We lost. Thank you Wenger for relying on the injured squad. Its official now that every player in our squad was injured once during the campaign. Is there a reason for it? Do we train too hard on the training ground? Is there a problem with our training pitch? Medicos are not good enough? Are players eating more junk? We need to find out the reason for this INJURY problem.
I dont have much to say about the game. It was evenly fought. They had a good first half and we did far better in the second half. Van Persie showed us what we were missing. The first goal by Rose wont happen again for two or three seasons. The second goal was a cause of the team falling asleep and there was no pressure on Bale. Clichy was at the half line and Silvestre was too far off from Bale.
Nothing much to talk about except a few good saves by Gomez. Diaby was horrid for most of the game. These players need to understand that derbies are important, its not just Champions League! If you are playing in England, need to respect the local games. I did not see the extra zing that should have been...
Lets see if we buy a few more players that play in the same way or go out and buy ourselves an authentic winger who could keep crossing the ball in all day... Only time will tell.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
WhiNe hart lane, here we come!
I just watched the chelsea-bolton game. Wasnt the best spectacle but had enough things on the plate to keep me interested. First of all, if there was a chance of Chlesea slip-up, I wanted to view that LIVE! Secondly, these mid week fixtures of EPL are always tricky. I dont know why, may be its just mid week and I am not under the influence of alcohol! Thirdly, Jack was playing and was in the starting XI. He played well. For 80 minutes he worked his socks off. I must say, there has been a tremendous improvement in Bolton's play. These days, they get 4 to 5 consecutive passes. Thats new now, isn't it? Fat ass Sam could never do that. He still cant do that!
Alright, back to what I really am interested in. Yes the clash with the neighbors from N17. Like all the games, this one will be an intense battle. At the Emirates, Fab scored that cool goal when he passed through three to four tackles and buried his shot in bottom left corner! I hope our team remembers that and tries to win the game.
The good news from the Spuds side is that there CDM Palacios will be suspended. Also Kranjkaer seems doubtful but I dont really think they are going for a win anyways.
It seems like RVP might be fit to be included in the squad to travel further north. I am too excited to write about how we should play and what the tactics should be. All I am really worried about is the cover that we will need on the right with Bale playing LB, and being their most in form player. Crouch generally misses a couple of chances at least but Defoe can shoot with power. Almunia may flap at it like a Penguin and i fear that.
Couple of interesting battles may be visible tomorrow. Bendtner vs King, Sol vs Defoe, TV5 vs Crouch. Harry Wetpants has already compared the spuds to the gooners! What a jack#$%! He says that the gap between the gooners and spuds is getting smaller as the years go by. Just 6 months back, his captain, now thrown away to Scotland, was saying that the spurs have a better squad. Lets see what happens next year, when we will have six more fit players and so good ones from the Academy.
As for us, Song seems fit and will definitely start. Also, rest of squad must have had enough rest to be fresh again. On the other hand, Spurs played for 120 minutes on a cow-grazing field at Wembley. That should hopefully make them a little fatigued out. Sagna, Clichy, all are fit and I think will definitely start.
We are trying to jump to the second position ahead of manu and trying to keep up with Chelsea. So we are playing for more than the spurs. Surely, they are still aiming for fourth spot which is pretty much taken by Man City. Mancity's squad is big and ambitious and play with two to three holding mid fielders. Thats why its difficult to defeat Man City right now. Anyways, thats not something to worry about today.
Like I said before, these mid week fixtures are tricky. But I still think we have enough to run them over. Its the matter of who scores first. If we score first, we will score two more for sure. If they score early, I think we will score two to scrape out a win.
Arsenal probables:
...............Almunia....................
Sagna...Campbell.....TV5..........Clichy
......Nasri.....Song....Diaby............
....Eboue.....Bendtner.....Rosicky.......
Subs: Eduardo, Theo, Silvestre, Denilson, RVP, Fabianski
Spuds: Who cares? Bring them on!
