dispossessed or let in opposition players behind him was just unbelievable. So much for Gibbs putting pressure on him and making him work harder. Time for Gibbo to get a run in the side IMO!
But great point – well done lads (and ha ha Reina)!
Liverpool’s Europa travels have worked for them they are sharper as they’ve been back in competitive football earlier. I think most would have taken a draw in a tricky opening game.
With Blackpool at home next week Wenger can just about scrape another week without signing some players but they need to build up understanding on the training pitch.
Cole’s tackle and the press reaction to it sums up why England will never win a major trophy the international game is now about technique not physical intimidation.
in ur face u mouth wretched reina.
another cb is necessary.plz arsene!we have see two situation im quite sure everyone worried about and it involve kocielny.(first, injury scare; second, red card) u right hollic, please hear this Arsene
Wilshire should take his fair share of the blame, he’s grown up through the Arsenal ranks and he’ll have noticed that we like to play it out through the back from the earliest of stages.
Clichy’s ball wasn’t misplaced, Wilshire had space and time to control it he didn’t, he tried to be clever and dummy it for Nasri who had already moved on from the position behind him.
It’s a lack of concentration from the youngster there and that turned the game on it’s head, he should be looking at that and thinking I should really know better.
Good game today, I either travel in circles of very negative fans, or maybe they’re all goths,, maybe I am a goth, who knows, but everyone was expecting us to get battered today and our defence to be ripped apart.
We controlled the game, though like Holic said Liverpool under Hodgson and pretty much Benitez to seem to be content with that aslong as they’re defensively sound, if anything the sending off put us off more than anything.
Especially after we conceded we weren’t quite sure how many men to push forward and always seemed wary of their counter attacking threat, it left us looking a bit of a mish mash moving forward.
Song may not be the World’s best, but what he does brings structure to our game and the trust he’s built up in a short time seems to help us push forward better than we showed today.
Rosicky’s bit of skill on the egde of the area made me think the shot was lamost destined to go in, I was actually shocked it didnt’t.
Poetic Justice with Reina aswell, he must really hate having our fans right behind him everytime we play.
A lot of positives to take from the game today – a point at Anfield is not a bad result – one of the difficult fixtures out of the way and unbeaten.
Some lovely karma for Senor Reina after his antics at the World Cup final celebration.
On the Down side – we still look likely to concede from set pieces every time – do we not work on this or what?
HenryVieira and Dominic,
It was Arshavin who passed the ball and not Clichy, Arshavin intercepted the pass from Kuyt and passed to Wilshere who stupidly left it to someone else (I think Nasri).
Clichy had a good game, with a clearance off the line and was left exposed a lot 2 vs 1 cause Arshavin is lazy. And he’s one of the few that actually shot the ball.
Almunia isn’t shit, he’s not great either. I’d much rather keep Almunia in the team as a good back up and have a better keeper in front, than sell Almunia and have Fabianski as back up you know what I mean? Almunia plays better when he has good competition. What baffles me is the way Wenger dropped Lehmann a few years back after two mistakes, but our keepers – ESPECIALLY Fabianksi – make horrendous mistakes and don’t get dropped. I know they’re young but still, it shows you they AREN’T READY and shouldn’t be thrown into games of a big magnitude.
Wilshere? Am I the only one pissed off he started? He’s an 18 year old kid ffs how the hell is he going to come of age in a game like that? I know he’s good but please Arsene show restraint with this guy. I’d rather he started against Blackpool.
Diaby is a fucking frustrating player. I shall refrain from laying into to him but fucking hell does he irritate me with his play at times.
Arshavin? You wally.
@10 Big Russ 23
Well played sir, hilarious drink. Karma’s a bitch.
Koscielny looked the business today.
Anyone else notice how many more quick touches in the box we had when Van Persie would hold the ball up? Led to Rosicky’s attempt and we looked a lot more dangerous.
Barman I’ll have some vodka while I try and remember if Arshavin played today.
A good point at Anfield on day one- we havent lost on opening day for 12 years now so there are more positives than negatives! I was slighty worried about who would cover Kos when he was scythed in the first half – maybe AW was too he might just think about addressing that prob this week – Mexes please-
Now on to the negatives – the f in ref! how can he send off Kos for deliberate handball when it was kicked against his arm from a foot away!
And keep gerrard on the pitch He should have gone too – two footed challenge on rosicky (and rosicky got booked – unbelievable) does he have a special dispensation because he scored for england during the week? Should we have UEFA refs across the leagues of europe to stop this type of bias
Almunia have a good game, that’s what Wenger said, and it is a bit true. Tonight he’s not really bad right?
Sagna, good game, but not really sharp. If Van Der Wiel signed, maybe we are better, but just forget it, let support our OWN man.
Glichy, decent game, i scared to death when i hear Arsenal want swap him with Melo, please don’t.
Koscielny Koscielny Koscielny, it is nice to have him in squad tonight, without his header, many of through pass cant be intercept.
Vermaelen, good as always, even make a mistake, but talking about game, he has it.
Diaby, he is a good dribbler, but bad at shooting, need to improve that and his strength.
Eboue, sometimes he change the game, but he hold the ball too long dude.
Arshavin, i cant see him, so, no comment. (maybe got a tight mark, he scored all 4 goal isn’t it?
Nasri, i like when he played CM, if he played like tonight, and combo with Fabregas, maybe we can lift trophy this season.
Wilshere, totally nervous and inexperience, but he is 18!
Chamakh, tight marking dude, he cant really move, Skrtel love him so much right? Always stick with him.
Walcott, i hope he stay fit this season, we need you man!
Rosicky, another loyal servant of arsenal, his passing is just great man.
Robin van Persie, he cant really move right?
Overall, i think it was fantastic we escaped from losing, we played in Anfield mates,not Emirates!
Just look at the line up, Liverpool has better, but we drew with them at Anfield!
