Winter Weigh-In

So it's been a while since I last posted and, get this; I've actually managed to watch two games in a row, in their entirety as well! I managed to get home from work on Saturday just in time for the Fulham game and even got Tuesday evening free to see the Carling Cup quarter final against Man City. Typical for me, Arsenal couldn't deliver the goods in either game but it wasn't for a lack of trying. In fact I'm feeling rather proud of the club of late and both games were thrilling right until the end.

Let's weigh-in on the Fulham game first then: I felt the Cottagers set themselves up to defend and tried to get us on the counter which, credit to them, worked. I don't hold a grudge against Fulham for using those tactics because unlike some teams (cough, Stoke) they didn't settle for parking the bus but instead actively looked to break out of their own area and try and attack. It worked for most of the game, as wave after wave of Arsenal attacks came unstuck in the final third, which enabled Fulham to break with pace and get the ball to the impressive Bobby Zamora, who was unlucky not to leave the game with a goal which he probably deserved. Despite dominating possession as usual we looked a bit tired, no doubt due to the earlier game last week against Dortmund. Aaron Ramsey was running his socks off in midfield and you could see how much effort he was putting in, grimacing in frustration as each and every move came to nothing. Even van Persie was having no luck on Saturday, as he had a certain goal cleared off the line by Fulham's Chris Baird. 

As the minutes ticked by you just knew the game could go either way; we'd either finally break the deadlock and rout them or let in a stupid goal and fall behind. Unfortunately it was the latter that occurred, with Thomas Vermaelen accidentally slotting the ball past Szczesny's outstretched hand to make it 1-0 to the visitors. There were still 25 minutes left but when Fulham scored I felt like the chance at 3 points had gone and we just needed to claw ourselves back into the game. Luckily we managed to do that when Vermaelen popped up in the box in the box with 10 minutes left  to head home from Walcott's cross. 1-1 and game on but that was effectively all she wrote because you could see the team pretty much had nothing left to give. So all in all it wasn't a disaster, hell we could have lost it, but we did drop precious points at home and missed a great chance to keep pace with the rest of chasing pack.

The squad didn't have much of a rest as only two days later Manchester City came to town for the Carling Cup quarter final. Everyone knows Wenger uses this tournament to play the kids and this idea has been implemented by a lot of other clubs now (which didn't pay off for United last night), but we all knew City wouldn't do that; they'd still play their "reserves" but their reserve team is practically good enough to compete for a top four place in the league. So Mancini had Dzeko, Kolo Toure, De Jong, Adam Johnson and pantomime villain Samir Nasri all starting, guys who would command a first team place at most of the top European clubs but instead get turned out against a bunch of Arsene's kids and bench-warmers in the Carling Cup. Up against the City playboys were guys like Frimpong, Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Miquel. So this had a Manchester City win written all over it right? Surely the clear favourites would overwhelm Arsenal's young guns and progress into the semi final with ease... Well you'd be wrong actually, because apart from an early Adam Johnson shot and a couple of desperate long range shots from Dzeko, the billionaires were toothless in attack and our boys had them on the run for the majority of the match.

The only problem we had was up front, with the still-adapting-to-English football Park Chu-Young and the desperate-for-a-goal Marouane Chamakh leading the attack. The Moroccan really cuts a depressing figure out there on the pitch; you can see he's struggling and his confidence must be at an all-time low. I really want the guy to do well here but Chamakh just can't catch a break right now. Anyway, with Park and Chamakh firing blanks all night it was up to the rest of the team to carry the load and young Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain stepped up in a big way. He was a constant menace to the City defence and had the experienced Zabaleta in all kinds of trouble. For such a young player he looks remarkably sure of himself when he's on the ball and looks a lot more dangerous than our other speedster Walcott when he's one on one with defenders; Chamberlain has no hesitation at all attacking the defence and taking them on, beating players with ease. The Englishman almost put us ahead with an unbelievable effort from way, way outside the box which City keeper Pantilimon (who was easily their Man of the Match, a great game from him) had to use every inch of his tall frame to tip it away from goal. 

Praise must also go to a few others who put in assured performances on Tuesday night. The defensive partnership of Koscielny and, unbelievably, Squillaci was brilliant with both players having excellent games in the heart of the defence. We cannot forget our Spanish youngster Ignasi Miquel who played extremely well standing in at left back. For a guy who is usually a centre back he looked pretty comfortable out there on the left, keeping Adam Johnson from causing too much trouble on the wing. Benayoung, Frimpong and especially Coquelin all had terrific games in midfield, bossing the play and keeping City's danger men quiet for practically the entire game.