Score Prediction: Spuds 1- 3 Arsenal
Alright, back to what I really am interested in. Yes the clash with the neighbors from N17. Like all the games, this one will be an intense battle. At the Emirates, Fab scored that cool goal when he passed through three to four tackles and buried his shot in bottom left corner! I hope our team remembers that and tries to win the game.
The good news from the Spuds side is that there CDM Palacios will be suspended. Also Kranjkaer seems doubtful but I dont really think they are going for a win anyways.
It seems like RVP might be fit to be included in the squad to travel further north. I am too excited to write about how we should play and what the tactics should be. All I am really worried about is the cover that we will need on the right with Bale playing LB, and being their most in form player. Crouch generally misses a couple of chances at least but Defoe can shoot with power. Almunia may flap at it like a Penguin and i fear that.
Couple of interesting battles may be visible tomorrow. Bendtner vs King, Sol vs Defoe, TV5 vs Crouch. Harry Wetpants has already compared the spuds to the gooners! What a jack#$%! He says that the gap between the gooners and spuds is getting smaller as the years go by. Just 6 months back, his captain, now thrown away to Scotland, was saying that the spurs have a better squad. Lets see what happens next year, when we will have six more fit players and so good ones from the Academy.
As for us, Song seems fit and will definitely start. Also, rest of squad must have had enough rest to be fresh again. On the other hand, Spurs played for 120 minutes on a cow-grazing field at Wembley. That should hopefully make them a little fatigued out. Sagna, Clichy, all are fit and I think will definitely start.
We are trying to jump to the second position ahead of manu and trying to keep up with Chelsea. So we are playing for more than the spurs. Surely, they are still aiming for fourth spot which is pretty much taken by Man City. Mancity's squad is big and ambitious and play with two to three holding mid fielders. Thats why its difficult to defeat Man City right now. Anyways, thats not something to worry about today.
Like I said before, these mid week fixtures are tricky. But I still think we have enough to run them over. Its the matter of who scores first. If we score first, we will score two more for sure. If they score early, I think we will score two to scrape out a win.
Arsenal probables:
...............Almunia....................
Sagna...Campbell.....TV5..........Clichy
......Nasri.....Song....Diaby............
....Eboue.....Bendtner.....Rosicky.......
Subs: Eduardo, Theo, Silvestre, Denilson, RVP, Fabianski
Spuds: Who cares? Bring them on!
Score Prediction: Spuds 1- 3 Arsenal
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Lost to Barcelona, thats not bad now is it?
Lots of injuries, lack of experience, shaky defense, eccentric goal keeper... the list goes on. We still cant hide from the fact that they were far superior over both the legs. We didnt take our chances and they did. It was not as one sided as the first half of the first leg but Barcelona showed us why they are Barcelona!
It was a great start. We scored on the counter. Theo could have scored but decided to pass to bendtner and the dane scored at the second attempt. After that we have another chance at 20 minute mark when Diaby (who showed us he aint good enough as yet) made a poor choice of pass. He passed it to Bendtner instead of releasing Theo who was on side and could have scored. Only if...
They scored when Silvestre decided to feed a ball to Messi. Silvestre could not have done much, honestly he was wrong footed and too old to change his stance. Another reason why Wenger should have played Eastmond. It would have been Vermaelen at the left and things might have been different. They scored at regular intervals in the first half. Almunia could hardly do anything. It was just a class act by Messi.
Second half was not that eventful. Alves should have got a yellow card for his fouls. He does not make a strong tackle but keep pulling you off by hands or pushing or doing something cu*t style. Denilson got a yellow which he clearly did not deserve. No way! It was down to Messi's acting skills. It was not a foul at all.
Nasri, Rosicky and Walcott were so busy defending that they could hardly go forward and create something. We still had decent chances, especially for Rosicky and then Bendtner. Things would have been exciting if we had scored of those chances.
There are plenty of lessons to be learnt (learned) here, not only by the young players but Wenger. We are still 5 years away from 4-3-3. Its not just how we play on the ball but also off the ball. Pressing for the ball is not a once in while thing but a continuous off the ball responsibility. Vermaelen made a few mistakes in the game. Silvestre was too far away from TV5 most of the times which opened the central gap too easily.
