Arsenal 2-1 Bolton: Thoughts...

Park: Our new no.9 looking good

       Arsenal 2  -  1Bolton
Arshavin (53)     Muamba (47)
       Park (56)

I missed the game on Tuesday night because *whispers* Supersport Sport decided to air the Manchester vs an unknown team instead.. ahem...

Seriously though, go read match report and a good arseblog. Whilst you are there, check out also Yogi's Warrior's take on the game and the club here.

I must say that I like the look of Arshavin at the moment. He is really finding his form. He looks hungry, dangerous and he is finding the net. I think we should play 4-4-2 more often and play Arshavin behind the main striker. Thats where we'll get the best out of him. In a 4-3-3, he tends to be ineffective playing on the left, but maybe that will change as he finds his form...

Robin Van Persie needs somebody to help him with scoring goals in the league. Park looks good, based on what I saw of the highlights. He seems to be a natural goal scorer, always looking for an opportunity to put the ball in the net. The dilemma for Wenger is this, unless the team start killing games off early, the other players like Park and Miyaichi will find it hard to get league games. They'll only come in when there are injuries...

TV is Back!!

Vermaelen is back. He was taken off with cramp on 85 minutes. Now, with Koscielny in form and Mertesacker doing well, does the manager take out one of the two for Vermaelen? Good as he is, I'd say lets not rush him into the team for Chelsea's match. He could suffer another setback and it may actually ruin our on-going central defensive partnership. And going into such a big match, defence should be the last thing thats tempered with, unless its to improve a potentially shaky position, such as... ahem... Djourou at right back... ahem.

Diaby in action (Courtesy www.Zimbio.com)

I cant wait for Diaby to return and I sincerely hope that he is past his injury nightmares. Diaby, on his day, is quite breathtaking. He can battle, he can dribble, he can pass, he can run with the ball, he can shoot the ball, he can head the ball, he can grab Joey Barton by the neck... quite honestly, Diaby is the closest thing to Vieira or a certain cunt that once played for United called Roy Keane. Of course Diaby is not a cunt, but you get what I'm saying rite? Diaby's return will give us some much needed competition and strength in midfield.

Wilshere (www.zimbio.com)

Don't forget about a certain Jack Wilshere to return next year... Traditionally, Arsenal always start the league very strongly then finish it in style- very limp.

Perhaps, like a fine wine, this season we'll finish stronger than the past few seasons... Maturity cannot be an issue any more. We have Van Persie, Arshavin, Arteta, Benayoun, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Diaby, Park, Chamakh, Koscielny, Chezny, Fabianski, Djourou, Walcott, Gervinho, Song, Wilshere. All are established professionals for club and country (except Arteta for Spain). So, we have no excuse but to fight our way up the league. I don't expect us to win it, but I dont expect us to be a midtable team. uh uh. No way.

The results are coming good. We are not playing at our very best, but crucially we are racking in the points. Who knows, 7 games from now, if results keep going our way, we may just be in touch with the league leaders...

But I wont get my hopes too high. Just that 4th spot which Newcastle are keeping warm for us will do for now... After that, I will re-adjust my sights.

Upwards guns the Arsenal!!!

Arsenal 3- 1 Stoke: Gunning Upwards

Gervinho- Man of the Match

Match report and highlights here.

Well, well, well, Take a look at the Barclays Premier League Table today and you will notice that it is starting to look right. Arsenal are sneaking up the table slowly and if we win at Chelsea next week... well...

I must say, I missed most of the match yesterday, I had to work... *sobs*... I caught the last 20 minutes or so of the game only. But from what I saw, I was very pleased. The beer even tasted better!!

Arshavin came on for Walcott and immediately played well, he was really causing Pubis and his men a lot of trouble.  He was instrumental in the 3 goal (82nd minute), releasing Gervinho with a through ball on the left wing. Gervinho dated towards goal, but cut the ball back for RVP who squized it through the keeper and a couple of defenders to make it 3-1 and game over.

RVP: Happy Man at Happy Club

Before that, Gervinho dated down the right wing, cut the ball back across the goal for RVP to prod home between the keeper and the post. That was a very difficult feat but then this is RVP we are talking about...2-1 to Arsenal in the 72nd minute.

And Gervinho himself scored the type of goal we used to score only in the days of a certain Fabregas.... Ramsey did a Fabregas and clipped the ball over the packed Stoke defence for Gervinho to chest and fire home... 1-0 to the Arsenal in the 28th minute.

In the 34th minute the ref gave a soft free kick just outside our box. Our defence, decided that the Stoke cunt out on the right was no threat to us. The ball was crossed to that same cunt, he headed it into our penalty box, another cunt headed it back across goal for Crouch to prod home on the line. 1-1 the score. How Stoke managed to play ping-pong and score unchallenged in our box, only the team know....

Our defence... Apart from the 1 goal, I don't remember seeing any other highlights of Stoke threatening our goal... We played well enough to keep them at  bay and we don't look so jittery at set-pieces and throws....

Our midfield... is keeping the ball better. I particularly enjoyed the Ole's after we scored the third goal. We didn't panic, just passed the ball around, humiliating Stoke and letting them know that the game was up.

Our strike force... Gervinho is doing ok. Theo is luke warm. Arshavin is looking lively coming from the bench so I guess Theo might up his game if he got some time on the bench... RVP is doing what he does best- scoring goals. It's time for Chamakh and Park to come to the party. That goes for our midfield...

We are not playing at our best, but we are improving.

I don't know about you, but after seeing United get 6 up their arse from that oily bunch of Citeh, it made me enjoy our win even more!!

And so the table is starting to look proper. Lets take it a game at a time. 29 League games to go is a very long way. Diaby and Vermaelen are but a few weeks away and lets hope they are past their nightmares of injuries. Twil take a bit of time for them to get match fit, but hey, the squad is only getting stronger....

Upwards guns the Arsenal!!!