Unfortunately Arsenal couldn't hold on and grind out the win. It was £35 million man Sergio Aguero who proved to be the difference. I should bloody hope so for £35 million, the guy cost more than our entire squad Tuesday night! Aguero made his entrance into the match after 32 minutes, coming on for the bemused Kolarov after just half an hour of play. Mancini has a very strange relationship with his squad; I appreciate he needed to change the game but to take a guy off after just half an hour is an insult to that player and you could clearly see Kolarov was pissed to be hauled off. But typically it proved to be the difference as the Argentinian Aguero was on the end of a swift City counter attack to make it 1-0 with only 7 minutes left. It was City's best and only real move of the entire match and it was enough to send the blue side of Manchester into the Carling Cup semi final. 

However, despite the loss and exit from the competition I'm not upset about the result. The guys put in a spirited performance and did the club proud. On paper we never should have been close to beating Man City on Tuesday but we took them all the way to the final whistle and had them quaking in their boots. Put it this way: City will probably go on to win the league this year and with all that money it'd be a disaster if they failed but I personally don't think they are everything they're cracked up to be and they'll never reach the heights of United and Barcelona. They'll certainly never be better than our 03/04 Invincibles!

That is all, thanks for reading.

No Need For Nasri

What an eventful Wednesday for the Arsenal. Nasri finally left for Manchester City and then the team had a tough game against Udinese in the evening. And the young Gunners passed with flying colours.

In an intimidating atmosphere with the pressure on, Arsenal got the job done with a 2-1 win against the Italian side, winning 3-1 on aggregate to progress to the Champions League group stage (for the 14th year running). After falling behind to an Antonio Di Natale header just before half time, Arsenal rallied in the second half with two goals, one each from captain Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott. It was an incredibly open game, perhaps not the tight and tense match many were expecting given that the stakes were so high, but it was always entertaining.

After a really positive start Arsenal dominated most of the first half, especially in terms of possession but Udinese were always dangerous and threatened to open the scoring a few times. The Italians hit the post twice, Di Natale in particular coming very close to sneaking the ball past Szczesny at the near-post but was denied by the woodwork. Udinese continued to grow in confidence and they made it count six minutes from half time. Giampiero Pinzi lofted a cross into the unmarked Di Natale who used every muscle in his body to steer his header over Szczesny and into the goal to take the lead. 1-0 on the night and 1-1 on aggregate and Arsenal were dangerously close to missing out on the Champions League for the first time in 14 years. After Udinese took the lead the Gunners couldn't wait for the half time whistle to blow as they really needed to regroup and sort themselves out.

Whatever Wenger said at the break must have worked because the team came flying out the blocks in the second half and look re-energised and focused on clawing their way back into the game. Frimpong, who I thought played well in the first half, was replaced by Rosicky for the second half and it really worked as he was really hungry for the ball and always harassing Udinese players. And it wasn't long until Arsenal got back into the game; after a shot by Rosicky was deflected out to Gervinho on the left wing, the Ivory Coast international attacked the Udinese fullback, glided past him to the byline before expertly crossing for van Persie to tap home through defenders to make it 1-1 and 2-1 on aggregate. Arsenal had finally gotten that crucial goal and now Udinese had to score twice to win the tie because of the Gunner's away goal. After van Persie's goal I thought the pressure and nerves might go away but there was barely enough time to relax before Udinese were threatening again. Pretty soon the unthinkable happened and the referee pointed for penalty to Udinese. At the time nobody knew how or why the spot-kick was awarded but replays showed the ball bounced up into Vermaelen's arm/shoulder. It was very harsh but there was nothing we could do but pray Di Natale missed. The confident Italian striker looked set to make the game interesting again and his powerful shot looked destined to hit the net. But Szczesny dove to his right, stretched his left arm high and palmed the shot over the crossbar and onto the roof of the net. It was an incredible save and was the turning point for the match. Szczesny was excellent all night and the penalty save was the icing on the cake, an outstanding piece of athleticism.

Udinese were floored after the missed spot-kick, especially Di Natale; it seemed to knock all his energy from him. The momentum quickly swung in Arsenal's favour and they killed off the game with an excellent goal with 20 minutes left in the game. After some neat work between Theo and Sagna down the left wing, Sagna released Walcott whose pace was too much for the Udinese defence and the young Englishman slotted the ball past keeper Handanovic to make it 2-1 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate. Game over and now I could finally relax. Even with 20 minutes left, Udinese needed 3 goals to win but all the energy had left them and Arsenal kept the ball well until the final whistle was blown.