Overall, everyone knew Barcelona would go through. But the young team played as well as they could without a proper leader. May be its time to get an experienced lad to talk to there guys and help them on the pitch.
Clichy, Sagna, Eboue, Denilson did well. Nasri, Eduardo, Bendtner and Rosicky were poor overall. Lets hope now that the team concentrates hard on the EPL and at least gets into top two.
Come on you Gooners, dont be goners, there is still something to fight for. Not for anything but at least the fans, the fanatics like me who want to fight not roll over and die.
AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL
It was a great start. We scored on the counter. Theo could have scored but decided to pass to bendtner and the dane scored at the second attempt. After that we have another chance at 20 minute mark when Diaby (who showed us he aint good enough as yet) made a poor choice of pass. He passed it to Bendtner instead of releasing Theo who was on side and could have scored. Only if...
They scored when Silvestre decided to feed a ball to Messi. Silvestre could not have done much, honestly he was wrong footed and too old to change his stance. Another reason why Wenger should have played Eastmond. It would have been Vermaelen at the left and things might have been different. They scored at regular intervals in the first half. Almunia could hardly do anything. It was just a class act by Messi.
Second half was not that eventful. Alves should have got a yellow card for his fouls. He does not make a strong tackle but keep pulling you off by hands or pushing or doing something cu*t style. Denilson got a yellow which he clearly did not deserve. No way! It was down to Messi's acting skills. It was not a foul at all.
Nasri, Rosicky and Walcott were so busy defending that they could hardly go forward and create something. We still had decent chances, especially for Rosicky and then Bendtner. Things would have been exciting if we had scored of those chances.
There are plenty of lessons to be learnt (learned) here, not only by the young players but Wenger. We are still 5 years away from 4-3-3. Its not just how we play on the ball but also off the ball. Pressing for the ball is not a once in while thing but a continuous off the ball responsibility. Vermaelen made a few mistakes in the game. Silvestre was too far away from TV5 most of the times which opened the central gap too easily.
Overall, everyone knew Barcelona would go through. But the young team played as well as they could without a proper leader. May be its time to get an experienced lad to talk to there guys and help them on the pitch.
Clichy, Sagna, Eboue, Denilson did well. Nasri, Eduardo, Bendtner and Rosicky were poor overall. Lets hope now that the team concentrates hard on the EPL and at least gets into top two.
Come on you Gooners, dont be goners, there is still something to fight for. Not for anything but at least the fans, the fanatics like me who want to fight not roll over and die.
AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL
Monday, April 5, 2010
Lets play against Barca on PS3!
Another injury! Song suffered some swelling on the knee and apparently also has some groin injury. Once again a first team player gets injured. All we have as cover is another kid (Eastmond)! Not a single mid fielder tomorrow has any experience. Nasri, Diaby, Denilson are still learning. Even if we had a single experienced player, things would certainly seem better. That is why I feel that this game better be played on PS3 where we could welcome our injured players against Barcelona. I think we have a better chance to win that way.
Injury List: Gallas, Djorou, Gibbs, Song, Fabregas, Arshavin, Ramsey and RVP. Thats eight players out of which, possibly four would have started (Fab was suspended).
Seems like there is also a gamble for the CB position. Campbell and Silvestre played 90 mintues on Saturday and it will be difficult for them to put in another shift on Tuesday. I recon Wenger will play Campbell instead of Silvestre or may be take a gamble and play Eastmond. That however, seems very unlikely. I feel Wenger will start Eboue in place of Theo. Eboue also provides good cover to Sagna.
This is the first time I have felt to write that we may not win the game at Camp Nou. I cannot analyze the possibility of using winning at Barcelona. Its just unfair to lose eight first team players at the crucial period of the season.
I wish Almunia has a good day. I just dont want him to make a Almunia out of himself! Let them score magnificent goals, dont give away silly goals, thats all.
