A Day That Started Badly, Got Better.
Oct 17th, 2011 by 'holic
Where to start? Well the serious match reports will have been done elsewhere. They told you who did what and when. Hopefully this will give you a flavour of what it felt like to one blogger.
You know the day could get awkward when you need to make an early start and your train goes ‘missing’. Seriously. First Great Western apologised for the delay and didn’t know what had happened to my train. Given that I caught the next one I suppose it could still be lost in the Bristol Triangle. Someone who has not seen late trains and struggling Arsenal sides before would have feared the worst. I pulled myself together.
I needn’t have worried. By a short head I was still first into the pub, although I’m not altogether sure that Allyboy hadn’t hid round the corner before ambushing me as I ordered the first Guinness of the day. Slowly the throng assembled. From the other side of the river, the other side of the channel, and the other side of the pond affectionately known as the Atlantic. Boston, bless him, brought a tasty treat, and a new generation appeared on the other side of the fence, not entirely sharing his Dad’s enthusiasm for the contest to come.
Once in the ground I discovered one neighbour was celebrating her birthday, which was one of the themes of the day. We didn’t have time to discuss what presents she had received, or what her later plans were. Twenty-nine seconds in the skipper had lashed one in with his chocolate leg, and we were on our way. For nearly half an hour the crowd were all gasps and applause as the Arsenal we remember threatened a return.
God, I mean Dennis Bergkamp himself, would have been in raptures about that van Persie chip that, unseen by me, bounced out off the post. From the moment it left his foot I was actually facing skywards, thanking Dennis, I mean God, for allowing me the privilege of witnessing the goal of the season. It was like another era. All was laughter and fun.
One silly, unnecessary handball later, we were level. The telling thing was that we were prepared for it. Silly free-kick, edge of the box, visitors who had offered nothing to that point. Everyone around where I sit had read an advance of the script. “Come right Szczes, COME RIGHT”. Too late. Old boy Seb had his equaliser. It could have been worse, but the aforementioned Szczes produced an astonishing point-blank save to deny Cattermole.
The half-time comfort break was a nervous affair, and not just because I once again found Akhil from Hounslow in there. I’m taking out a restraining order before the Stoke match! Fellas gazed at a blank wall ahead of them, as fellas do, and muttered dark thoughts about what might lay ahead at the final whistle if we should, Dennis forbid, chuck the points away after a start like that. We needn’t have worried. Well not about the final result anyway.
The winner came as something of a surprise, as we had a sweepstake going in Block 32 about who could put a free-kick higher and wider than anybody else. Theo, an outsider, claimed that accolade in some style. Red hot favourite, the skipper, normally guilty of fiercely misplaced set-piece efforts, was up after Theo, and we exchanged knowing glances in the home of the most intelligent Arsenal supporters.
My knowing glance was replaced by the wailing of the banshee as RvP hit the target again. He may be a tad erratic from free-kicks, but he is our erratic, and that was a truly sumptuous strike.
A win, is a win, is a win. Another birthday celebration ensues. Hayley, thank you. New friends are made, thank you Gareth, and further debate follows about the shape of the side, and what might happen in the weeks and months ahead. We agree Jenkinson gave his all, Rosicky was very good, Santos looked solid when he appeared, and Arshavin looked more like the little fella we had paid such good money for. Most of all though we praise the son of God. Thank you Robin.
A potentially tricky game is out of the way. I wish I had punted the ‘holic pound on the favourite scorelines I had referred to in the preview. That golden coin proved too big a burden for Per Mertesacker, but his first goal is close, surely? In the meantime we can prepare to do battle with the dark forces led by Pulis next Sunday.
I rather fancy a more fractious encounter may be in the stars. In the meantime, thanks all, for a special ‘Arsenal’ day out.
143 Responses to “A Day That Started Badly, Got Better.”
First?
Have to give a shout to Song too ‘holic. He was immense returning to his shielding role in front of the back four.
Arshavin nearly scored an even better goal of the season!
My gripes are simple. (1) Why buy Park and not use him? and (2) why the F*** hasn’t The Ox at the very least been on the bench in the last 2 games? We desperately needed some thrust against Spurs, and the last 20mins today needed another positive player.
Apart from that, We’re up to 10th and 4pts behind Liverpool who some still believe can challenge at the top. They can’t and neither can the The Spuds, so I still believe the very least we’ll get this season is 4th.
Bring on Marseille. they were incredibly lucky v Dortmund and are think are ripe for tonking. Wait for it – 4-0 to the Arse on Wednesday!
Transport difficulties aside it sounds like an excellent day out, ‘holic. Fractious Stoke encounter expected and I’m getting ready.
Red1, I’ll very happily lap up the bouillabaise if Arsenal can mash up Marseille by predicted 4-0 score.
Cheers all.
Bearded, I won’t fall out with anybody negatively, but from pitch level Song had a ‘mare. He’ll be back, I’m sure…
Fair enough and I wish I had pitch level viewing! A mare seems a bit harsh. Anyway from my vantage (the tele) he looked extremely strong and composed in winning the ball many times in front of the defense. My only complaint was a few needless fouls when Sunderland had breaks and where he was a bit lucky not to get a second yellow.
I would also concede that his distribution was not very good. I just tend to judge his performances primarily on his defense. However, that sells him a bit short as I do really rate him as an all around midfielder with a defensive focus.
