Arsenal, Phil Dowd, Ray Stubbs, And ESPN, All Under Achieve
Sep 18th, 2010 by 'holic
I haven’t slept since about half past two this morning. Don’t ask me why, it is just one of those things that happens every now and again. A freak, unfortunate occurrence. For some reason those freak, unfortunate occurrences have followed me around all day.
Let’s take the goal by which Arsenal took the lead at Sunderland as one example. I don’t particularly rate Anton Ferdinand, but who would have thought his dreadfully delayed clearance would have ballooned off Cesc to give us the lead against the run of play? For freak, read fluke, and thank you. As I tell all my golf partners you generally get enough bad luck to enjoy the rare bit of good that crops up now and again.
Now, bear with me here if I consider Phil Dowd. I actually consider him to be our best referee. OK, I know that is pretty much akin to saying Cheryl Tweedy was the most talented member of Girls Aloud, but you know where I am coming from. I saw some freaky decisions from him today.
I really think it was a relatively rare error of judgement that saw him award a thirty-seventh minute free-kick against Alex Song for a non-existent foul on Jordan Henderson. Song, frustrated at the award, raised and threw his arms up in exasperation, and Dowd produced the yellow card. Technically correct, I accept, but to resolve a situation created by his own error. I said immediately to the management that Song was a deserved yellow away from walking, and that it would definitely happen. Freaky or what?
The contest was developing into a game of cat and mouse, and generally speaking Arsenal were being extremely feline. Defensively the Gunners were outstanding. The mistrusted Almunia was taking charge in his area, which was being subjected to some considerable pressure. Manuel was a more worthy contender for the man of the match award than the eventual recipient of the ESPN bottle. They continue to look like the Kwik Save of sports broadcasters, distinctly third rate.
Koscielny and Squillaci also, I thought absolutely remarkable and little-troubled by the man who took home the champagne for scoring an equaliser against ten men in the fifth of four added minutes. This is an Arsenal side who looked more solid at the back than I can recall for some time.
Sunderland did not deserve to be down at the break, but by the close looked deservedly beaten by the side that dominated the final hour, and much of it with only ten men after the inevitable second yellow for Song. Again no complaints about the technicality of the award. I would have booked him for the body check on Malbranque.
However, inconsistency reared its ugly head minutes later when Bramble scythed down Wilshere on the edge of the box. I hasten to add I accept the challenge was mistimed, but it was more likely to cause injury than any other challenge in the entire contest, was a clear foul, and as blatant a card (of either colour!) as you could wish. Not in Dowd’s eyes however.
Regardless of what would happen later, Arsenal have only themselves to blame for not securing the points when the outstanding Nasri was upended in the box for a penalty with little over a quarter of an hour remaining. Rosicky, a first-half substitute for Fabregas (substituted as a precaution – that’ll be eight weeks then!) had been another to catch the eye. His penalty caught the eye of a Gooner in row thirty-four, and the game remained in the balance.
There was time left, apparently, for Bent, marked out of the contest and anonymous, to earn a bottle of champagne for taking advantage of Clichy’s panic, as he lashed the ball home in the ninety-fifth minute, much to the delight of Ray Stubbs, who is to sports television presenting what Sakon Yamamoto is to the F1 drivers championship.
All very frustrating, without question. Is this a sign that perhaps Arsenal lack the ruthless edge required to see out contests such as this? Or perhaps is it a sign of their growing strength that surrendering an after-hours point at Sunderland is regarded so painful. Last season we would have given our eye teeth for a draw there.
The answer to that will come in the eight months that follow. Time to tighten the seat belts, holics, it is going to be a bumpy ride, but a fantastic one, I think.
235 Responses to “Arsenal, Phil Dowd, Ray Stubbs, And ESPN, All Under Achieve”
1st?>
Cant believe im first……….amazing article holic…..it was u who cursed us then!
Were u sir as gutted as me? our defence looked the strongest in 2 seasons and yet we still conceded a freak goal.
@GOD
why why why?
It’s not over till the whistle blows. Over the last few years we have lost quite a few games in the final minutes. Of the top 4 we are the ones who get the most nervous with just a one goal lead.
Like you, gutted by the ending, wondering where the time was for the goal. Can’t agree that we dominated the last hour, though – last 30 definitely, but I felt Sindereland were the better side until they got tired some way into the 2nd half.
Trying to get a little distance, you have to look at games like this, Blackburn away, Liverpool away as games where you’d think Chelsea and United could drop points, so while I’m not happy with the draw, I’m not too downbeat about it either.
Defence did look solid, and after Song went off (thought Jack would go first to be honest, but it was a toss up) I thought Nasri was superb.
Words to the Chamakh song I head on tv anyone…?
Stonroy, we also scored more injury time goals than anyone last season – definitely more than we let in
spot on ‘holic….
Had the exact same thoughts about Song being on tune for a 2nd yellow later in the game. It smacks of hindsight but he did seem a bit pissed off/niggly all match (well…the portion he played) and perhaps Denilson for Song at H/T would have made sense.
Almunia…indeed….the 2008 version is back…and perhaps a bit better, great to see.
I thought Rosicky was our best outfield player apart from the penalty blast….we don’t have an obvious 2nd spot kicker behind Cesc do we? Van Persie…no…hurt also.
A better result than last season, and it felt like 2 points dropped at the final late late whistle but recounting the chances they had and the job Almunia did perhaps a stolen point?
If you blame the goalkeeper today then the Spaniard is really on a hiding to nothing this season….Man of the Match.
Some Spanish red please…delivered very very late
Bramble’s tackle on Wilshire not being given a card took the cake for me. Right after Song’s sending off for two very soft yellows. ‘Holic you are right that Song did not touch the man on the first card and was only cautioned for dissent. All in all, the draw is a fair result but for the sending off of Song, which I thought totally unfair. We certainly outplayed them after the sending off but the first half made me very uncomfortable. Squillaci, Koscielny and Almunia were very good throughout and Denilson, Rosicky, Nasri and Wilshere stepped it up after we went down to 10 men.
Doesn’t matter Rob how many we scored. Don’t get me wrong it’s great that we do that but we’re talking about winning trophies here. Also I have to say 65% possession for Sunderland!! It must be looked at that without Cesc we are not the same team. Name one other top 4 team that relies so heavily on one player?
@Tim Merrick
our 1st penalty taker is:1 RVp.2 Fab,3 Arshavin,
Unfortunately none were on and rosiscky was captain he should have shown more responsibility and composure.
nothing bumpy holic…..same old story more like…
Top report `Holic with an impressively circumstanced conclusion so early after the final whistle 😉
@Stonroy: Not sure about the top 4, I know who the top 3 are but who’s 4th? On the other hand United certainly looked complacent at Everton and Fulham.
The cognac is starting to infuse so now I’m sure the lesson will be learned, better early than late.
Arsene may rue his team selection though.
ahhhh yes….Arshavin too…..so Rosicky did make sense…if not good contact.
@Stonroy
come on mate we are far less reliable on cesc. look at united(rooney) liv(torres)
To be fair Tim, whilst I agree about Rosicky being excellent, I thought Nasri the pick of the bunch. He seemed to be playing on both wings at one stage when we were down to ten men. Love his determination and attitude this season.
And as an Almunia critic I have to hold my hands up too. Excellent again today. Let’s keep everything crossed it continues.
@Tim
yup should have given it to nasri though
Gutted we didn’t take the 3 points I think we deserved, but wholly encouraged by the way we battled and played when down to 10.
I thought the central defenders were immense against decent (well Bent at least) opposition. The only niggle is the rightly highlighted panic by Clichy (more Gibbs anyone???) and the fact that fat Dowd was too out of puff to check his watch once Chamakh cleared the corner.
stonroy…..We were also missing RVp…Walcott…Diaby….Cesc for second half and Vermalen……all probable starters if fit…
I share your frustrations ‘holic.Dowd had a shocker but he did not annoy me as much as Stubbs.Can you imagine if stubbsy recruits his old mate from the Beeb,Garth Crooks to join him.I’ll never watch them again!All he wanted to do was kick up a storm over wenger touching atkinson.admirably Keegan and Barnes blanked him.
we did defend well until Clichy’s last minute panic .Koscielny and Squillaci were excellent and Chamakh was too.
@all
anyone care to pass me some painkillers?
Very frustrating. Had we held on, it could have been a result that provided evidence of a newfound focus and resiliency. In the end, it looked like the same old Arsenal. Wasteful, lacking ruthlessness, and shockingly naive in the back.
I agree with Goonerholic. Almunia was never severely tested, and the center backs were SOLID. The same cannot be said of Clichy. One more than one occasion he put the team under unnecessary pressure because of poor decision making when in possession in dangerous areas. In the end, Bent was the beneficiary of Clichy’s brain freeze.
Truth be told, Sunderland deserved a point for their efforts. Asenal surrendered overall possession to a mid-table team, wasted a penalty, and were lucky on many occassions to escape with sloppy play. Song should have known better than to concede such a foul in front of the referee.
The line between mental toughness and mediocrity is a thin one. Arsenal gave Sunderland too many opportunities to restore parity.
Has this team learned anything?
guys please dont blame clichy watch the replay all anyone could do was clear and he hit kosc……
Why did Rosicky take the penalty? He’s never scored a goal in such a long time n his face showed such a lack of confidence, it didn’t surprise me that he missed. And the referee Phil Dowd appears to want to teach Wenger a lesson not to tell referees what to do. He was harsh on Arsenal players n lenient on Sunderland. Even the TV commentators were agreed on that. And to help Sunderland, he gave them an extra min to score. Again, Arsenal couldn’t hold out for a win. Fabregas looking on must be totally frustrated. He’d gifted them a goal but they couldn’t do the rest. Having to play with 2nd rate players such as Rosicky, Arshavin – who misses so many chances in so many games & always give the ball away to the opponents – must be frustrating. Better to return to Barcelona & team up with 1st rate players such as Messi & Xavi. So beware, Mr Wenger…your 2nd rate players will cost you Fabregas come end of season!
@ usama
Clichy cleared the ball low and hard ACROSS his goal. It was inviting a disaster.
@Stonroy: United won 3 titles with Ronaldo, the last 2 of them looking barely average when he was not playing.
You’ve kept the standards Holic. I daresay, I suspected a bit of negativity from you when I read the title.
Arsenal under achieve.
But, you said it brilliantly. The fact that we conceded takes away the shine from an otherwise mammoth performance from the team.
Where do I start? Well ,let me start by getting the negatives out of the way. I really think Gibbs needs to start from the next game onwards. Clichy has been having brain dead moments for far too long. Enough.
And also Rosicky, in addition to his missed penalty (for which , I dont feel that bad – coz it was not as if anyone else was volunteering to take it FFS) , he was quite pathetic.
He was not winnign the ball or making himself available when we went a man down. It was only AFTER the penalty that he buckled up.