I am a Nottingham Forest fan but have over the years come to appreciate the way Arsenal play and I enjoy watching them. They remind me of when Clough was in charge and usually play the correct way. I thought the second half they switched off completely. Liverpool had more desire *and I hate Liverpool so it’s hard for me to say *and I found it odd that until TR7 came on the team looked almost non interested. I hope Arshavin is injured because he was awful. But everyone knows all this, Arsenal need a Keeper and two centre backs. The interesting thing is this. How come Dirk Kuyt who played in the world cup final can be playing a full game and Fabregas (who wasn’t even on the bench) and RVP be so behind? Mascerano also would have played the whole game too? It mystifies me that these two players are not ready when the liverpool world cup recipients are.
Anyway the blackpool team selection is going to be mightily interesting if song (who could play there, or Nordveidt is not ready).
Only saw part of the first half on iraqgoals.net but fortune seems to have been fair enough to both teams so a pint of lager all around, and let’s get ready for the Blackpool juggernaut.
They shud get used to playing direct shots,we don’t need to pass untill the officiator get tired,while passing to even empty net. Guys change ur style.
After a promising pre-season, there was still a feeling of “not quite ready for the start” as Arsenal Beatled up to Scouseland and played The Searchers for the first three points of the season. The sun, bathing a city better known for rain and ferries across the high street, compounded that feeling. With Cesc, Robin, Alex Song and JD20 all missing, I would have settled for two points before Atkinson’s first puff set his pea whirling inside his Acme Thunderer.
Arsenal positively purred their way through a first half that would have had this couch potato judge award “dix pointes” but for the absence of at least one goal. Diaby and Nasri shone in a mid-field that looked like world-beaters and made Gerrard look like last Wednesday night’s memory. With Vermaelen and Kos looking as tight as the skin on Ringo’s snare, it seemed like only a matter of time before “One nil to the Arsenal” would Echo around the ground and have the Bunnymen diving for their burrows. Emmanuelle Eboue’s every touch looked solid and suddenly, it looks like he has a clue what to do in the attacking third.
That Cole’s very justifiable expulsion from the game put Arsenal in Helter Skelter was puzzling. The loss of an early, sloppy, second-half goal knocked their confidence. Suddenly, we went from a 1st half without a single missed pass to a plethora of punishable punts.
I would have left Eboue on and taken Arshavin off. His hair has grown back but his appetite to put in a full shift hasn’t. Nasri and Walcott did OK when they came on. Robin looked rustier than an Albert Dock hulk. Gael Clichy’s French resistance continues to trouble me. I expect Gibbsy will eclipse him shortly as first pick. But of these two teams, only one is in with a real chance of winning silver (and, I’ll give you a clue, it isn’t Liverpool).
I’m sitting smiling. There was a certain amount of poetic justice associated with Reina’s absolute howler after the Cesc shirt incident. We deserved a draw, but nothing more – but hey, we’ll beat the Scousers at home and we’ll look back on four points out of six against them (again) as one of the contributors to this season’s title win.
Is the need for Given a given? Yes. A new CB? Unquestionably. Do I wish I’d had my summer birthday present (Felipe Melo)? Yes cubed. Will Arsene correct two of these three? I’m confident that ‘e as ‘eard ‘olic’s ‘ello ‘ello and is under the floorboards on the crystal set as we ponder. Expect a couple of parachute arrivals by dead of night before August 31.
A satisfying Saint Emilion s’il vous plait, Monsieur Le Somelier.
The only blog where the readers do better reports than the blogger 😉
This is the first time I read you, Holic, and I must applaud you for this excellent review, and I am glad it is the first that I read tonight after the game at Anefield, as I am up to the head with grouchy fans, and unrealistically pessimistic bloggers.
Please allow me a few points, as I myself have been an optimist about our squad all summer, and STILL more than before. I really believe that project Wenger is starting to pay back, and that we are close to maturity, maybe not there yet… but soon.
I want to point out the following, just out of my love for Arsenal; I hope that more fans would quit being so gloomy and get behind the team, as we need all the good vibe from player#12 if we are to see success..
Some call the fans player #1..
Anyhow…
1- Over the past few years our team has been an UNLUCKY team.. call it luck, destiny, Karma, all the same.. We have been SO unlucky that even on a “lucky” day like today at Anefield, Kosceilny has a great game BUT gets sent off.
2- Nonetheless, I feel today showed that our spell of bad fortune is Inshallah coming to an end. Call me superstitious if you like… it is somewhat a science the way I understand it. You see, in life as in football often times you do EVERYTHING right but you don’t get results, and other times you’re really “winging” it and are so undisciplined but things just smile at you… THE FORCE IS WITH YOU!!!! And our club has been working really hard for years now to achieve something, and I don’t believe that good effort ever goes to waste… it is only a matter of time… sooner or later you reap what you sow.
Kosceilny’s sending off is a blessing in disguise.. This as a consequence will either pressure Arsene Wenger to but a CD, or forces the PLAYERS to play the versatile football they have learnt at Arsenal. You may not admit it, but I believe Song is our best Central defender, and with the current squad, we can afford to play him there. Either way I trust the boss. What people call him stubborn for in my book is called discipline. Wenger is not a Radical, he doesn’t just throw out of the window what he had been developing slowly over time. This is why I respect and trust his judgment completely, and of course he is human and is not without error, but back home we say “a crazy guy that you know is better than a crazy guy you don’t.” I’d take Wenger over any manager in the world any day of the week with all his “stubbornness.”
So the RED CARD is a blessing because it will bring more experience in the CD position, and I mean Kosceilny by that as well. I am CERTAIN he learnt more in today’s match than he did in the 35 he played for Lorient.
God almighty has written that on the 15th of August 2010, Pepe Reina would get spaghettied by Chamakh to find his momentum take him and the ball in his hands behind the line. Chamakh’s movement in that play REDEEMS his quiet performance today, as it really worked a number on Reina. It wasn’t a complete fluke… Chamakh in a way scored the goal without even directly hitting the target. He threw the goalkeeper off and he gets ALL the credit in my book. Praise to Allah
:o)
4. On another matter, I feel many Arsenal fans underestimate Anefield, and Liverpool as a squad under an excellent and balanced manager, Hodgson. He is also a man of good discipline and was not willing to take any gambles. Liverpool played better after they lost a man and were honestly unfortunate to come out with a draw. That is my honest to God OBJECTIVE reasoning when it comes to their performance; I felt like Arsenal were playing with ten men during the second half.. and it was when Rosicky was introduced that I felt we had a full squad again.
