Archive for the ‘premier league’ Category

Arsenal
 
24 Manuel Almunia 
27 Emmanuel Eboue 
31 Justin Hoyte 
10 William Gallas 
5 Kolo Toure 
30 Armand Traore 
4 Francesc Fabregas 
19 Gilberto Silva 
16 Mathieu Flamini 
32 Theo Walcott 
26 Nicklas Bendtner 
 
Bench
1 Jens Lehmann 
22 Gaël Clichy 
13 Alexander Hleb 
25 Emmanuel Adebayor 
17 Alexandre Song 
 
Liverpool
 
Jose Reina  25
Jamie Carragher  23
Martin Skrtel  37
Alvaro Arbeloa  17
Steve Finnan  3
Jermaine Pennant  16
Yossi Benayoun  11
Lucas  21
John Arne Riise  6
Damien Plessis  47
Peter Crouch  15
 
Bench
Charles Itandje  30
Andrej Voronin  10
Sami Hyypia  4
Steven Gerrard  8
Fernando Torres  9 

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I've got the official team news, but before I publish it, I just want to touch on our strength in depth. Yesterday I was playing Pro Evo and the Masters League. Now in the game, it's pretty hard to have any long term injuries, or major absenses. So throughout the season we had the luxury of having a fit group of players. The options we had were amazing.

Van Persie and Adebayor played as the first choice striking partnership, and they finished 1st and 2nd in the scoring charts, Van Persie with 25 goals and Ade with 22. VP also got 11 assists to finish top of the assist league.

Our first choice midfield saw Rosicky, Cesc, Flamini and Hleb play. Rosicky got 11 goals, Cesc 8, Hleb popped up with 7 too, with the Flamster picking up 4 scorchers himself. Our strength in dept saw Eduardo grab 15 league goals and Bendtner managed 8 of his own. Walcott was an excellent option and played somtimes on the wing and sometimes up front. He got himself 8 assists and 6 goals.

With a fit set of midfielders, Diaby, Denilson, Song, Djourou all played vital parts in the midfields with Eduardo and Eboue also playing quote a few games in midfield.

Our defence was the best in the league and Senderos, Gallas, Toure, Song, Clichy, Sagna, Hoyte, Traore and Eboue giving us depth.

It goes to show how much strength in depth we have - but how badly our injuries have been... come on you reds today and show the Pool what we're made of...]]>

Arsenal vs Liverpool Preview

Tomorrow sees two midfielders suspended. One for each side. As we know Diaby will be suspended and so will Mascherano. I believe Lucas will come into the starting XI for Liverpool, whilst Diaby hasn’t featured in our first XI. Van Persie is injured – how many times have I said that this season?

It’s been a strange series of team selection that has seen Eboue constantly picked ahead of Theo and our games have only changed positively when Eboue has been replaced. It will be interesting to see who starts on Wednesday. I think with VP out, Bendtner may start with Walcott on the bench. The reason I see Arsene putting Walcott on the bench is that a) he has attacking options on the bench b) he would want to keep him fresh for Tuesday c) Bendtner will want to make up for his awful clearance on Wednesday.

Rumours are that Liverpool team will be somewhat weakened. The Liverpool supporters I know have mentioned that the starting line up will see Crouch, Vorinin, Pennant and Benyauon play. No matter which Liverpool team plays it will be a strong team and we’ll have to be at our best to beat them. This is the line up I expect to see tomorrow:

With Lehmann, Hoyte, Song, Gilberto and Walcott on the bench.

Transfer Rumours

There have been a somewhat hightened round of transfer rumours this week and we’ve been linked with various players this month (and it’s only 4 days old)… here’s who’s who in the transfer target talk… (now that’s a tongue twister)!

Clement GrenierClement Grenier is an attacking midfielder, currently plying his trade at Lyon in France. Clement Grenier is 17 and has not yet signed a professional contract. Of couse, we all know that Arsene has had much success in landing non contracted youngsters.Grenier has been dubbed the new Kaka, which is some accolade. Although sometimes agents talk up their players in this manner to raise their profile…

And…

DiegoDiego is the next highly touted Brazilian to hit the national side. He currently plays for Weder Bremen and was in action for Brazil against Sweden at the Emirates. His performance was impressive. It is understood that the asking price is around £20m, so it’s not exactly something that Arsene usually does. His father, who is also his agent has been talking this week about how both Real Madrid and Juventus have had talks.