Now that thas out of the way – I think we have a lot to take away from this game. We played with 10 men, without our best central midfield pairing and our best central defender came away with a point. Would I have taken that? Definitely!
This was the MOST Un Arsenal like performance Ive seen for a long time. They bombarded us with long balls, physicality – everything , yet we stood strong.
There were heroes all over the pitch, starting from Chamakh, till the much maligned Almunia.
Dont let the result blind the fact that this team has it in them to go the distance.
Looking forward to the ride.
‘holic….true enough…maybe I just wanted Rosicky to get it 🙂
Nasri was all over the bloody place you are right. I can’t get enough of the close control and passing both exhibit….
Shame about today was we were 20 seconds away from saying it’s best our back line has looked in years….bollocks let’s say it anyway.
I’m liking Squilly (does he have a nickmane yet) a lot….who was the last Arsenal player with a Q on his shirt….easy one
@jonesmalo
yes it could have been avoided,had he waited a second but he was mighty unlucky
This game was a big test for us. I as all aother gooners were delighted with the start we had made to the season but there was a niggling doubt as to what to expect this season. Even though I am bitterley dissapointed with the freak result I must admit that after watching the game I am more optimistic about this season than ever.
I thought we bossed the game away from home with 10 men. I thought our new centre back pairing look to be getting stronger and stronger. Nasri and Rosisky look to be back up for the fight and I predict both will have better seasons as they have had in the past injury permitting.
Almunia looks to be showing more of his 08 rather than 09 form. Chamack looks the genuine article and the whole squad looks to be stronger than ever
We were without VP, Vermaelan, Diaby, Theo this evening all of which could of proved to be match winners in a game like this. I think there can be little doubt that id Cesc hadnt been injured we would of went on to win the game.
All in all I am very encouraged but what I saw today. maybe we will be a little short of winning the title but I think this is the best improvement we have had for years.
Thundertiny, Stubbs was a complete embarrassment to Barnes and Keegan, who were desperately trying not to call him out for his imbecility. Stubbs, Champion, Waddle, all sum up ESPN’s cheapskate and shoddy approach to the game.
Squillaci does indeed look like a quality signing. Sometimes I forget he’s even there. Does the business quietly and efficiently. Clichy not so much. Kos also had a good game.
Nasri was excellent; he looks far more comfortable on the ball this season.
Did anyone take notice of Squillaci reaction to conceding….genuinely looked pissed off but in a reverse Gallas-esque ( u know kicking hoardings, sitting in the centre circle etc etc) type.
The man looks like a winner.
Also, why do fans of other clubs (yes Buzz I’m talking to you) waste your time scouring the net for Arsenal blogs and supporter comment?!?
Tim , was it Quincy that Dutch guy?
@ usama.
I agree, he was unlucky. But Clichy has been ‘living on the edge’ for some time now, taking needless risks and/or losing his head.
We could have scored 3 in the first couple of minutes of the second half so we Did dominate the whole of the half, we played better when Cesc went off and Almunia had only one shot to my memory on target and guess what, beaten on the near post. We need a keeper who would have saved that and given us the 3 points we deserved.
Apart from Clichy who is very average the defence looked much better than for some time.
Tim, didn’t he have the O and A words on his shirt?
@ El Tel.
I am no fan of Almunia. However, he has been great the past couple of weeks and was BLAMELESS for that goal.
@jonesmalo: Clichy CLEARED the ball in a last ditch effort and then only because of his excellent positioning to cover for the central defenders. Most LB would not even have touched the ball.
Lovely article, not freakish at all.
These things happen. I thought our 2 centre backs were superb today as you already stated, Bent did not have a sniff until the goal.
The positives, our defense looks good. Song was a raging bull until he was harshly sent off. The team showed fighting spirit and composure (especially Nasri and Rosicky) with ten men.
The negatives. Young Jack had a terrible first half, but I am sure he will learn. Clichy had exceptional drive in the second half BUT once again his concentration and defensive nous lets him down. If Gibbs plays well on Tuesday, I think it is time to give him a crack in the 1st eleven. Clichy has not moved forward in the last 2 yrs.
Frustrating, but matches like this could benefit the team in the long run by concentrating the players mind.
Coming to think of it, I think you’re right Holic.. it was his surname..
All pretty spot on ‘holic. Song may not have deserved the first card, but it was a stupid foul to get him sent off. If you’re on a yellow, why do such a blatent takedown? Imbecilic. At least it’s only West Brom that he’s missing. Poor couple of points to drop.
To better things, I received ‘True Storey’ through the post today, and, now a significant way through, can heartily recommend it to you all. ‘holic, thank you very much for running the competition!
@ 33 he had Owusu-thingimybob on his shirt I believe
@ Matt
If what you are saying is true, then the team/defense lost its shape in that sequence. They did not hold their lines or pick up Bent. Sorry, but I disagree. It was evidence of organizational failure or an individual error or both.
yes ‘holic…he wasn’t my wild card answer 🙂
@ NorthBank 1
Did anyone see MY reaction to conceding….
Swearing in front of the kids….yellow card…I have to buy lunch….
Sajit and Zico – chill guys. We must have been watching a different game? Rosicky put a good shift in. Let’s not confuse a shit penalty with an overall performance?
And what’s with the Clichy nonsense Sajit? Yes we have an outstanding understudy, but Clichy didn’t have a bad game. Let’s not forget he had/ has a little 5ft Russian midget who doesn’t track back infront of him heh!
@ tim
lol i broke a glass at my aunts place and in front of everyone and almost shouted O FU-ISH!
@ jonesmalo
I think you’ll find in most goals at least 3 or 4 mistakes by the team that concedes. Very rarely can a team llok at a goal they’ve conceded and not think somewhere along the line the goal could’ve been stopped.
I agree that Clichy’s performances over the past few years have been quite inconsistent and surely Gibbs will start to get a run in the team. Although I think it’s a tad harsh to ask if the team have learned nothing. I thought this performance was a marked improvement on what we have seen in games like this in the past few years….and without the captain/lynch-pin.
@Afc
hahaha your coomet about arshavin made me laugh.
@ Tim
Oh, you must’ve used the C-word….I got away with a strong talking to by the ref of my house with loud use of the F-word!!!
Well with half the team injured and playing with 10 men against 12 I thought we were brilliant today.
It is frustrating in the worst possible way because all the new boys and I mean new to the Premier League were fucking amazing this afternoon.
Kos, Chamakh and Squil’ just dominant.
Before pointing fingers at Rosicky have a word at Arshavin who missed two gilt edge chances early 2nd.
It fucks everybody off to drop two points, lose your captian to an injury, have your best holding midfielder sent off for fuck all and have a ref play till the other team covered his bet but FUCK it.
The back four has some grit again. We will be all right.
@AFC1974
I am a fan of Clichy’s. However, he is/has been prone to errors because of poor decision making. He was fortunate on more than one occasion during this game to escape for severe lapses of judgement.
As for Arshavin – if he’s not good at defending, maybe Wenger shouldn’t play him there. Especially in a game when the team is struggling for fluency and under pressure.
74, Rosicky didnt put in half the shift Nasri put in. And Nasri was playing right from the start.
Clichy is all nice when he is bombing forward ( but still shite at crossing) – but its his crucial brain dead moments that have hurt us for far too long. Tottenham 4-4 , Brum 2-2, its all too familiar!
@jonesmalo: that’s simply nonsense, Sunderland committed every single player forward and it was pure chaos in the box. We’ve seen it at all levels and we all know it can go either way.
About Clichy, I think the problem lies more in the mob mentality of a subclass of Arsenal supporters who can’t live without scapegoating a player or another. After Song, Denilson, Walcott , Almunia and Fabianski now it’s Clichy’s turn. Don’t fall for the trap, Clichy is one of the best fullbacks not only in the league but in Europe.
Why was the guy who caused the penalty not booked? Is that not a goal scoring opportunity…..oh well, easy win tuesday and thats songs suspension done to
Decent point about Arshavin, ’74, but maybe we should think of him as the luxury we should accept for what he is? He frustrates the hell out of me, but there was a moment there where he filled the gap in the box when Chamakh chased one down on the right, and was quick to acknowledge the Moroccan’s cross that he could have converted.
The C word….yes I shouted Gus Caesar…it had to be done…..
No… the C word is an automatic red for me…reserved for Fabianski picking up back pass use only
Good write-up, ‘holic!
I’ll have a….glass of water please (I’m on call)
And if you need an example, just look at Sajit who feels the need to go back 2 seasons to find a game to blame Clichy.
@ AFC1974 – Previous Post – Thanks for the heads-up mate – I’ve been blogging on the wrong post – doh!
Therefore, a second “good evening” from me to one and all.
Nice post Mon. ‘Holic. Was it over indulgence in the West Country that caused the sleep deprivation? 😉
If you don’t mind, I’ll draw all the +ve stuff from what you wrote. I choose to see today’s result as a sign of our growing strength.
My seatbelt is firmly buckled.
@ Matt
It is not nonsense. Really, on what basis are you rubbishing my argument? Of course there is an element of luck involved with such a scenario, but to dismiss poor organization in such an instance is EQUALLY ridiculous. Are you trying to suggest that having 11 players in the opposing box guarantees a goal?
The ball was skied in by Zenden, it was in the air for a long time, there were two opportunities to clear, and two opportunities to pick out free players.
I am not in the business of scapegoating. We are all interested in expressing opinions here. No one can blame Clichy for the loss, as the team is ultimately responsible. Clichy however, is not the player he was when he burst onto the scene.
Matt, stop being touchy.
If you cannot reason with valid points, I suggest you dont attempt at all.
@ Jones
We drew I think….
Im more than willing to find out when Clichy won us games.. But then , im guessing youll have to dig even deeper.
Ref was biased.
ESPN are a disgrace. Stubbs is a prick & their touchline reporter is a bitch (in clear earshot of Dowd before the game she was banging on about AW’s moaning at refs for protection and quote “lets see what happens today”) Well she got want she wanted.
AW said Nasri should have taken pen but didn’t because he was fouled? What the f**K?? Heard this before from Henry. It’s rubbish – unless you are injured get up & take the pen for f**k’s sake!
Clichy costs us too many points every season.
Sky reporting Wenger said afterwards ‘don’t ask me about refeering decisions’ – well stick to that Arsene. No more answering every question they put to you. They just twist your answers and make huge issues about whatever you say and it comes back to bite us. The ref was obviously affected by all the media shite – that’s why he reffed the game the way he did.
a fuckin shocking result,we were shite but should have 3 points.why did Rosicky take the pen? he never took one before and i called it that he’d punt it over the crossbar,why did’nt Naz take it? oh,he got fouled for the pen so did’nt take it? FUCKIN load of bollocks that,who does he think he is ,Henry? and as for Clichy,he’s beeen shit for the last season and a half so why is’nt Gibbs been given a run in the team? oh because he’s not French,thats FUCKIN why.play Gibbs at home to Bolton but oh,cant play him away to Sunderland? FUCKIN load of bollocks Arsene,its time you gave Clichy a long spell on the bench.and also Arsene,to argue that the 4 mins were up is just like being that cunt Fergie,it means a minimum of 4 mins so to nit pick over 14 seconds is FUCKIN shit mate,all in all it’s the same old same old,we’ll win jack shit again,all down to you Arsene because you cant see past the French cuntz you adore. Very very pissed off IRISH GOONER.