5. I don’t see our team deteriorating from what we saw tonight. They will definitely have bad games, like any other football team, BUT I ONLY SEE OUR TEAM IMPROVING FROM HERE FORWARD. There are many “key” players not included, and I never thought that tonight’s game at Liverpool would be a good indicator of where our team is. Blackpool, Blackburn, and Bolton will be a better judge. It is also good to see that our options are many when it comes to “key” players.
6. Almunia is a good goalkeeper. He made one or two silly ones today but he also did more than one or two fantastic ones in the air and off set pieces. I only see him and his confidence improving which has been a problem since last season.
7. There is a good sense of urgency-to-win in the squad. They will not settle for a loss. the last 20 minutes or so were a big improvement, and overall I didn’t feel that anyone didn’t play well except for Diaby. He seemed tired and a bit lost, as if he felt not integrated with the pre-season bunch that have been working at it for weeks ahead of him. RVP introduction was all Chamakh needed to shine out, as he and Arshavin (whom needs to get in shape) were marked very tightly. Walcott had a good day today making runs from the left side.. he needs more games and needs to show more consistency, also needs to work on his assisting rather than his scoring, as he would do a better job at that and end up scoring more!!
I apologize for the lack of brevity, as I have much more I could say. God Bless Arsenal and I hope you all ENJOY the season with ALL its ups and its downs.. we’ll be behind you Gunners for we believe our time is coming.
Z.
Diaby offers very little. He lacks any defensive awareness (i guess that can be said about our entire midfield bar Song) and just twists and turns his way around the field, never releasing the ball when he should play the pass. There are too many players of the same ilk playing pretty patterns not going anywhere. We need directness and genuine width. Balance is all wrong once again.
No offense Holic, every time I visit this blog, I start searching for Bergkamp’s The Man’s comment before reading the post. You are both terrific though. Cheers to you two.
Wel were up and running.
To come away from Anfield with a point, when you are missing your captain and talisman and a few other key players and have two debutants in the side, is a decent start to the season, I was well pleased.
Of course I would of prefered the three points, but lets look on the bright side, we didn’t lose! I thought we were a bit disjointed in the second half, but our brave lads never gave up and the 90 minute equaliser (thanks Peepee) was what our persistance deserved.
Of our two new lads, Chamakh showed promise (he’ll improve quickly) and Kos’ exceeded my (and I think mosts) expectations.
No need for a refill quite yet barman, my glass is half full.
Cheers.
quoting your best sentence… : ‘We have too many good players in the squad to carry passengers.’
so true… Arshavin’s moody habit is not helping us at all… Diaby is skillful without any meaningful vision… Eboue dive too much..
the only solution is to buy a better player. Diaby as a cover for Song is not really encouraging..
Holic, well said and precise to the point! We heard you loud and clear! But let’s hope A.Wenger hears too and will he please do something very quickly in buying another CB and a goalkeeper. We got away with a satisfying point for starters. It was a difficult and hard-fought match. But we are really thin at the back. With the new season just started it’s going to be a long long campaign with many more hard battles to go through. Let’s hope injuries will not sidelined too many (and too long) of our players all at the same time like the last past seasons.
Diaby was fooling around with his dribblings and holding the ball too long. Rightly he was replaced.
………………..Sczysney………………….
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………………..Frimpong…………………
….Sagna………………………..Gibbs…..
………………Nasri….Diaby………………
………………………………………………
………….Rosicky………JET……………..
……………………………………………..
………………..Chamakh…………………
Subs:
Mannone
Eboue
Wilshere
Walcott
Vela
Arshavin
Van Persie
Sometimes I feel people can’t criticize players they like.
How come Nasri gets away with what I thought was a very poor performance given the role he was given? Why do people come down on Diaby even when he’s great? I’m glad he played this way cause he finally understands the holding role and has the defensive discipline not to go forward too much.
Nasri on the other hand didn’t do what I hoped he’d do in Cesc’s absence, he was supposed to be the one to breach Liverpool’s line of defense but didn’t. The only one who looked like doing that was Rosicky.
I can understand that people like different players but try to be objective and criticize players who need to be criticized even if you like ’em.
we all watched the game last night but We can’t judge the team on just one game right! it’s take time to mantain the caracter building and full of rhythm. Our midfielder, they have made good ball possesion but take too long in devensive liverpool area,there are not enough number of forwarder to meet the time pass. I agree that Arsene must search CB and goal keeper to cover Almunia and koscielny.
I figure I’ll chime in with some of my thoughts from the game..
-Think we really suffered without a natural defensive midfielder. The balance did not seem right. Was Frimpong available? Would perhaps have been better off with him starting instead of Wilshere. That being said perhaps the thinking was with more creative players picked we would have scored more goals, didn’t quite work out this time.
-Rosicky was lively and direct, tends to be a little forgotten as we have similar players but maybe this could be a good year for him if he can stay fit
-Chamakh looked nervous coming out the race and seemed tentative early – understandable. Seemed at times him and Nasri, etc, were on a different page with their passing and movement but that should improve with familiarity.
Surely it wasn’t my imagination.. late in the game when Gerrard hit that free kick on target that Almunia punched clear.. I could have sworn I heard Arshavin saying ‘KEEP THE BALL OUT OF THE GOAL’ to Almunia, cheeky little bastard if so.. Anyone else catch that one?
It was a decent result but probably the performance was a bit lacking. Which is somewhat harsh on a team with 2 debutants and probably our 2 best players missing (RVP sub on was a cameo at best) playing at a difficult away venue. As one of the earlier drinks said, glass is still half-full here.
