Gunnerrific

We’ve had a fair amount of injuries as of late, but fortunately there is a bit of good news today. That’s right, no freak injuries at the training grounds. William Gallas and Tomas Rosicky have both had a turn for the better in recovering from their respective injuries.

They’ll both still be out for another game or two, but this is a good sign to get the squad back up to full strength. Arsene will really have his choosing of players if everyone heals up quick. Choosing between Senderos and Gallas or Ljungberg and Rosicky will be pretty difficult, but it’s a good problem for Wenger to have. Both of these players are new to the squad this year but have already become staples in the line-up.

We’re away to Bolton on Saturday. This has been a difficult fixture for us over the past several years, having only last won it in 2002. Bolton are a strong side and currently sit in the 6th spot on the table. After Sunday’s matches we have been at third, one point behind Portsmouth. We’ve still got a game in hand though, so with United and Chelsea playing each other this weekend, we have a real opportunity to gain some ground.

And finally, here is a Lehmann interview I found on YouTube. I think it ends quite brilliantly.

Yesterday’s win was a Chelsea win.  I call it that for several reasons (none of which is that we are diving money-spending cheats).  It wasn’t pretty, it could have gone either way based on chances alone, but we dominated play and possession. The second inspiring goal that we scored to go up was scrappy and didn’t have the usual Arsenal flair like the first or third.

How do Chelsea fans live through matches like this, week-in week-out? If we win every match for the rest of the season, I would love it.  We’ll all be happy fun-loving gunners.  But, if we won them all like this, I would need some Beta blockers for what would become an ever-increasing heart rate.

True, every game is stressful unless we go 2 to 3 up, but relying on wins like this will kill me.

What can we do to make sure we start winning convincingly?  My answer: 4-4-2, Theo Walcott, and defensive consistency.  What do you think?

Going down after just 4 minutes was not the way Arsenal wanted to start a home match against Hamburg. Having gone down a goal in several home games, only to manage a draw after the initial shock, it looked like the team was going to follow the pattern once again.

The goal was similar to Newcastle’s… too much space was given to a player with a powerful shot. Flamini and Clichy got caught up and gave away enough space for a shot. Senderos came too far across to try to block it and the ball went right through the space he had only just occupied. Lehmann had no chance to save this one; it was as well placed as it could be.

However it was our 19-year-old youngster Cesc Fabregas who drove a pass into the heart of the Hamburg defense to see Robin Van Persie through. The young Dutchmen finished sublimely and Arsenal’s hopes were raised again.

Then towards the end of the second half, Eboue, up to his usual trickery down the right flanks, pushed through the defense to put a low drive past the Hamburg keeper into the back of the net. A joyous feeling of relief seemed to overcome the crowd as the chanting grew in strength.

The Beast picked up his first goal for Arsenal late in the match from a brilliant cross from Walcott. Baptista had little to do but smash the ball into the back of the net with his forehead.

Walcott looked amazing when he came on. He showed more class and brilliance in pushing through the defense to create opportunities. He knows when to lay the ball off and when to drive, which is a real asset to the team.

Ljungberg also looked great on the day of his return from extended injury. He is driven, tenacious, and a fighter and he had a couple of great chances and created even more chances for other players.

To me the defense still looked a bit spotty. I get scared when I see Eboue, Kolo, and Clichy all pushing put at the same time. Thank God Senderos was in today, you know he isn’t going anywhere except on corner kicks.

Setanta Sports announcers

Was anyone else watching the game on Setanta Sports from the U.S.? I don’t know if the commentary is the same everywhere, but I had to listen to two jackasses commentate on the game who clearly had no business doing so. I was appalled at the announcers. Not only did they not seem to have a basic understanding of the game, they also seemed oblivious to past Arsenal player performances.

It started off with one announcer saying ‘Hopefully Arsenal can win this one’… but then after the shock goal these two jokers spent a good 60 minutes complaining about how horrible Arsenal were. They trashed our captain and striker relentlessly. Henry wasn’t having the greatest day, but I have no clue why these two supposedly ‘impartial’ announcers had turned on the London side.