@ Tim
Touche. Yes we drew. I deserved that! So frustrating though. I think the ‘critics’ among us simply want to see the cajones needed to crush Chelsea and Man U this year.
Let me say again…Kos and Squillaci, looked great, Nasri is turning into a beast on the ball. There are positives. Its the collective mental meltdown I worry about.
@Sajit: my suggestion to you is to acknowledge that coming up with games from 2 seasons ago to assert aggressively that a player is not good enough is not convincing anyone but those who are already. It’s called confirmation bias.
@ Jones
I’m more confident than 12 months ago…..I’ll take it
I see so much more fire/hunger whatever you want to call it running through the entire team.
@ Matt
Clichy escaped with more than one error in this game.
Right. Time to move on…
@ Tim.
Agreed. I’ve never seen the defense so solid…which makes the goal all the more frustrating.
Who would have thought though…Who is Wenger going to drop when Verm regains fitness?
@ Jones
Agreed…I call it the ‘what are you doing insert player name’ o-meter
I used it 3 or 4 times today with Clichy…none with Sagna, Squilly, Kos…..(bloody hell Adams, Dixon, Bould were easier to spell)
@71
Song….
Verm moves upfield… Striker by the time we get to Wembley
Yellow card, Gaz. Behave yourself. The French players you choose to attack Arsene through include the two centre-halves who were absolutely outstanding today, and Samir Nasri who has been as good as anything we have put on the pitch all season.
Be upset by all means, but choose your language carefully.
Thanks.
Holic sir
I feel you need to give us a zebedee “time for the other room” moment when you post a new blog. That way we won’t (the brain dead ones ) be left chatting away in the old but rapidly emptying bar!
Of course, maybe it would help if we weren’t drinking so much and paid attention…
Any of that Rioja left from the other night?
@jonesmalo: Sure, not denying it at all but so did Sagna, Song and Wilshere leading to opportunities for Sunderland.
I only meant that it’s his turn to be scapegoated by those who enjoy doing so and some here were keen to help me prove my point.
we all know Clichy should have been dropped a long time ago but we only had Traore,oh another French player,everyone knows Gibbs is our best left full except Arsene,but he’s a stubborn so and so and will persist with Clichy,hence we’ll win FUCK all again. it’s so FUCKIN frustrating to see Gibbs on the bench while that Clichy numpty is as happy as a pig in shite because he knows Arsene will pick him everytime over Gibbs for what Arsene thinks are the tough games.time to get REAl Arsene.
@ gooner 0609
Nice comments and good to hear the voice of reason.
Barman, please serve him whatever he fancies and one for yourself of course!
Cheers all, would it be rude of me to request that we raise the atmosphere a little?
Gaz
Stoke have lots of English players if you like…..
can’t agree more with buzz at 9-17
it’s disgustingly frustrating and painful… just when we were all about …ready to celebrate with seconds to go!!! ffs…
how could cesc not leaving watching clichy miskicked another ball?? at least he didn’t slipped… it’s awful… you and i could have scored that pen, with luck, and i suppose we are not on 60K a week??
we yelled and gasped when rosicky walked up… wasn’t chamakh our striker, if nasri didn’t want it ‘cos he’s fouled??? chamakh has been good since but he got to be more greedy and not just leaving balls for others.. take the god damned chances and shows us what more you can do, and surely today, it’d have been more than what rosicky tried to …this was what really costed us the 2 points.. clichy was just doing his once a match calamity so we should ve won 2-1….. yuk
lets forget the ref…he’s english after all
Forget the equalizer but Clichy’s biggest problem is that he dallies on the ball inside the penalty area when he should be clearing it to Row Z!
Its not always that it leads to a goal, but in the process he puts the team under unnecessary pressure.
Final warning Gaz. You clearly don’t speak for everyone. Articulate, or go somewhere to cool off. Cheers.
@ Everybody
I think we’ve beaten Clichy to death by now guys…
In all seriousness though, who is Wenger going to drop when Verm is healthy again?
@
Tim…I agree, Song has been a little off the pace at times, but I think you’re joking. In all honesty though, I think Verm would make a GREAT DM. Flamini like.
I was joking…sorta….rotate the squad as needed
Not so sure…I don’t know if rotating a good CB partnership is a great idea, especially since we don’t have a long lasting partnership established back there yet
OK all, it’s getting a bit testy in here.
Tim I posted on the previous blog – if you think I was blaming Almunia for the goal then you totally misunderstood my post.
I will say again though – Rosicky a woeful penalty – if converted, then game over. You expect your experienced players (and stand in captain) to show the requisite “mental strength”.
Losing a goal with the last kick of the ball was always going to feel like a defeat. On reflection though, there is much to be positive about – not least the performances of the centre backs and Nasri.
We’ve had worse weeks than this. We will recover.
Incidentally, I take it Song will miss next league game against West Brom?
@83
I dont think anyone’s place should be automatic jones. .. So let Verm earn his place again.
I would retain Squillaci, but Kos has been all action and was superb today. i would keep Squill because he seems to read the game so well.
hollic im entitled to my say so dont treat me like a bold child and tell me to behave,it’s a blog for people to voice their opinion and if that opinion differs to yours well so be it,thats what they call democracy pal.im only new to this blog and really think it’s tops but please dont treat people like kids,Stevie Wonder could see we were shite today but should have got 3 points,so when some fans are RIGHTLY pissed off with the performance dont try and tell us to sit in the naughty corner and behave ourself’s,pint bottle of Bulmers (the irish one!!) Cheers
@Sajit
I was kind of wondering the same thing…should Verm be a tad worried?
@jones; I think Clichy and Gibbs (who I rate very highly) should be rotated. But then:
– Sagna and Eboue should be rotated.
– Kos, Squillaci and Verm shoud be rotated with the coccasional appearances from Djourou until he’s competitive enough.
– the entire midfield should be rotated.
1) We would cope much better with injuries if the subs had more prior experience with the team.
2) I would like Trev and Catalan to chime in, but I fully believe we would have less non-traumatic injuries if our players were rested more often.
@ Zico…
no not yours – was referring to the post that said ‘Almunia fell asleep at the end’ which I thought was just daft…
@ Matt
Great point. The only risk with rotation is that fluency, chemistry may be disrupted. I am more in favour of rotating the full backs than the centre backs as those guys really marshall the back line and communication is key.
As for the injuries…Lord alone knows what is up with that. the new technology obviously hasn’t helped much.
I do believe that young Vela should be given more opportunities than he has.
So much excitement here today! ‘Holic gave out a yellow card and apparently there were a bunch of stranded drinkers in the old bar. So much for the man to contend with on his first day back from vacation. Maybe we should give him a break and express ourselves in proper English and in the right place! That reminds me to check out the secrets in the old bar ….
Tim, fair enough mate.
Probably mega sensitive for all the usual reasons tonight.
Have a pint on me 😉
@ tim 79, im not English but thats either here nor there,my point is Arsene has blinkers on when lookin at French players,i dont give a fuck where a player is from once he performs for ARSENAL,and we all know that Clichy is not doing the business so he should be dropped for Gibbs,the fact that Gibbs is English is also neither here nor there,the fact is,he’s a better player than Clichy at this present time,if that changes and Gibbs loses form then bring Clichy back,but as of now Gibbs is the better player for ARSENAL and that’s all that should matter to us GOONERS.
Gibbs does seem to be the steadier of the two. Clichy is better at attacking though.
Whats the point of being better at attacking when his final ball is woeful…….and thats being kind.
@Matt – Professional opinion; err yes. Can’t go wrong (physically) with rest.
@BT8BBNN – it’s quite cosy actually – like existing and drinking in a parallel universe. Or something. Would be really cool if Zebedee did appear though.
@ Gaz
hmmm…..i sensed a lot of franco-phobia in your posts…you should read them maybe eh before you click submit?
Let me quote you if I may (frog in my throat)
“we’ll win jack sxxx again,all down to you Arsene because you cant see past the French cxxxx you adore”
See what I mean?
That one hurt. Clichy really was poor. And Arshavin has become extremely wasteful… BAH!
Well, I have my issues with Clichy as well. His defensive frailties however, are not helped by the fact, as someone correctly pointed out, that he is paired with the mercurial Arshavin on the left. Strategic flaw perhaps.
We do have issues with crossing – but Sagna seems to have improved a lot recently. And he was the weaker of the two fullbacks at crossing.
If Clichy’s inconsistent form continues, young Gibbs may well get his chance.
hollic you dont like people to have an opinion? is that what this blog is all about? i accept that you dont agree with what i have to say about todays game but also respect my opinion,we’re all ARSENAL fans and there is bound to be a difference of opinion so take this on board and dont treat fans who differ from your opinion as little kids,please,again i enjoy the blog and will continue to tune in,have a drink on me,whatever that is,cheers.
Catalan Gunner, I think ‘Holic has created a parallel virtual universe that’s like a cosy bar with crowds moving from room to room following the cool people (that would be us!)
If this was a democracy I would vote for Gaz to get his red card. Not only is he arrogant, aggressive and nonsensical but this excellent blog could do without someone who can’t write a comment without saying fuck in every other sentence. There’s enough space in the Arsenal blogosphere for the the illiterates.
@jones: can’t agree more on Vela. I forgot to mention it, but certainly Walcott, Vela, Arshavin, Bendtner, Van Persie and Chamakh should be rotated. I also would be curious to see what JET could do if given the opportunity.
The thing about stability is that we know injuries will force us to rotate, very often when the going gets tougher. There is some inherent risk to rotate the central defenders until they get used to play with each other but on the other hand if we leave one on the bench for most of the season we know he won’t be up to par if he’s suddenly recalled for a CL quarter final.
2 nice things I forgot to mention about rotation:
1) Some argue (and I agree in most cases) that competition brings the best out of players.
2) Players fluctuate over a season, it would make it easier to see who’s the better fit at a given point in time.
Whoa Gaz! Liking the passion, but we are going to differ today. You say black I say white. Tomorrow we will laugh together.
Shite? Non mon ami. Shite was those dark days in the eighties when we played a lot of route one and people wore “I was there when John Jensen scored” T-shirts.
Shite? Steven Morrow, Gus et all.
Another top boss and whatever Gaz is drinking – let’s see if we can’t find some middle ground?
@ Matt.
Agreed.