Wenger seems to be all alone right now in the eyes of Arsenal fans right now. Every fan is crying out for a CB and GK signing. Wenger as ever is keeping cards close to his chest which is frustrating fans no end. Even bloggers like Goonerholic, Gunnerblog, Arseblog, Goodplaya etc have become frustrated at the delay in addressing the obvious. It has lead to some of the above in fearing that we might drop out of the top four and Wenger signing a new deal has been welcomed cautiously among them.
I hope some good psychologist could help decipher why Arsene has always been reluctant to put in finishing touches with regards to our transfer activity in the past few seasons.
Holic, I read your blog more often than I comment.
I have a feeling, though I maybe wrong that you are holding back on some of your thoughts, and as always being polite.
Blogworld in general went mad last night as if we had been hammered 6 -0. I sometimes wonder if these so called fans actually support the club.
All in all a competent performance and it is universally known were the frailities lie.
If Vermaelen got injured, without reinforcements,I would worry.RVP was non existant when he came on, and Arshavin is becoming our version of Berbatov.
That said, I am quite content with the draw.
As a footnote,I always believe competion for places is healthy and I can see Gibbs probably making the left back position his own before the season is out.
In truth we were not ready yesterday. We have had a very poor pre-season. Key players either have not come back in time or have been injured. Cesc dallying has added to the air of instability. Most dissapointing – others are just not fit.
Contrast our line up yesterday with Chelsea’s on Saturday and (I bet) United’s tonight. All the regulars are back.
We have a very important couple of weeks ahead. Not only do we need to integrate those coming back, but as we all know we need to add to the squad and then settle it very quickly in terms of pecking order.
I also see Nasri getting stick but to my mind the issue for him was a lack of movement eleswhere. AS, Jackie boy, Eboue and Diarby (with an excuse as he was holding) were very static. Chamakh will take some time to know what runs to make. It was noticeable to me that when Robin and Theo came on there were more options, which in part explained why Rosicki became effective.
Talking of Rosicki – I hope Arsene looks to him to provide some of the leadership we need. I was so impressed with him when he first came in terms of ability, drive and team ethic. If he keeps injury free he would be a shoe in on the left hand side for me.
Morning Holics,
And what a hungover one it is, never good on a school day 🙂
Well may as well throw my hat in the ring,
Good Points,
A point at Anfield is never to be sniffed at in fact i would have bitten your hand of for that outcome before kick off especially with it being the first game,New Manager,New Players etc etc
Koscielny was superb, As was Nasri for the first 60 minutes, And TV was well Tv, expect no less,
Not losing in my view was absolutley critical to the confidence of this team a defeat might have set us on the road to a poor season so that Goal could be Massive in the long run,
The Bad points,
Our total inability to concentrate for 90 mins the goal we gave them was shocking, I know everyones blamed Almunia and yes we desperatley need a new Keeper but it wasnt his fault we gave the ball to them on a plate, They should never have had a sniff of a chance,
Possesion Football is Great as long as you do something with it just as last year we play pretty little patterns that go nowhere,That should be rectified mind with the return of Cesc and VP,
My last point is more to do with the attitude of some of the players yet again some are not pulling their weight i wont go into names as im sure you can all guess but at times it stinks and without a leader on the pitch they are yet again strolling along in games, Wenger really needs to kick some Arse or drop one or two to send a message,
All in All a good start and a happy Chippy now for the centrehalf and Keeper, A Wideman wouldnt go amiss but thats just being greedy 🙂
Oh is it only me or is anyone else slightly concerned that Cesc had a mystery chest infection ??
Every corner we conceded was half a penalty. Please Arsene, I don’t need this. Buy a keeper.
I’ll start with my disappointments:
– The team didn’t win despite having one more man than ‘Pool for the most of the 2nd half
– As for individual performances, Arshavin was woeful but just needs to be benched. He might come back on and play quite well like Rosicky did.
– That’s all.
As for positives, plenty:
– Koscielny is a better defender than The Verm to me, and that is saying something. Verm might be a better all-round player but Kosci was born to defend. I loved him.
– We played without our new GK, and four more established first-teamers and yet we are disappointed not to have won. At Anfield. Wow! I am loving this season already.
– Wilshere starting was excellent. He now knows that if he doesn’t do well, Wenger cannot be blamed.
Overall, for a first game of the season, I am delighted!
I’ll just chip in with my two cents as well:
Almunia should never have let that ball go in. He’s too close to the goal line and has his hands just flapping around his hips which means it takes too long for them to reach the ball. Take half a step towards the shooter and for fucks sake, keep your hands ready at a better height!
Overall I’m happy with the one point. As someone pointed out, Liverpool have already started their competitive season and are closer to their max and only Torres was missing from their best starting IX. We had no Cesc, no Song, no RvP and Diaby played his first minutes of football for the entire season. We also had two Premier League first-timers and 18-year old Jack Wilshere doing his proper Arsenal debut. It was a bit of a makeshift midfield and still we competely dominated Liverpool – at their ground with a fired-up crowd behind them – in the middle of the park for almost the entire game.
We now have several days to get Cesc and RvP up to speed, and Song should also be available. Bring on Blackpool, anything but three points is not ok.
Hey Goonerholic, you must priase chamakx becuase in that final ball if he did’nt get his body infront of Reina then it would’ve been all over.. so there are many striker who don’t even risk the referre’s wrath by challenging the goalkeeper.. only ONE MAN we know does these kind of things who is DIDIER DROGBRA.. so we may have a Drogba type of figure here..
All this shit with arsene is becoming tomuch for we the gunners fans accros african here.why is still kepping those shit of good for heart breaking keppers alumi and fabianski they the 2 are never good good for us anyway he better go for given now before is late what is still holding him from buying another cb?maybe he want to start playing at the position himself arsene learn from your past mistake pls YOU french man
Good write up
One very interesting note has to be made from this weekend, or rather the aftermath of the weekend: I have now read a number of articles about the game and I have seen MOTD2 and I have yet to hear anyone (apart from the most one-eyed scousers) say anything other than “it was a straight red”. Even Mark Lawrenson on MOTD said something like “we can’t say he’s not that kind of player, the ref really had no choice but to send him off” (or something to that effect). Are we actually starting to see a change in attitude?
