Arsenal 3- 0 The Other Team: And The Gunners Keep Marching Upwards

Arteta: I can do a C.Ronaldo!

The three nil win against the other team on Saturday was only disappointing to the extent that we didn't use the game to really improve on our goal difference. I really wished we had scored more goals on the day. Seriously, the weather was great, the fans were great, the players have found their groove and Arsene Wenger is starting to look his old mischievous self again.

I missed the opening 10 minutes, but what I saw after that I was very impressed with. I swear even the beer tasted nicer!! We hurried the other team into mistakes, Rosicky in particular was having a very good game. The way he turns his markers then runs forward with the ball is always a pleasure to see.

The first goal came after some very decent work by Gervinho on the left. Indeed the Ivorian is not at his flying best right now, but he was causing the other team enough problems. He was also dropping into the left back position whenever the other team tried to counter attack. It is no surprise then that he got such warm applause for twice running back 70 yards to tackle the other team's right winger.

In the 16th Minute, Gervinho exchanged passes with Gibbs to score his first Premier League goal. He strode into the other team's six yard box and fired a shot that got deflected into the net. I suspect he will go on to score many more goals this lad. I must say  Gibbs is doing alright thus far. I would not go so far as to say he is the best thing to happen to Arsenal since sliced bread, but he is doing his part and that is good to see.

Mikel Arteta is a man on fire right now. You cannot blame him for the third goal, a Christiano Ronaldo-like thunderbolt into the side netting. The other team's Goal Keeper had been given prior warning with a rasping drive from Arteta, which he tipped over the bar. That he was beaten the second time around goes to show that he is a cunt. And to think he might have played for Arsenal!!! urgghh!!

General Alex Song (God Bless His Right Boot) did what he does time and time again. He chipped a killer pass over the other team's defence, which the in-form Walcott controlled superbly before slotting past the stranded cunt in the other team's goal. At two nil,  sat back and waited for the avalanche of goals to come, but they never came.

Even though we didn't score more goals, the pain we inflicted over the manager of the other team brought a measure of satisfaction to me after the way we lost the Carling Cup last year. He looked like a corpse, despite the plentiful sunshine. His face and general demeanour was so withered, like a used condom left to bake in the hot African sun for a few weeks...

I became a little worried but equally amused when Robin Van Persie started show-boating in the second half. He took the ball up the pitch towards the left corner flag, started doing some tricks and flicks with the ball before passing it on to a teammate. Now, I don't mind players show-boating when we are winning by a large margin with a few minutes to go. But at 2 nil, with 20 minutes still to play, you really don't want to see your team doing that.

I should also mention Johann Djourou who came into the defence for the injured Koscielny. He did ok, although he looked a little rusty  in the opening exchanges of the match. But when you are playing against shit like Heskey, really you ought not to concede a goal. Our goal was hardly threatened throughout the whole game. This was due to our good defensive work as a team, but perhaps more to the fact that the other team have shit for strikers.

And so, after beating the other team team comfortably by 3 goals to nil, Chelsea and Spurs drawing early in the day, have a look at the table;

Barclays Premier League table 2011-2012

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
1	Manchester City	30	22	4	4	72	22	50	70
2	Manchester United	29	22	4	3	73	27	46	70
3	Arsenal	30	18	4	8	61	39	22	58
4	Tottenham Hotspur	30	16	7	7	53	35	18	55
5	Chelsea	30	14	8	8	49	34	15	50
6	Newcastle United	30	14	8	8	44	42	2	50

I tried to look for big-spending Liverpool on the log, but I couldn't find them. If anyone knows which League they are competing in, please drop me a tweet.

There are 8 games to go, and we have a 3 point gap over Tottenham; 8 over Chelsea. Next game is against QPR away from home. Let us continue doing what we are doing now, the only mistake we can make now is to start thinking that the race is over.

These are happy days to be a gunner....

COYG!!!