That was a good read *doffs hat*
It would be foolish to allow van Persie’s winner to cover up the fact that from minute 30 to minute 82 we were woeful. The three points are very welcome and it’s a step in the right direction, but there is much work to do.
3 points. Moving up.
Was very impressed with Rosicky today. He had a great game. I had no idea he could turn on the speed – left half of the Sunderland team in his wake with one run.
And THAT save by Szczesny. Unbelievable.
Gooner Steve, I agree that there is much work to be done. We are pretty much work-in-progress. But woeful? Come on, have a bit of perspective.
Consistently good blogging even after a stack of black…dont know how you do it. As you said a win is a win and was happy to see Rosicky charging through the midfield and Arshavin coming back to the form we bought him for. Might not have been pretty but its a long way back to the top and slowly slowly catchy monkey. Thank you RVP for repaying my faith in you in the ol holic league. I knew you would come good and never fluttered my eyes at that wig wearing wonderwank once. Stoke will be a tough one seeing as they got all their players back early from New Zealand last week. As ever COYR..
I felt Song was strong in the midfield. He kept the ball during times we under pressure and either dribbled his way out of pressure or got a free-kick. I will admit that watching a blurry stream while drinking Kirin beer on a Sunday night might have impaired my judgement a bit.
As for AFCMTA and other pretenders to the throne of 3 rd place, close but no cigar :p
That being said, I might have to βspend some effing you know whatβ to ensure that bolts of lightning continue to strike with furious vengeance upon the Holic HT leagueβ¦
Almost forgot to mention: Ameobi=Legend, only thing worse than a LWC shirt is a purple LWC shirt
rosicky should play in the hole in my opinion. too much for ramsey to handle at this point. lets not forget the player rosicky once was. he took a back seat when we had cesc and nasri but i continued run in the team could see him return to form
Very pleased with TR’s performance today and I feel that that’s exactly what he needs. A sense of “I have to prove my worth”. He got tons of chances in the hole every time Cesc was injured, so much so that AW persisted with playing him in the hole and Nasri out wide.
This season, he played there before we bought Arteta and was uninspiring before we bought Arteta.
Now, he’s got a genuine fight for his place and it brought the best of him yesterday.
Song was immense on the defensive side of the ball, atrocious on the offensive side.
Goodness me, Maccabi are playing Stoke on Thursday and Arsenal are playing Stoke on Sunday. I simply can’t get enough of those cunts, eh?
I hope we (Maccabi) can tire them enough for them to be a bit jaded for the trip to the Emirates.
Three points needed. Three points got. It’s a bit churlish to demand more at this point from a team that has had such a nightmarish start to the season. Stringing together a run of wins, one game at a time, is the order of the day now.
A glass of your finest claret, as ever, ‘Holic; RvP’s sumptuous chip onto the post — and his brace of goals — deserve to be toasted with nothing less.
First Great Western have had our defense off as well have they?
It was good to see Rosicky find his rhythm and Arshavin his threatening runs. RvP, simply superb, especially with the Dennis-esque (God-esque?) turn and chip, unlucky to hit the post. A goal from free kick, finally. The last time we had someone who could threaten whenever we had a freekick was Thierry, it seem we haven’t addressed that aspect since he left. Let’s hope the run continues, with less nervy endings.
Holic, have you considered putting the old HP on Per again this weekend? Up against the filthy fouling legbreakers he might be inspired to give them a taste of their own medicine…no i don’t mean he’ll snap someone on half then start crying like a bitch as if he himself is the victim and run home to his mum, I mean…you know what I mean!
Excellent report on another nail-biter.
Many who have been written off – especially Rosicki and Arshavin – showed their class.
But, Holic, that punt on Per won’t bear fruit until our corner takers learn to put in higher balls. Too many yesterday were flat and cut out early. Perhaps we should tell them that they’re taking free kicks, eh?
Morning.
Nice post Holic. I trust the head is okay today?
So right about the inevitability of their goal. The minute that Arteta decided to catch the ball, I told my 4 year old to close his eyes. “why Daddy?”. “Because they’re about to score.”
At least my mystical powers of prophecy were enhanced in his eyes. Even Senora Catalan seemed impressed with me.
If only they knew how easy it was….!
Gooneraside,
Why wait for a corner? Per looks every bit capable of belting one in from 30 yds π
Camberwell – Have you seen my email?
Morning All!
Holic – Glad to see you had a top day out, it made for a really good read. Hopefully another “special ‘Arsenal’ day out” beckons on Sunday. We need to be in good form to welcome our esteemed Scandinavian visitor.
Thank Dennis for RVP & Szcz. In difficult times, it is said, that one or two characters will step forward to lift the situation:
Take a bow Robin and Wojciech.
COYRRRs
Hi Snir, sorry about the total lack of communication. Saw the mail but didn’t have a chance to get back to you. Pretty backed up with classes and extra-curricular activities at the mo so it’s not going to be practical to give your assignment the once over before tomorrow. If you get an extension let me know and I might be able to check it out later in the week.
COYG and FYR
Cheers Camberwell, I’ll just hope for the best π
“RVP = Son of God”. Perfect!
And I’d add, that Woj could easily be “Son of Schme*cel*. I know he was odious, but he was a hell of a keeper, with very similar style ans physical stature.