It was a fantastic game and really nice to see Arsenal on the right end of the scoreline this season. Credit must go to the whole squad, it was a terrific performance from them all, but particular praise must go to Gervinho, who was menacing all night and mesmerising on the ball, and of course Szczesny for keeping us in it and being solid over both legs. They were both outstanding.

So Gooners across the country can breath a bit easier today, hold their heads up high and proudly claim that yes, we are still a big European club, despite all this nonsense of a "crisis". Later today we'll find out who our opponents will be in our group. With any luck (and we are definitely due some of that) we'll get an easier group this year. Hopefully last night's win against Udinese can inspire some confidence in the squad and give us a fighting chance against Man United at the weekend.

Thanks for reading.

Crunch Time

So after that morale sapping loss to Liverpool on Saturday, Arsenal are in a bit of a pickle. If you didn't know our squad was weak before the weekend, the game against Liverpool highlighted all our shortcomings; The early injury to Koscielny forced Wenger to bring on Spanish youngster Ignasi Miquel, and later on when Arshavin was substituted, it was for English teenager Henri Lansbury. Frimpong and Jenkinson were making their first Premier League starts (both of them under 20) and the bench consisted of Ryo Myaichi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. All these unproven kids forced to plug holes in our crippled and inexperienced squad. Let's say this in the simplest way possible; this is not a team that will challenge for honours this season. No disrespect to the youngsters and I'm all for giving youth a chance but when you're forced to bring on Miquel and Lansbury in a crucial game against a big rival then you know something is wrong. I realise that the team is struggling with injuries and suspensions at the moment but it is ridiculous that we are now two games into the season and Wenger still hasn't addressed the critical problems that he's had all summer to fix. It saddens me when I hear him proclaim that yes, he has made signings, but unfortunately they are not signings that matter Mr Wenger. Buying Jenkinson and Oxlade-Chamberlain is great but where is the powerful centre-back to partner Vermaelen this team so desperately needs? Where is the support for van Persie up front? Where is the backup for Song in midfield and when will we see a replacement for Fabregas or at least some help in case Ramsey and Wilshere get hurt? Only Arsene knows... or when you look closely, apparently doesn't.

There is some positive news for once on the transfer front. According to the Guardian we have opened talks with French club Rennes for their 21 year old defensive midfielder Yann M'Vila, a French international. Apparently he could cost us around £12 million. I've never seen M'Vila play but at this stage I'll take anyone, especially anybody who can help where we need it the most. In other news, it looks like Nasri's move to Man City has hit a major road-block. With his unexpected appearance against Liverpool on Saturday and rumours that he could feature against Udinese Wednesday night, Man City are suddenly very worried that they won't get their man after all, and City boss Roberto Mancini is bricking it. If Nasri gets cup-tied in the Champions League it clearly indicates he's staying with us this season. To be honest, as much as I'd like to get the £25 million for him now, I'd much prefer to see Nasri stay in the red and white this year, even if is just for one more season. Now Fabregas is gone I'd really like Samir to take that position and make it his own.

So the pressure is on for Wednesday night as Arsenal face Udinese in the second leg of the Champions League qualifier. Taking that 1-0 lead to Italy was crucial but I feel we're gonna have a hard time keeping them out, especially with Wenger banned from the touchline again and with added defensive woes since last week's game. Hopefully Jack Wilshere will have recovered from his ankle injury just in time to play, because we could really do with his grit and determination in midfield.

Anyway, let's hope we can get the job done and qualify - it is absolutely crucial we do.

Thanks for reading.

Same Old Arsenal, Always Infuriating

Say goodbye to any hopes you might have had that Arsenal could still win the title, even after bottling every game over the past month or so. Too many draws, too many mistakes and just not being good enough has put an end to our season, and today Bolton cemented this by beating us 2-1 at The Reebok. A 90th minute header from Tamir Cohen finally laid this Arsenal side to rest for the 2010/11 season. There's always next year I suppose...

This afternoon we had to win at all costs. Anything less would simply confirm that this season was not meant to be, no Premier League trophy for us this time. The first half was relatively even, but Bolton looked dangerous on the counter and from set pieces. Well in the 38th minute, Bolton took the lead. From a corner, Gary Cahill rose above our defence with ease, powering a header into the corner that Samir Nasri did well to chest away. Unfortunately the ball didn't leave Nasri's body with much pace, and Chelsea-loanee Daniel Sturridge was waiting to head the ball back into the net to make it 1-0 Bolton. First blood to the home side and Arsenal needed to respond quickly if they were to maintain any hope of a victory, let alone keeping themselves in the increasingly disappearing title-race.