They also insulted Eboue for a couple of errant crosses citing that he had no business that far up the field… have they never seen some of his pinpoint crosses that yielded goals? The best part was when Eboue went on to score, and all of the sudden the announcers fucking love him. Pathetic.

Every comment was about Arsenal and it was thoroughly negative, until we went up. There were very few, if any, comments about Hamburg or the German players be it positive or negative.

Setanta is a great network, but only for the matches it carries. FSC trounces them in coverage, highlights shows, and announcers. I can’t believe I’m saying that about the announcers, but at least the Canadian/American announcers of FSC just make pronunciation mistakes. They don’t have an obvious slant towards an outcome or overly weighted and opinionated commentary.

And finally the BBC has posted in their rumor section that Arsenal supporters have started to push for Perry Groves book to overtake Ashley Cole’s. Anyone that reads this site surely reads the arseblog, so they already know of this effort. I think it’s great that Arseblogger can cause such a ruckus over something. I know the rest of the Arsenal faithful have been supportive in the cause, but this is quite a testament to the Arseblogger’s power.

Posting could be spotty this week as I am back in exciting Oklahoma City for Thanksgiving.  I’ll try to keep up my dailies but I make no promises.

What a day to be a gunner!

Without a doubt Shay Given was the main reason that we only pulled off a draw against Newcastle. Sure, you can blame Eboue all you want for giving too much space to Dyer, but we had a wealth of great shots that should have seen the back of the net. Given was superb, and thus I’m sure he is haunting Arsene’s thoughts. Perhaps even with an extra set of arms given his performance.

Ahead of Hamburg there is news that Gallas has been injured in training. And it could be several weeks, even until Christmas. That’s not good news but we have two others capable of his place. I hope to see Senderos ahead of Djourou because I think it’s a long time coming for the balding beauty. The way he grimaces for a full 90 minutes is the sign of a true fullback. We also won’t see him rushing forward so much, hopefully preventing slip-ups like that against Newcastle. It looks as though Van Persie will be ready to play though.

Arsene has recently stated that he is looking to find that winning feeling again. Surprisingly enough, our French coach dislikes losing… a lot. Hey me too, Arsene! I trust you’re doing all you can to get us into a winning streak again. We don’t seem to be too far from it really, we just need to not give up that first goal and sink more of our shots.

The match against Hamburg is of considerable importance. Because of Henry’s disallowed goal we are in much more dire straits than we should be. We need to pull off a win at home and there is no option of slipping up this time. Hamburg has been in exceptionally poor form in both the Champion’s League and the Bundesliga.

Looking to the next Champion’s League game we will be playing away at Porto. This Portuguese has looked strong both internationally and domestically, so we shouldn’t joke around with that match. There are all sorts of combinations in which we can get through to the knock-out round, or not, but needless to say we really need to just win both of these matches.

Adu has started his 2 week trial with Manchester United. Hopefully he will play the best football of his life for the next two weeks so that we can see an (edit: not born) American-bred in a top four team. I’m an optimist, but I’m also a realist, thus I’ll hope for the best but expect United to drop him like a bad habit. I know that he at least has more drive than Landy-cakes Donovan, so that’s a plus. I’d much rather have someone pursuing the best game possible representing U.S. soccer than that beach dwelling lazy-ass PrimaDonovan.

Come on Arsenal!

In my last wallpaper post someone argued that there were indeed better Arsenal wallpapers out there. Touché. I will accept that challenge and rise to it. The desktop wallpapers that I like the most are a simpler and classier breed than the high-effects and showy variety that are out there. Call it the difference between a message driven independent movie and a Hollywood blockbuster.

Given that though, I realize that I should work to appeal to all types. So today I have a new wallpaper for you, ‘Gunners in Arms‘. I hope you enjoy it.

Today there is the usual negative backlash in the media and blogs all about. I had a touch of it yesterday. I don’t know that I want to talk any more about the merits of a draw against a poorly performing Newcastle at home, so I won’t. Let’s just look ahead to Tuesday.

Freddie Ljungberg will be struggling to be fit ahead of Tuesday’s clash with the German giants while Robin Van Persie is in doubt. There are reports that his foot “doesn’t look good”, but nothing more than that. Our increasing number of injuries never ceases to amaze me. Robin has been playing exceptionally this year, especially in the first half before he took injury. Hopefully the injury isn’t too terrible and he can have a speedy recovery.