I always believed that Van Persie should have been kept for the bigger games – it seems he is too fragile to handle the rigours of an entire season. I think Wenger miscalculated by building his strike force around Robin.
Chamakh however, does look up for it.
Jones you meant minuscule?
People, i lay everytin at wenger’s feet. Why didn’t he bring on vela? We were missing chances all match long. We needed someone wit searing pace and an eye 4 goal. As much as chamahk’s hold up play is ok & our other midfielders pass d ball well, d only fit play wit ice cold finishing is vela. I’m really really disappointed. Ooh and i think wenger should stop talkin 2 d press alot, limit it 2 once a month. Its us against them they r definately not rooting 4 us.
Minuscule? Where? Lost.
@ Tim 100,have you read what i’ve submitted? maybe yeah i’ve used the odd expletive here and there but thats how i talk,i cant change that,my point was,and it’s my point,no one else’s,is that Arsene in my opinion has rose tinted glasses when it come to French players,especially Clichy.
I met John Jensen in China White once. There with the usual crowd. Nice bloke. Dodgy perm.
That was back when I was a cool guy BT8BBNN! Now I’m just an old git in the bar that was soooo yesterday.
Gaz, the fact you are still here now should tell you a great deal, but anybody who uses words like “we all know” really should understand they are not talking for us “all”.
I don’t even begin to understand some of the borderline xenophobic stuff you have been coming out with, but unlike other blogs I encourage exchange of opinions in a literate fashion.
I’m also understanding of why some Arsenal fans would be upset this evening and I think you have something to offer here. But please, just because you say so does not mean we were shite. You are the one who needs to accept there is more than one view of things and tone down your approach here, please.
@Harrypotter
I don’t think Wenger can be blamed for what happened. I think it was a mix of bad luck and a loss of concentration. Defensively at least, the team did all the right things, only to unravel at the last and worst possible moment.
One can question if he selects/recruits the players with the necessary gravitas necessary, but that is a whole other debate that is BOUND to get ugly.
Jones – you called our Russian wizard mercurial. I thought you meant minuscule – I know, I know bloody predictive text!
Oh! I meant to say mercurial, because he’s erratic, on/off. He is miniscule as well – definitely!
Catalan – make that two old hits! Heh!
Aww meant gits!!!
Gaz, if I were you, I’d go and put on some money in the juke box.
(Do the kids today know what a juke box is?) 🙂
Am I disappointed at the result ? Yes I am.
Can I say hand on heart that we deserved to win HMMMMMMM not really I think a draw was a fair result.
Having played a CL game midweek even thou it was a comfortable win the lads played 90 mins and I think add to that 35 mins of copping with 10 men tired legs may of also taken there toll on our players who thought the game was over.
Sunderland away is not high on any teams list of guaranteed 3 points so a point more than we got last season is still an improvement and that is how I am going to view it.
We were no way near as sharp as we were midweek so lets take the point and look forward, if we pick up points were we did not pick up points last season we can only continue to improve.
@ matt 105 let it be said i am not arrogant,not aggressive and not nonsencical,i am different from you in my language but thats how it is mate,dont judge people just because of the language they use,if you sat next to me at a game you’d be well pi**ed off because thats how i express my emotions,but it does’nt make me a lesser man than you and it does’nt give you the right to call someone you DONT KNOW arrogant,aggressive and nonsencical,just bare that in mind the next time you judge someone you dont know,cheers pal,have a drink on me.
Against my better judgement, I just watched lawro comment on our game on MOTD.
He’s my new candidate for “Hansen of the week”.
I’m guessing ‘Holic is voting for Phil Dowd and/or Ray Stubbs?
No drinks for any of them, barman 🙁
@jones/Harrypotter: I’m afraid Harry has a point. We were reduced to 10, it’s very odd that we did not make a third substitution. Then I agree with him it would have been interesting to have someone as fast as Vela as the lone striker. Chamakh does an excellent defensive/harassing work but Vela could have instilled fear in the Sunderland defense.
And my other point still stands. Wilshere is only 18 and for all his wonderful qualities he does not yet have the physical endurance to play 3 games in a week at top level. Song should have it but he was injured during the pre-season until after the season started and his not yet fully fit. I’m of the opinion that starting Denilson and Rosikci would have made more sense and would have helped us shore the midfield much better.
Ray Stubbs was a real fucking plank on ESPN – he was actually trying to get the FA to look at Arsene “laying hands” on the 4th official. Laying hands? I would have chinned him 😉
@ zicoinexile,i’ve just put on Rat Race by The Specials,hope you like it,also before anyone thinks im being a knob,i just love that song,who would’nt?!!!! then i’ll put some Madness on then go for some old Jamaican ska,has the makings of a good night i think,despite the shite result(sorry for the strong langusge Matt,but it’s the way us Irish are,we swear like fuck!!!!!)
@ Jonesmalo #114 & @ Arsenal 1971 # 120
Thanks fellas, good points and well reasoned. Sanity prevails 🙂
What are you guys drinking?
Gaz, now you see you are still here, are you starting to understand the difference between this, and some other blogs?
Gaz – got any BEAT?
Gaz: I’ll have a drink on you, no problem. That being said `Holic made it clear there are rules on this blog, you either follow them which means you accept to change the way you express yourself in order to fit in or you don’t and find a more appropriate platform. Nothing wrong either way, it’s entirely up to you and no one is treating you like a kid.
As for being arrogant, the definition is “an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions “. Not all your comments fit the bill but some certainly do.
really thought things would be different this season..we have fallen where we would have fallen in previous seasons…we haven’t jumped up another level which means looking at getting draws and even loosing at places like Stoke, Birmingham and Everton(althoug h we had a cracking win at everton last season)…….we are looking at 2nd or 3rd this season(which i am more than happy with)…………….funny thing is if you had come from another planet and didn’t know a thing about the EPL and then seen how sunderland,stok e and Birmingham etc play against us ,you would think they would be up there fighting for champions league or at least Europa league places by the end of the season.But they hardly ever get there which means playing us,liverpool,ma n u and chelsea is there cup finals and all they can manage to raise their games for and basicaly,avoidi ng relagation apart,all they have to play for.Surely this is bad management from bruce,pullis etc i.e you will see teams near the bottom of the table going to Sunderland,birm ingham etc and winning!
@ Matt
Not sold on Denilson. But you’re probably right, as Song seems to a little off the pace, hence the need for persistent fouls.
Denilson is not a dynamic player though – too one paced. He was embarassingly left for dead by Sunderland’s Egyptian full back at one point. Denilson never recovered – a recurring nightmare that resulted in some soft goals last season.
@ Goonerholic. I think your patience and tolerance is a virtue. That is only my opinion of course!
@ Gaz. I like your taste in music but prefer the stuff from their (The Specials) first album. Did you by any chance wear a tonic suit in the early 80s? I’ll proudly admit to that. Music is a great ice-breaker, isn’t it?
Cheers 🙂
Can’t see why everyone is creaming themselves over Nasri. Him and Arshavin were passengers in the 1st half! Luckily Chamakh does the work of 3 players! 2nd half he improved but never seems to achieve anything.
And anyone seriously blaming Almunia for the goal must have the brains of the B@stard child of Ray Stubbs and Jon Champion!
Used to think Rebecca Lowe was the nuts until today’s sneaky stuff. Just another member of the English football mafia who think that no-brain thuggery is ‘proper football’.
Final thought – Denilson should have took the pen (Roma?) but with the way the crowd are with him it would have completely finished him if he had missed.
@AFC1974 of course we have The Beat,Stand Down Margret is up next, then think a bit of old stuff,Johnny Nash, Guava Jelly then Pressure Drop by Tooth’s & Maytals,that float your boat??? hope so mate!!! Red Stripe all round please bar tender.
@smudger: Sunderland have yet to lose at home this season (according to the FSC pundit, I did not check) and they won against Citeh 3 weeks ago. You may find it surprising but they’re the 3rd biggest spending club on the transfer market in the last 5 years. Although we collectively think of Sunderland as a mid-table club at best, they’re not anymore comparable to Stoke, Wigan, Blackburn and the likes.
My source for the transfer spending: http://www.transferleague.co.uk/league-tables/2006-2011.html
130 plus posts in under2 hours. Did we lose?
@ True Storey 132,all The Specials stuff is tops,saw them in Dublin last Nov and it was the best gig i ever attented,SPECIAL it was!!!!!as for the tonic suit mate,not for me,Levi’s,Dr Martens & a Fred Perry was more me!!!!
@ iSnail #136
Hilarious, thanks!
Barman, whatever he wants please 🙂
@ Bob John
Nasri was average in the first half, but sublime in the second. His performance was a masterclass in retaining possession. Rosicky should have rewarded the boy’s fine play by scoring the penalty Nasri earned.
@ True Story 132,still is by the way!!!
@jones: Denilson has played a grand total of maybe 40 minutes this season while missing the pres-season too. We should wait until he’s got 4-5 games under his belt to judge/assess him like the others. Of course I confess that I rate him and would have crowed if he had scored 😉
I don’t know if he has recovered yet but he certainly has bulked up this summer.
@ Gaz #137
Aah! Got it. My hair was probably an inch longer than yours. But we can unite on 501s and Fred Perry T-s 😉
@iSnail: not only that but when was the last time there were 100+ posts before BtM graces us with his poetic report?
@ Matt #135
Good points. Sunderland are a fair side with a manager who seems to be a decent sort.
We would have and did lose to them away last year. We ever so nearly won (and should have) today. That’s progress in my book.
I’ll say again what I’ve said elsewhere. Champions take the whistle out off the Ref’s mouth and take the points that are there to be taken – missed chances by Arshavin, Song, Chamakh and a missed spot to seal it.
Moving on.. What game were you watching Nasri play? Every game this season he plays too slow, he’s far too casual, he over-complicates matters with the ball at his feet and if he is actually on the pitch when we’re defending, I’m not sure I can find him because if you can name one ball he won outright in the challenge today, I need the time index to watch it on the video. Watching us get 35% possession in the first half was just the symptom of a team with Nasri and Arshavin offering about 50% of the responsibilities they should be taking, Cesc getting slow into the game (and being injured as it turns out) and Wilshere having a to-be-expected (18 year old) occasional nightmare in this one.
That left one midfielder working in front of – as many have pointed out – the excellent spine of 3 in the defense – Almunia included. I would add Sagna to the list of players that had a goood match and add an observation that Chamakh worked hard and offered something to the team but allowed Sundland’s central pair to step up and send our release ball right back into our area far too often. That’s where it ends. Embarrassing stuff that – if you think about it as a standard and replace the opponent with Barca – do we see 5% possession in the first half before having to play with 10?
Wow, hope we’re a much different team next week and get healthy for Chelski.
So it’s mr Perry that unites us heh – got me dark blue one on now as I blog!! Keep the music coming Gaz and chuck us a red stripe pal!