Decent result but frustrating game. Hard to shake off the feeling that we should have won it. At the same time there was a lot of positives considering it was the first game of our B-team with many players short of fitness and/or in new roles. Well done lads!
Almunia will go, it doesn’t matter that he had a decent game Sunday. Everything is stacked against him. Fans & pundits alike rip into him at every occasion, it’s not manageable for him nor for the club anymore. Even Seaman is now urging the club to get another keeper: http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/42261/Seaman_urges_Wenger_to_move_for_Given_or_Schwarzer_.aspx
None of both is much (if any) better than Almunia to be honest but at least it will shut up most of the critics. I’m pretty sure the decision has been taken already and Almunia played to help him find an exit club. I’d much rather have seen Fabianski though as he is already better than the 3 veterans we’re talking about.
@Lars: I hope you are right, I noticed it too.
Matt, Fabianski better than Given? Large consignment of recreational drugs been found down your way?
Matt, this may seem like a broken record, but none of our keepers are up to standard for a top 3 side.To be fair,Almunia didn’t have his worst game I have seen, but the defence have no co ordination let alone faith with him .It is blatanly obvious every time he plays, regardless who is in defence.He never commands his area, and therefore slip ups occur, often leading to goals.I have lost count as to how many goals he has conceded at his near post, but the most worrying aspect of all this, is that Wenger must have seen this for at least the last two seasons, and it appears that only now, the penny has finally dropped that he needs replacing.If Schwarzer is any better, I am not so sure.
@zicoinexile: If you judge by howlers, certainly Given and Schwarzer had their fair share last season, we just didn’t care because they didn’t play for us at the time. If you judge by career stats Fabianski has a higher shots to goals ratio than all of them.
And please note that Seaman is still backing him big time: “Lukasz Fabianski has a great future, but I think Arsenal need to look at bringing in a keeper who’s going to calm the defence down and be consistent”.
@marbellaron: Don’t get me wrong I certainly agree that Almunia should not be our number 1 this season, I’m even of the opinion he should not have played against Liverpool.
As for my recreational drug tonight, I’ll have a fine glass of local Grenache. Or two 😉
I know this is a little late, but well said ‘holic. The departure of 4 centrebacks when we have a dodgy defence to begin with was a little worrying and now (this early in the season), we’re made to learn that lesson. That said, and despite the fact that Kosy would miss the next game, I have to say that he didn’t look out of place there. I look forward to seeing him settle more into the league as the games come along.
Chamakh though, had a disappointing start. I guess he deserves some slack but the lad’s gotta buck up if he’s gonna survive here. I’m quite sure he will, what with Robin there to run him in.
For our regular lads, I was disappointed in Arshavin and Clichy. The left was abysmally lacking and Clichy’s legs can do a lot more than just skip around and miss tackles. Arshavin needs to get his stride back because that game was uncharacteristically atypical of his contributions on the field.
37 more games. COYG!
@Siren: I wasn’t too disappointed in Arshavin as I expect less and less of him every passing game. Arseblog pointed out that he has been injured for a while now and is still feeling way off his best. We should see more of Vela in the coming weeks then, a good thing in my book as the kid needs a run of game to improve and show his true worth.
Chamakh scored (even if the goal is not attributed to him) and worked his ass off. Had Arshavin worked half as much as Chamakh we would have won the game.
For a while now we seem to have come a very stagnant and predictable side around the opposition box.
We used to break with pace and quick one or two touch football, throwing the opposition off balance and catching them out of position.
Now we dribble around in little circles, pause too long on the ball, pass too close and lose momentum and the element of surprise.
We take too long and give the opposition decades to get into position.
Nasri, Diaby, Arshavin and especially Wilshire all dwell too long on the ball and are indecisive, losing us precious seconds and advantage.
Walcott played more centrally and he showed exactly why he doesn’t belong there, standing on the ball in one of the best positions we had, losing it time and again. It’s a lot more difficult to play in the centre than against a touch line, especially if the only asset you have is pace.
Walcott is a superb sub against specific sides in specific games. He belongs on the wing, he simply doesn’t have the skill to play through the middle.
On the positive side, Koscelny was superb, and Chamakh will grow into the role.
Matt, who am I to argue against statistics. I tend to base my judgement on what I see with my own eyes. 😉
Shots to saves ratio means nothing if the keeper is prone to throw the ball into his own goal or pick up blatant pass backs – he is a bombscare and unfortunately for us, the other contender is not much better.
Do I want Schwarzer? Not really – I think its kinda sad that he is the best that Arsene Wenger can come up with and I have said in other posts I really do think that GK is a serious blind spot for Le Boss. I’m hoping against hope that he surprises me before the deadline but am not confident.
I’ll have a cold glass of Peroni, bar keep.
I know we probably need a new keeper, but I can’t help wondering what would happen if Arsenal fans started singing the name of whoever was in goal for us. Not mocking, but showing major support. That could go a long ways to improving their confidence (which I believe is 70% of the problem). I suspect that most Arsenal fans would be happy to see Fabianski or Almunia succeed for us.
@zicoinexlie: well we only get to see 1% of what people who work with the players do so we can hardly say we know it all about any young players based on a few games. And there’s this current mob frenzy against Fabianski that kills any objectivity which is why it’s good to be aware of the stats as they simply state that we’re more secure with Fabianski in goal irrespectively of how these goals are conceded. Finally as long as Seaman backs him, it’s worth reconsidering one’s opinion in my book.
@Joshua: couldn’t agree more not say it better!
The main positives about Schwarzer or Given is that they won’t have the shitty clique of our “support” abusing them all game long and that’s enough to make a big difference.
Good evening Holic & Holic`s
Holic excellent review as ever !
I do apologize from the off if I reiterate anything said before as I am late to the discussion.
They saying a game of two halves cannot be more true in this instance. I thought the first half was a great display even thou no clear cut chances were made ( down to some great defending it must be said ) But we were fluent but just missed that final ball and cutting edge needed at Anfield. Starting with Wilshere was a shock to be be truthful but the young lad equited himself well but must in some part be accountable for the goal, the ball to him didnt look to hard to take and control but Im typing here and he plays for Arsenal so I will say no more on that.