True or false???

Almunia Signs A Contract Extension

Something which is becoming increasing clearer now is the goalkeeping situation. Almunia has been solid, has pulled off some great saves and have established himself and the number one keeper, displacing the German #1 Lehmann. The players like to play with him and have confidence in his ability.

It’s clear that next season he will be our #1  with Fabianski our #2 and Mannone our #3.

Almunia signed a long term contract recently and hopes to end his career at Arsenal.

“I’ve extended my contract and I hope to be here for a long, long time. Hopefully I can finish my career here.”

Fran Merida Signs On Too

Young Fran Merida has followed in the footsteps of Cescy from Barce to Arsenal. Merida has been out on loan with Real Sociedad this season. He is a special talent and Arsene rates him highly. I believe he will feature in our first team this season and the season in Spain will prove very useful. I have seen him in a few friendlies and he does look awesome.

Don’t forget to get up early, coverage starts at 12noon tomorrow, come on you Gunners.]]>

It's a word that describes when it doesn't go your way, when things come up and cause difficulties, it's when all things conspire against you. When Drogba, Anelka and Kalou were offside and a 1-0 win turns into a 2-1 loss. Adversity.

Today's game was all about adversity. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. But in the face of adversity, belief will prosper. In a game which saw rain plummet down before the game, making the surface impossible to play in. In a game which saw Bolton score on their first attack and double their lead before the break. In a game which saw Arsenal reduced to 10 men after 30 minutes. In a game where everything conspired against us, we came out winners and all credit to the team. The position that the team has been in has been a disappointment to all, but the fans reacted unbelievably. In a situation where most teams would crumble, we can out victorious.

The game started well with Arsenal dominating the early periods, we had four shots, three half chances and a real opportunity. Bendtner and Van Persie guilty of missing. It was a very bright start. Toure started the game at right back and raided the right flank well showing energy and crossing well.

But Bolton are Bolton. They counter-attacked well and after a bright start from us, we found ourselves 1-0 down when Matthew Taylor headed home from Gretar Steinsson's cross. It was a bit of a shock to the system and sometimes when we attack, attack, attack, you leave the back door open.

That goal seemed to take it out of us for a while and we lacked maturity going forward after that. But in a crazy turn of events, Diaby got sent off in a tackle that should have been red. It was reminiscent of the Eduardo / Taylor challenge, albeit not that bad, but catching the player in the way he did, the ref has no other option other than sending him off.

Shortly before the end of the first half, another Bolton counter attack saw Taylor shoot, a deflection from Gallas, past Almunia and we found ourselves 2-0 down.

“Spirit, Energy and Ability.”

Shortly into the second half, the Calvary arrived. Theo and Adebayor joined the frey, and we change to a 3-4-3 formation. It was a change that was much needed. Bendtner had been good, but it is obvious that he is still learning. Don’t get me wrong, he is a very good player and will only get better, but Ade is just a monster.

The Bolton defence couldn’t handle the new formation, and for the first time in the game since going behind, we looked like we could get something out of the game. A corner shortly afterwards saw Gallas volley in and it was 2 – 1.

Moments later, a Cahill challenge, saw Hleb tumble in the box and 2-1 became 2-2 when Van Persie scored from the spot. It was his first goal in 5 years since September and will only do him good.

We rallied well and it looked like there would be only one team going on to win this game. Ade and Walcott really tore the Bolton defence apart. In the last few minutes of the game, the winner came. A good move from the team saw Fabregas free. And something of a scramble hit two Bolton players on the way, and cross the line. A remarkable scoreline 3-2 with Arsenal campaigning with 10 men for the last hour. [Updated from original post]

It was a win that we needed and a win that we deserved… well done Arsenal. Let’s enjoy this and see what United and Chelsea can do now…]]>

Manuel Almunia 24

Gaël Clichy 22 
William Gallas 10 
Philippe Senderos 6 
Kolo Toure 5

Vasiriki Abou Diaby 2 
Francesc Fabregas 4 
Mathieu Flamini 16 
Alexander Hleb 13

Nicklas Bendtner 26 
Robin Van Persie 11]]>

A win today won't be easy, as Bolton really are our bogey side. We not beaten them in 8 and they've won the last three at the Reebok. Not the greatest of grounds for us, but something we can start rectifying today.