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@ the_afrogunner on twitter

Arsenal v Aston Villa Preview: Journey Of A Thousand Miles...

A journey of a thousand miles... ends with the final 9 yards...

The football resumes tomorrow with a home tie against Aston Villa, while Chelsea do battle with Tottenham. Now the ideal situation is that Chelsea beat Tottenham and Arsenal beat Aston Villa tomorrow. But regardless of what happens at Chelsea, we simply need to focus on our own game and the rest becomes irrelevant.

From being Europa League challengers a few weeks ago, we are now firmly Champions League contenders. That transformation has come about due to some luck and lots of hard work. And it is hard work that will see us continue to make forward strides.

Arsene Wenger says;

What I want us to continue is our run and not be in a position where you have to look at the other results,” he told Arsenal Player. “That is why I believe that the main focus is on us, not to be obsessed by other results and to just keep going.

“Of course the players will be aware of what is going on but it is not the last day of the season. We are in a position where what will matter is what we do at three o'clock against Aston Villa. 

He goes on to say:

“We have regained credit with our fans because we have shown a fantastic attitude and the more we show that, the more we will gain credit. That is the most important thing to do.” 

Amen to that I say. He and the team have definitely gained credit with me. I was one of those asking the question sacking Wenger a few weeks ago. But the turnaround has left me pleasantly embarrassed.

Now, although we have won our last 6 games, let's not kid ourselves. In the last game, we were lucky to come away with 3 points. We were really just hanging on and I would prefer that we win our games with less stress.

It is good to have the ability to win ugly, but it is better to win beautifully. And with the type of players that we have, it is not beyond us to win our games beautifully, with lot's of time to spare. Had we scored 50% of the chances that we created against Everton in the first 15 minutes, we would have been 3 nil up and certainly that would have been game over.

I think we need to approach each game like a game of chess. The object must be to gain all three points as efficiently as possible. Our continued profligacy in front of goal will come back to haunt us at the end of the season. Goal difference also plays a major part in deciding where one finishes in the log.

Chelsea seem to have found their groove a bit, and with the talent that they have and a new boss at the helm, I see them finishing stronger than Spurs in the remaining 9 games.

Unlike in the previous 3 seasons or so, we seem to be finishing stronger, coupled with return to fitness of key squad members. But there is still a long way to go. It just takes a couple of dodgy refereeing decisions against us to turn our positive run into a potential catastrophe again.

Let us not leave our fate to the referees or results in matches elsewhere. 3rd place is now ours to lose.

Let us do what needs to be done to score more goals than we concede. That is winning.

COYG!!

Onwards march the Arsenal.
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@the_afrogunner on twitter

Everton v Arsenal: Excruciatingly Painful To Watch But Sweet Result

I have not felt such anxiety during an Arsenal match for weeks if not months!!!

This was a match in which we really needed to win in order to heap more pressure on Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspurs in the race for 3rd and 4th spot in the league. Credit to the team for hanging in there and coming way from Goodison Park with 3 points. I know Everton had a perfectly legitimate goal by Royston Drenthe disallowed for offside, but hey, we get dodgy decision against us sometimes too. I don't like any team to drop points on such a poor refereeing decision.

That aside, Arsenal started like an avalanche, sweeping Everton aside in the opening exchanges of the match. Our movement and passing were Barcelona-esc (the cunts!) up until we scored in the 8th minute. Vermaelen scored a very good header from a Van Persie corner kick to give Arsenal a deserved lead.

Before that, Ramsey could have scored 2 goals and Van Persie could have scored 1. Ramsey lacked (a lot!) the sharpness. First he volleyed wide of goal and twice had his shots blocked. I believe had he gone for placement instead of trying to blast a whole in the net, he would have scored on the night. Somebody please show him how Messi, Higuain and Ronaldo do it in front of goal. Don't panic Ramsey... easier said than done...