Koscielny had a great game and didnt seem fazed at all considering that his Arsenal career started at one of the most famous clubs and grounds in the world. Being sent off PLEASEEE ! if the ref wanted to send off one of our players make it for something realistic, the ball was kicked at him from 2 foot away who did the ref think he was spiderman ? no one could have got out of the way of that.
Mr 29 worked hard but for little reward, until his hassling of pepe caused the normally unflappable keeper to make the mistake of his life. I will pause for any laughter ………………… yes it was funny.
Our number one should not have been beaten near post like he was, his body shape if watched in slow motion as it has been shown in several times shows that he was thinking one for the back pages. His back arched and hands behind his head, what dose this mean ? NOT AT FULL STRECH, that is what it means. So he needs keeper training 1 0 1 or thought a cut out for his scrap book was waiting in tomorrows sunday papers.
Arshavin needs to be dropped ! Clichy was out numbered two too one countless times as the meerkat refused to track back. In a big game against title rivals, sorry not acceptable he should have been taken off earlier as I am sure I am not the only one to think that. Self confessed not at his game so why play him ?
Disappointed that it took us until the 84 min in the second half to test fumbles even thou they were down to ten men. Agar was playing left back against Theo how could we not exploit that ? It was a good defensive display by the pool but come on we should have made the keeper work more.
Well the seasons has just begun and already the Gunners are trying to give me a heart attack. But could I follow another team NOT ON YOUR LIFE. Gooner til I die !!!!!!!!!!!
Just a coke with ice barman have to work.
Guys very good debate going on here as usual.
Just watched Man U and I hope the lads wont take Blackpool for granted as Magpies looked very decent tonight.
To add about the game on Sunday, after loosing the goal we couldn’t find control for about 15 minutes which made me very nervous I know Wilshere is only 18 but I think the pressure got to him a bit and not in a nasty way, he’s young and this is the only way he will learn the trade. We need to play more direct passing and move, too many fancy things going on there. As someone mentioned here Nasri kept doing circles and there was not much penetration.
Late arrival tonight – back at work after summer hols.
No need to go anywhere else for a match review.
‘Holic, usual balanced insight is the fabric from which your report is woven.
BtM, a piece of masterful Stuart Hallesqueness – are you actually related ?
Opinions wise, i thought Koscielny looked even better than his AC Milan outing had suggested. A very tight line was kept with TV, quite an amazing understanding for a first outing together. We actually had two centre halves trying to cover each other.
Would those who are criticising Jack Wilshere on here care to inform us what, exactly, they were doing at 18 – yes 18 – years of age ?
This lad was making his first league start for Arsenal at, of all places, Anfield.
For much of the first half, he ran the show and looked totally at home.
With assurance and experience, he will no doubt make the forward runs and take the shots that were the trademark of his displays in the youth team. Sometimes you do have to wonder at some people.
Great to see the Spain Reserves keeper get his for his oafish part in Cescgate. Idiot.
It remains only to eagerly await Saturday and Blackpool, and pray to all that is good that Young Boys can do the Spuds tomorrow. I might even watch.
@Matt
Statistically Fabianski has better save ratio than Given or Schwarzer – his ratio for throwing the ball into his own net, bouncing the ball directly onto opponents head resulting in a goal (Bramble), giving the ball to the opposition so they can take a quick free kick (Porto), and jumping backwards into his own net with the all are better too!
Every time he jumps he appears to actually get smaller as if jumping and being sucked into a vortex! If he played opponents would just crowd him in the penalty box at every corner, free kick or throw in (Stoke) like fat sam did towards the end of last season – it would be disasterous!
A pint of the amber nectar please, barman.
So a “poo sandwich” it is then (as blogger so eloquently referred to our goalkeeping options). Does Arsene really have scat regard for our so obvious needs? Sorry to be anal, but we need to get a shift on and move our backside if we are going to remedy this situation – after all, we’ve had all summer? Some might say the opportunity for remedy is behind us, but not I – come on Arsene lets get to the bottom of this as there are some people that think you simply can’t be arsed.
Sp*rs down 2 nil the young boys twenty minutes in
Come on Young Boys this is brillian to watch!
three nil! 30th minute! really makes defoe look bright after his comments on one- upping us..
Defoe is a cun*. Can’t believe he actually thought Spurs could top us.
Am I the only one who is feeling for AW? I’m just thinking how hard it is for him to sign players especially from the EPL as all the teams know how much money he has and what he needs.
I’m sure he’ll get Schwarzer and another CB, even though it’s 2 weeks too late, that’s the best he could have done I think (unless you think paying 17 Million for Jagielka is better).
@Kevnal
Oh please, this is becoming so ridiculous now.
Despite his blunders Fabianski has slightly better stats => less goals would get in if he was between the sticks. That’s a fact, whether it goes along or against your own perception is not relevant. And at 25 he has a lot of time to improve whereas the other alternatives are way past their best. If the opposition would crowd him, it would make him learn harder and faster how to deal with it.
Btw if you think Given or Schwarzer don’t have howlers now and then, you’re in for a brutal fall down to earth. Remember that one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeGxd3lVds8
What really grates me is that the only GK I really want us to get is Lloris but I find myself defending Fabianski against fellow gunners while at the same time they’re advocating alternatives that are no better (and likely worse) than what we have. I’ll support whoever deputizes in the end (will you?) but the only reason one of these 2 has-beens is coming is to cater to fans who go along with the mob mentality that is becoming so pervasive in the Arsenal sphere.
A naturally gifted sportsman can be coached to the extent that he gets better and to iron out any defeciencies they may have,but a run of the mill average player in football ,and here we are talking about keepers is a different scenario.There has to be a basis of something good to improve and in Almunia’s case at the age of about 32 that is nearly impossible.
In both cases,the natural and the promising sportsman with any amount of coaching does not give a guarantee.Therefore one can only conclude that Fabianski, who showed great promise some 4 years ago still has a good chance to become a good keeper.
two valium and a glass of water for the Pole, please.