Arsene spoke about the game yesterday:

“On Saturday, the team just wants to focus on a top-level performance, and then we will win. Not the opposite when how you play does not matter as long as you win. It is important how we perform, then we win the game.

That’s very true, if we can play our game we can win. But “play our game” also means let’s not get upset when Kevin Davies challenges Gallas in the air and let’s not get upset when Nolan clips Walcott’s ankles. Let’s just get up, focus, play well and score goals.

As discussed yesterday, we have two possible options with the game’s starting line up. One version saw Bendtner and Van Persie up front with Ade rested and Arsene seems to think this is a good idea.

Official team news shortly, but Arsene agrees young Ade needs a rest.

“I believe he has given a lot this year and so he would need a little breather, maybe. He has played a lot on his own up front and has had to fight very hard. So at the moment, to refresh him a bit would do him some good. He has not scored recently but then, as a team, we have made less chances. Also physically he was a bit jaded because he has played in nearly every single game since the start of the season. He is an important player in our squad. But I have Bendtner there and I have van Persie coming back.”

This same variation saw Walcott and Diaby on either side with Hleb rested and saw Senderos at the back with Toure on the right.

The other variation saw Eboue at right back, Hleb and Diaby on the wings. It’s one of those days, where with a few players back from injury and a drop in form from the remaining players, we won’t know who will play until Arsene announces it…

Who ever plays will be the choice of the gaffer and a team that he thinks can win…

Come on you Gunners!!!]]>

It's been 5 games since we last won a Premiership game, and we're simply not used to that!

Let's take a look at the news this week.

Sagna out for three weeks

Sagna is injured and he’s out for at least three weeks. He was the hero for us on Sunday when he scored to give us the 1-0 advantage, but his arguably his substitution disrupted the game and the defence. I’ve got cause for concern about his absence and we have to look at the options. Arsene spoke on this.

“He has an ankle injury and the first news that we have is that he could be out for quite a while. I don’t know how long he will be out, but I feel it will be three weeks at least. Five is the worst-case scenario. I have seen the injury again on tape. He wanted to kick the ball out and he twisted”

So what do we do now? Bacary has been instrumental to our campaign this season and he looks set to miss this weekend’s clash as well as the games against Liverpool (times three) and Man United. Let’s look at the options.

Who would you like to see play?

Arsene wants to find our form

Arsene has spoken quite a lot recently and one of the major articles you may have read or not read is about how we need to refind our early season form. It’s very much the truth. There is a psychological impact that our players had when Eduardo was injured and a major part of our form was removed. The players have taken their time to recover from this. It’s not like we played badly in the last 5 games, but it’s more like we’ve played 90% of our game.

If you’ve haven’t read this, then take a look, it’s a quick piece on why it’s not all doom and gloom.

Arsene has been talking on the fact that we must focus on our next game, and interestingly he talks about the title as a long term project? Here’s what he said:

“I believe that what we want is to win our next game and then try to get a grip on it again before we dream of winning the title. We have to be realistic. Our form in recent games is not good enough to dream of the title. Let’s first get into form where we can pretend again to win the title. I believe we will do it, but it is more than a long-term project. Let’s give everything in our next one and win it.” 

I know what he means by a long term project, yes, we’ve invested in a big stadium and no really splashed the cash on many players, but we were very close to challenging for the title this season. Actually, I believe if we still had Eduardo and Rosicky playing this season we wouldn’t have drop those points… another discussion, but we need some silverware soon…

Talking about Eduardo, he has been speaking about Taylor and how he hasn’t spoken to him yet. Take a read on Sky Sports. This is contrary to the report today from Taylor himself who insists he has spoken to Eduardo. Strange stuff, all of this.