@true story 142 yep Levi’s and Fred Perry’s all the way!!! Back then was a 3 blade all over,now a days it’s a 2 blade,dam recession!!!!
Excellent summary ‘Holic.
@ Matt 135
Those figures you linked are just mind blowing. Whoever eventually replaces AW will have their work cut out for them.
Re- today’s game, I hope Arshavin has done enough to be dropped to the bench. He should really be trying a little harder given his talent. His lack of effort is reflecting on Clichy being exposed.
Do we know how bad Cesc’s injury is ? We really need him to be fit for the Chelsea game in two weeks time.
@ AFC1974 gonna put Skinhead Moonstomp on next then maybe The Isrealites followed by 54-46 That’s My Number,then back to the 80’s ska with Mirror In The Bathroom followed by One Step Beyond,should have a few feet tappin!!!!
@Gaz: I only knew the Toots & the Maytals version of 54-56. Need to find out the Israelites version.
Not proper ska but how about that one to get your feet movin’ a bit longer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5JHGi0awgc
Final thought for the day….after 5 league games last season we’d already lost two and conceded eight.
Gaz – your music taste is redeeming you I must say although I don’t see much French stuff mixed in :). Try some Stereolab….(only 20% french)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH3aQJj119Y
@AFC1974 and Goonerholic – Thanks for your posts, they’ve helped a great deal in putting everything in perspective.
I can’t fault the boys all that much for the result today. We lost Cesc fairly early on, Dowd was inconsistent (and I feel we can trace Song’s frustrations to this) and we are coming off of a mid-week game. I was a bit troubled by the fact that we were outpossessed for near 60% of the game but the defence, all over the pitch, held out pretty well. And credit to Almunia for holding his ground.
Ouch points: I hope that Clichy and Arshavin can improve – neither really shone for me today and Rosicky should never have taken that penalty.
In the end, as you so rightly mentioned AFC1974, its a point more than last season so lets not turn our noses up at it. I’m sure the boys feel worse than we do and in all honesty, if it hadn’t been for so many things going wrong for us today, we’d be sitting all nice and pretty with 3 points.
Nice analysis Holic!
The lads were under par offensively today and a draw was a fair result. Sunderland played the best they’ve played in a very long time, according to their fans and hacks, and Chelsea and ManU will struggle here too (look at what happened to Man City!).
Manuel, Kosy and Squilli were solid today and deserved a clean sheet (still not very confident in Gael and Gibbs should get a shout for a few games)! It was an unfortunate and disappointing end to the match but some encouraging defensive positives for the season! Arshavin, Chamakh et al just now need to be more clinical as soon as they get a chance in these tight games and that’ll psychologically kill these teams off pretty quickly (as we’d have seen if Rosicky had scored the pen)! With regards ESPN, they’re not alone – almost all current commentators and pundits are inept, biased and short-sighted self-publicists! As long as they show the matches i’m unable to get to, i couldn’t give a flying-fig who they employ or what they think!
Double brandy for the road please Holic! Cheers!
@RGG spot on with the touchline reporter standing next to the ref. You could see him looking and thinking, what was she on about? Criticising/ influencing the ref before the game is a new one from reporters.
Almunia, defence, Nasri, Chamakh all did really well today. Keep ball tired out the opposition after 60 mins and we came back into it. Yes, we made mistakes, but looked well-drilled and kept good shape. Fair play to Sunderland for keeping going, mind.
@ Matt 150 The Isrealites is the song by Desmond Decker sorry for the confusion,54-46 That’s My Number is indeed the classic by Toots & The Maytals.ska,dancehall reggae,they do cross over so one mans ska is another mans reggae,but anyhow let’s just enjoy some proper music while getting over a bad result today.
A level headed an assessment of the game, as we have come to expect, ‘Holic. Song’s dismissal convinces me that football needs to come up with an alternative to two yellows equal a red. As a punishment system it offers rough justice, especially when the refereeing is as inconsistent as it was today. A minor act of dissent and a non-injury-threatening body check results in a sending off whereas a trip from behind escapes punishment beyond a free-kick. I have no idea how the system might be changed, but there does seem a strong case for punishing dangerous and reckless play differently from less savage offenses.
A glass of your best claret to help mull over the problem over, if you would.
Hi Holic and fellow holics,
I know I’m late but I’m already pissed (get it?)
Sometimes it’s not the act which concedes the goal that matters but more the events which lead to the goal!
Can I start by saying Squillaci is class! This all french back four obviously listen to and respect this guy and he has a good bond with Almunia!
We were dominating and clearing our box like seasoned pros thanks to our new added presence. So with an injury or two we could still compete on set pieces.
However clearing the box is a team effort and as much as Clichy could have shown more composure Kosielny could have been more alert about his poisitoning!
Saying that I remember it was a conceded free kick which led to the goal at Birmingham which lead to our unraveling in the title race last season.
Fast forward to today and it was the same old story. The funny fooking fing was, up until that point we were doing well clearing the box as a team and I was very very fooking impressed!
…but (and there is a but-as Barnsey would say)…we couldn’t afford to take risks clearing the box. What do I mean? Let me exaplain…
…during the game we cleared the final third of the pitch during the run of play and disrupted the little rhythm which Sunderland had before they became amusingly knackered! However when we are only a goal ahead and at risk of dropping points and conceding a corner is not risk worth taking…rewind to Birmingham (conceded free kick) last season, now fast forward to todays game…same old shite! However I am of the opinion that if Squillaci and Kosielny have progressed our defensive play that much in three games together, I say rest the verminator for a few more games until our boys get the hang of this new founded form of no-nonsense non risk taking defending! The mistake inside the box was just secondary to the event (the conceded corner)which led up to it. Just as the saying goes, prevention is better than cure!
I hope we can bounce back from this blip from this season so far and master this ability of clearing the danger area adequately and consistently, which can save us during such important and tight games, which could eventually earn us points!
On another note, we must kill off games. It is another form of no nonsnse no risk taking! We enjoyed most of the possession when Sunderland finally tired, but with most of our direct attack minded players out of the side today, our remaining players should carry on attcking in the same vain irrespective. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it! Balls in to the box create chances, taking shots create chances. Add a little composure and confidence and this can transform in to goals (see game against Bolton last week)!
Now I am not Wenger but the next game we all go to we need to remind our ever progressing team and not to mention the praise they deserve of remaining second in the league regardless of the result of Man U v Liverpool unless Manure win by 5 clear goals, of two important points:
1) Only one goal up? Kill the game (if in doubt/ take the opposition out)
2) If we are still only one goal ahead on the closing stages of the game, clear the box fully and try not to concede corners or free kicks
Hopefully this is what Squillaci and Kosielny told the boys on the way home today!
Lets continue fighting boys because this season is going to be survival of the fittest and judging by Sunderlands legs in the 60th minute today, we are still amongst the elite when it comes to lasting the distance, not to be spoiled by last minute mistakes!
Up the Arse-age!
A J&D straight please Holic!
PS: I agreed with everything in your article Holic! Spot on again!
Great article mate nice 1!
Same old same old for me. Sadly yet again. We can moan about the ref we like. Truth is that we should have been at least 4 up by then. We need to become more clinical or we will continue to drop silly points.
‘holic you could almost say I’ve put that Darren Bent goal in the past. But not with any great sincerity yet.
‘Holic, report is spot on – every word.
Two minutes from time I started to relax, confident that the very impressive CB pairing would resist everything that was thrown at them. “hey”, i thought, “it’s almost becoming fun playing out these rearguard actions again”. Oh well.
Have to say I thought Dowd was bound to blow the whistle once the corner was cleared, but there you go – big club gets favoured by the ref again !
ESPN – well what can you say. John Champion and Chris Twaddle commentating could hardly be worse, and then Ray Stubbs grinning stupidly, whilst trying determinedly to goad the F A into taking action against Arsene Wenger for what, even his own pundits said, was something of nothing. Stupid oaf amongst very good company.
Still, a converted penalty would have been ample cure for all the irritations.
Almunia very solid again. Say it quietly, but the 2008 version really does seem to be back.
@Matt – Rest is good, if it is needed. In Cesc’s case, don’t forget that he had the last pert of last season off with injury, and then hardly played in the World Cup, and was then given an extended break by AW before returning for his pre-season.
Braga was hardly an exhausting game for a fit 23 year old.
Sure, rotate when necessary, always bearing in mind it can be disruptive. I’m not sure it should be necessary already though. I’ve also heard Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn say, on many occasions, that AW is a master at spotting tiredness in a player at the very first signs.
Great post.
I saw more positives from todays game than negatives. It took me 3 hours to calm down and stop cursing all the things we did wrong but on reflection I am quite pleased.
Firstly there is NO chance we could have kept the score to 1-0 till the end of the 90 mins in the past 3-4 seasons. We really do seem to have real strength at CB now. It is telling that after just 2 games we have total confidence in Squillaci and are not panicking at the thought of a Vermalen-less defence.
Second, and i think this is directly related to the first, Almunia has been faultless since he led in that N’Gog goal. Until now Almunia has had to keep goal in front of CBs who were weak in the air, disorganised at set pieces and temperamental. Now he’s looking solid and a lot of that is due to having proper defenders in front of him. Koscienly was imperious in the air today and Squillaci marshalled the defence well.
Thirdly we are displaying a strength in depth that only Chelsea can rival. Yet I would suggest that if you took Drogba (RvP), Terry (Vermaelan), Malouda (Theo) & Mikel (Diaby) out of their team they would struggle more than we have so far.
Lets not forget Chelsea have had the easiest first 6 games you could wish for while we have had an incredibly tough start. But still we have bettered last seasons results against Blackburn and Sunderland away.
The one thing I do have a problem with is Wenger’s choice of penalty takers. Whats wrong with letting our striker take a penalty?! With Fab’s & Arshavin off the pitch I would say it should be a toss up between Nasri & Chamakh. If Nasri was fouled for the penalty & didn’t feel up to it then why not let our striker take it? He is a damn striker so he will have taken hundreds of penalties & it never hurts scoring a goal when your a striker!
I love Rosicky but the guy has never taken a penalty for us before and it’s been a while since he’s scored a goal so there was always going to be more pressure on him than he should have had to deal with.
Wenger said he was confused by the decision – well that shouldn’t happen. If he only prioritises 3 penalty takers then that is going to leave uncertainty if those 3 are unavailable. Just let the striker take it if theres any doubt!
Robbed I was timing extra time second for second. We were robbed ithere is nothing else to say about it. I never like to behave unsportsmanlike but Dowd seemed to have an agenda and it seemed that possibly allardyce’s & coyle comments may have impacted this game. I have not been so convinced to say this b4 but dowd robbed us and he is an absolute cunt. Oh also I never want to see Rosicky take a penalty again he should of buried 3 pts no correction he should of let nasri or chamakh bury the pts.
ver
Howcan you guys look at negatives????
Doed THE CUNT finished it alll for us what else can you say!