Well Arsenal did respond, but not in the manner we might have hoped. With only a minute gone into the second half, Sturridge got on the wrong side of Djourou in the penalty area and went down; the referee instantly pointed to the spot and it looked like Arsenal's dreams of a successful afternoon had quickly descended into a nightmare. Kevin Davies stepped up to the spot, but thankfully his penalty attempt was atrocious and Szczesny saved with ease, keeping Arsenal in the game. This swing in momentum appeared to galvanise the men in red and white and only minutes later Arsenal were back in the game. Robin van Persie played a nice one-two with Fabregas, and the Dutchman laced the ball past Jaaskelainen to make it 1-1 and game on. For the next 40 minutes or so, Arsenal set up camp around the Bolton area but just could not get that all important second goal. Nasri had a great chance to take the lead but could only hit his shot at the keeper, before having the rebound blocked. It just looked like one of those days, with Wenger casting a frustrated figure on the touchline as the Gunners spurned chance after chance, failing to shoot when they would pass instead. Just when things couldn't get much worse, substitute Tamir Cohen popped up from a Bolton corner in the 90th minute and made it 2-1 to the home side; game over for Arsenal, and season over as well. Another set piece, another lapse in concentration and another goal - Arsenal just could not handle Bolton from corners this afternoon and they paid the price for it. Cohen had only been on the pitch for five minutes too...

So now Arsenal can forget the title, they can forget the celebrations and the medals. No open-top bus parade this year. The Gunners now have more pressing concerns in the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City. Carlo Ancelotti's team have hit a hot patch of late and have soared into second place, and now they have a three point advantage over us and a better goal difference as well. In all likeliness, Arsenal have probably thrown away their chance at second, let alone first, unless they can right this sinking ship and finish the season with some respect. The blue side of Manchester are also a concern; they have two games in hand and if we don't wake up, they could quite easily steal third place from us. That would be a disaster.

Anyway, unless Arsenal can win all their remaining games and a miracle occurs, this will probably be my last post on here this season. I have a lot of uni work coming up and once thats done I might write a piece or two on what I think the club should do in the off-season; who they should buy, who they should sell, stuff like that.

Thanks for reading.

Out Of The Wilderness

So its been a while since I last posted anything, and that's down to a couple of reasons:

1) I've had a lot of university work to do. Gotta get that dissertation done, amongst other things.

2) I've been in Rome as well... not much time to blog from Italia.

So since I last blogged about Arsenal, the Gunners could only muster a 0-0 draw at home to Blackburn (a miserable result) but they did manage to beat Blackpool 3-1 at Bloomfield Road. Its good to see that we are back to winning ways but I fear it may be too late, as United have been relentless during the run-in. As of today we are 7 points behind the leaders with a game in hand; that game is at White Hart Lane against Spurs, and we still have to play United at home. Even if we win both of those games, we will still be behind by 1 point and will need United to slip up if we're to stand any chance of winning the league. Every game for Arsenal now is a must-win - there can be no more draws and definitely no more losses - any dropped points from now on means the title challenge is dead. The team needs to step it up a bit during this run-in if we are to stand any chance of catching United. I am glad to hear that van Persie has been trying to instil some fighting spirit in the squad; apparently he gave Diaby a grilling at half time in Blackpool last weekend, and its about time someone did. Diaby actually looked to have had a decent game at Bloomfield Road, even scoring a rare goal, but his performances this season have been a mixed bag. I am not Diaby's biggest fan, and would preferably like to see him offloaded next season. I think he is far too casual on the ball and doesn't pass when he probably should, which is infuriating on the counter-attack when he refuses to play the ball suitably. Despite his great ability to control the ball, sometimes beating opposition players with ease, his decision making has always been questionable and it seems we always get punished when Diaby gets caught in possession, which is an all too regular occurrence. So I'm glad van Persie gave him some stick - its a welcome sign from the Dutchman that he's taking some control in the locker-room, some much-needed leadership.

But first of all we have the matter of a revitalised Liverpool side coming to the Emirates, who have gained some serious momentum since 'King Kenny' Dalglish returned to Anfield, desperately trying to secure European football for next year. That, coupled with Andy Carroll's return from injury, makes the game tomorrow a tricky encounter. Carroll has been slowly getting back to 100% since his recovery, and he looks to have recaptured his early-season form with 2 goals against Manchester City this week. If you can cast your mind back to the last time Carroll visited the Emirates, you'll remember him rising high to head home the only goal for Newcastle in a 1-0 win. I really like Carroll, I think he's a fantastic player, the definitive English centre forward. However, I wouldn't mind if he has an absolute shocker tomorrow, him and the rest of the Liverpool squad. Its crucial that we beat the Merseysiders tomorrow afternoon and they will not go easy on us, but thankfully our injury concerns are beginning to clear up a bit, with reports that Szczesny could return in goal, and Djourou and Sagna could also play a part. Wenger needs to stress to the team that there can be no more mistakes from now on, every chance needs to be taken and capitalised on, or the season is over and the fans go back to uttering the "what ifs" and "what could have beens". I think, over the last few years, we are all fed up of that.