And if the opposition ends up hating him as much as we hated Schm*icel then that’ll be fine by me.
I also wouldn’t mind if our defence was as scared of him as Manure’s was. I believe that’ll be the case soon… he’s such a shrinking violet!
Having just returned from the US this was my first live game of the season. You always get a different perspective on the game from being at the ground rather than watching on the box, so I was interested to find out if my pessimism would be reinforced or not.
So what has changed from the end of last season? Well at least they have stopped the risible announcement of fictitious attendance figures (lots of empty seats again), but the embarrassing ritual of announcing individual team members first names answered by unenthusiastic ragged chants from the fans must surely be next in the list to get the chop.
The further βArsenalisationβ of the stadium is welcome and makes the Grove feel more and more like home.
Pat Rice was on the touch line gesticulating for most of the game; which I suppose is a positive change, as Wenger is hardly an inspirational presence these days.
Fellow Gooners in my section of the ground all seem to have a realistic perspective about the quality of the current side and have reduced their expectations accordingly.
As far as the game goes, RVP looked really sharp at the start, great movement and a good finish with the chocolate leg and then an absolutely sublime turn and chip over an advancing keeper unfortunately caught the woodwork and somehow stayed out. This brought flashbacks of Dennis in his pomp, and a reminder as to why I shell out all that money for the 2 season tickets. Later on a great goal from a free kick following several bungled attempts from the others which should justify the club paying out danger money to any fans with seats behind the goals sealed MOTM.
Unfortunately that was as good as it got. We were playing one of the worst sides in the Premiership who are on a long losing run, but after the first 25 minutes we struggled to find much fluency, continued to look vulnerable defensively and offered little threat in the final third.
Szcz had one Almuniask moment when he got himself stranded on the edge of the box, but was blameless for the goal, later made a great stop and generally looked pretty assured throughout; Jenkinson & Gibbs did pretty well, although they both made mistakes that could have led to goals (why does Gibbs still dive in unnecessarily?). Santos looked good when he came on.
Per & Kosc looked solid in the middle of the defence, Rosicky had a pretty decent game and showed surprising pace at times, Arteta was pedestrian and Song was disappointing; OK defensively but too many misplaced forward passes.
Gervinho started reasonably well and then faded, and Walcott stunk the place out as usual (FFS give Chamberlain a chance heβs clearly a much better player already), Arshavin added a goal threat when he came on but couldnβt be bothered to break sweat on the defensive side of things; same old, same oldβ¦.
To sum up I just canβt see this team finishing in the top 6; apart from RVP we now look pretty ordinary as we have done for the last 20 odd games.
CoR @ #12: Good point re: The Scum’s kit. LWCs = LLavenderCs = Cs
Camberwell @ #18: I wouldn’t mind seeing Per snap Lennie in two or drag Huth around the box on a set-piece as if they were going for gold in an an episode of Come Dancing. Hope Rambo’s around to witness it for himself, would like to see him give Pubis the big ‘sush’ π
Great result, some good and some bad performances but the biggest thing for me is our set piece awfulness whether it be from free kick or corner.
Surely something has to change. As I tweeted in game, either Wenger isn’t training dead balls which is daft or he is which means someone else should do it!
Can’t afford to miss out on opportunity after opportunity especially as our style of play means we’ll get lots of corners and free kicks.
Sniff @21
The obvious answer is for Per to take the free kicks?
Played ‘holic…
As yer man said we were superb for half an hour, then someone made a slip-up at the back, a switch was flicked and the confidence immediately drained from us and went in Sunderland’s direction instead, and it stayed that way for nearly an hour.
It was (please excuse apparent drama queenery) startling to see it up close and as instantaneous as that. BUT on the plus side i think it shows we’re definitely a pretty decent team when we have ‘belief’, but that, that belief is still horribly fragile right throughout the team.
Re player debates above, thought Song – who’s been among our best this season – indeed had a stinker. He couldn’t pick a pass all day and so our forward play kept breaking down with him; Theo really needed to offer more than he did, his movement, apart from anything else, can look so predictable on days like these; i thought Arteta quite quietly d-did fine work st-stitching the whole thing together; Pele’s old side looks well capable of giving us something extra at left-back and Tommy Rick was a revelation – particularly when he ran at them with the ball at his feet. Still, the reasons Rosicky looked good in that position, are the reasons i’d love to see AA given a home start there. He looked sharp when he came on. And to watch the tiny Cossack charging at the opposition’s back-line from central areas, packing his shooting/passing/dribbling skills would lift me out o’ my seat and get me shouting him on, i’m sure. It would likely keep him more involved too and help stop him drifting out of games, maybe.
Anyway, we won. We rescued victory from the jaws of a match we should have won anyway – which is more than we have done in most games since the LC final. So, hopefully the club is some way through turning a tricky corner, and set to get this season very much back on track.
Well played URedSS!
I know we’ve got Marseille midweek to focus on first, but lest we forget, here’s a favourite moment of mine from ‘that match’ two seasons ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZovQocCC0c
Herbie @ #29: That’s a very good point. We get a ton of freekicks and corners. Perhaps we need to become dead-ball specialists to help us to claw our way back to the top? Per in the box for most of our dead-ball situations seems like a no-brainer to me but what would I know?