Chicago and Snir: easy now boys, there’s a whole half to go yet and at the current scoreline, Sp*rs only need to win 2-0 (which they will easily do if needed, YB won’t have the advantage of the artificial grass then) next week. It was fun to laugh at them for a bit, but I fear they’ll turn this around without too much trouble – quite possibly in the second half of this leg, even.
@Matt: while I don’t agree with you about the potential of Fabianski (and certainly not Lloris) you do raise an important point that seems to have been completely lost these days – we can’t expect whoever perhaps comes in to never cock it up. We’ve seen howlers from normally very reliable keepers this past weekend and even van der Sar make horrible mistakes at times. And we still need to defend better as a team to prevent the ball even being played towards our own net.
Pint of Boddingtons, please.
@Snir: the market is dead but obviously it’s worse for the managers who rely on spending 10s of millions every summer like O’Neil and Twitchy.
I hope we will get a CB but I would not bet my house on it. Chelski have more worries at the back than us and they don’t look any closer to a deal. Supposedly the transfer activity will surge anytime now but we’re not seeing it yet.
Oh i know i expect Sp*rs to still get through don’t get me wrong, I just think it’s funny how they were talking so big and we’re taking to the edge. I think they’ll unfortunately get through though
Argh it was looking so good for a while as well, they’ll probably get through now 🙁 – still hopefully it’s given them enough of a fright to not make any more stupid predictions for a while…well for the next month or two anyway
i too think spuds will edge out the young boys of wankdorf stadium – just imagine how they’ll get on against grown up teams in the next round!
Hello all.
Sorry, was intending to publish tonight, but not surprisingly got distracted by you know who.
Would have taken 3-2 before the game, but Young Boys will be mad they didn’t get 5 or 6 up before the inevitable.
Back tomorrow, I promise.
I hope Spurs will scrape it as they don’t have the depth to play in a CL group stage in addition to the domestic competitions and it will cost them big time to try to compete on all fronts.
Stewart Robson has made interesting comments on our GK situation:
“I think Almunia’s a better goalkeeper than Schwarzer.
Shay Given is a very good shot-stopper, but most of the criticism of Arsenal’s goalkeepers is that they don’t come for crosses or haven’t been dominant in the air.
Shay Given’s not that goalkeeper. He’s a very good goalkeeper, we all know that, but he’s more of a shot-stopper than someone who’s going to dominate his penalty area.”
He’s not convinced by Fabianski nor Mannone either.
His conclusion? “I still think Almunia is by far and away the best keeper Arsenal have got on their books.”
http://www.skysports.com/tv_show/story/0,20144,12975_6315416,00.html
What do spurs and porno mags have in common?…. They both get spunked all over by young boys!
you what matt i agree with him i don’t see Schwarzer much better than Almunia.I never really watch him play except against us and i don’t remember him be that good.
it s just the blind hate for almunia that’s some so call supporter think the australian is better and our spanish one is the worst in EPL.Anything good is forgot 2 sec after and they just wait for the small error to stone him to death.
I would like a better GK but shwarzer is not that great
Lordgunner – Blind hate ah? What do you say about people’s criticism of Diaby? Even if he’ll be Arsenal’s top scorer he’ll be hated cause of the form he was in 06-08 when he was a baby.
The “hate” for Almunia isn’t blind, but at the moment, he’s just not good enough, even if he is, he won’t be for the whole season cause he’s a drama queen and the mental side of the game will destroy him completely so yes, Schwarzer is better, way better than Almunia, cause he’s calm and relaxed. Anyhow Arsenal don’t have a lot of attacks against them to deal with since we normally have 70% of the possession. All we need is a good CALM keeper. Schwarzer is that kind of keeper.
Found this hilarious article: Spurs had to apologize to the fans after promising a thrashing of Young Boys on their official twitter account: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/17/spurs_twitter_sillines/
“Spurs has apologised over a misguided update to the club’s Twitter account that predicted the North London club would thrash Euro opponents Young Boys on Tuesday night.
The bullish prediction from the club’s official Twitter account (@SpursOnSide) that “6-2 Our boys thrash Young Boys! http://bit.ly/db0mCl” was swiftly deleted and replaced with an apology and a promise to investigate the matter.
“The Club wishes to make clear that a Tweet posted shortly before 10am in reference to tonight’s game was NOT an official Club tweet,” Spurs said, later adding: “This Tweet in no way represented Club views or opinions – the matter is now being fully investigated.”
@Snir: We’ll see how calm and relaxed Schwarzer is once he makes a blunder or two and gets the same moans and jeers Almunia has to deal with. Anyway best of luck to our number one GK whoever he is!
the calm and relaxed shwarzy was not very calm and relaxed in some match last year and at the WC.i ll bet the first error the same who want him will jump on him and say buying a 38 years old GK who has an average career for 3M was not their wish at all.
Of course I will give him the chance and i may be eating a nice slice of humble pie but i doubt i will ;D
I don’t think people will come down on him cause people asked for his signing.
I honestly think Schwarzer is better than Almunia and it’s imperative we replace Almunia.
Schwarzer and another CB and I don’t see how we won’t win the title (unless Colin Lewin will go AWOL again this season and we’ll have another injury season – but hey, that’s Trev’s and Catalan’s job to take care of! 🙂 )
Trev, Catalan- You guys will be essential to our title challenge if you do write that letter 😀
lordgunner at #97, I agree completely and wish people would get off Almunia’s back. I also wish the opposition would get off his shoulders when he is going for crosses and the referee is looking the other direction.
Guys,
Schwarzer didn’t have a good world cup but you have to look at it from a teams point of you not just the keepers.
We will never find a flawless keeper they just don’t exist, if my memory serves me well Gomes was making blunders for spuds all the time but what they did instead of our fans, they backed him up. They stood by him and he came good, sometimes our support is second to none when things get a bit iffy and if us fans can not get on with it for the next game and support them then we all know what happens to their confidence levels.
I really wish our support would go deeper than good days it feels like certain fans are only happy and supportive when things are looking good.