Barcelona warmed up to the game with a 4 goal thrashing of Atletic Bilbao. However, it was worth noting that a goal was scored against Barcelona. Abidal and Milito is still a strong CB pairing. If they play Bojan upfront, Barcelona wont be able to score the goals that they scored at the Emirates. I hope if Henry plays, he has a bad day.
I am going to predict a 3-1 win for Barcelona. I really cannot see us going ahead with some many injuries. It just seems very unlikely.
Arsenal XI:
Almunia (C)
Sagna, Campbell/Eastmond/Silvestre TV5 Clichy
Denilson Diaby
Nasri
Eboue Rosicky
Bendtner
Subs: Fabianski, traore, C/E/Silvstre, Walcott, Eduardo, Merida
Barcelona XI:
Valdez
Alves, Milito, Abidal, Maxwell
Xavi, Buskhets, Kieta
Messi, Bojan Henry/#19
Prediction: Barcelona 3 - 1 Arsenal
Dear God, Please prove me wrong. Please.
Injury List: Gallas, Djorou, Gibbs, Song, Fabregas, Arshavin, Ramsey and RVP. Thats eight players out of which, possibly four would have started (Fab was suspended).
Seems like there is also a gamble for the CB position. Campbell and Silvestre played 90 mintues on Saturday and it will be difficult for them to put in another shift on Tuesday. I recon Wenger will play Campbell instead of Silvestre or may be take a gamble and play Eastmond. That however, seems very unlikely. I feel Wenger will start Eboue in place of Theo. Eboue also provides good cover to Sagna.
This is the first time I have felt to write that we may not win the game at Camp Nou. I cannot analyze the possibility of using winning at Barcelona. Its just unfair to lose eight first team players at the crucial period of the season.
I wish Almunia has a good day. I just dont want him to make a Almunia out of himself! Let them score magnificent goals, dont give away silly goals, thats all.
Barcelona warmed up to the game with a 4 goal thrashing of Atletic Bilbao. However, it was worth noting that a goal was scored against Barcelona. Abidal and Milito is still a strong CB pairing. If they play Bojan upfront, Barcelona wont be able to score the goals that they scored at the Emirates. I hope if Henry plays, he has a bad day.
I am going to predict a 3-1 win for Barcelona. I really cannot see us going ahead with some many injuries. It just seems very unlikely.
Arsenal XI:
Almunia (C)
Sagna, Campbell/Eastmond/Silvestre TV5 Clichy
Denilson Diaby
Nasri
Eboue Rosicky
Bendtner
Subs: Fabianski, traore, C/E/Silvstre, Walcott, Eduardo, Merida
Barcelona XI:
Valdez
Alves, Milito, Abidal, Maxwell
Xavi, Buskhets, Kieta
Messi, Bojan Henry/#19
Prediction: Barcelona 3 - 1 Arsenal
Dear God, Please prove me wrong. Please.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Henry's red card was more trouble for Arsenal than Wolves
We did it! Yes it was some 95th minute. Dont care! We did it! Its not the first time lately and probably this was the kind of luck that we needed and we got it! Bendtner, it seems needs 3 to 4 chances every game to score a goal.
The first half was all Arsenal. It was good attacking football. Sol and TV5 and Silvstre and Sagna were decent at the back. Mozart was pulling the strings from the mid field. It looked like we should have scored at least 1 goal.
Second half started like the first half. The crowd seemed very much in the game. I have observed that even against Barca, the spectators were more vocal. I think that helps the team more and the cheering seems to get more out of the players. If thats whats working, lets keep cheering louder.
The Henry red card was 50-50. Sure he got his toe to the ball. But he came from behind, tackled Rosicky. Even got his studs into Rosicky's leg (back of the leg). Sometimes they are given, sometimes they are not. With the red card, Wolves probably lost much belief and started defending with 9 men and Doyle at the half line. Couple of years back, I would have switched off the television and cursed myself. I would have expected a draw. I still feel we need a plan B for such situations. Try something different, may be a few long balls, some dribbling! Who knows, might just work one day. Else we always have the pass and move thing. Its just that when teams go down a man, especially against Arsenal, at Emirates, they seem to suddenly start aiming for 1 point. Its not that Wolves came in the hope of 3 points. Never looked like that. But I dont know, change is something that might just change the score line for us! Okay, I tried to be a smarta&* here. Didnt work!