RVP is the 5th best player in the world according to the Castrol Edge rankings….Rooney 33rd
http://www.castrolfootball.com/rankings/rankings/?position=&nation=&team=&comp=
http://www.castrolfootball.com/rankings/rankings/player/1074/van_Persie/6272/Lionel_Messi/#playercomparison
@28: So true TS, so true…first they put cock and balls on their chest then they wear lavender. They should play in the Women’s League π
Heh Cannons! Great stuff π
Lovely write-up, goonerholic, but I agree with Bearded Gooner and co about Song – in the second half, mainly.
Should have had a sweepstake for ‘what time will holic publish’ ?
Morning all. It was a lovely day and miraculously I stayed relatively sober so my head is fine this morning.
Thought Song was good really, ‘holic, distribution aside especially in the first half true, some of it was atrocious but overall, he shone.
RvP and Rosicky were the best for me yesterday, and good to see Arshavin actually making a difference.
Marseille away first, then Pubis and his cohorts at home. Bring ’em on!
(but then I wasn’t at pitch level, just floating above ;P)
Ollie
“Floating above”? Did you raid the CMC before entering The Ems?
All being well, your head will not be quite so clear next Monday morning π
Possibly, TS, but next sunday my drinking time will be curtailed by the day trip aspect of things.
Although I’ve possibly been at my drunkest on day trips.
Especially against Stoke.
Though I’d say snowfalls are unlikely next weekend π
Dr C @26, don’t be silly, Woj is ‘Son of Maciej’ and that’s already good enough!
In other news, I’ve just discovered this:
http://www.onemoreinthetolly.com/
Interesting title for a website π
Just in case, the reminder :
http://arsenalaction.com/2011/02/05/video-szcezneys-dad-punching-roberto-mancini-in-the-face/
Getting your excuses in early Ollie @ #39? π
Are you really still in London?
Good spot re: The Tollie blog.
yes leaving shortly for a stopover in Paris
True Storey @ #32 Per looked odd trying to disrupt their wall rather than in attacking position. Especially as SAFC always put a man behind him – which is something we’ve failed to do in the past.
Herbie @ #43 – I’m hoping, like The Barman, that Per and the team will turn him(self) into an effective corner and free-kick aerial scorer. Whatever, we need to find an outlet to reduce our reliance on Robin (heh!)
Ollie @ #42 – Bon voyage. Sur le ST?
Drinks for you both on the bar.
Morning all. Gutted I did not have time to make the Tollie. Maybe next week.
The game was another nervous affair that should not have been. RVP is just on another planet when compared to some of the others. I really do not know where the goals come from when he picks up his injury. Park still can not get a kick, even when we are chasing a game and Chamakh could not even get on the bench.
One nil up after 29 seconds and we all hoped that this would be the start. And I mean The Start, not just to the match. How that RVP chip did not go in is beyond me. Justice would have seen it hit the under side of the bar and hit the net. But then for some reason we start to switch off. Kos was guilty twice of playing players on side which left guilt edged chances. Jenkinson was caught in possession and it was only a Chezzer wonder save that kept us in a game that we were comfortably dominating. We went through a phase of looking really shaky again. Yesterday neither full back got any noteworthy protection from their wide midfield players. That causes centre backs to be pulled out of position and leaves us vulnerable in the middle.
Positives for me included the energy of Rosicky. I thought that Jenkinson offers a threat going forwards and is developing well. Per looks more and more solid at the back and as I said earlier, RVP is just of a different planet. I also thought that Santos looked solid as well.
Negatives include Theo. I have no idea how long he will justify his place. He needs a big big wake up call. I also thought Sing was poor. At times he can be so ill disciplined it is un true. He was lucky to stay on the pitch after two blatant tugs of the shirt when already on a yellow. If the player goes down he has problems. Completely unnecessary.
Of to France and hopefully another good European away day.
Official crowd yesterday was 60,078???????? My Arse…..
Up the Gunners.
Song was poor even………
Nice Robin Reliant work TS – setting the gag bar high in the er, bar 2day. Time for a frothy coffee methinks.
URedSS!
On Steve T’s point about the crowd number – I thought the club was going to stop announcing the attendance during matches?
They didn’t announce it during the match. Doesn’t mean the figures aren’t available. It’s ticket sold. For tax reasons I heard. So you can never get actual attendance. Nothing to shout home about, really.
Steve T, it also looked to me like there were plenty of empty of seats in the lower tiers. I thinks it says as much about the state of the economy as of our club. I passed a comment to zico y’day that I’m beginning to think Theo may have already had his head turned. Not that it should be an excuse for inconsistency of performances. The Park situation is becoming stranger to me the longer we don’t use him in the PL. Is he destined to be only a cup player?
Cheers AL. Not that high….yet π
I realise the figures are available. Obviously.
I know it’s for tickets sold. Everyone does.
I only thought that he was referring to an announcement at the stadium which I believed was going to be stopped.
It was a simple question. No one is shouting about it.
Egg mayo on wholemeal. Kill or cure. Don’t mind which.
Has anyone actually seen Parky play this season? I literally forgot we had him.
Agreed Theo was awful – but if we pick him we should play to his strength – give him the ball on the run, rather than when he is stationary…. I’ve seen him outrun plenty of players, but not go past them from a standing start.
This comes down to the midfield’s passing as much as Theo’s limited talent….