Arsene Wenger went to extra lengths to explain why he started Henry on the bench. I see his point, but I have to disagree. Henry is a professional footballer, if he is needed to play in 4 games in 2 weeks, then he should be capable. And I think he is. He’s not as young as a Rooney or Cesc, but players should be able to play in this many games. Sometimes Arsene comes across a little too overprotective of his players. In Freddie’s case, just because someone hasn’t played a full match in 4 weeks doesn’t mean he needs extra training before playing again. Just take a look around at how some of the other coaches handle situations like this.

That being said I’m no football coach and Arsene seems to be doing a fine job at it.

CSKA Moscow secured the title in the Russian league after a win on Saturday. This however comes amidst escalation of rumors and accusations of match fixing amongst teams and referees.

Many Russian bookmakers refused to take bets on certain matches, saying their outcome was pre-determined, while CSKA’s main rivals, Spartak Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg, accused the army side of benefiting from favourable refereeing decisions.

Now I know the domestic Russian league has it’s own officials and governing body and is therefore susceptible to such misanthropes. Thus, it would be completely unreasonable to suggest that the Spanish referee’s decision to discount Henry’s goal and award him a yellow card for a nonexistent hand-ball was influenced from some outside factor. But it makes you wonder…

One can only hope that the Football Union of Russia, UEFA, or FIFA step in and handle this like with Italy. Except this time no one should back down when the teams complain about punishment being ‘too severe’. The way UEFA backed down on the punishments to the Italian clubs was pathetic. They almost got off scot free for committing the worst offense in football.

Real Madrid scampered too quickly release information stating that they were entirely complicit with David Beckham leaving training for Tom Cruise’s wedding. Big deal. It doesn’t really matter either way, everyone can tell that this Real Madrid contract isn’t going to work out.

What about the fact that the Beckham’s attended a party hosted by Hollywood’s elite? Maybe David and Posh were looking for some input onto what life in Hollywood is all about and securing some friendships for the future. If that were really the case this L.A. Galaxy rumor looks all the more realistic. He’s not doing much to discount it.

So yet again we go down at home early in the first from a silly defensive error. It makes for a thrilling match, don’t get me wrong, but it’s starting to get pretty frustrating. Dyer made it to the edge of the box with little pressure on a Newcastle counter-attack and slotted home a curling shot into the far side of the net.

Henry came on in the second to rescue the game with a great un-save-able free kick into the top left corner. We spent the rest of the match passing the ball around the box and creating several opportunities that just wouldn’t go in. The ball just didn’t want to go home.

The real frustrating part is how many opportunities we had that went inches wide or were saved by an immaculate Shay Given. Given was really the deciding factor in this match, as he was called upon several times to make clutch saves and was always at the ready. In all he made 9 great saves from 9 great shots.

The team played quite well today if you take out the defensive error and lack of a second goal. Baptista stood out in my mind as the player that underperformed compared to the rest. After the first 15 minutes he just looked tired and slow. I’m sure Arsene was counting on him for more contribution to the game so it will be interesting to see what happens next for him. The rest of the team, particularly Van Persie, Clichy, and Hleb looked great. Lehmann went hardly challenged.

Flamini worked well as a holding midfielder, coming to the rescue in a couple of situations but mainly being available as an outlet for the defense. Although the team played well together, you could tell that without Rosicky, Ljungberg, or Gilberto on the pitch, we were just a tad bit lost.

Back to the goal… it was a horrid mess. We’re a team that scores most on the counter-attack and to fall victim to that ourselves is a bit embarrassing. Going a goal down at home early in the first is even more embarrassing and its a trend I hope we break post haste.

It’s quite difficult to be critical of the team right now because they are playing great football, just not delivering the win. It’s like we’re on the edge of breaking through and winning some convincing games, but for every step forward we take one step back. Oh well, it could have been worse! At least we escaped with a draw when we needed it. Losing at home would have been even more dreadful so we should be mindful of that.

So we end up tied for third after dropping two points. United and Chelsea have both won to keep their great progress going. Unless they fall apart and Arsenal get it together, I don’t think the table is going to change too much.