Van Persie too was wasteful with his shooting on the night. He looked a bit uneasy, only Drenthe's shooting was worse on the night, and they are the only two who were shooting....

Unfortunately for us, after we scored, David Moyes spotted the fact that our defenders were not being hurried. He moved Fellaini into a more advanced position behind their main striker Jelavic. Steven Pienaar was also thrown more to our right, against Sagna, thereby pinning him back and forcing him into errors. Walcott is not a very hard working winger so once Everton closed Sagna down, Walcott's influence in the game started to diminish. In central midfield, Osman, Heitinga and the more advanced Cahill were instructed to close down Song, Arteta and Rosicky quickly. 

It was therefore no surprise that after our 8th minute goal, Everton started to grow stronger. We lost our way a little. Our passing became wayward, we failed to keep the ball for long spells. Everton started to regain territory in our half of the pitch. The half-time whistle came at a very good time for us indeed.

The second half started the same way the first had ended. Everton looked the more likely to score. They hurried Arsenal in defence, pinged cross after cross into our box, but they just couldn't find a goal. Vermaelen and Koscielny were outstanding. They dealt with everything that Everton threw at them. 

Sagna's yellow card just before half time and Pienaar's persistent diving might have resulted in a second yellow for the Frenchman, but he played intelligently throughout the whole second half to avoid a second yellow. 

Kieran Gibbs played well. I am not very convinced with his defending, his flank was being well-exploited by Drenthe. Had Everton been smarter, they would have focussed their energy on our left flank and would have scored. But hey, they are not smart...

And so from being an Avalanche, Arsenal were reduced to melting snow. Ramsey had another average game. Theo had another average game. Van Persie had a poor game. Song had an average game. Arteta had an average game. Rosicky had a relatively quiet game. But the guys hung in there. Heads didn't drop, we kept on working hard as a team.

This game needed some guile and muscle in midfield. I really wished Diaby had been fit. Van Persie was dropping very deep indeed to add numbers to our defence and that was both good to see but equally worrying.

And as Everton pressed for an equaliser, my stomach twisted and tied itself into knots. The anxiety was too much. I kept checking on the Manchester City/Chelsea and Spurs/Stoke matches. And when Chelsea scored at City, my tummy nearly gave up it's entire contents.

But with 15 minutes to go, Everton started to get tired. Arsenal once more started to string some decent passes together. The melting snow snow started to morph into a stream. Gervinho and Djourou were introduced for Walcott and Rosicky respectively with 10 minutes to go. Gervinho was finding a lot of space down the left flank and set up Van Persie for a shot- which the dutchman skied. Nearly a river this Arsenal...

So when the final whistle went, I was not happy. No, I was just relieved!! Now, several hours later, I am feeling happy. I have looked at the league table carefully and I like what I see. Just take a look:

 

Barclays Premier League table 2011-2012

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
1	Manchester United	29	22	4	3	73	27	46	70
2	Manchester City	29	22	3	4	71	21	50	69
3	Arsenal	29	17	4	8	58	39	19	55
4	Tottenham Hotspur	29	16	6	7	53	35	18	54
5	Chelsea	29	14	7	8	49	34	15	49
6	Newcastle United	29	13	8	8	41	41	0	47
7	Liverpool	29	11	9	9	35	29	6	42

Now, if this table doesn't make you happy as an Arsenal fan, considering where we were a few weeks ago, then you will never be happy, dear Arsenal fan. We are now in 3rd place, automatic Champions League spot!!!!

This was a difficult game that we won ugly! I sure as hell am not complaining about the 3 points, just trying to stress the fact that I could do without the stress of games like that!!! Well done lads!

Next up, Chelsea face Spurs. one of them or both will drop points. We face Aston Villa at home. Let's get another 3 points and create some breathing space between ourselves and Spurs/Chelsea.

Upwards march the Arsenal!!!!

Everton v Arsenal Preview: Winning Mentality Required

A very quick COYG!!!!