I think I am going to have to start introducing CFPB in the pub as “He isn’t, and he doesn’t” π
Camberwell @ #54 – He played in the second-half vs Shrewsbury. Nothing notable to recall.
‘Holic @ #53 – I find M&S’s are the best as a cure for *boilk* π
Dr.C – I don’t think it’s Theo’s talent that’s the main issue. More how it is used/unused by the team.
PS: Didn’t realise our Spanish waiter has now joined our Henri in The East. At least he’s getting games and it’s not for The Arse.
With all due respect to a loyal servant etc., etc.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/reserves-news/loan-watch-almunia-keeps-hammers-clean-sheet
Lots to do at work today so not too much time to hang around at the bar today, but a few quick points:
Trev, I will indeed be flying over for the Stoke game. I am aiming for post-match pints at the Tollie. However, seeing as there will be a post-game game at the Emirates, I would quite like to see that one as well so what do you all say, shall we meet up inside the ground between the games and find somewhere to sit together? I am assuming that not too many will stick around and that you will be free to sit wherever you like. Maybe, just maybe, they will even allow those who stick around to bring beers to their seats? After all, the post-game game is not a professional one so maybe the rules aren’t as strict then?
I thought Walcott was really poor when seeing the game yesterday, but having seen the whole game once more and the second half twice I have to say I think he wasn’t that bad after all. I can certainly see why Arsene kept him on ahead of Gervinho who hardly got a touch in the second half. Walcott also keeps opposing defenders from attacking too much, they know they can’t let him get a head start.
Also, not being nervous when seeing the game made me realize that on the whole we played fairly well and thoroughly deserved the win. Yes, they were denied by THAT save from Szczesny and had a dangerous situation in the last minute of the first half but other than that they had nothing, absolutely nothing. We should have buried the game in the first 20 minutes.
Right, work calls again…
Lars @ #59
Thanks fopr the reminder about the post-match match. Need to have a think about that. Will drop you a mail soon.
TS – Does that mean he must be really, really shit in training?
Dennis knows Camberwell. I do know that he can’t stop scoring on international duty. Maybe he’ll turn-up in Marseilles on Weds or be used to scare The Munsters at the weekend?
Happy with the result and I think we would all agree we will take a few more ‘results’ than marvellous performances at the moment.
Just a note on Theo. He’s desperate to play up front/ through the middle. To his credit he keeps doing the job the manager has asked of him for 4/5 years now out wide and I think he maybe deserves a bit of credit for that. As we’ve seen this weekend with the media love for Sturridge at Chelsea (who is a fantastic player btw) playing out of your favoured position is something we all expect but not something players always give their all too. Despite the obvious calls of paying their wages I think they should be rightfully appaluaded when they give their all, which I think Theo generally does.
Lest we forget Dennis made comment that he feels Robin could do with a strike partner, with RvP in the ‘Dennis role’. Maybe Theo has earned the right to have a go as his strike partner in the Invicible 4-4-2 formation I would like to see revived….
TS @57…. I think that’s what I was trying to say. You put it much more succintly!
I’ll buy you a pint, as there’s nothing else to do right now!
Cheers Dr.C.
Theo’s becoming an enigma and guessing where he’ll end up is getting quite hard to call. A string of consistent performances would be a great way to start turning the myth into a new Arsenal legend. I hope he pulls thru’ – he’s a nice lad and has plenty of potential. I guess it’s all about delivery now.
Pint of Peroni for me please. I’ll get the next one.
Hmmm.. peroni. Now, that thought has given me a thirst. Hard to come by over here….
‘Holic @ #56 – Sounds good, will he be around on Sunday?
Yes I believe he will be, TS.
Bit of a gathering then Ollie? π
As always, TS, as always π
‘Trapped’ in a pub with fellow Gooners because there’s no local public transport. I could think of worse fates…..
Me too: like ‘trapped in a train’ π
Checking ST prices for next sunday.
β¬212.50 for the outwards leg, on a non-refundable non-exchangeable ticket? You’re having a laffff!
β¬154 for the return journey only?
Think I’ll used my joker (i.e points) for this out and back, and hope it’s not that stupid for the West Brom weekend or any other game in the near future.
I really don’t know what’s up with next weekend, but it’s not quite normal.
Good Evening Holics
Engineering work on my line, buses on the way up and 4 hours home to the Ems was not a good start.
I agree with almost all of the posts.There was plenty to cheer about.Oh that Dennisesque chip, I was on my feet! Our little Russian’s dribble into the box , I was in heaven and my friend Szczesny’s point blank save, fantastic. TR7 was a revelation and I am beginning to appreciate why we signed young Jenks, who apart from a near fatal slip played really well. He is great going forward and he does know how to cross a ball. I would have liked to have seen the Ox but think it unlikely he will get a PL start with young Jenks at the back, too much inexperience.
RVP was a hero ,our main man and somehow we must keep him fit!
On the debit side Arteta did a lot of running around wthout an end product , Szczesny gave me heart failure when he rushed out a la Almunia against WBA ( I forgave him ), where was Gervinho after the first half hour and then there was Theo, a game he will want to forget.There were too many passes in mid field that went astray particuarly after our great first half hour ,when we lost our way and the nerves kicked in.