Transfers Rumours

Something that always arises around the time of a loss or eventful week is the transfer rumours come out… in the last few days we’ve been linked with Gai Assulin  and Hatem Ben Arfa, and more recently, Zdravko Kuzmanovic.

Let’s have a look at these rumourss… The agent of Assulin has dismissed a move, and said that Chelsea are the only team that have expressed an interested. The Hatem Ben Arfa link is more credible as it’s got some Arsene backing. And most of you may be asking, who the hell is Kuzmanovic? He’s a 20 year old Serb who’s been linked as Flamini’s replacement. But I think he’s literally just signed a contract in the last hour or so, so that story was surely just a contract negotiation one.

One more speculative on is on Pjanic, who we’ve been talking about recently. Apparently the Metz coach has said they will sell Pjanic in Summer as they will need to raise cash as they will be relegated… don’t get too excited, he’s only 17, but he’s a very good 17 year old at that! The Arsenal Way has the full quote from the Metz manager, Joel Muller.

Just enough time for a match preview…

Match Preview: Bolton vs Arsenal

Okay, so we’re off to the Reebok on Saturday, a 3pm kick off off and if we don’t win, it will be Arsene’s worst ever run as manager – just shows the “crisis” we are in… but surely the boys are just as upset as the fans. Surely they want to put things right starting with Bolton. But then again, surely they wanted to win the last five games…

Positive thoughts…

It’s third from bottom versus third from top… and Bolton haven’t won in the last 8 games… so our form is marginally better!

With Sagna out of the game and Rosicky and Eduardo long term injuries, we’ve got a few choices to make now. Many people are calling for Eboue to be dropped but there seems to be two slots available for him. Ideally, I’d like to see Eboue out of the starting XI so that he has to push himself to get back into it. I’d also like to see a rest for Ade and Hleb as they seems like they need it…! Playing Bolton too, Diaby would be the better option.

Here’s the starting XI line up that I’d like to see play…

But here’s the starting line up that Arsene will probably opt for…

I’d like to see young Theo play – his cameo’s have been very positive and Senderos could help with those Bolton long balls, but we’ll see tomorrow what Arsene has in mind. With three games against Liverpool and then United, we have to rest some players here and there and inject some freshness into the team…

News Round Up 

Just to top it off, the British Prime Minister and French President has a meeting with Arsene at the Emirates. A nice little thing, and a very proud moment for us and for Arsene. Sepp Blatter made an appearance too, but surprisingly didn’t speak to Arsene… more on the Arsenal.com site.

Young Guns talks about Henri Lansbury’s party attitude. Carlos Vela looks like he will return on the weekend.

More tomorrow!]]>

Diaby is back in the squad and will start on the bench. Starting XI is as per team preview.

Almunia (Goalkeeper)

Sagna (Right Back)
Gallas (Centre Back)
Toure (Centre Back)
Clichy (Left Back)
 
Eboue (Right Wing)
Flamini (Defensive Midfielder)
Fabregas (Attacking Midfielder)
Hleb (Left Wing)
 
Adebayor (Stiker)
Van Persie (Support Stiker)

With Liverpool losing 3-0 at Old Trafford and Macherano being sent off for saying “what’s happening?” (in one of the worst – most home bias refereeing I’ve ever seen), it’s a must win game for Arsenal.]]>

This week, I talked about the title run in and what’s required for us to win the league. I’ve also run through about the belief we need to haveas Arsene has had all season and the scandal which is Hlebgate. And amongst others, we’ve taken a look at the England squad and been very happy at the return of Bob and reviewed Clichy’s look at Chelsea and Liverpool and Matty Flamini’s contract situation.

Chelsea vs Arsenal Game Preview

It’s been a whirlwind few weeks and with 4 successive draws in the league, it’s time to get back on track. Remember, we’re only three points behind with 8 games to go, not the worst position considering our pre-season suggested finish.

Chelsea have been there or thereabouts all season and are now 2 points behind us and 5 behind United. If we win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, it will shortly become a two-horse race.

