Arsenal 5 - 2 Tottenham: Beating The Spurds? Priceless

Rosicky: rolled the years back

With 4 minutes gone, Saha found too much space through the centre of our defence, eventually scored with  a heavily deflected shot off  Vermaelen and over Szczesny. I thought here we go again... 34 minutes on the clock and Spurs were 2-0 up through an Adebayor penalty, after some brilliant simulation (politically correct speak for diving) from Bale. I must say Bale has a striking resemblance to a chimpanzee... but I digress....

But I must say we were playing very well even before going two goals down. It just had that sense of - we shall attack but they will hit us against the run of play- about it.

However, on this occassion my fears proved to be unfounded- gladly. 40 minutes gone, Van Persie hit the post, the ball went wide to Gibbs. He passed to Arteta, who chipped a little cross into the box and Sagna attacked the ball fiercely!! 1-2. I thought, well well well.. we might have a game on our hands here... I was impressed with Sagna's celebration. He didn't run into the corner and wait for his team mates to come and pile on top of him. He just fisted the air, enroute to placing the ball on the kick-off spot. Basically saying "let's get on with it".

Two minutes later, Van Persie really got on with it. He swivelled on the edge of the box and let fly a left-footed drive. 2-2. Spurs were shaken. They were thankful for the half-time whistle.

But after the restart, Arsenal continued right where they had left off. After some wonderful play, Rosicky chipped the Spurs keeper to make it 3-2. I thought Spurs would raise their game but again I was proved wrong. 10 minutes later, Walcott gone on the end of a Van Persie pass, controlled it and chipped Friedel. 4-2 to the Arsenal. Spurs were stunned.

Hardly 3 minutes later, Walcott again gone on the end of a through ball, this time from Song and strike a early grass cutter past Friedel. 5-2 to the Arsenal the final score!!

considering that we gave Spurs a 2-goal head-start, this was a real hiding!! Harry Redknapp and his men sat on the bench, red-faced, looking bewildered. Priceless!!! We reminded Spurs, emphatically, that we are still the Top Dog in North London.

We gave a complete performance. Had quality, fight, belief, urgency... we closed Spurs down in midfield and forward areas. Rosicky rewinded the years... Our movement was better than we have seen in recent weeks. Put simply, we refused to lose the game. And this was a game we could not afford to lose. We have cut the gap down to 7 points. If Spurs lose and United next week, we beat Liverpool and  Chelsea win their next game, suddenly the gap will be 4 points. There will be a 3-team race for 3rd spot.

We could yet still finish above Spurs... but let's not get ahead of ourselves and enjoy this win.

Forwards march the Arsenal!!!
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@the_afrogunner on twitter

Sunderland 2-0 Arsenal: Wenger's Reign Nearing Bad End

Out of Ideas? Arsene Wenger (goal.com)

Yesterday was yet another nail in the construction of the Arsenal coffin. No, we have not come to closing the coffin-lid yet, but I think the coffin has now been fully manufactured. The only thing remaining is to start putting in the dead/useless Arsenal coaching staff and players.

Opinion is divided over Wenger. Some are still of the opinion that he is the right man for the job to take the club back to the top. Others think that his time is up. I am one of the latter group. Allow me to explain.

There is no doubt that Arsene Wenger is a very good manager. That Arsenal football club is where it is on the resources used (fairly low compared to some like Shitey, Poo, Manc-ies & Chavs) in recent years says a lot about the manager. Arsenal has consistently remained in the top four, every year competing for trophies yet always lacking that little bit extra to go the full distance.

In that time, we have seen many young players grow up to become very good players, sadly away from the club. Yes, there have been some poor ones. We have also seen some good buys and some very shocking buys too. Through all this relative success, the one constant has been Arsene Wenger.

At the beginning of the current season, the whole world knew that Cesc Fabregas, a player with 3 years on his contract was leaving for Barcelona. The only person who didn't seem to know this was Arsene Wenger. 5 players were bought in the last two days of the transfer window, buy which time the season was a few weeks in. Several other players were moved on loan deals ( I hope they become permanent!).