There is no explanation ij the world to do this! we can whine all we like noe the fact is this was no fucking trick!
ENGLICS FA MADE THIS HAPPEN!
Catalan and ’74 you can make that 3 old gits but what with the virtual aspect pretending is always an option….
sorry still drunk and stil whining
Holics, do you honestly believe that Ramsey will be the same player he was before? As much as one would love to think that he would the odds are firmly stacked against him – and history.
@Gaz & Tim: I’m not too much into french ska, it’s either too “local” or repetitive to my taste. If you insist here’s a “popular” recent one I’m aware of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHhUMQLw1rA
On the other hand french dub has been exploding in the last 15 years or so, many good bands: High Tone, Dubphonic, Zenzile etc: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BeJDoy2rRo
Then if we drift into trip-hop and minimal I just don’t have enough time to listen to all the goodies coming out from France there are so many… Perhaps we should continue this discussion on Tim’s blog?
@Trev: Thinking of Wilshere and Song today I’m not so sure Wenger’s ability to spot tired players remained intact…
@Sajit: My rule of thumb is that an injured player needs as much time as his injury layoff to get back to his best once he started playing again. Some times it takes longer (Diaby), some times less (Gibbs) but you get the idea. I believe we’ll see the best of Rambo again because it wasn’t too bad an injury (compared to Diaby or Eduardo) but not until next season.
lot to say, so i’ll simply had how disapointing it is to conceed an equaliser from the last meaningful kick after fighting so hard with a man down. like a metaphor for my life, really depressing!
a cyber pint of guiness for me thank holic. great blog. unfortunatley i’m stuck in oz drinking VB.
p.s. by now me and gaz would be in the carpark sorting it out over that french bias thing 🙂
Premier league winning teams take three points even when they play badly or are undeserved. The current Chelsea side, the man u of old and arsenal during our renaissance would have either killed the game or shut up shop completely until the final whistle.
The fact that we got a point this time compared to none last year is nothing to celebrate. The fact that our keeper is playing like a keeper and our defence appears stable is pleasing but should be expected for goodness sake! The premiership is won at places like Sunderland , Bolton , Everton away.. . not at home or matches against the big three or four. Keeping a cool head for the closing minutes yesterday would have been in points, equal to say drawing against Chelsea and man u for example. Sure , all teams will have their run of games where they are unlucky, have injuries or play poorly, but winners still get a lot of points on the board in those circumstances. That’s how you win. I am yet to be convinced that the current crop of gunners have this steel and would love to be proved wrong. 1-1 however is not the end of the world and I suppose time will tell . . . . .
Back to my favorite topic, injuries. I found a really great article about Chelski and how they work on player fitness and injury prevention. For you guys Trev and Catalan, there’s proof they use a holistic approach.
First they assert they have an advantage because they have the tallest and most muscular team in the league. It’s worth noting because as you know we’re among the smallest and lightest teams. They don’t mention speed as Chelski are pretty slow aside from bursts and we’re on the fastest side.
Anyway the interesting part about fitness and preparation:
“Chelsea use the latest technology to help measure their players’ fitness and work-rate. Like others clubs, they utilise heart rate monitors, ProZone and GPS tracking software, which provides individual running information and reveals training intensity levels. It also measures how much pressure the players are putting on their bodies and can predict when injuries are likely. That sort of tool at Chelsea’s impressive training ground is combined with some of Ancelotti’s knowhow from the famous Milan Lab, which involves a series of less obvious tests and treatments designed to help prolong players’ careers.
When Ancelotti arrived at Chelsea he brought with him Bruno Demichelis, a sports psychologist who was the visionary behind the holistic Milan Lab approach.
Demichelis has introduced a mind room at Chelsea’s Surrey training ground, similar to the one at AC Milan where he and Ancelotti worked. It measures a player’s level of stress.
Roman Abramovich prevented Ancelotti bringing more of his trusted lieutenants with him when he arrived from Italy in 2009 but Giovanni Mauri joined the fitness team this summer.
There is a long list of other backroom staff taking care of sports science, nutrition, conditioning. The key people have daily meetings with Ancelotti and the club pride themselves on the level of integration.
‘We attack the season on four fronts and our guys are extremely fit,’ said Wilkins.
‘They will get fitter too. After the World Cup we didn’t think we would be at the level they are at now but we have worked very hard. We have some big guys and it won’t be often that we got rolled over physically. We are one of the biggest and strongest sides in the League.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1313289/Chelsea-truly-head-shoulders-clear-rivals—just-look-Power-League.html#ixzz0zxA3x8iA
Good defensive performance,but to be honest u’d have thought sun were the league champions the way we kept gifting them possession.This was similar to the fulham performance last season.Maybe sun deserved a point.But why do we always struggle against sides who press well?
@Martin: caution is the most appropriate attitude anyway given that we’re only 5 games (less than 8%) into the season.
That said here’s a way to get an estimation of our progression towards the title:
Since the Invincibles, the champions have averaged 2.4 (actually 2.38) points per game with the record held by Chelski of 2.5 points/game.
To know how we compare with a champion’s progression we can approximate the required number of points by multiplying the number of games played by those coefficients.
That means at this stage we should have between 12 and 12.5 points. To check my hypothesis I looked up how many points the previous 7 champions had after the first 5 games:
8 – 8 – 12 – 13 – 13 -15 -15
Now after our 6th game against WBA we would need between 14.6 and 15 points according to the points/games ratios computations. The champions had:
11 – 11 – 13 -14 -14 – 18 -18
If we win the WBA game, we’ll have 15 points so in conclusion we’re very slightly off target but a win next week would put us right back where we need to be.
It puts our situation into perspective somewhat but I still think we should have won against Sunderland though 😉
Sunderland played well, we didn’t except for patches of the game. But we fought hard against a physical side that gave Sam Allardyce a masterclass in the difference between being physical and being dirty.
It stings to have lost the points so late on but nowhere near as much as, for example, the lost points at Brum last season, and there were lots of positives to take from the game. The defense is showing real promise and Squillaci looks like an incredibly good buy so far. We are unbeaten in five games despite having played three away from home (and three rather difficult away games at that) and we have two more points from these games than we took last season.
Right, I’m off to nurse my hangover now so just some sparkling water for me, please.
Excellent write up holic,and in all honesty a draw was a fair result.
I was surprised we started with the same 11 as midweek.
Jack although an exceptional talent is still making too many mistakes,but it’s not so noticeable when the team is so resolute.
Not much mention of Arshavin, who by my reckoning has missed at least half a dozen chances in the last two weeks.At least he is there to get the opportunity and hopefuly these attempts will turn into goals.
Song has to be blamed as a second yellow was always on the cards.
The two new boys looked a smart act,and as you say Almunia is getting better game by game.
Did Cesc jar his knee/hamstring when scoring ?
A question: As Nasri was brought down,isn’t it a french thing that a non frenchie has to take the penalty,or am I off track.
There are many Clichy detractors at the moment,but as a ten man unit I thought our defending has improved immensely from last season and if anything our various options of attacking the final third was below par,but credit to Sunderland for hustling us throughout the game.
Many things to consider but however disappointed we are,many positives to be taken from the game.
Finally the headlines are about the law of the minimum of extra time.Why not use the American system and blow the claxon,therefore the ref can’t be accused of playing too much or too little time.
I feel like throwing up. What a horrible way to end a magnificent game for the back 4 + Almunia.
I have a feeling Cesc and Robin will both be out for Stamford Bridge.
Oops, with 5 games we’ve already played 13% of the season.
Sajit, your general sadness and feelings of inadequacy often seem to spill out into the blogosphere. Your perisistent pessimism, skepticism and lack of anything positive to say makes you a leech on most blogs. Sucking the positive energy out like a leech.
Morning ‘holic.
I’ve just caught up on the game after missing the 2nd half due to attending a wedding yesterday. Too, I’ve not had time to read all the posts on this thread.
I’ll sum up by saying I agree with all your comments. We HAVE improved but we do need to improve further by more robustly burying the opposition. Song did not deserve the sending off (the first yellow was a joke) but needs to keep his head by being more cautious after a yellow.
As our goal was a fluke, theirs was also a fluke ~ as you rightly say, scored in the 5 minute of 4 minute stoppage time. Bizarre!! Rosicky needs to have a long hard look at himself.
It is a travesty that we did not come away with all 3 points.
NB. Credit to Sunderland, they approached the game very well.
Morning Holic and Holics….
I apologise for my drunken post last night. Looking back Rosicky should have burried the game beyond.
Still feel sour, however I believe we improved and I have a positive feel to the geames ahead.
Enjoy your Sunday holics….I have an immense hangover to deal with now!
Barman a quick sheeky one please
No worries, Arthur. Been there, done that! Chuckled when I saw the mistyping and knew instantly 🙂
HOW’S THE HEAD!
excellent as always ‘holic. we did look solid enough with kos and toto squillaci. it’s been a while that our back had no-nonsense approach to clearing the ball when the opposition were on the attack.
i’m a surprisingly concerned about our midfield and attacking options.
given the growing list of injuries, i’m worried about our lack of options in rotating the squad. especially given the fact that the midfield looked sluggish in the first half and at one point the possession stats read: sunderland 65% – arsenal 35%!!!
since we are going to play the chavs in two weeks time, which is right after an away trip to belgrade. i would hate it if the boys tire themselves out by playing a high-tempo match for 90 minutes. isn’t it a better idea to let vela & co come off the bench in the braga-like matches a little earlier and give cesc, song, chamakh some rest? after all the squad is a bit thin at the moment.
we can resort to the 6-0 scoreline once the medical room is relatively free. 😉
Afternoon all.
Yesterday was my first time in the bar after a less than satisfactory result.
I was a little sad to see the normally friendly and genteel atomopsphere turn manic and somewhat ugly at times. I know what you’re thinking, “if you can stand the heat”, etc., etc. but as discussed at some length last night, we’re all entitled to our opinions.
Anyway, looks like an air of calm has been restored and our beloved Arsenal FC didn’t go into melt-down even though we dropped 2 points yesterday 😉
To help bring some Sunday cheer back to this excellent blog, I picked up on the following link on Arseblog (hope that’s OK with you ‘Holic?).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=C-4adW9omT4
It made me roar. Neve mind “Hansen of the week”, Rob green is my “hero of the week”. Do you think we could request special training for Almunia to be capable of that before we meet those fine, upstanding, rugger playing folk from Stoke in December?
BTW, Arthur you’re antics on here really made me laugh so thanks for that. Barman, a large hair-of-the-dog for him please 🙂
Happy Sunday to you all. Let’s see if Blackpool are capable of adding a little sunshine to it – it’s a big ask, I know.
Good morning Holic spring water please!
I just watched A recording of MOTD and it is clear that Dowd was not paying attention to the first Alex Song challenge. His choice to produce a yellow card was bizarre!