Arsene spoke today about how the main reason that we have drawn these recent games is because we concede the first goal. It’s reminiscent of last season. But he’s right, against Villa, B’ham and Boro we were chasing the game. And when teams go a goal up against us, it makes it even harder as they defend even more. I remember at times when it seemed that the whole Middlesborough team was camped in their box.

We have to score first against Chelsea if we want to win. They’ve played midweek against Sp*rs and it was a tiring game…

Team News

Both Rosicky and Diaby are still injured, so it looks like pretty much the same squad and the same eleven that started and drew against Middlesborough.

The squad for Sunday looks like:

Goalkeepers: Almunia, Lehmann
Defenders: Sagna, Gallas, Senderos, Clichy, Toure
Midfielders: Hleb, Flamini, Fabregas, Gilberto, Walcott
Strikers: Adebayor, Bendtner, Van Persie 

The team definitely has quality and with a week’s rest, they will hopefully be raring to go. Van Persie has had another game under his belt and will be sharper and young Theo will be raring to go after his England call up. I don’t think Theo will start as his role as an impact sub seems to be more effective and Eboue can help defensively. This should be the line up tomorrow.

 With Lehmann, Senderos, Gilberto, Walcott and Bendtner on the bench…

Rosicky’s injury is somewhat untimely as he’s been out for 7 weeks, it’s frustrating for us and Arsene and surely for him – read more about his crazy injurynightmare on GunnersLive.

Let’s hope the first team do a reverse of the under 18’s who lost 1-0 to Chelsea yesterday - read more on Young Guns.

Quick Round Up

Although he trained yesterday, Carlos Vela looks like he won’t be travelling to London for the Mexico friendly.

Arsene has defended AshleyCole saying he’s not a dirty player – I don’t know why, but he has always said good things about Cole… despite what’s happen. Hat’s off to Arsene. The gaffer is confident in Matty signing his new contract.

In transfer news, Juventus winger Raffaele Palladino has been linked with a summer move to us – he is one of the most promising young Italians.

And that’s a wrap today… more Chelsea vs Arsenal news tomorrow…]]>

Yesterday’s predicted line-up including the bench was spot-on. It was exactly what I thought Arsene would do, but maybe it’s obvious considering who was available and the fact we were at home.

With both Man U and Chelsea winning earlier in the day, we had slipped to second in the league with all 3 teams having played 29 games.

Match Report: Full time, Arsenal 1 – 1 Middlesborough

The game started at pace with both team trying make an early impression.

A free flowing move between Ade, VP and Hleb saw George Boetang send the ball to Ade who snuck it under the advancing goalkeeper. 1-0 to Arsenal? Ruled offside by a linesman who really should check the rule book, if the ball comes off an opposing player, the offside rule doesn’t reply – remember England v France, Gerrard and Henry?

Anyway, the game continued and we were obviously in a good mood, with everyone working hard. Good work from the team, saw Eboue get the ball out on the right. His play was so bad that his cross actually swung along the byline and hit the bar. A long ball from Cesc saw Van Persie swipe at thin air, something a 100% fit VP would have volleyed home.

More good work from the team saw Schwarzer save well from a fierce Eboue shot from about 7 yards who made some space for himself (yes Eboue hit the target!). Not the time or place to talk about this, but I’d really like to see someone else come in for Eboue as he really doesn’t seem like he understands how important these games are. Having said, that, around the 20 min mark, good work from him and Ade teed up Cesc for a shot, although the pass was a little short, Cescy still managed to get the ball on target.

Cesc is something special and an 60 yard straight ball down the middle saw Ade have an attempt on goal. We started to dominate the game and Ade was tussling, fighting for everything. However, on the 24th minute he was wrongly awarded a freekick against him – and from that free kick a long ball down to Tuncay a cross on the ground saw Aliaidiere find the back of the net.

To the shock of the Emirates, Arsenal 0 – 1 Middlesborough.

By the way, it was offside, Aliaidiere was about 2 yards ahead of play, but then is there any worth moaning? 

A few minutes of nothing-ness followed until the 28th minute when Flamini & Fabregas set up VP on the edge of the box, who elected to shoot rather than pass and it went out for a throw in.

