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!

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

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!

The Beginning of the end...

Well, the season is coming to an end for the Arsenal, and what a season It's been. We dominated English football for 6 months, but it wasn't enough. Everybody is looking at next season, hoping for new signings, others are worried about the effect Flamini and Hleb's departure would have. Having said that i would like to mention the chant "we're [Arsenal FC] by far the greatest team the world has ever seen," any player would happily replace these two, and im sure replacing the two who have been important for arsenals pace and passing this season, wont be a problem. Wenger knows what Arsenal need and after the signings of key players: Thierry Henry, Gäel Clichy, Bacary Sagna etc, i have full faith in him.

If one is to criticize him, it should be for having too much faith in inadequate players such as Senderos and Eboue, unfortunately I think us Gooners will have to watch them play at the Emirates at least another season.

So here's a question which is as fun to answer every once in a while; should senderos and eboue get another chance? who do you think Arsene will sign? who do you want him to sign?