Although we had nearly all the play in the second half we failed to create chances. We had loads of free kicks and corners but apart from Robin’s great strike they were worse than useless. We must do something to improve this side of our game .
The trains are even worse next week , how I hate these Sunday kick-offs. Oh for the 3pm Saturday starts of yester year!
Blimey, those are expensive
Are you talking about train tickets Ollie?
Yes I am, Harsha.
Eurostar is the biggest rip-off in the history of public transport.
Unfortunately, they have, practically, no competition.
So are the papers going to go on about Van Persie’s future after every game with them churning out the same sentences about it? Ask a silly question really…
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/important-information-for-marseille-a-
Marseille thinks it’s in Italy. Cunts.
Indeed. Charlie. Have you noticed that every time we win a game now (admittedly not as often as we’d wish recently), the media always manage to stress the negatives, even if they have nothing to do with the game just played?
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/euro-watch-marseille-claim-gritty-away-draw
Ah, classic .con : ‘Laurent Blanc’s side’.
I missed the change of managers at Marseille.
Sorry to go totally off-topic, but I think this is fantastic news:
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/medical-centre-opens-at-training-ground
State of the art rehabilitation and monitoring, the ability to do last-minute medicals at the club. Result of years of research. They were told by AW they could buy pretty much any machine they thought could help, including…an anti-gravity treadmill. Could this be the beginning of the end of the injury curse?
Breaking news..Diaby out for six months as anti gravity treadmill suddenly gets gravity and drops on his head. I can see it happening..I kid you not.
78 Ollie
How does this one work?If we’re not at the turnstiles before 19H00 ,they won’t let us in even with valid tickets.
Sounds more like make life as unpleasant as possible for the away supporters and then be surprised if it kicks off.
Just noticed at the bottom of this announcement it mentions “A warm welcome to the supporters is our priority”
AW has been speaking candidly on french radio.
“I had half the dressing room who wanted to leave this summer”
http://www.arsenalinsider.com/wenger-we-wont-lose-van-persie-and-nasri-left-for-money-not-trophies/?
@84 wu I f yes I ‘heh’d’ at that too. Not sure how it will work out. But I think it’s just to make sure they get people in on time. Don’t think they’ll say you can’t get in if you’re not there at 7.
Or there’ll be riots. But maybe that’s what they want…:s
noel73, I’ve heard of cynical but I think you have achieved a new category. Everybody knows that anti-gravity machines don’t all of a sudden “get gravity”; at least I’ve heard the one over at Sp*rs doesn’t.
Oh wait. Just heard a news bulletin that their anti-gravity machine dropped on Adebayor and Gallas. Whoops!! π
Evening ‘holics.
Great post as per usual ‘holc. And a lovely write up again Delia – sorry to hear of your respective transport troubles. Hope the points (or the pints) made it all better π
FunGunner – I too had a peek at that story. Very impressive set up it looks too.
But I am a little concerned by the thought of anti-gravity training. In fact, I think Almunia may have overdosed on that at some point in the past, since he has on several crucial occasions seemed somewhat lacking when it comes to dropping his 6ft 4 inch frame onto something ball-shaped that’s heading towards the net…
The Arsenal may well be pioneering some new kind of physics here π
It was n’t my birthday and why are you calling me ‘her’
Oh
I meant the one who is deaf in her left ear, neighbour π
Pardon?
I’m anti gravity on the best of days 8ball. Have had a few run ins with it over the years and have always come off second best. But if they can make a treadmill that helps with that I am all for it
Song did not have the best game going forward as many passes were off target but he defended well. I was really suprised re: Rosicky and Arshavin…do they need two weeks away from us to produce this type of performance regularly? Jenkinson did just fine, his crosses looked decent. I thought our corners were lacking….seemed to be struck right into the first guy, no lift…..we could trouble the goalkeeper a bit more with our free kicks….
Overall, a win is a win, but I was nervous and the voices in my head were reading the headlines if we would have drawn…I think that ran through the players heads as well… thankfully they pulled it out.
For what it is worth, I still think we need another striker up front to provide us with an aerial dimension vs. attempting to make a number of sublime passes through the defence each and every time.
@ snowy
Ah, but think of all the other times when Spanish Al rose to the occasion.
“Rose”, geddit?
I’ll get my coat.
I said on Sunday that I’d settle with a 2-1 win and that’s what I got!
Hats off lads, well done. Lets continue our form on Wednesday! π
Barkeep a grape nehi for me and a Elephant malt for the Mrs.
Thanks for the write-up Holic I missed the game and had to watch a truncated version on MOD. They don’t seem to share my enthusiasm for the Arsenal.
Anyway it really good to get all 3 and nice to be (at last) in the top half of the table.
Hope for the points in France in mid-week and have a feeling Park will start up front.
Cheers all.
@noel 73 #82
Ouch dude,really.
I’m delighted to hear about that medical center.
They took examples from NFL, NHL, NBA etc.
If there’s one thing I prefer American sports over European sports it’s the treatment of injuries.
NFL and NHL players play with horrible injuries throughout their entire season despite playing a very demanding and physical sports.
In fact, Hockey is a sport that blows my mind away every time I think about it (still haven’t figured out how it’s possible). There are a huge number of players over the ages of 37 that play in the NHL, in a game that not only is physical but is played mostly on sprints. The number of players that play after 40 yo is mind-blowing and if we can do things the way they do it in the NHL and NFL we should benefit a whole lot from it.