Rosicky had three decent chances to score but didnt! Eduardo had a couple chances as well. Eboue looked a little lost on the left. Denilson, Song provided a strong cover and passed the ball well. Campbell was strong and firm and Silvestre put in a few decent crosses. Refreshing to see those crosses but I hope Clichy learns that quickly. Nasri, Bendtner had a good contribution to the game. vela was hardly present. With all the injuries, there is a chance for him to show why he is still on the Arsenal wage bill. He has something to prove.
Lets see now how things turn out at the Camp Nou. I havent really thought about the game yet. Half of the gooners are nervous and the rest are getting there with 36 hours left in the game. Hope everyone had a great weekend. Btw, happy Easter.
The first half was all Arsenal. It was good attacking football. Sol and TV5 and Silvstre and Sagna were decent at the back. Mozart was pulling the strings from the mid field. It looked like we should have scored at least 1 goal.
Second half started like the first half. The crowd seemed very much in the game. I have observed that even against Barca, the spectators were more vocal. I think that helps the team more and the cheering seems to get more out of the players. If thats whats working, lets keep cheering louder.
The Henry red card was 50-50. Sure he got his toe to the ball. But he came from behind, tackled Rosicky. Even got his studs into Rosicky's leg (back of the leg). Sometimes they are given, sometimes they are not. With the red card, Wolves probably lost much belief and started defending with 9 men and Doyle at the half line. Couple of years back, I would have switched off the television and cursed myself. I would have expected a draw. I still feel we need a plan B for such situations. Try something different, may be a few long balls, some dribbling! Who knows, might just work one day. Else we always have the pass and move thing. Its just that when teams go down a man, especially against Arsenal, at Emirates, they seem to suddenly start aiming for 1 point. Its not that Wolves came in the hope of 3 points. Never looked like that. But I dont know, change is something that might just change the score line for us! Okay, I tried to be a smarta&* here. Didnt work!
Rosicky had three decent chances to score but didnt! Eduardo had a couple chances as well. Eboue looked a little lost on the left. Denilson, Song provided a strong cover and passed the ball well. Campbell was strong and firm and Silvestre put in a few decent crosses. Refreshing to see those crosses but I hope Clichy learns that quickly. Nasri, Bendtner had a good contribution to the game. vela was hardly present. With all the injuries, there is a chance for him to show why he is still on the Arsenal wage bill. He has something to prove.
Lets see now how things turn out at the Camp Nou. I havent really thought about the game yet. Half of the gooners are nervous and the rest are getting there with 36 hours left in the game. Hope everyone had a great weekend. Btw, happy Easter.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Wolves wont be easy but I think we can win
Feels like the Wolves game is coming up too early. Its always like that after a tough Champions league game. We havent had a tough game in Europe since, i dont know, the Champions league final. The last year's semi final game against Manu was too easy for them! We didnt compete that well. Even before that, nothing was this tough. Either we walk over a team or they sometimes walk over us. Thats how things are most of the times.
We have lost Arshavin, Gallas and captain talisman to injuries. Nasri and Clichy and Diaby seem to have got some knocks in the game. Diaby was too slow against Barca. I hope he plays well against Wolves.
There isnt much to talk about unless we get some better idea of the team Wenger will put up against Wolves. I think even with all the injuries we have, we can get three points from this game.
Arsenal Team
Almunia
Sagna TV5 Silvestre Clichy
Denilson Song
Nasri
Theo Eduardo Rosicky
Score Prediction: 3-1 To Arsenal
Denilson to score
We have lost Arshavin, Gallas and captain talisman to injuries. Nasri and Clichy and Diaby seem to have got some knocks in the game. Diaby was too slow against Barca. I hope he plays well against Wolves.
