First of all i would like to appologise for not writing since the Carling Cup, but the performance following, vs Hull, was heartbreaking, it was the worst performance in a long time and Arsenal lacked desire. Hull didnt.
After the Hull match our Gunners thrashed Porto with a stunning 4-0 win, and could have scoredmany more. However, the premier league is not looking too bright for Arsenal this year. Last year we Lost 3 matches, and now we have already lost two in 7 games. It was pretty close to being 3 in 7...
Yesterday our Gunners lacked the desire to win yet again, it is obvious that the team needs something, personally I think we need a player who can be gone a whole game and then strike from nowhere. Like Liverpool's unmentioned diving captain.
Anyways, Arsenal dominated possesion as expected, but had about 5 shots on goal. And it took a Sunderland wonder-strike from Leadbetter (having been substituted in that very minute) to wake the team up. I was happy when arsenal scored, but i should have had to be. I should have been cheering for an arsenal win at sunderland. NOT a draw.
Furthermore, although Wenger has shown some brilliant tactics, i feel that the team lacks the person who will take a shot from outside the penalty box, the team tried to pass the ball into the goal, and with 11 Sunderland infront of you, it isn't possible! So Wenger is going to have to pull off another stunning perferomance in two weeks time after the World Cup qualifiers against Moyes' squad to convince the fans once again that his football will win us the Premier League this year, because from where I am standing it doesnt look too bright Mr. Wenger!
/Gunnermike
Sunday, 5 October 2008
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Respect your juniors! They will outsmart you! (6-0 says it all!)
We had barely digested Saturday's match before it was time for another epic performance. This time Sheffield United were to be ridiculed by Arsenal's youngest team ever in the Carling Cup. The average age was merely 18 years and 6 months and the oldest player on Arsenal's side was Lukas Fabianski at the age of 23. That says it all.
Arsene's young guns are now offiicially the most feared squad in the Carling Cup, not because we have big players that will hurt our opponents but because our cohesive play is more dangerous than Roy Keane on drugs. This ended any doubts of the future of the squad, however, the question is, will Wenger be able to keep the squad together? Is this enough to win trophies now?
Awarding Man of the Match to one player is not possible as the team performance won the game, and everybody had a part to play; Ramsey, Vela (scoring a Hat-trick), Bendtner (scoring a brace), Wilshere (scored his first competitive goal and became the second youngest to score after Cesc.
Overall it was a proud day to be a Gooner, hopefully we shall se the young guns lift the Carling Cup later this season before the big guns lift the Premiership trophy in May!
Wenger knows best!
/mike
Arsene's young guns are now offiicially the most feared squad in the Carling Cup, not because we have big players that will hurt our opponents but because our cohesive play is more dangerous than Roy Keane on drugs. This ended any doubts of the future of the squad, however, the question is, will Wenger be able to keep the squad together? Is this enough to win trophies now?
Awarding Man of the Match to one player is not possible as the team performance won the game, and everybody had a part to play; Ramsey, Vela (scoring a Hat-trick), Bendtner (scoring a brace), Wilshere (scored his first competitive goal and became the second youngest to score after Cesc.
Overall it was a proud day to be a Gooner, hopefully we shall se the young guns lift the Carling Cup later this season before the big guns lift the Premiership trophy in May!
Wenger knows best!
/mike
Sunday, 21 September 2008
Guns shoot down the violent Wanderers as the criticised strike back
Welcome back fellow Gooners, it has been a while but now I am ready to give you news and post match analysis of Arsenal's fixtures. I would like to start off with a personal boast, saying that this summer I managed to meet the French National team during their visit to play Sweden in a friendly. As you know, many of our present and former players are in the French squad. This allowed me to get autographs of players including Gäel Clichy, William Gallas, Thierry Henry, and others. Now to get back to this weekends fixture:
In recent years the matches between Bolton and Arsenal have been intense, much due to the influence of Sam Allardyce, it has been the only way for many teams to stop Arsenal but this years fixture at Reebok Stadium would not hold the Gunners back. It took a goal for Arsenal to get into the game. Unfortunately it was Bolton's Kevin Davies who headed the ball in the Arsenal net after 14 minutes.
It was great to see the Arsenal reaction as they dominated the rest of the first half, creating numerous chances. At first it looked as though the ball did not want to end up in the net after both Adebayor and Song managed to hit the post, reminding the fans of a couple of seasons ago. But Arsenal would not give up and continued to push the trotters until Magic Arsenal-free-flowing goals from Eboué and St. Nick in the 26th and 27th put Arsenal ahead.