Undoubtedly, our squad is better than it was in the previous two seasons. With Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Sagna, Santos, Djourou, Jenkinson & even the fragile Gibbs, we have a decent defence. Squilaci is a waste of squad space.

However, where we have improved defensively, we have failed to improved in attack (both midfield and striking departments). Yossi Benayoun has been brought on loan from Chelsea but continues to warm the bench. Arshavin looks like a man waiting a for a bus. Chamakh looks like an imitation of the player signed from France last season. Theo Walcott has hot the proverbial wall. Our only hope in attack is the erratic Gervinho, the magnificent Van Persie and the promising Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Our midfield lacks creativity. Arteta is average- just look at his career. Rosicky is past his best, has never really hit any highs at Arsenal due to injury. Diaby is a player only on paper- due to injuries. Wilshere, a young player who has yet to play a full season is our only creative hope. Song is the only consistently reliable midfielder we have. Ramsey is not there yet.

Our lack of attacking creativity, defensive discipline, hard work, slowness in attack, poor movement off the ball, failure to dribble or make quick passes between tight opposition lines makes as toothless as an attacking force. We then compensate for this deficiency by pouring everybody forward, leaving only a single defender at the back thus getting hit on counter-attacks.

Our manager is tactically naive. He only know one way to play and that is to pass. When games are tight and we can't pass forward, we make sideways passes. This is because our off the ball movement is poor. I have noted how often an Arsenal player is tightly marked but none of the others run into positions where they can receive the ball i.e make triangles for passes. Instead they'll stand there watching, hoping that the marked player will do something magical and come out on top against 3-4 players.

When Van Persie is tightly marked, we lack players that can make dangerous runs, pull defenders out of position, players who can go past 2-3 players. Only the erratic Gervinho has that ability to create space for himself but his final ball negates his intelligence off the ball.

Yet the same team can, given time and space tear other teams to shreds on the pitch. This highlights the root cause of our failure: Poor coaching. Yes we do lack quality, but our quality is better than most teams. That is why, when we are up for it, we can beat anybody or atleast compete.

Our failure to get the basic things wrong time and time again is a problem of coaching. That a player like Bacary Sagna can run towards Richards only to stop a few yards away from him thus allowing him time and space to shoot is a problem of coaching. Sagna is a damn good defender. Application is his failure.

That Thomas Vermaelen can be caught out of position time and time again is a problem of coaching. Vermaelen is a damn good defender. So too Koscielny, Mertesacker, Santos, Jenkinson and Brittle Gibbs.

I could say the same about several of this Arsenal sides; they are damn good players but they continue not to perform time and time again. And as I aluded to earlier in one of my blogs, we have been chopping and changing our squad trying to find the winning formula but it is not working while Manc-ies United continue to produce winning teams year after year. In their case, their one constant- which is working for them even with a very poor squad- is Sir Alex Ferguson. Our one constant, which is not working, is Arsene Wenger and the coaching staff.

I think that it is time to critically ask the question: Is it not time to try something or someone new?

Wenger is tactically naive. He only plays one way game after game, year after year. He even buys same type of players year after year hoping that something will be different. Yet the results are always the same. This is insanity according to Albert Einstein- doing the same thing yet expecting different results. The manager looks a broken man. He's lost his wit, his swagger, his mocking smile. He now looks a perpetually tired, pained, irritated, bereft of ideas manager.

Wenger can't get anymore out of this group of players and I suspect for a few more squads to come. Put simply, Arsene Wenger to me is a man who has gone as far as he can with this club. We all love him, but perhaps our love for him is what is clouding our eyes to the simple and obvious truth that Arsenal and Arsene Wenger should mutually part. Wenger is at risk of getting a nervous breakdown. The fans are at a risk of forgetting all the good he has done and resort to calling him names- as some have started doing.

We have players like Chamakh who are natural target men yet cannot get a game of football even when we are winning to keep them sharp. Consequently, they can't be relied upon when the going gets tough.

Players like that might just benefit from a change in manager. The whole club needs fresh ideas on the playing field and sadly I doubt we shall get new ideas unless we change manager and coaching staff.

If we don't change coach, as everybody expects, the Board need to change our policy. Either way, the continued decline of Arsenal FC will only lead inevitable change.