We resume matters on the pitch this evening against an ever-tough opponent in Everton.

We have had a relatively long rest period, compared to Everton who exerted quite a lot of energy against Sunderland in the FA cup. So perhaps we shall have a slight advantage in this tie, especially if we push them for 90 minutes. They could tire in the second half. But really, we just need to focus on our own game and not worry about what they do.

Our squad is in relatively healthy status, having all our players fit, except for the usual suspects in Wilshere, Coquelin, Frimpong and Metersacker. Abou Diaby played with the reserves on Tuesday in Liverpool, and is unlikely to feature in this tie, but you never know.. Well, I mean there is no point rushing him back.

So we go into the match on the back of 4 comebacks to win in the league. Let's go there and work our socks off. 4th place is ours to lose. 3rd place is there for the taking. Let's play this game and every remaining fixture like it's a cup final.

Let's drop the habit of conceding the first goal in the match, that will make our work a lot easier. Everton defend very well against us and if we concede first, we could have a very tough night ahead of us. We must be focused, defend well, play a fast game and take our chances when they come along.

COYG!!!!

And a quick word too on Fabrice Muamba: Get well buddy and I hope that like Nwanko Kanu before you, you go on to play for several years at the very highest level of the game.

I also wish Eric Abidal the very best in his on-going treatment for Liver failure and hope he recovers fully from his imminent operation and goes on to play football again.

That's all for now.

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@ the_afrogunner on twitter

Arsenal 2-1 Newcastle: Persistence Pays

Vermaelen  pricks the Newcastle Balloon

Match report

I remember back in the days when we were young and playing with Balloons... when somebody, either by a deliberate act or accident, pricked your balloon and it burst, you would wail and run to mummy... That must be how Newcastle felt when Thomas Vermaelen scored in the 5th minute of stoppage time to snatch all 3 points for Arsenal.

Arsenal started the game at a good tempo, passing it around and generally finding their rhythm and setting the tone for the evening. Newcastle looked dangerous on the counter, so they opted to sit back and tried to catch Arsenal on the counter.

As early as the third minute, Walcott sent a cross from the right into the Newcastle box, which Van Persie missed by inches with a sliding effort. Shortly afterwards, a deflected cross from Song fell into the path of Van Persie but he failed to control it and Krul smuggled the ball away from the Arsenal skipper.

It was becoming clear that Walcott was going to have a good game as he had the beating of the Newcastle left-back time and time again. Rosicky too was having a very good game, making excellent runs, distributing the ball well and generally setting the tempo for Arsenal. Whatever Arsenal put in his contract, they must put more of it ... but I digress...

Newcastle, against the run of play scored first, in the 14th minute. A poor clerance by Vermaelen fell to Tiote and Newcastle passed the ball to Ben Arfa out on our left flank. Kieran Gibb's poor positional play in defence was hopelessly exposed. First, he allowed the Newcastle player too much space out on the left to receive the ball and run at our goal. Then he ran towards the Newcastle winger at such speed that he went past him, allowing Ben Arfa to cut back inside onto his favourite left leg and fire a perfect low shot into the bottom corner of the Arsenal goal. Zcszesny stood no chance with that shot.

What happened next was very comical and highlighted the difference in attitude and desire between the two teams. Newcastle players run off to celebrate with some very stupid and bizarre dance. When the game was restarted, Arsenal took only 13 seconds to equalise. Huh!!! I couldn't stop laughing at Newcastle. Their lead, from the time that they scored, did their stupid dance and then had to pick the ball from their net, lasted only 53 seconds!!! Their stupid dance actually increased the amount of time that they held the lead!! That's funny!!

Rosicky passed the ball to Theo on our right, he delivered a cross to Van Persie in the box who out-muscled a Newcastle defender, set the ball onto his left before firing past the on-rushing Krul in the Newcastle goal. 1-1. After that, there were less chances in the match but Arsenal continued to dictate the game.