Arsenal had more chances to score and probably would have done so before Half Time but
they failed to do so as Jussi Jaaskelainen kept Bolton in the game and was in my opinion Bolton's motm. In the second half, Bolton were pushing for an equalizer, it would prove to be in vain as more brilliant football from the Arsenal was to come. Much of the game's success was due to great performances from players who have been heavily criticised; but after the game no one could say that Alex Song and Denilson shouldn't be on the team. Even the much criticised Eboué deserved a lot of credit for his performance.
To sum up the game, Arsenal never gave up which saw Denilson make it 3-1 from a magnificent Walcott run and an Adebayor pass. It was a proud moment for any gooner, and i think i speak for all by saying that I cant wait until tuesday when our young guns meet Sheffield in the Carling Cup. Wilshire and Ramsey will want to prove themselves and this will be a great opportunity for them to do so!
Check back for a full match report on Tuesday after the Game!
Keep your trust in Wenger!
/Mike
In recent years the matches between Bolton and Arsenal have been intense, much due to the influence of Sam Allardyce, it has been the only way for many teams to stop Arsenal but this years fixture at Reebok Stadium would not hold the Gunners back. It took a goal for Arsenal to get into the game. Unfortunately it was Bolton's Kevin Davies who headed the ball in the Arsenal net after 14 minutes.
It was great to see the Arsenal reaction as they dominated the rest of the first half, creating numerous chances. At first it looked as though the ball did not want to end up in the net after both Adebayor and Song managed to hit the post, reminding the fans of a couple of seasons ago. But Arsenal would not give up and continued to push the trotters until Magic Arsenal-free-flowing goals from Eboué and St. Nick in the 26th and 27th put Arsenal ahead.
Arsenal had more chances to score and probably would have done so before Half Time but
they failed to do so as Jussi Jaaskelainen kept Bolton in the game and was in my opinion Bolton's motm. In the second half, Bolton were pushing for an equalizer, it would prove to be in vain as more brilliant football from the Arsenal was to come. Much of the game's success was due to great performances from players who have been heavily criticised; but after the game no one could say that Alex Song and Denilson shouldn't be on the team. Even the much criticised Eboué deserved a lot of credit for his performance.
To sum up the game, Arsenal never gave up which saw Denilson make it 3-1 from a magnificent Walcott run and an Adebayor pass. It was a proud moment for any gooner, and i think i speak for all by saying that I cant wait until tuesday when our young guns meet Sheffield in the Carling Cup. Wilshire and Ramsey will want to prove themselves and this will be a great opportunity for them to do so!
Check back for a full match report on Tuesday after the Game!
Keep your trust in Wenger!
/Mike
Sunday, 4 May 2008
Gunners crawl across the finish line to make it 1-0
It was always gonna be a weaker Arsenal side on display with nothing to play for, but man, what a terrible performance... The to-some-extent-carling-cup-team had troubles passing the ball around and in the first 65-70 minutes never looked dangerous.
Today's game was probably the least entertaining Arsenal game I've ever seen.
To my count there were 2 shots on target either side in the first half.
Today we saw some uncommon team-ups with Ade and Bendtner, Denilson and Gilberto and the somewhat more common Gallas and song.
The changes seemed all to defensive and the absence of Cesc flamini and hleb felt throughout the match. A player who played better than usual was eboue, sure he gave the ball away, but he played well for being Eboue! While watching the game i kept reciting what wenger said a week ago, "we want to finish with 83 points." Somehow it doesnt feel like this was a main goal with the team on the pitch lacking concentration, and i think it is rather nonchalant towards the fans who pay money to watch their team play without any enthusiasm what so ever.
The game changed in the 70th minute when fabianski and his stressed style of goalkeeping was substituted for mad jens (a sentimental substitution from Arsené?). At the same time Arsenals quickest player came on!(no not Walcott, he was already on and he's not the quickest!) Armand Traore! His pace and crossing ability set Bendtner up for the header to score only goal of the match. It made it his 9th goal of the season, scoring probably 5 or 6 with his head.
Todays match can be summed up by an old chant and an old rant: "one nil to the arsenal"
and "boring boring arsenal" today's match lacked the fluent and attractive football we're all used to, but hey! its the end of the season, maybe we should cut our players some slack and focus on next season!
-
Today Arsenal have yet again been linked with £15m Toon striker Obafemi Martins! Im really hoping for this one as his pace would fit the way we play. Either Martins or Villa plus a defender!
tune in next week before the Season finale!
/Keep it gunning!
mike
Today's game was probably the least entertaining Arsenal game I've ever seen.
To my count there were 2 shots on target either side in the first half.