It had been raining before the game and a lot of players had been falling over, but Eboue’s run in the box was clearly a drag down and in the 32nd minute, surely a penalty to Arsenal. Not given. Arsenal 72% posession, Middlesborough 28%.

It was intiscing. From the 35th minute it was an onslaught, the play was awesome, we had shots from Ade, Eboue and Cesc. But for goodness sake, Mark Halsey, do you know what the hell a foul is? VP had been hacked down twice 15 yards nothing given.

Half time, one nil down.

The second half started well with a good amount of pressure, a stike wide from VP and a header over from Gallas. Hleb wasn’t in the game that much and Arsene had obviously told him to get into the game. For the first 10 mins everything went through him. But then strangely enough, nothing really happened for a while. Kolo heading wide from a corner.

There was a lack of urgency, the crowd were frustated. Walcott and Bendtner were warming up and surely the game needed this… on the 60th minute VP for Bendtner, Walcott for Sagna (instead of Eboue) which was a little strange…

Both made an immediate impact and both Theo mazing runs and Bendtner different approach saw crosses and an attempt on goal by Bendtner from an Eboue cross… But time was running out, 65th minute passes still one nil down.

An awesome ball from Hleb saw Fabregas through one on one with the keeper but Schwarzer saved well. The replays showed it was a golden opportunity and Cescy knew it.

The next chance didn’t come until the 73rd minute when a looping ball from Toure on the right saw Cescy’s header hit the post and go wide… 15 minutes to go? Would we salvage a draw? Or would we lose our 2nd league game of the season to the same opponents.

Well 10 mins passed and nothing happened, so it’s now the 85th minute and hold on….

A corner from Fabregas, Toure’s header it’s a goal, Arsenal 1 – 1 Middlesborough!

5 minutes to find a winner. It’s amazing how many times we’ve scored in the last 15 minutes of games?

Things got a bit crazy, Mido’s Karate kick moments later saw Mido sent off, Clichy stretchered off and Senderos come on for the last 5 minutes. 3-4-3 the formation. 4 minutes of stoppage time, quite an end to the game. We must have had about 10 chances, great play, an amazing last 5 minutes.

Why on earth couldn’t we play like this for the 90 minutes?

The title is looking more distant, but we’re still in the race.

More later…]]>

We had another bout of injuries, which saw Gilberto, Flamini and Fabregas all start. Fabregas was supposed to be on the right, but often drifted inside. Flamini then went out right, but again ended up inside. We therefore had no one on the right. As the game continued, it was clear to see we had no width. It was kind of weird to see as Hleb naturally goes inside and it left Clichy and Sagna to provide the width. Pre match positives were that Toure, Song and Van Persie all started on the bench. Bendtner and Adebayor started up front. It was the first time they had started a premiership game together. Bendtner had played up at Everton but he was red carded in that game and Ade came on for him.

Game Overview 

We started the game well, Cesc sending Ade through in the first minute, only to be saved by Kirkland. I thought he would have been better off trying to go round him, but Ade elected to try and squeeze it under his body. It was one of our most promising chances and it came so early on. The Wigan defence learnt from this and Sharner and Melchiot became much tighter. Melchiot blocking an Ade shot moments later. Wigan had a game plan of pressing up high up the pitch. They were content in letting us have possession in our own half, but as soon we crossed the white line, they pressed us. It was clear to see that they didn’t want us to have any time on the ball. We managed to play though, and Bendtner broke free and had a deflected shot wide.

Cesc sent Bendtner through on the 16th minute but the ball took a horrible bobble and he was unable to test the keeper. It was the first real sign of the pitch being a problem, but on the 15th minute mark, it really did start to cut up and by the half hour mark, it looked like we were playing on a farm after harvest (it’s the only way to explain it). Koumas had a free kick headed out by Gilberto shortly after, and Fabregas had a header saved by Kirland moments after.

The team were getting frustrated and Fabregas and Heskey had a small altercation on the sideline where Cescy felt that Heskey was being over physical, pushed him slightly and then Heskey retaliated with a light head butt. Cesc clutched his face but who really knows how strong Heskey really is? Both got away with just a talking too, but it was clear to see frustration in Cesc. The first half ended 0-0.