In the second half, Arsenal started right where they left off. First, Rosicky had a powerful header from a Walcott cross saved. Ox-Chamberlain, who had a fairly quiet game up until that point, chested and volleyed the ball with such technique as you would see from Ronaldo or Messi. Unfortunately it was off-target.

Van Persie stuck a boot at an Arteta cross and had that ball been either side of the Newcastle keeper, it would have ended in the net, but it went straight to the Newcastle keeper.

Arsene Wenger brought on Gervinho for the tiring Ox-Chamberlain and Ramsey for Rosicky who was at risk of getting a second yellow card. Arsenal pressed on, but Gervinho seems to have gone off the boil. It appears that the Africa Cup Final defeat to Zambia is still haunting him. He had a chance late in the game to seal the win from about 4 yards out, but he seemed absent minded. The ball fell at his feet from a corner and he missed the target. That's the second time he missed from such close range and it sent whatever little confidence he had left falling like a rock from the sky.

In the dying seconds of the match, As Arsenal surged forward for the last attack, Gervinho was on the left and when Theo's cross was not cleared by Newcastle, Vermaelen ran past Gervinho, who seemed to be waiting for the ball to come to him, and struck it past the on-rushing Krul to score the winning goal. I was both happy at the winner, but equally shocked with Gervinho's lack of a killer instinct. I sincerely hope he doesn't do an Arshavin. Snap out of it Gervinho!!!

So another win for Arsenal in the league, four in a row actually. We are now 1 point behind Spurs in 3rd place, who were 10 points clear of us not so long ago. And with an ever-fitter squad, I say the momentum is firmly with Arsenal in the last 10 remaining games. 3rd place is there for the taking. Let's grab it.

I must also say I'm happy that the effort put in by the boys is finally starting to pay dividends. The team was relentless last night, refusing to give up until the final whistle. Arsene Wenger said after the match;

"  It was a relentless effort again tonight from the first to the last minute. The tempo was absolutely top level tonight. We kept going until the last second and just managed to win the game. 

Certainly the fact we have done it before helped us. Even when we were 1-0 down we just kept going and we feel now at the moment in the team we just have that complete and total commitment to do as well as we can and give absolutely everything. That gets the crowd behind the team and you saw a very entertaining game tonight against a very good Newcastle side. 

Very true words indeed and no complaints from me there. And we are suddenly looking likely to finish the season with a full-strength or near-full-strength squad, something which has never happened at Arsenal for years!!

The manager says of our injuries;

"Diaby is not far [away], Santos I think will play on Wednesday night in the Reserves against West Brom. He will need 90 minutes. Diaby should be back for Everton, he has a little chance. Jack [Wilshere] is less imminent.

 Now imagine that. With ten games to go and a fully fit squad, hard work from game to game, suddenly I fancy us to really go on and grab third place.

Well done Arsenal, let's keep our feet on the ground and our heads on our shoulders and work hard. Third place is there for the taking. Tottenham should be shitting their pants now!!

Upwards march the Arsenal!!!
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@ the_afrogunner on twitter

Arsenal v Newcastle: Preview & Ramblings

Rosicky: New Deal? Oh Yes Please!!

There are some noises coming out of Arsenal. Some very good noises indeed.

The first noise is about Tomas Rosicky signing a contract extension at the club. Now, I must say, in his current form, and at such a key stage in of the season, I think this is very good news indeed. Even though I think Rosicky is past his best form, I think he is still a very decent footballer to have in the squad.

At a time when we are all collectively crossing our fingers, toes, legs, arms and any other crossable part of our anatomies that Robin Van Persie stays, it's good to keep our senior squad members.