Tongue firmly in cheek leftcoast, am delighted we are doing this I will say though Arsene already had a great record in prolonging players careers and cant remember too many long term injuries in his early days bar Pires and Bergkamp missing ends of seasons so with all due respect to the coaching staff some of our players are just naturally injury prone or unable to recover sufficiently from caveman tackles. Unless we have changed training tactics dramatically in the last 5 years I would not be too hard on the medical team.
Maybe the anti-gravity training will help the players find more space ?
Gedo –
“think we need another striker up front . .”
Agree. Up front would definitely be the best place to have another striker π
Sorry, I’m tired. Coat please. G’night all.
Trev, You must be the good humor man. π
Oh what! Scored and didn’t even realise !
Look and learn Tabs π
I’m trying, bt8bfgfg – very π
hey bt8bbgfg –
Took my goldfish to the vet today.
“What’s the problem ?” asked the vet.
“He’s got epilepsy”, I said.
“He looks ok to me”, the vet replied.
“Just a minute”, I said, “I haven’t got him out the water yet”.
Dr. T. That must be a neurologist’s joke. π
Now a song for RVP who must feel this way judging by how he is playing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRD_gIoVOmY
Barman, Two imperial pints please. I can’t really explain it but I’ve got this feeling inside that I can’t explain, and it tells me that my system should have been originally installed with two imperial pints pre-added. These are pints of the type with “not fade away” properties. Which reminds me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juEeau5nHVU
Somehow it feels like I left a song out. Aha, now I remember.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9kkcvzP0hw
Snir: ice hockey is far less demanding on the body than football and because of all the padding and special protective gear you can wear, you can play with injuries that would put you out for the season in football. For example, rupturing cruciate ligaments is almost always a season-ending injury in football but in hockey you’re only out for a few weeks and then you can play again with a specially designed knee protection thingamajig that effectively takes most of the load off the knee and stabilizes it at the same time. The same with broken metatarsals, in football you’re out for months but in hockey you’ll miss at most one game while waiting for the swelling to go down so you can get your skate on again.
( I never thought I’d be discussing ice hockey in this bar…)
But this new rehab centre seems like a good thing. Anything that can shorten the time off the pitch is good.
Goonertown@95: couldn’t you have said you would settle for an 8-0 win? π
Lars, I disagree that football is less demanding on the body, mainly because of the hitting and the non-stop sprinting.
Think about it. 25 Minutes of sprinting with breaks of about a minute each time (I’m talking about first liners that play 25 minutes a game).
About the playing with injuries thing, I disagree because you can play with a special knee brace in football as well.
As for broken metatarsals – The fact that the foot isn’t swollen anymore doesn’t mean the pain is gone π , I’m pretty sure they do some kind treatment (I’m assuming pain killing injections), but it works. Works so much that most Hockey players retire in their late 30s.
Morning all
Dr.T @ #104 – Good pet humour.
Ollie @ #80 – Ah bless them, they try you know, they really do.
8 ball – Didn’t realise that you were a Who fan too. Based on the train issues, we may need a fleet of Magic Buses on Sunday to get us to and from The HoF and that new anti-gravity trainer should help towards us getting a Happy Jack back to fitness shortly. The fog around the club is lifting, I Can See For Miles in all directions but there’s no Substitute for winning a few games and as for Coquelin and The Potty Ox, The Kids Are Alright π
Lars & Snir – Thank you both for the education in American sports, going off-topic is partly what makes this bar so great. It’s the same with MotoGP & SBK riders, BTW. Compound fracture of the tibula and fibula one week, racing again one month later. They’re all heroes in their own respective fields, although, I have to admit that the players in todays’s PL appear to be getting softer by the season.
WUIF & Ollie – Are you both going to the game tomorrow? Good on you fellas if you are and shout yourselves hoarse.
Cheers all, morning drinks of your fancy all on The Swedish Ambassador’s tab please π
Snir, just for calrification – I am talking about soccer here π
Calrification? I think I just invented a new word π
West Coast re-stating of the facts Lars? π
So…. “half our squad wanted to leave in the summer” according to Le Boss.
Not a revelation to supporters I think, although AW coming out with such a frank statement is quite unusual. It goes a long way in explaining the lacklustre performances in the close season and the very start of the new one.
Even though our winning ways have not yet returned on a consistent basis, I do see a marked difference in the attitiude of the players on the pitch. The stark contrast to the effort put in by the team at SHL a couple of weeks back (even though we got nil points) to the same fixture in the spring (when we still had Cesc and Na$ri) was noticeable to me.
UTA!
Lars, I know… When I talk about NFL in this bar I always write American Football.
I still think Hockey is more demanding.
Maybe Trev and CG can hypothesize why it is that Hockey players are able to retire in their late 30s.
A touch of Booby porn for Arseblogger – shame about the subject!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAPJddHrxI8&feature=youtu.be
Ooops – “Bobby” not “booby!”.
Force of habit… π
Holic, Snir, ATG and anyone else on Twitter….
That Catalan Gunner chap has been pestering me to get my own account on Twitter for all things Arsenal, beer and booby related.
Apparently he can then get on with being all worthy and holier-than-thou with his health stuff. Bloody do-gooders.
Anyway, so I have. If you want sage advice on CMC cocktails, you know where to find me….