Today we saw some uncommon team-ups with Ade and Bendtner, Denilson and Gilberto and the somewhat more common Gallas and song.
The changes seemed all to defensive and the absence of Cesc flamini and hleb felt throughout the match. A player who played better than usual was eboue, sure he gave the ball away, but he played well for being Eboue! While watching the game i kept reciting what wenger said a week ago, "we want to finish with 83 points." Somehow it doesnt feel like this was a main goal with the team on the pitch lacking concentration, and i think it is rather nonchalant towards the fans who pay money to watch their team play without any enthusiasm what so ever.
The game changed in the 70th minute when fabianski and his stressed style of goalkeeping was substituted for mad jens (a sentimental substitution from Arsené?). At the same time Arsenals quickest player came on!(no not Walcott, he was already on and he's not the quickest!) Armand Traore! His pace and crossing ability set Bendtner up for the header to score only goal of the match. It made it his 9th goal of the season, scoring probably 5 or 6 with his head.
Todays match can be summed up by an old chant and an old rant: "one nil to the arsenal"
and "boring boring arsenal" today's match lacked the fluent and attractive football we're all used to, but hey! its the end of the season, maybe we should cut our players some slack and focus on next season!
-
Today Arsenal have yet again been linked with £15m Toon striker Obafemi Martins! Im really hoping for this one as his pace would fit the way we play. Either Martins or Villa plus a defender!
tune in next week before the Season finale!
/Keep it gunning!
mike
Monday, 28 April 2008
Derby - Arsenal 2-6
Well the game just finished 6-2 and we can all agree on that before we took the lead, the game was a bit nervy. Our "Carling cup team" showed their quality... And why we need to buy more players... The defence looked terrible, gallas and song need to be replaced.
So we won. You may wonder why i am so critical towards todays side. Well here you have it: too many shots were well off target, and when playing against bigger teams like Man U, Chelsea or even Everton, we need to capitalize. It is the chances where we are 7m before the goal and dont score we need to score. It is in these cases Eduardo is known for his talent, but he will be out for another 6 months, and i doubt that he will be in goalscoring form.
Here are my ratings:
Fabianski: 6 - lacked any confidence and showed that he can't compete for the #1 yet.
Clichy: 7.5 - did what he could and backed up gallas when he slipped up.
Gallas : 5 - isnt stable enough, could be blamed for derby's second. Showed that arsene needs to open the check book during the summer
Song: 6 - He's a center midfielder, but otherwise he played ok, shows potential and i think that he can be really good in his original position.
Toure: 7 - showed his strength and speed, but could have scored of cesc's heel pass
Eboue: 6 -Made a few runs, but it never feels as though he will score or play a decisive pass. Should have scored on Bendtner's cross.
Denilson: 7.5 - played well and set Theo up for the third goal. Hopefully we'll see more of him next season and maybe he can give flam a run for his money (if flam is still here next season, more of about this on thursday)
Fabregas: 7.5 -looked as though he didnt have to try too hard to do what he does best.
Walcott: 8 - did his usual runnings and scored a typical Henry goal, but should have scored another when he was alone with the keeper.
Bendtner: 8 -put the first goal in the net but shouldnt have been given the opportunity to. It was from a huge Derby-mistake, but the important thing is that he scored. Needs to work on his shooting from outside the box as many others in the team.
van Persie: 7 - scored a nice goal but was given the chance to score more goals and should have scored with a clear shot but put the ball just wide. He's still not at his best and walked off with an injury... hopefully he will be fine by Euro 2008
SUBSTITUTES
Adebayor: 9 - man of the match and scored a real hat-trick as he was only on for the second half.
Gilberto: 7 - did well to pick out Theo for his goal.
Djorou: N/A
So all 'n' all: arsenal played ok, should have scored more goals since you dont get that many chances against any team but Derby, but wenger used this game to test his younger players (bendtner, walcott, denilson and song). Lets finish in style, and win what we can, but please Arsene, buy new players!
So we won. You may wonder why i am so critical towards todays side. Well here you have it: too many shots were well off target, and when playing against bigger teams like Man U, Chelsea or even Everton, we need to capitalize. It is the chances where we are 7m before the goal and dont score we need to score. It is in these cases Eduardo is known for his talent, but he will be out for another 6 months, and i doubt that he will be in goalscoring form.
Here are my ratings:
Fabianski: 6 - lacked any confidence and showed that he can't compete for the #1 yet.
Clichy: 7.5 - did what he could and backed up gallas when he slipped up.