Thomas Vermaelen led the way first by committing his future to Arsenal a few months ago, and since then, we have been extending the contracts of several other players, mostly the young ones. Now we really need Robin Van Persie to sign a new deal. Nomatter how much money we throw at him, his decision will come down to our ability to challenge for trophies. And if we are really serious about winning trophies, it's time that we changed our transfer policy (or lack thereof) and actually started to strengthen our squad instead of always selling our top players...

The bit that worries me though about Van Persie is the statement made by the manager that we need to make a profit at the start of each season to pay for the stadium. And looking at our trend in past few seasons, and reading our financial statements over the same period, it would appear that selling our star players is necessary to achieve our business and financial objectives, contrary to most fans' and pundits' belief that Arsenal is sitting on a large pot of cash and not spending it. This peace by the Swiss Ramble does justice to our true state of affairs.

The noises coming out of Germany and FC Koln to be specific, suggesting that Lucas Podolski has been signed and will be unveiled as an Arsenal players at the end of the season or will be signed by Arsenal at the end of this season, depending on who you believe is both exciting and worrying to be honest.

Firstly, it could be that Arsenal is changing it's way of handling transfer business and wanting to sort out  it's business early (strengthen the squad) to allow the team to be settled come the start of the next season- ala Manc-ies United. This would be a welcome change from the shambles of (especially) the start of this season. We went through the entire pre-season with speculation over Fabregas and Nasri and even started the season with that speculation still hanging over the club. What happened after is well documented.

Secondly, it could just be that there is internal acknowledgement that Van Persie will leave or needs to be sold to sustain our business model. In that case, Lucas Podolski, a left footed striker has been identified as his replacement.

This second scenario is most likely. Now, I do not for a second want Van Persie to go or to be sold, but the fact that he has not signed a deal yet tells me that he is unlikely to stay. Players who wind-down their contracts to one year do so because they want to leave or because they are not very good and their parent club has offered them a lower wage or not even offered them a deal at all. We know that Van Persie has long been offered a new deal, which, like other Arsenal captains before him, he hasn't signed, wanting to wait until the end of the season. What is he waiting for? Is he not convinced with the strength/quality of the team?

What will convince him, between now and the start of the next season, to sign a new deal? I have not looked at any statistics, but it would be interesting to see how many (star) players in their prime have renewed their contracts at their clubs after they had run them down to 1 year...? Anybody have any stats on that, please share. As long as Arsene Wenger is the boss, Arsenal will never sign 4 or 5 big name players in a single season. So if Van Persie isn't convinced with the current team which he is captaining, what are the odds he will be convinced in the summer? I'm sorry, but I doubt he'll stay.

Lucas Podolski, if he is signed, will be the main striker, with Joel Campbell (remember him?) playing second fiddle for the main striker role. That leaves Gervinho, Miyaichi, Theo and Oxlade-Chamberlain to battle for the wide berths... Enough of that for now.

What about the Newcastle game tonight? firstly, Spurs lost at Everton, leaving the door for third place slightly open for us. Chelsea won, and are level on points with us but we have a game in hand and a marginally better goal difference. If we beat Newcastle tonight, the gap between us and Spurs will be just 1 point. We also open up a 3-point gap between ourselves and Chelsea, who are yet to play Spurs... mmhhhhhh!!

Spurs are well and trully rocking at the moment and we must take firm and total advantage of their slump. If we cut the gap to 1 point tonight, suddenly, 'Arry will be very twitchy, Adebayor and Gallas will begin to do what they did so well at Arsenal- sulk, the entire Spurs team will start to have doubts about one another and that's our cue to overtake them.

Andre Santos: Who's the daddy?

Moreover, our injury situation seems to be getting better and better. From having no full-backs a few weeks ago, now all four are fit gain! Andre Santos is fit and available for tonight's match.  In midfield, Arteta and Ramsey are back. Benayoun is 50-50. Diaby is a week or two away.