Change is coming gooners. The question is which- the manager or transfer policy?

Backwards march the Arsenal!!!
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AC Milan 4-0 Arsenal: Henry Leaves On a Low

The Final farewell: Merci Thierry

Allow me to thank the King Thierry for gracing our great club once again and reminding us just where and what Arsenal used to be not so long ago. He has made 5 appearances (I think) and scored 3 goals, two of which were match winners. Class is permanent.

Thank you King Thierry Henry for the memories. You have cemented your place in the Arsenal hearts and history as the greatest.

Now coming back to the present, it is rather sad when you look at a player like Henry and compare him to what we have at the club at the moment. I have raised this question before and allow me to raise it again: Who in the current Arsenal Squad would grace the first eleven of a top European team right now? And I answer; Van Persie, Song, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Wilshere maybe even  Gervinho. The rest of our players are good footballers. And thats it.
Our mid-fielders are either too young or past their peak. We lack quality in this most important area of the pitch. The fact that we keep blowing hot and cold just goes to illustrate this. At his worst, Fabregas was better than some of our current midfield at their best. I mention Fabregas because he is our most recent top-quality departure whom many of you will clearly remember.

What of our attack? Well, we all know of a certain Robin Van Persie. What of the others? Walcott, Arshavin, Chamakh, Bendtner, Vela... decent footballers. But what they have in skill and talent they equally lack in effort and application.

Nomatter how good your defence, when you have 5-6 players ahead of them who are not willing to put in the hard work when the team does not have the ball, you are going to concede goals. Worse still, when the players ahead of the defence are not scoring goals, then conceding goals results in losing games.

So who does one blame for this state of affairs? Well the manager. It is his team, his players, his tactics, his planning, his training methods... etc... If these players are not performing, then you have to question the manager's ability to motivate the team. That the same team can be good one day then crap the next really is a problem of application. Yes we lack quality, but really application would atleast make us competitive. Application or lack thereof is the manager's responsibility. Yes, the players have embarrassed themselves, but ultimately the manager has embarrassed the club for failing to get the best out of his players.

Why won't Arsene heed the veiled, diplomatic criticism from his own former players and do something about his squad? Did not Einstein  say that insanity was doing the same thing over and over yet expecting different results? Arsene keeps refusing to strengthen the team when it is clear this is required. Again and again he is proved wrong but he insists that the squad is strong enough. Even the squad know otherwise.

Reading through the Arsenal website, the players are talking about how they need to work harder, how they need to repay the fans, how they need to defend better, how they need to learn from this experience... Heh!! Szczesny even says he believes we can still qualify!! Huh!! Talk of saying what people want to hear!!!

 Honestly, Arsenal FC should employ me to write excuses for each player after every disappointing performance because I pretty much know what each of them will say. It is the same stuff said after every defeat. You could take comments from 4 years ago then just cut and paste. I won't even bother to link to it.

So AC Milan deservedly thumped us 4-0, ending our campaign in this year's Champion's League. I expect them to come and beat us at the Emirates in the return leg.

Next up we face Sunderland in the FA Cup, in what is our only hope for winning a trophy this season. I expect us to crumble again then be told about how we shall finish in the top four.

Is this what Arsenal has been reduced to? Sad really.

Have a good weekend gooners.

Backwards march the Arsenal!!!
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@the_afrogunner on twitter

AC Milan vs Arsenal: Preview

A quick word ahead of the crucial Champions League clash tonight against AC Milan.

We face the current Italian Serie A table toppers. And being a two-legged tie, it is very important that after 90 minutes, the tie is not beyond Arsenal. Unlike league games, the Champions League is more suited to attacking teams so this may just suit Arsenal as AC Milan will create room for us to play against them.

Perhaps the only hindrance to an excellent attacking display from Arsenal might be the state of the pitch. But really, we should not use that as an excuse if we do not turn up for the game tonight. Yes there is a risk of injury- as we saw with Metersacker, but if we go into the game worrying about that, then we have no business playing football.

In 2008, we knocked AC Milan out of the competition at the same stage after a goalless draw at the Emirates in the first leg. Fabregas and Adebayor put them to the sword in the San Siro. But that was a long time ago.