@Matt 173- I have to say that as I am aware Ivan Gazidas announced this season that we are using the same technology mentioned in your post. I recall seeng our players wearing the GPS tops which resemble belly tops! Lol! Anyway…
http://www.arsenal.com/news/ladies-news/gazidis-gps-tracking-could-ease-injuries
…what I also found that was interesting was Alladyces rant implying that he is a more advance football coach than Wenger
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_6386615,00.html
lol is all I can say to that!!
Anyone who has taken the time to read any of Wengers autbiographies will know for sure that Alladyce is jumping the gun and as he rightfully said in his rant “The truth is that nobody really knows Arsene Wenger. There certainly aren’t too many people who actually get close to him,”. So for him to make such sweeping public comparisons between him self and the Proff, just reaffirms his status as a cheating arrogant walrus!
All of this Wenger attacking has come about by managers who study Wengers teams when they play and think they are on the same level as managers because they can tell their teams to copy our pass and move game which makes them look good against teams of equal standing to theirs. They get shown how its done by us when they play us and then play a more pyhsical game and think that extra dimension makes them a better team. All of this piddle take talk is also generated from the fact that our new crop have yet to win a trophy, which is true, but to say that sam, pulis etc and all the other good but not great coaches are in the same league or beyond Wenger is ridiculous!
Another point is that, I believe the Verminator and Diaby are due back to training this week. The bottom line is that Cesc is probably likely to be short for the trip to Stamford Bridge. However it will mean we play with the same squad minus Walcott but including Song and Diaby, which we started with this seaso away at Anfield and when we were 4-0 up against Blackpool. If it’s a tight hamstring (Portsmouth @ home or Aston Villa @home last season) then he will be out for two weeks and back in time for Chelsea. If it’s a Burnley away to Bolton @ home Hamstring then without rushing him back he will be out for four weeks and back in time for Man City away, by which time we are also expecting the return of Walcott, RVP and maybe even the prodigal son B52. Apart from Chelsea we should be okay and even the Chelsea game will be tighter than people predict. Our fighting ability this season has progressed in that respect.
I believe that our added ability to fight this season will increase our chances of developing upon what we achieved last season!
Holic, I’m late, tired, disgruntled and I can’t top your topper. But for what it’s worth, here’s how I saw it.
Regular Holics will know that I’m not usually prone to defaulting to expletives to paper over the cracks in my lexicon. Yesterday was an exception and the four-letter f word (FLFW) kept forcing to the fore.
FLFW made its first appearance about quarter of an hour into the match. Arsenal were underperforming magnificently, as only Arsenal can. Was Cesc even on the field? He’d been noticeable by his total absence from the fray. And as a consequence, Arsenal’s efforts to play Wengerball looked more like a bad Ping Pong night in Bird Nest Soup Lane, Beijing.
But then from nowhere, Cesc popped up to feature in the first FLFW of the night. Not that it sprung from the lips of the Spaniard from Spain. Oh no. It bounded balistically from the Bruce bouche after Cesc blocked a belated boot up-field by Ferdinand, only to see the ball bounce beautifully behind their barn door for One Nil to the Arsenal. “On occasions like this, it’s better to be lucky than good, for FLFW’s sake”, I pondered.
I suspect, but cannot prove, that FLFWs three and four, were uttered in French by our fearless leader. That AW resorted to FLFW during his half time rant (because on this occasion a rant along the lines of “For FLFW sake – get out there and get into this game”) was almost certainly ranted. Likewise when Alex Song sung “two yellow cards in a refs book” to the tune of three coins in a fountain, I think I heard, en Francaise, FLFW resonate from our dug-out.
FLFW five was the result of an Arshavin sclaff of Siberian mammoth proportions when he should have made it 2-0.
FLFW six wasn’t prompted by the penalty. No, but it WAS prompted by the penalty taker. “For FLFW sake”, I thought. “Why, oh why is Rosicky taking this? He hasn’t been able to hit a barn door this season.” And, ping – a golden chance to lock the game more closed than a tin of sardines rocketed fishily over the sticks without so much as a silver lining on the inside of the can. Surely, 1) Nasri 2) Chamakh 3) Denilson 4) Rosicky was the better kicking order?
But with ten men, we hung on. The introduction of Denilson for the mostly missing and mainly muffing midget Molotov heralded the arrival of the “passing” game. Denilson does the simple stuff simply (and avoids Arshavin/Jack’s back-heeled bicycle tricks with one percent success ratios). He is always available to receive. He can open up defences, he can run through and shoot (and came close to scoring). He was the antithesis of the FLFW and must now become a regular starter.
And the final FLFW? Not so much the after-hour goal itself, but Gael Clichy’s continuing conveyer belt of contributions to competitors goals counts, through defensive howlers. Rather than the easy pass out for a corner and the inevitable final whistle, he opted to blast the ball to Bent of Kos’s backside for 1-1 in 95 minutes.
For FLFW sake!
Never mind, we were lucky to be one up at half time, and it could be argued that 1-1 at Sunderland with 10 men and a penalty miss isn’t too bad an outcome. That won’t be argued here however. Instead, I’ll have a sobering strong one of any description, barman.
BtM, That was magnificent and well worth the wait. No doubt the tone of the drinks yesterday was diminished by your post not having helped set the tone (no fault of the ‘Holic of course who assessed the match accurately and fairly if less poetically than you). No greater proof of the power of poetry!
By the way, I don’t know what FLFW stands for but you don’t have to tell me!
BtM, anytime you want to say ‘flipping’ on here I have no problem 😉
BT8BBNN – so 4 old gits in the wrong bar, but with enough “refreshment” we’re still the hip kids in town and can, no doubt, set the world to rights in an instant…
@Matt. Yep – I read that Chelsea have pretty much copied the Milan Lab, with chiropractor et al. You have to wonder why other’s haven’y done it. Re-inventing the wheel and all that.
A cold glass of Penedes white on a sunny afternoon please…
Gaz and all, if you’re still listeniing:
Ackee 1 2 3 = how many goals we’re gonna score against Spurz
So disappointed.
But actually checked Chelsea’s fixture and this summer vacation they had is ending.
They have City away next week and then Us at home, Villa away (when we have Brum at home), Wolves at home (when we have City away), Blackburn away (when we have West Ham at home) and Liverpool away (when we have Newcastle at home).
I can see City, Villa and Liverpool taking points from them at Eastlands, Anfield and Villa Park. They also have us but it will depend a whole lot on Cesc’s and Robin’s fitness.
We may be 4 points behind, but there’s still a whole lot of games to be played and this way too kind fixture list Chelsea got is gonna get way tougher in the next couple of weeks.
It’s been a long night….and following day 🙂
Still reading through this thread of messages…..some great points made by all (as well as a bit of baloney) ~ Too, I noticed there was almost an altercation in the bar last night, although once the ska was belting from the jukepox tempers began to cool somewhat ~ great music….we Gooners are a classy lot.
I’d like to raise my glass to ‘holic for a fantastic blog amongst blogs.
Apparently the Blackpool supporters were chanting “You’re not as good as Arsenal” at their game against Chelsea today. I hope they’re right!
Oh maaaan! I sooo’ want to win that game on 3rd Oct!! It hurts…
Well at least Chelsea can start getting some decent opponents from next weekend.
Holic
The head is ok now but I had a mother of a Sunday….
Took the family mushroom picking lost my fucking car + house + work and garage keys. I don’t need to go any further do I ?
Jesus what a weekend….
Anyway I feel deflated now and in need of something very strong 🙂
Barmal can I have two Absoulute ice cold doubles please….
Hi guys
@ 192 I fancy us to at least hold them to a draw and then bring them back to the Emirates for their annihilation
@ 193 I can also see things going back to the way things were by next weekend, making our game against them even more important!
200th drink? I’ll have that!
Snail
Holic bar is definitely busy tonight 😉
That’s a free one then, Snail 🙂
I have to say the only reason I write on this blog and no other is purely down to the fantastic real fans that come here to voice their feelings a concerns in a respectful manner to other supporters. We may not all agree on comments written but we all have the right to put are opinions onto this blog for all to see and discuss our opinions without the usual louts spouting the usual get rid of Wenger rubbish.
And that is down to our gracious host Holic and I thank you for it. Some very expressive views over the last 24 hours and some brilliant points have been made and argued between us, but the main point is that we are all Arsenal fans and this is a great place to come to vent your frustrations. It also saves kicking the poor cat when things don’t go according to plan.
So cheers Holic, I will have a pint of the black stuff and what ever you are drinking yourself.
Yet another 2 points dropped and perhaps this could leave us rueing at the end of the season “it all could have been so different”. Granted, we missed a penalty and had enough chances to kill the game off, which we should have taken.
However, on the optimistic side, this is a game that in seasons bygone we would have been more than happy to take a point in, we also played the majority of the second half with ten men and can still be dissapointed with a point away to a resilliant sunderland side.
Kos and Squillaci both look like solid defenders, I am however starting to doubt the credentials of Clichy, whilst a very fast and able full-back, I do sometimes watch him and wonder “perhaps he is just a very fast headless chicken” compared to the likes of dare I say it but a certain ex-arsenal player who now plays for Chavski, he is not at that level of defensive astuteness. I think Wenger may know this and luckily we have a great [and English] prospect coming thorugh in Gibbs.
But, I’m starting to think that this season we are going to be close, but perhaps not close enough as Chavski do look very good, but we must hope, it’s still early doors and they have had exceptionally easy starting fixtures. Lets just hope that these injuries clear up and we can mount a serious challenge on all fronts this season because its been too bloody long! OH to OH to be.
This was the most annoying game ever. I knew, (I think most people did), that Rosicky would miss the penalty, just as I knew they would score a late equaliser. When that final ball came over it was agonising knowing that the ball would somehow squeeze over the line.
When Nani missed that penalty against Fulham, old red nose asked why the hell was Nani allowed to take it, and I`m sure that won`t happen again. AW should have taken note of that. With Fabregas off the pitch, the only known reliable penalty taker left was Arsharvin. Had he been able to step up, we would have won the game – simple.
Found this comment, sums it up pretty well:
I only saw the last hour and as a united supporter I should really be happy that Arsenal dropped 2 points.
But I have to say that if I was a an Arsenal fan I would be splitting blood. They were by far the better team in the 2nd half, even with 10 men. Nasri and Wiltshire were running the midfield and Chamakh was dangerous up front..
Phil Dowd was pretty inconsistent and really should have blown for full time after the corner was taken
@ Matt #206
Well researched Matt – it gives good perspective to yesterday’s events.
Looks like AW might be watching the next few games from the comfort of the West(?) Stand. Maybe he can get Pat to do his jostling for him in future games? I doubt Sir A would be treated in the same way by the FA but hey ho 😉
Looking forward to Tuesday now. It would be great if “The Colney Creche’s” finest and brightest could stick it up the Spuds.