The thing with Diaby, I think is to play him as a luxury sub for now until the end of the season... i.e play him for the last 10-15 minutes of a game that you are comfortably winning so that he gets game time. Otherwise, I can see him continue to get hamstring injury after hamstring injury like the unfortunate Coquelin. Lets save Diaby for next season, hopefully, like Van Persie, he will be over his injury problems.

A fit Diaby is quite a remarkable midfielder. He can go past players with the ball, shoot, pass, is aggressive in the challenge, can dominate the midfield. In the last game against Liverpool, he showed the qualities we have been missing in midfield during his 28 minute cameo. Until he did his hamstring, we played better with him in the team. Now imagine if we had a fit Wilshere as well...

So, we go into the last 11 games of the season with a much fitter squad. Let's give Newcastle a real hiding tonight and after that, Tottenham will be shitting their collective pants. The players are talking the talk but I don't care for that anymore. Let the football do the talking gentlemen!

We have had enough of you talking about delivering and not delivering, only for you to talk again about delivering after failing to deliver the deliverables... No Thanks gentlemen!!

COYG!!!!!!

Onwards march the Arsenal!!!!
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@the_afrogunner on twitter

Arsenal v AC Milan Preview: How Do We Approach This Match?

Wenger: We need 5 goals

Tonight sees us kick off the second ''half'' of our match against AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League. Yes, it is half time and we are trailing by 4 goals to nil. So, what do you say to the boys as the manager? How do you set up your team for the second half so that you salvage the game?

The key lies in what Arsene Wenger said:

"We will not accept going out of the Champions League because we want to stay in. We will give it our best shot tomorrow"

 Not accepting defeat is the key to any semblance of a salvage of pride or, dare I dream, a complete reversal of the tie. Liverpool came back against the same team a few seasons back to win the Champions League final after being 3 goals down at half time. They had 45 minutes and obviously a lot of luck.

We have just beaten 2 very strong teams in Liverpool and Tottenham and the confidence is flowing through the team. Also considering that a 4 goal deficit is seen as an impossible feat against a very strong AC Milan side, Arsenal really have nothing to lose going into this tie. If we end up conceding 3 goals on the night, hardluck, but if we can put in 4 goals up the other end, we won't feel so bad because we would have tried. If we go with our reserve team, then get licked 4-1, I think the damage will be greater both to our pride and to our future challenges.

We definitely will need a lot of effort from everybody and a lot of luck. If we get an early goal or two without reply from Milan, then I think we stand a chance because they will be shaken. so how does the boss set up his team, bearing in mind the injuries we have?

Wenger: This is how we dismantle AC Milan

Rosicky is a doubt for the game. Mikel Arteta, Abou Diaby, Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin are out. That leaves us very light in midfield.

The boss says he is tempted to change formation. Heh? He must change formation for this game, not still be thinking about changing formation. Arsenal really must go for broke. We cannot allow AC Milan to get comfortable at all during the 90 minutes. They will be looking for a crucial early away goal which will really kill the tie.


So, Arsene Wenger must really play with 5 attacking players from kick off: RVP, Theo Walcott, Gervinho, Chamakh and Oxlade-Chamberlain or Rosicky.

If I was the manager, and thankfully I am not, I would with the following formation:

                        Szczesny
Sagna     Koscielny    Vermaelen   Gibbs
                          Song            
Walcott        Rosiky/Chamberlain   Gervinho
                 Chamakh     Van Persie

The wingers need to whip early crosses into the box for Chamakh. He can head the ball or hold it  up and set up shooting chances for Van Persie's lethal left foot. Gervinho and Theo really need to make the pitch wide so that RVP and Chamakh have space to operate. And when we draw the Milanese wide, Vermaelen and Rosicky should be making runs through the centre in support of the attack. We must press Milan high up the pitch but  be wary of the counter-attack. Our pace, if used intelligently, should manage that threat.