Gallas : 5 - isnt stable enough, could be blamed for derby's second. Showed that arsene needs to open the check book during the summer
Song: 6 - He's a center midfielder, but otherwise he played ok, shows potential and i think that he can be really good in his original position.
Toure: 7 - showed his strength and speed, but could have scored of cesc's heel pass
Eboue: 6 -Made a few runs, but it never feels as though he will score or play a decisive pass. Should have scored on Bendtner's cross.
Denilson: 7.5 - played well and set Theo up for the third goal. Hopefully we'll see more of him next season and maybe he can give flam a run for his money (if flam is still here next season, more of about this on thursday)
Fabregas: 7.5 -looked as though he didnt have to try too hard to do what he does best.
Walcott: 8 - did his usual runnings and scored a typical Henry goal, but should have scored another when he was alone with the keeper.
Bendtner: 8 -put the first goal in the net but shouldnt have been given the opportunity to. It was from a huge Derby-mistake, but the important thing is that he scored. Needs to work on his shooting from outside the box as many others in the team.
van Persie: 7 - scored a nice goal but was given the chance to score more goals and should have scored with a clear shot but put the ball just wide. He's still not at his best and walked off with an injury... hopefully he will be fine by Euro 2008
SUBSTITUTES
Adebayor: 9 - man of the match and scored a real hat-trick as he was only on for the second half.
Gilberto: 7 - did well to pick out Theo for his goal.
Djorou: N/A
So all 'n' all: arsenal played ok, should have scored more goals since you dont get that many chances against any team but Derby, but wenger used this game to test his younger players (bendtner, walcott, denilson and song). Lets finish in style, and win what we can, but please Arsene, buy new players!
Sunday, 27 April 2008
Our chances!
Good Morning Gooners,
After yesterday's result, the title race is still on. Anyone can still win the league! Manchester United and Chelsea are the main horses in this race, but believe it or not, Arsenal can still win! It implies a lot of "ifs and buts" but its possible! Today the top looks:
Man Utd - 81
Chelsea - 81
Arenal - 74 (game in hand)
Man U have hammers in the next round, and West ham have Won the last 3 meetings against united. So i think that west ham will draw. Chelsea have to travel to St. James' Park and play against a team who have certainly turned to winning ways in the last few games. Honestly i think they will drop at least 2 points. We will have Everton in this round but we should be able to win. And we should win against derby tomorrow, and if arsenal draw or lose, I will throw my brother out the window (if anything happens, i didnt do it, this was only a joke).
So in the last round we will have (according to Mike's prediction)
Man Utd - 82
Chelsea - 82
Arenal - 80
Man U travel to wigan, chelsea play Bolton at home, and we have sunderland away.
We have the easiest fixture, so we should pick up three, but i think that wigan can draw against man u. Chelsea should win against Bolton but anything is possible. So to finish the season, i recon the league will look:
Chelsea - 85
Man U - 83
Arsenal 83
We can still win, but it would mean both chelsea and man u losing their last two fixtures.
/have a nice one and keep in mind that chelsea and man u have an extra game with the Champions league Semi
-Keep it Gunning
Mike
After yesterday's result, the title race is still on. Anyone can still win the league! Manchester United and Chelsea are the main horses in this race, but believe it or not, Arsenal can still win! It implies a lot of "ifs and buts" but its possible! Today the top looks:
Man Utd - 81
Chelsea - 81
Arenal - 74 (game in hand)
Man U have hammers in the next round, and West ham have Won the last 3 meetings against united. So i think that west ham will draw. Chelsea have to travel to St. James' Park and play against a team who have certainly turned to winning ways in the last few games. Honestly i think they will drop at least 2 points. We will have Everton in this round but we should be able to win. And we should win against derby tomorrow, and if arsenal draw or lose, I will throw my brother out the window (if anything happens, i didnt do it, this was only a joke).
So in the last round we will have (according to Mike's prediction)
Man Utd - 82
Chelsea - 82
Arenal - 80
Man U travel to wigan, chelsea play Bolton at home, and we have sunderland away.
We have the easiest fixture, so we should pick up three, but i think that wigan can draw against man u. Chelsea should win against Bolton but anything is possible. So to finish the season, i recon the league will look:
Chelsea - 85
Man U - 83
Arsenal 83
We can still win, but it would mean both chelsea and man u losing their last two fixtures.
/have a nice one and keep in mind that chelsea and man u have an extra game with the Champions league Semi
-Keep it Gunning
Mike
New Home and away Shirt?
Well, to all gooners, you've probably already seen them but here they are again! the unofficially announced new kits for 08/09. I think they take some getting-used-to. You are welcome to comment!
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