Thanks for reading.

A Fantastic Day Of Sport

Well what a day I had. Two of my teams getting massive wins helped put a smile on my face that'll probably last all week. The mighty Arsenal travelled to the blue side of Manchester and returned with a morale boosting 3-0 victory. To make things better, the Browns shocked the world by beating the reigning Superbowl champions in their own stadium, recording a historic win in the process. So you could say I'm feeling pretty happy this morning.

First up was the Arsenal - City game which kicked off at 4pm. I was still at work when the game began but slyly managed to follow the game through BBC Sport's updates on the internet. As soon as the clock struck 5pm, I was out the door and quickly in the pub for the second half. I missed Nasri put us 1-0 up but have since seen the goal and it was a real beauty, a lovely finish from a confident player who has started this season brilliantly. I of course missed Man City's red card too but I have heard it was deserved. And last of all I also missed Cesc's penalty miss, not one of his best efforts I understand. However, I did catch the second half, so I feel obliged to comment on what I did see.

Despite City playing with 10 men the game had a very open feel to it and they looked pretty dangerous going forward even thought they had the disadvantage. But as the game wore on, it was obvious City just didn't have it on the day. Arsenal soon began to dominate possession and ensured the win when Alex Song put us into a 2-0 lead. A ball into Chamakh was cut out by the City defence but thankfully it fell to Song on the edge of the box who rifled it past Joe Hart for his second league goal of the season, and his second in the space of a week. City pressed on but couldn't break through thanks to Fabianski. The young Polish stopper had a great day, recording a deserved clean sheet, which is apparently our first one away from home for 10 months. His saves against Silva and Boateng were particularly impressive. With the came coming to a close, Wenger gave a run-out to Theo and Bendtner and it was the latter who rounded the match off with a delightful finish. The tireless Nasri managed to keep the ball from going out and then played a superb ball into the path of Bendtner, who calmly slotted the ball around the onrushing Hart to make it 3-0. A fantastic away win and just what the Gunners needed to re-establish our title aspirations, while putting Manchester City firmly in their place at the same time. You can have as much money as you like, but it will take some time before they gel as a team and start winning trophies.

After Arsenal's victory, it was time to turn my attention to the day's NFL games and the Browns. There was no way Eric Mangini's men were waltzing into New Orleans and beating the Superbowl champions I thought, and I was not alone; Nobody expected a Browns win, certainly not the people around me in the pub and the pundits on the TV. But the Browns came through for me, and battled to a hard fought 30-17 win. Unfortunately I was not in a position to watch the game. At the pub, my friends and I had to make do with the Rams - Buccaneers game, which was entertaining but obviously I would have preferred to have been watching our miraculous victory at the Superdome. Still, the Rams lost in the last 10 seconds, and my friend Simon (the only Rams fan in the room) nearly broke down in tears at his team's collapse. Commiserations mate, I feel your pain.

So it's now established that Reggie Hodges is the best punter in NFL history, right? My tongue-in-cheek comment aside, that fake punt and his amazing run was really something special, especially the way he glided past Lance Moore and kept chugging his way to the 10 yard line where he was finally stopped. His 68 yard run set up a Browns field goal and as we know every point counts in the NFL, especially when you're facing the Saints in their house. In fact, the Browns had a very successful day as far as trick plays were concerned. Cribbs's lateral pass to Eric Wright on a punt return was impressive, as was Peyton Hillis's pass to Colt McCoy. When plays like that come off and work to perfection, you really have to give credit to the players for executing, as well as Mangini for taking the risk. Of course, credit must also go to Rex Ryan and his defense. When was the last time Drew Brees threw 4 interceptions in a game?! I doubt he even did that in high school! Obviously Brees had an off day, but you have to give major props to the Browns for being there in the right positions to make those big defensive stops. David Bowens is feeling on top of the world no doubt, with his two interception returns putting the cherry on top of yesterday's win. Just an amazing day for the Browns and I feel so proud to be one of the faithful. I don't care if I'm from Cleveland or not, there's no reason for me not to celebrate this win like any other Browns supporter. I love it.

So the Browns head into their bye week full of confidence and Arsenal are back to second in the league, hot on the heels of Chelsea. Sunday October 24th 2010 was a fine day indeed, one I expect I'll remember for some time.

Thanks for reading.