Thierry Henry will play what I believe to be his very last competitive Arsenal game tonight. I really wish he goes out with a bang, not a whimper. But that said, he has already won us two crucial games in his short loan period with the club. If in those weeks of being with the club, other players haven't learnt anything from him, then they'll never learn.

What of the team? I hear you ask, well, I think the team pretty much picks itself these days. I expect the following team for tonight's game:

                 Szczesny
Sagna Koscielny Vermaelen Gibbs
          Song                  Arteta
                    Rosicky
Theo                  Oxlade-Chamberlain
               Van Persie

Lets get a win or a score draw and we should be in a good position for the second leg.

COYG!!!!!

Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn Rovers: Very Satisfying Result

If you are good enough, you are old enough

Paul Robinson, our very generous opponent continued in his age old tradition of letting several goals in for the Arsenal cause. I would hazard that if this were in south america, Paul Robinson would be accused of being an Arsenal Fan and be shot in a hotel room...

Robinson must be sick at the sight of Arsenal. This piece here lays out exactly why robinson must quake in his boots at the thought of playing Arsenal. He has apparently conceded 53 goals against Arsenal in the Premier League!!!

Oxlade-Chamberlain did his reputation no harm in scoring a brace and general improving our quality in the final third. I know people tend to over-hype players when they do well and are quick to shoot them down when they don't perform. There is a fear that he is too young. I say that if he is good enough, he is old enough. How old was Wayne Rooney when he announced himself on the world scene with a strike against Arsenal? How old was Lionel Messi when he started terrorising defences in Europe? Now, you will notice that  Rooney and Messi are cunts but they are brilliant footballers. I put Chamberlain in the same class at their age.

Another young player who deserves mention is Coquelin. The boy is a very bright talent and if he continues to work hard, he will go very far in his footballing career, hopefully with Arsenal.

The recent dip in form was arrested quickly with a goal by Van Persie after 90 seconds. I thought we would go on to seal the game within the first 20 minutes. So when Blackburn equalised in the 32nd minute through Pedersen, another cunt, I thought... same shit different day... but I was wrong. It was different shit, different day.

First Van Persie scored after some good work from Theo, Then Chamberlain scored after some good work from Van Persie. There was so much good work from one or the other it was too much for me to bear. Vermaelen struck the post from a close range prod. Half time saw Arsenal 3-1 up with one Blackburn cunt red-carded for a wild lange at Van Persie. Perhaps he was asked to take one for the team... by putting out van Persie...?

Arteta made it 4-1

Anyway, second half came and we started off where we had left off. Blackburn defended a corner but the ball fell at the feet of Arteta who thumped it back into the net from 12 yards out. 4-1 to the Arsenal.  A few minutes later, Walcott did what we have all been calling for him to do- make a good pass in the final third. This time he found Chamberlain, who made a chump of some defender before scoring his second goal. 5-1 to the Arsenal.

There was still more to come. Van Persie deflected/struck/redirected a pass from Coquelin into the Blackburn net with such pace, poor Robinson had no chance. 6-1 to the Arsenal. There was still time for the  living legend Thierry Henry to score a seventh goal. 7-1 to the Arsenal.

I must say the score line makes me feel so much better about my team right now. Do I think our weaknesses have been addressed? No. Do I think we shall win all our remaining league games? No. Have I changed my mind about certain players? No, but they definitely had a good game.

Pregnant with Goals: The Man

I won't moan about our weaknesses so don't. Let's enjoy our 7-1 win. I definitely will be first at work tomorrow and I'll be sure to visit all the offices of the Manc-ies United fans just to make sure they know that Arsenal won. Lets hope they draw with Chelsea today.

Forwards march the Arsenal!!!
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@ the_afrogunner on twitter.

Blackburn Rovers: We Need 3 Points

Saturday sees us take on relegation fodder Blackburn Rovers at the Emirates Stadium. After our recent form (LLLD), it anything less than 3 points is a disaster. Honestly.

We are already 5 points behind the stuttering Chelsea in fourth place. Although I do not consider Newcastle and Liverpool much of a threat in the medium to long-term, one must start to get worried. Newcastle in particular have added Senegalese firepower in Papis Cisse to their attack. We all know about Demba Ba. If those two players kick on as I expect they will, we really shall be in trouble.