There isnt much to talk about unless we get some better idea of the team Wenger will put up against Wolves. I think even with all the injuries we have, we can get three points from this game.
Arsenal Team
Almunia
Sagna TV5 Silvestre Clichy
Denilson Song
Nasri
Theo Eduardo Rosicky
Score Prediction: 3-1 To Arsenal
Denilson to score
Thursday, April 1, 2010
We do have the balls to compete!
Okay, so the first half and especially the first 20 minutes felt like league 1 team against league 11 team! We were running all around trying to stop a goal. The tie would have been over in the first three shots on goal! I didnt ever think that I may have to say this but Almunia made some outstanding saves. Block with a left hand, block with a right hand, a body block! However, Almunia made a Almunia out of himself for the first goal. Neither did he charge towards the ball, nor did he stand his ground. I reminded me a little bit of that goal in Champions League when Lehmann was in the goal. That was a bigger blunder than this one. But Lehmann generally did a far better job than Almunia. Sure he was eratic and hot tempered but always kept the back four organized with his shouting and experience.
There was not much positive for Arsenal in the first half. We lost Arshavin and Gallas to injuries. The club needs to clarify Arshavin's injury in more detail. For some reason it seems very suspicious. Its been told that Gallas and Arshavin will be out for at least three weeks. They probably wont feature until the last two games is my guess.
We had a couple of decent chances in the first half. The second half started as badly for us as the first half. Ibra scored after TV5 was drawn away by Messi and Song was too far away from Ibra to close him down. May be with an actual CB, things could have been different. The second goal was very similar to the first goal. The finish was pin point though.
After that goal, like every other gooner on this planet, I thought it was over. Its going to rain goals on us as we go up the pitch to score a goal or two. But Barca got tired and stopped chasing and pressing. Wenger brought on Theo a little late than I was hoping. But his pace helped us. The finish was powerful and motivated the team and the spectators as well.
I dont care what people say about the penalty. If you tackle from behind and you dont let the other guy score and dont have the ball possession, its a damn penalty. Screw everything else. Its a penalty. We lost Fab for the season and I hope its not the last time he plays for Arsenal.
The return leg is going to be a nightmare for us. They are going to win that one and honestly I dont mind going down to such a strong Barca team. They have enough reinforcements to fill the CB positions. We on the other hand have too small a squad when it comes to CB.
I am just happy at the fact that we scored against one of the strongest teams and came back from a two goal deficit. Thats a victory for me. Anyways, this post has been too late. Had been a little busy.
There was not much positive for Arsenal in the first half. We lost Arshavin and Gallas to injuries. The club needs to clarify Arshavin's injury in more detail. For some reason it seems very suspicious. Its been told that Gallas and Arshavin will be out for at least three weeks. They probably wont feature until the last two games is my guess.
We had a couple of decent chances in the first half. The second half started as badly for us as the first half. Ibra scored after TV5 was drawn away by Messi and Song was too far away from Ibra to close him down. May be with an actual CB, things could have been different. The second goal was very similar to the first goal. The finish was pin point though.
After that goal, like every other gooner on this planet, I thought it was over. Its going to rain goals on us as we go up the pitch to score a goal or two. But Barca got tired and stopped chasing and pressing. Wenger brought on Theo a little late than I was hoping. But his pace helped us. The finish was powerful and motivated the team and the spectators as well.
I dont care what people say about the penalty. If you tackle from behind and you dont let the other guy score and dont have the ball possession, its a damn penalty. Screw everything else. Its a penalty. We lost Fab for the season and I hope its not the last time he plays for Arsenal.
The return leg is going to be a nightmare for us. They are going to win that one and honestly I dont mind going down to such a strong Barca team. They have enough reinforcements to fill the CB positions. We on the other hand have too small a squad when it comes to CB.
I am just happy at the fact that we scored against one of the strongest teams and came back from a two goal deficit. Thats a victory for me. Anyways, this post has been too late. Had been a little busy.
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