For a great optimistic perspective on Arsenal check out Zimpaul’s guest appearance today on A Cultured Left Foot.
Thanks a lot for that link, definitively the best post I’ve read since the season started (no offense `Holic 😉
I’m late to this (fascintating read btw) but will chip in with a few observations….
* I think the Almunia debate has become far too polarised. He certainly isn’t as bad as some would give the impression and it would be interesting to see how his stats match up against Schwarzer. IMO, he (Almunia) had a pretty good game on Sunday and could do very little to stop what was a very decent strike by Ngog. Few goalkeepers would have stopped that. That said, I think its right that Wenger looks at strengthening in between the sticks.
* Whilst I felt there was perhaps more we could do to penetrate their defence it should be acknowledged that Liverpool defended extremely well on Sunday.
* Kos was fantastic, so was Chamakh (he got the MOTM). Wenger should be applauded for his transfer activity so far.
Hmmmm….I’d prefer Given to Schwarzer.
http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/838304-shay-given-go-ahead-for-arsenal-transfer-by-roberto-mancini
On a depressing note, which probably explains his demise in the second half on Sunday….
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/8924640.stm
Ok now go on … you fake supporters .. oh we have enough in the reserves.. Denilson can step up … we have teenage wonderkids steppin up.. & oh it was Liverpool’s fault – fuckin physical team…mascherano the cunt…bla bla…
Fuck… THIS IS THE MAIN REASON why we have won fuck shit over the past 5 seasons … fuckin unfit players – it fucking criples the morale of the team … if the supporters dont turn against the club’s management for this … spineless cunts we are
no we havent win anything because more club are spending than even before (very often more than us ) the like of Aston villa,Everton,spud, man city,and of course the chav,manure and pool are stronger squad than when Wenger arrive .The league is more competitive than 10 years ago.So it become more difficult to win thing.
With the new stadium we decide to limited our spending in transfer to help repay or loan the fastest we can.We are lucky than our management think about long-term that buying few trophies for people like you as your children will have a healthy club to follow with Manure style money to spend on star rather short-term to become like some team in the league with millions own to the bank and very difficult future ahead
We are still one of the best side in england and europe,and like you hope we can win trophy this year but at the end of the day trophy come second to enjoy watching your club you love
Nasri out for a month?
Are we cursed or what?
Feck – double vodka before I hit someone!
zicoinexile, I share your frustration but can’t invoke the curse theory. This season may yet turn out to be the relatively injury free season we have been praying for. If Nasri’s injury is only a one-monther and we have no others this week, we are still not too badly off considering that Cesc and several other midfielders are very close to a return. Let’s focus on getting that extra centerback and let the injury situation resolve itself (hopefully in our favor).
behind the 8 ball – yes it may only be one injury and only out for one month – except Nasri has at last looked the part pre-season and 1st half against Liverpool and now this – who else is close to come back other than Cesc?
Not to minimize the effect it could have on Nasri’s season, but in the short term we should see Denilson and Song (who are not direct replacements I know) and with Rosicky in good form (knock on wood he doesn’t get hurt) and Cesc who will certainly make a big difference, it’s not time to push panic buttons yet. Koscielny would have been a much worse loss for a month at this stage of the season.
I was waiting for `Holics post to marvel about our first game without injuries in years…
Nasri is not out for a month. This is Arsenal so that means he will be beack in training in 4-5 weeks, will need 3 more weeks to get match fit and will probably get a minor injury (strain and such) on his first game for a week or two. That’s 2 months before we see him on a pitch again. Then of course he will take him an equal amount of time to get back to his best: it will be 4 months before we see the best of Samir instead of 4 weeks.
Spot on as usual Holic,
Great first half by our players not so great by the ref, we held the ball very well from the first min. As for Cole it was a case of first game for a new club @ home lets get the crowd on MY side, no malice though just making a point & who would NOT do the same thing given the circumstances?
Liverpool it seems still have a long way to go in terms of turning around last seasons displays on that evidence, if it wasn’t for Gerrard they would have stunk the place-out, nearly 70% possession by us away from home, so glad I’m not a Liverpool supporter @ the moment.
But getting back to our play although WE looked very good on the ball we still gave it away in some very dangerous areas this really needs to be worked very hard on this week, because against better teams we will be punished for it. We also look a bit lightweight in the CH department going backwards if you ask me young Djourou being available again this week is a real bonus, this just shows you how much Wenger needs to get over his reluctance to spending money & get on with getting US a proper CH before the window closes, on that note why did he let Sol go again, he seemed to be making al the right noises to stay but we have again lost him, & he has another two years left in the tank if used sparingly & all for wages, Wenger SOMETIMES I just don’t understand you mate!!!
We still have a way to go in the front line too, Arshavin’s a worry still nowhere near the player we first signed just a years or so ago, for me, I don’t know where this boys head is @ times, Chamakh he was alright for a first game but that’s as far as I’ll go with that as he did not pull-up any trees did he? but again this was his first game.
Going forward though for me the most important peace of news this week has to be the Fanshare opportunity the club is putting out to us, this for ME has always been a dream of mine, because the worries of the way the modern game (ownership) has been going for other clubs maybe could be put to rest with this opportunity for US Fan’s.
Looking forward to some incisive debate on this subject hope you all agree Holic & Holic’s???
@ Lee 113. Agree with most of what you say but thought Chamakh equipped himself very well against a dogged and well organised Liverpool defence. Not forgetting he had to do it largely on his own. Remembering too, he was awarded Arsenal MOTM.
Yep as I say don, his first game for us so I’m more them willing to give him many more opportunity’s but as for MOTM, well the jury’s still out for me, I’m just looking @ him for the the moment on a skill’s basis & nothing is jumping out @ me JUST yet on that score, but I’m just praying he turns out to be a nuisance & lethal in front of goal, cos that’s what we need from a loan striker cos we have all the creativity in the world behind him?
a gunner
Every time I read one of your posts I am sharply reminded of the value of a good education and the ability to reason. I hope for your sake any kids you spawn are more fortunate in this regard than your good self.