Liverpool are just a bunch of average cunts. I fancy Newcastle to be our biggest rival for 5th place.

Yes, our defence has not covered itself in glory, but really our best form of defence has always been attack. You cannot win games if you don't out-score your opponents. So what if you let in a goal or two at the back? As long as you can go on and score 1 more than you let in, you are ok. We have gone away from home, scored two goals or more but still gone on to lose the game. That means we need to score more. And we definitely need to score more, considering the number of chances we create.

Our players have been talking the talk, about how we are good, about how we have the quality, about how we need to do this and that... I will not bother to link because we have heard these words over and over and over but nothing ever changes.

I sincerely hope we beat Blackburn tomorrow, but if we don't I won't kill myself, somewhere in my heart I have created room for disappointment.

On a more positive note, our injured players like Jenkinson and Gibbs are close to being in the team again. Let's hope they stay fit long enough to make a positive impact on the team until the end of the season. Fourth  place is really out of our hands now, we must win all our remaining games and hope that one of Chelsea, Tottenham, Manc-ies United and Shitey drop enough points to fall out of the top four.

Or else, we shall be in the Europa League- most likely- next season. Which may just be where we belong...

Sideways march the Arsenal!!!
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WHILE I WAS AWAY....

Afrogunner has been away from the Arsenal scene, keeping his beady eye on the Africa Cup of Nations. But he has decided enough is enough and time to get back to his one true love and source of heartache- Arsenal.

What has been going on at the club? well first we stopped our losing run of 3 league games with a goalless draw at Bolton. Secondly, the transfer window has closed and the only business we have done is to buy another wonderkid, who will be ready in the next 3-4 years for Premier League Action as a first team player if he is good. By that time, Robin Van Persie, Thomas Vermaelen, Bacary Sagna, Andre Santos, Aaron Ramsey, Andre Arshavin, Gervinho, Chamakh etc etc will have long left or be on their way out of the club. We shall be in another ''transition phase''...

If you missed the game last night, or fell asleep during the second half like I did, you didn't miss anything really. It was the same story really; Arsenal created lots of chances, dominated the game, but failed to score while we nearly got hit with a sucker punch.

I have bleated on and on about our players not being good enough. Why we could not go into the transfer market and buy a player who can do better than Walcott, Arshavin, Chamakh, Park etc in front of goal I cannot understand. Wenger always likes to say if he can find super-quality players who can improve our team he will buy them. Well, currently, very many players are super-quality when compared to the quality we have at the club.

Strikers like Dgibril Cisse, Zamora, Sessegnon, Pavlyuchenko and  Saha are super-quality when compared to Chamakh, Arshavin, Theo, Park...

The manager is adamant we are strong enough to get into the top four, forgetting that we are losing ground to the other teams, and that they are also going to fight hard to stay up there. Honestly, which of the current top four sides do you see collapsing to the point of falling behind Arsenal? I know football is a strange game and anything can happen, but first and foremost, it is about ability and consistency- something which our squad is lacking at the moment. I can't wait for Arsenal to find both while our competitors lose theirs...

Furthermore, the other teams have better squads than ours. Their players are more reliable, effective and most importantly, they are consistent. I don't see them losing too many games between now and the end of the season, whereas I can see Arsenal losing at least another 4 league games and drawing atleast 3 times.

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
1	Manchester City	23	17	3	3	60	19	41	54
2	Manchester United	23	17	3	3	56	21	35	54
3	Tottenham Hotspur	23	15	4	4	44	25	19	49
4	Chelsea	23	12	6	5	41	26	15	42
5	Newcastle United	23	11	6	6	34	30	4	39
6	Liverpool	23	10	8	5	28	21	7	38
7	Arsenal	23	11	4	8	39	33	6	37

The league table doesn't lie. We have 15 league games to go. It will take something of a small miracle to improve our current 1.61 points per game and finish in the top four.

Even after we finish in the top four, is that really enough for a big club like Arsenal?

Something needs to change fast at Arsenal.

Backwards march the Arsenal!!!!
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Follow me on twitter @the_afrogunner