Are we all expecting The Pole to be GK for that match?
On that thought I’d like something strong and reviving please barman.
Er, quick clarification for comment #207, I’m referring to LF as opposed to WS of course!
I’ve been away for the weekend and not long got in, haven’t caught up with all the drinks yet, but just had to say what a great write up Holic… cheers to you, have a late one on me. 🙂
I know the game is over 24 hours old but I am still left feeling annoyed and frustrated. When will we ever learn? It amazes me at times it really does.
Matt @175 – great stats, but where do you get the time ?
True Storey @207 – Thanks for that – ending an excruciating weekend with the thought of Flappyhanski playing on Tuesday night. I was going to watch it. We HAVE to play Sczczszeszy, (but it won’t happen).
@Trev: Sleeping as little as possible. Horrible mornings though, even more when waking up before dawn to watch Arsenal lose 😉 The nice thing about sleeping 5 hours per night is that you never lose your sleep…
Looks like Almunia is redeeming himself, I guess we can give Fabianski some slack…
Morning Holic’s.
I’m extreamly late to the party due to commitments in my own bar, I had a busy weekend here in the Lowlands which was almost/tottally ruined by one mans incompetance, I’ll catch up on all the drinks tomorrow, I’m sure you, my cybergooner friends, have made many an excellent post (+200, excellent!!!) but as I’ve been in almost a fully drunken state since that last?!?!? minute equaliser, I’d just like to add this;
The standard of refereeing in England has gone down the toilet, in action (snigger) this weekend was our two supposdly best referees (once again ?!?!?) Howard Webb(footed invertibrate) had no control over the IOU, L’pooh game (but who cares about those twats) not dissimallar to the total ineptitude that he showed in the WC final and more importantly for us, if I ever see Phil Dowd then I’ll Itchy and Scratchy him by poking out his eyes (which are useless anyway) and replacing them with those black cartoon bombs with the short fuse, shove his whistle, watch and red card up his jaxxy, while connecting his tongue to a rocket heading for Uranus or Jose Morinho (both different names for A’holes)
No hard feelings though.
I’ll have a pint of whatever please ‘holic sir, keep an eye on me though, ‘cos I think I’ve drunk too much already 😉
Cheers.
According to Denilson in today’s Guardian, “Arsenal are the best team. We have the players and we have the touch. Chelsea have very strong players but they are old. This was just one game, we are still in a good position – and we play like Barcelona. Arsenal are going to win a trophy this season.” How old is Chelsea actually getting to be, I wondered, so at http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/ I looked up their birthdays including those who turn 30 or older by season’s end:
Frank Lampard turns 33 on 20 June 2011.
Paulo Ferreira turns 32 on 18 January 2011.
Didier Drogba turns 32 on 3 November 2010.
Nicolas Anelka turns 32 on 14 March 2011.
Yossi Beneyoun turns 31 on 5 May 2011.
Florent Malouda turns 31 on 13 June 2011.
John Terry turns 31 on 12 July 2011.
Ashley Cole turns 30 on 20 December 2010.
Essien, Alex, and Bosingwa are all a year or two away from turning 30 so considering our youth it is safe to say that this season will start to take a toll on aging Chelsea legs like no other has until now.
There’s also the table — http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/premier-league/startseite/wettbewerb_GB1.html — that compares each club’s age showing that we’re the youngest club at an average of 24.7 years and Chelsea is the 5th oldest club at an average of 27.9.
My two penny worth:
I thought we work hard again and created chances against a well organised and committed Sunderland. The football we played with 10 men was a lesson in intelligence and ability.
I see Rosicky gets mixed reviews – but for my part he maintained his excellent start to the season. His work rate is a good as anyones and he poses the opposition a lot of questions.
Finally – did anyone notice the difference in Dennilson? Looked sharp – worked hard to get back before the oppo had gone past him and put in one biting challlenge late on – something he would never have done before.
I really do think we have learned a few things from the last campaign and I think we will be right there at the end of the season.
Kings Very Cross, I thought Rosicky did very well in the 2nd half particularly (not so well in the 1st, like the whole team) and Denilson was excellent and more assured than before in his 35-odd minutes. I don’t know what it is that sometimes makes teams start to play better after going down to 10 men, but not only Rosicky but also Nasri and Wilshere seemed to step it up considerably after Song was sent off.
BT8BBNB – re you comment at no. 214, if you are right, then at 35 I will be lucky to still be walking by teatime!!!
I agree with you mind, it’s just gutting to be confronted by the stats that confirm that I am unlikely to be the next product coming through the Arsenal youth system…
Tomorrow’s another day chaps/chapesses.
Meantime…..hopefully this will cheer you up….
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1313469/Martin-Samuel-Roman-Abramovichs-457m-1-639-new-Chelsea-fans.html
just saw this article on the arsenal-sunderland match in the guardian. so much for credibility…
http://i.imgur.com/DFTvj.png
Chaps – been turning this one over in my head for a while and really only came to light recently when ‘Hols and Arseblogger have made their views apparent…
“maybe we should think of him as the luxury we should accept for what he is? He frustrates the hell out of me, but there was a moment there where he filled the gap in the box when Chamakh chased one down on the right, and was quick to acknowledge the Moroccan’s cross that he could have converted.” (‘Hols)
“And while I think we all know Arshavin is capable of the old ‘something from nothing’ he was right back in the nothing from nothing mode yesterday. I’m not sure he’s the kind of player we can rely on away from home when hard work is needed. If there’s a game to be saved, bring him on. If there’s a game won and there’s no pressure, bring him on. Unless he seriously increases his workrate we have to consider whether he’s worth a place in the team.” (Arseblogger)
Is there any possibility that AA has it written in his contract that if fit etc he has to start? because as Arseblogger suggests awaydays don’t really suit him (yes I know about the anfield game in his first season). Just a thought really. Currently for me he is someone to bring on for the unexpected…
@ AFC1974
It’s hard to say really. He has scored 5 in 3 away at Anfield!
He also got one against Blackburn weekend before last!
I can’t forget about the nice one at Old Trafford last season either!
He has definitely improved his link up and pass and move game this season!
I think I remember Wenger saying that with AA, is that YOU ALWAYS FEEL as though he can produce something out of nothing. The opposition always seem wary of him and I believe his sheer precence gives defenders something extra to think about, because they all know what he is capable of producing. However his recent performance could be based on form.
As he said himself, that spark of his has not been present recently and that showed on Saturday! But i felt he was definately as effective as his counterparts.
Not sure if this has been covered in the comments above (‘holic you are now too popular!) but is anyone disappointed in the fact that Rosicky felt he had to take that penalty and that Nasri or Chamakh didn’t put themselves forward as out most forward players on the pitch at the time?
I really like the pair of them but sometimes I just wonder whether our team (and in particular Nasri) need to show some more balls and leadership and therefore should be chomping at the bit to take the penatly to win the game.
I just couldn’t see Rosicky scoring given his recent shooting prowess. My first choice to take it would have been Denilson for what it is worth if only for the nodding dog celebration.
A small quibble to be fair and overall I am happy with the point, if not the timing of it being earned. However I can’t help but think that it is little things like people being up for taking pens that make up our biggest obstacles to going to the next level and actually delivering on the obvious talent in this squad.
Bt8bbnn – agreed, they all upped their game which is a good sign. I just think there is a new resilience about the team. I like to think our capitulation the end of last year really hurt and they are resolved to make amends. Whatever it is I do think we are better this year so far. Wiltshire is surprising me. Knew he was going to be good but thought he was prone to the odd mistake last year. The Bolton move really has done him a power of good.
Arshavin was not fit at the beginning of the season – in the Blackpool game there was a time when he had his hands on his knees trying to recover. Sunday league stuff. He is a great player – but has been doing too much in terms media. It looks as if it distracts him. Arsene will play him in to fitness/form. He looks as if he cannot do it without game time, but he needs to be careful – if he does not start to deliver Van Persie, Walcott will be back and Vela is looking sharp.
With that in mind I sensed I saw Cesc running his eye across the team when he went off on Saturday. I think that, irrespective of how the decision to stay came about, he is becoming ruthless in terms of his demands on his team mates to compete at the same level as he does. Arshavin (or anyone else thinking they can short cut on effort) will, I think, get short change from him. His comments at the end of the Braga game made it perfectly clear that we need to deliver on the big stage. Chelsea in a couple of weeks will be fascinating.
Goonertown/ KVC – I think we need to see more of that from Cesc (letting team mates know what he expects). And yes I agree AA needs to concentrate on pitch time and less pixel time. And at last he has stopped looping corners straight into the keepers arms. Most annoying!
AFC1974 & KVC – I also recall AA saying he was not fully fit at the beginning of this season. Probably coming off the back of his injury end of last season!
I’m sure when everyone is back fit Wenger will rotate the left side some more.
AFC 1974 @221 and 225
I have a real soft spot for Andrei – I know that at times he puts in as much effort as Santa on Boxing Day, but, he is a genius.
He is a genuine world class footballer who makes things happen. I personally think he is going through a torrid time at the moment and he is getting frustrated as a lot of things he is trying just failing to come off – e.g a clip of an inside ankle as he tries to nutmeg a defender – that type of thing.
Overall I would be disappointed if we felt we couldn’t indulge him, because part of the beauty of the current crop of Arsenal players is the creativity, and he add has got loads of that to offer.
That said, if indulging him starts to cost us points then I may rethink my view. But he has too much to offer not to play – so for once I disagree with the Arseblog.
Mineral water Guvnor, I’m driving.
Like Clichy,AA should be given a spell on the bench
Gaz, who should replace him and why?
Agree ZinE and Goonertown. You have to have a soft spot for him. He is a genius (Liverpool) and ploughed a very lonely furrow up front for us last year. He deserves our indulgence (a ittle). You do get the impression though that he needs to commit a little more. Probabaly a Russian thing.
@zin in my opinion Rosicky should start ahead of AA for now because he battles more for the team,Arshavin looks disinterest at some point in every game and isn’t prepared to chase opponents down.
Gaz we’ll have to agree to disagree on that one.
Arshavin worries the opposition more than Rosicky does, even when he’s not firing on all cylinders. (And he would have buried that penalty on Saturday) 😉
Aww fuck it – those tossers (FA) will throw the book at Arsene. Fucking handbags at best. Still, best to take it on the chin so we can have him for the Chelsea game.
“What say you Mr Wenger to the charge of laying dirty French hands on our finest British officials?” “Speak up man. You might be able to speak 5 languages and order sushi in Japanese, but this is Blighty!” “We say wots wot here!”
AFC1974
One match touchline ban and £8000 fine, it was given for verbal abuse, bunch of Hansen’s.
I wonder if he will agree to this.
AFC1974 & ArthruTheGooner –
That ref turnt his back on our great manager while he was speaking to him, how rude – right?
Wenger was only trying to get his attention – right?
What do you say about that then FA?