Song: Boss says you must score 2 goals

So, really, the only thing I would say to the boys is to go out there and attack Milan with all they have: Shoot on sight. Whip balls into the box. Play quick one-twos to get between them. Dribble in their 18 yard box and hope they foul you for a penalty. Move around- look for space and shooting opportunities. And when we lose the ball, run back to defend and force them to give us the ball back quickly then start all over again.

Easier said than done...

The crowd will also be very important. If we cheer the boys on for 90 minutes, pressurise the referee, jeer and boo the Milanese... who knows...

Remember, we have nothing to lose!!!

Come on Arsenal!!!!

Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal: A Good Weekend Becomes Great

RVP Volleyed the winner 

Match report and stats.

So, A very good weekend ended up becoming a fantastic weekend for Arsenal in the battle for Champions League football. As soon as Chelsea lost 1-0 to Westbrom, I twitted that AVB was fucked and sacked. And a few hours later, it was so.  Spurs also were hammered by Manc-ies United 3-1 in front of their home crowd. That means Arsenal are firmly in 4th place and just four points behind 3rd placed Spurs. Champions League Football is ours to lose now... but I digress...

So the game started with Liverpool looking the better side in the opening exchanges. Arsenal were getting some decent ball possession, but passing it side ways... *sighs*.. Liverpool were looking  very dangerous when they attacked us, but had little threat on our goal. Our defence looked to be at sea. It looked like it was going to be one of those days... They hit our post twice and when their penalty was saved, I thought hung on a minute...

After some very well-choreographed diving by Suarez, Liverpool were awarded a  penalty. But justice was done when Szczesny made a double save to deny Liverpool getting the lead. Suarez would continue to dive all over the pitch for the remainder of the match, yet he was not booked for simulation. He should consider a career in diving...

23 minutes gone and Liverpool found a lot of space down our left flank. Henderson fired in a poor cross which Koscielny ought to be ashamed that he sliced into his own net. 1-0 to Liverpool. To their credit, Arsenal did not let their heads drop but kept on going, though lacking A LOT the sharpness.

But Arsenal respended 8 minutes later. Sagna put in the type of cross you wish he'd do more often. It landed on the head of RVP, who had to out-muscle Carragher to get their first and his head left Reina with no chance. 1-1. Liverpool continued to huff and puff, but created very little threat really.

At half time, the game was carefully poised at 1-1. The second half was pretty much the same as the first, Liverpool huffed and puffed some more, but achieved nothing. Some sky reporter said Mikel Arteta had suffered a blow to his jaw and was concussed... heh? After a lengthy stoppage, he was stretchered off the field and on came Diaby, a man who hasn't played for a quarter of a year.

Surprisingly, Diaby gave us more attacking threat with his ability to go past a man and shoot at goal. Sadly, he lasted only about 28 minutes and was brought off for the Ox. Gervinho had just earlier replaced Benayoun who had a very disappointing game. By now, it was anybody's game. Liverpool continued to threaten but somehow seemed weary of getting hit with a sucker punch.

And so it was. In the 90th minute, Song and Van Persie replicated what they did against Sunderland earlier this season. Song clipped a ball to the left boot of Van Persie, he side-footed it into the net past the stranded Reina. Arsenal were two-one up. Scoring against a team like United, one would have expected our goal to come under siege for the lengthy extra time (8 minutes) but Liverpool being the cunts that they are just really didn't threaten us.

So we came away from Liverpool with 3 points, justice being done after the way we lost to them at home earlier in the season. And with Spurs having been emphatically beaten by the Manc-ies at the Lane, Roman Abramovich's having fucked, sucked and sacked AVB at Chelsea, Arsenal can only blame themselves if they don't get fourth spot at the very least. I honestly don't see Roberto Di Matteo doing any better than AVB between now and the end of the season.

Spurs are also getting skittish, looking over their shoulder with a twitch. I say 3rd place is there to be fought for. Let us go after Spurs and save Jack Wilshere £3,000.00 that he bet against the Spurs fans.

Onwards march the Arsenal!!!