Morning all
A simple question, where was that performance from Rosicky been hiding ? I think he had a fantastic game and the best in a Arsenal shirt for some time. Welcome back sir you have been missed.
Szczesnyβs goalkepping is a huge plus point in what has been so far a bit disapointing I think we can all agree. I believe he will only get better and his comand of the area and his constant talking and barking orders to the defence brings back warm fuzzy feelings of goalkeppers past.
RVP what can be said ? Sadly the footballing puriest in me talks about the chip that hit the post instead of the two fantastic strikes that won the game. What skill ! Robin Van Berkamp. If that went in would it not equal the sheer brillience of Berkamps hatrick against Lecister.
As the fat scot who no longer works for sky would say “take a bow son”
A game that ended in a win and had many positives thank you lads we will take it all day long.
sorry that should be Leicester
Dr.C, I found you….
Arsenal 1971, in reply to your TR comment, have a look at my @14.
This day is getting better and better by the minute.
First Gilad Shalit is home and now this…
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/vermaelen-signs-new-long-term-contract
..I was lost, and now I am found! π
Good spot Snir. Hopefully RVP will follow…. could be a bit of a wait though.
Arsenal1971
Warm, fuzzy feelings regarding our GK too. TR to score vs Marseille? Someone needs to start emulating RVP – that’s the key to us becoming consistent winners this season, IMO.
The Tommy V contract is worth another mention, me thinks. IMO, this is another important step on our road to recovery.
Really good news π
TS – 126…fantastic sentiment. What price a Dortmund-esque howitzer from 25 yards out? That would have me wiping man-juice off myself for quite some time.
127 – In the words of Lee Nelson, Qualiteeeee!
Cheers Camberwell, any form of good news re: The Arse is always welcome.
I wonder how the ‘meeja’ will form a negative spin on TV being JLANS? I can hear them exercising they’re collective pea-brains now π
BTW, having a bit of a Twitter fest this morning. Are you discoverable on this media?
…. Er, not sure about the ‘man juice’ image π
Well, you don’t have to picture it per se…
As for Twitter, I’m not on it cuz Facebook wastes enough of my time as it is.
Fair dos Camberwell. It’s all a big social experiment as far as I can see….
…. and a massive activity trap.
Our Marseille squad announed on Pravda:
Wojciech Szczesny
Lukasz Fabianski
Carl Jenkinson
Andre Santos
Per Mertesacker
Laurent Koscielny
Johan Djourou
Tomas Rosicky
Mikel Arteta
Alex Song
Theo Walcott
Gervinho
Yossi Benayoun
Francis Coquelin
Andrey Arshavin
Aaron Ramsey
Robin van Persie
Marouane Chamakh
No Park again….
Snir, couldnt agree more with your coments @14
TS, isnt it fantastic to have faith in our goalkepper after the last two seasons.
Szczesny keep it up
Agreed ’71. O’d like to regain that same warm and fuzzy feeling with our midfield now sans Cesc & Na$ri. Up-front, we have our new Captain Fantastic and my personal opinion is that he’s our best captain in a l-o-n-g time.
UTA!
May I just say what a positive sign I think it is that TV5 has extended his contract with the club.
In the midst of all the negative spin and insecurity surrounding the RVP contract, the apparent “exodus” during the summer, let alone our terrible start to the season – here is a man who is not only grateful for the club, fans & manager for supporting him through his injuries, but also one who doesn’t need to evaluate all the other monetary offers he would have undoubtedly received if he chose to bide his time.
Amazingly, he actually seems to think the club has a wonderful future and wants to be part of that..!
The club needed a lift and TV5 signing is a vote of confidence in the direction of the club by a very important player for us. This is real leadership stuff and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Can there be any doubt that this man will be the next captain of Arsenal?
Joe @ #137
Nothing amazing about it. We are The Arsenal, after all π
I’d rather see him stay as VC for a while befroe he makes Captain given the circumstances that would precipitate that chain of events.
Great news on TV although i woud expect nothing less from the man. A true gooner. Our spine is returning and the fightback begins
eerily quiet… almost as if people are lurking to be number one on the new post….
Dr C: Are we going to have a French fry? (I think they are called chips in Merrie Olde England but the American name seems more appropriate in view of our next opponent.) Salty French fries and a pint please barman.
Go, lurkers, go >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Great job done by all.. Especially you holic. IMO I don’t think I’ve seen anything out of TR7 that we haven’t seen except for the times fab an the cunt were on the field together or not… Now again IMO Arteta doesn’t have that fire in his belly that we need moving forward that even yossi has after so few games. Don’t get me wrong OUR-TETA was an intrical addition to the squad and will come to fruition but he knew in this game he had to take charge which was (from what I’ve read) fine by us. If you watch the last few games and contrast it to this you’ll see a TEAM that was (for most of it) understanding and willing to play together but at other times needed a spark, hence the goal after Benny the goon and little aa23 came on. Maybe it was just fresh legs but, a win is a win is a win is a win so satisfied with the points and out of the drop zone, thank god… But my friends, it’s all up from here. ( toot toot) wish you all well the HT MKII is here better grab my drink and hop on I’m here if you need me….
TS & Dr C I’ve followed you on the Twitter if you don’t mind…
Let’s drink up to OM tomorrow and enjoy