We started the second half well, and had a chance from a Clichy free kick a few minutes in, when a mix up between Kirkland and Sharner let him in, Kirkland saving well though. Moments later, Cesc was through and instead of shooting, he elected to pass to Bendtner which was intercepted. Heskey was soon subbed for Siberski and this through life into the Wigan team. They came forward with verve and Melchiot and Valencia exposed the space in front of Clichy, with Valencia having a cracking shot, which Almunia palmed over.

Van Persie replaced Bendtner on the 65th minute and couldn’t really get into the game. It was clear to see that he was lacking match practice but good to see him unscathed with minutes on the pitch. He had a chance in the final 10 minutes, but shot high from 20 yards. Fabregas had a chance in the final minutes, but it was an inevitable 0-0.

Team: Almunia, Sagna, Senderos, Gallas, Clichy, Fabregas, Flamini, Silva (Toure 65), Hleb, Adebayor, Bendtner (Van Persie 65).

The Pitch

Now, we have won “ground of the year” and “groundsman of the year” since I can remember the award began. But surely our standards aren’t too high. But this pitch was awful. I’ve never seen a worse pitch. After 15 minutes, it literally cut up and the ball never stayed flat. I can’t believe these pitches are allowed in the modern day of football. And yes, I know they were worse back in the day, but the game has changed. Arsene agrees.

“It is not a professional football pitch. The pitch is a disaster. It is disrespectful for the fans who come and pay money to see that.”

Another point closer or two points dropped?

Arsene spoke after the game:

“I am sure we will take-off again. We have to keep our calm, focus and belief. I don’t know, we shall see at the end of the season (whether it was two points dropped or a point gained). You go through a patch like that sometimes. The negative is that we have a deficit in points. The positive is that we didn’t lose a game. Overall, there was room for us to take more. Not against Aston Villa – the point was what we deserved – but against Birmingham and today we lost four points.”  

Most Arsenal fans will be disappointed with this result, myself included. It was a weekend of shocks which saw even lowly Barnsley beat Chelsea. With both United and Chelsea out of the cup now, it will be an intense final 9 games to the end of the season. It’s another two points dropped, but a week rest and a few players back should see us re-invigorated for the weekend clash. By the time we take on Middlesborough for a 5.15pm kick off, United will be one point clear of us after travelling to Derby – unless of course, Derby can really do something really special, but I doubt it.

FIFA to look into Taylor challenge

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been talking about Matt Taylor’s challenge and has asked the FA for the file. It’s a weird situation to be in and a confusing statement from the governing bodies. Either Blatter thinks that the punishment of a 3 game ban wasn’t enough or is aggrieved at the actual challenge. Will Blatter review all challenges in the Premiership? Will he reduce Aliaidiere’s ban? Or is this another twist to the idoicy which surrounds our judicial system?

Blatter speaks:

“We have the right to ask national associations to give us the file – and if we feel the suspension is not enough we will come back on that. And not only for three matches but temporarily banned or a life ban depending on the severity of the attack.  Why the hell should footballers demolish each other?”

Arsene challenges Cesc

Arsene has been speaking about Cesc’s performances in light of media speculation that we are preparing a new contract for him. His current contract runs out in 2014 and Arsene has challenged him to continue at this level and win a trophy.

“I don’t think this is the time to talk about contract situations, especially when a player is under a long contract. I believe let’s first win something, in Europe or domestically, then you are in that league.”

News Round Up

Eboue has suffered criticism from the press in respect to the challenge on Evra in the United game. He talks about this critism. Personally, I think his performances this season have been poor and he should be thinking about that.

Carlos Vela was in action this weekendand started for Osasuna in a 4-3-3 formation on the left striking role. Randall and Simpson also started today and here’s a round up from Young Guns. In other Primera Liga news Thierry Henry’s Barcelona took on Robert Pires’ Villareal and lost 2-1.

Arsene has registered his interest in signing Athletico Madrid’s Ignasio Camacho, who starred in Athletico Madrid’s 4-2 win over Barcelona last week. More on this on Arsenal Youth.]]>