George Graham: A personal Retrospective.

There are moments in a football life that live forever. We all have them -Micky T at Anfield, TA6′s goal v Everton, TH14′s v MU, Dennis at Newcastle or Freddie in Cardiff. But it is the childhoood memories which really stand out and for me they are often connected to the ’70-’71 Double team. One of my favourite ever goals was scored by one of my early heroes – George Graham.  Nicknamed “Stroller” thanks to his languid style, Graham was a frustrating player, capable both of brilliance and walking through a game contributing nothing.

This goal was against Man Utd at a packed Highbury, 60+ thousand fans in a steamy, smoke filled stadium. I was in the North Bank, about half way up, just under the roof – I wasn’t big or brave enough to join the lads up the back. The Man Utd team included the brilliant George Best and Best scored one his goals in front of the North Bank. The signature arm raised salute was given a volley of abuse from the North Bank Gooners but we all knew we had seen something special. Then we got  a corner, or it could have come from a Geordie Armstrong cross – either way the ball came in from the wing at The Clock End, and in what seemed to be slow motion Stroller leapt into the air and scissor kicked the ball from the edge of the area leaving the keeper (Stepney?) groping for air. Highbury went wild – at least that is how it is in my current alcohol raddled head.

It doesn’t matter whether my memory is historically correct – we didn’t have the internet or Sky – what is important is the effect it had upon the young BR and his relationship to George Graham. GG went from being an ex-Chelsea Scottish striker into being The Man – and for some time he was. Imagine a taller Paul Merson, GG was the same type of player – infuriating and yet spectacular.

When he left to join MU I was upset but by then we had Charlie George and Big Raddy and had won the Double. It hurt as much as when Kolo went North.

Of course, as George was an ex-Gunner I followed his career and was delighted when he made a success of his first management job at “No-one likes us, we don’t care” Millwall. However, his management style was such a change from his playing – suddenly, the effete, artistic, Stroller had become a Sergeant Major. Gone were the King’s Rd dolly birds and the expensive suits, in their place was the 3 button Blazer and a club tie. Taking Millwall from the bottom of the then 3rd Division to the top of the Second in just 3 seasons, George was a manager to watch.

Then came the surprising news that Don Howe was to be replaced by GG!!  I was delighted to have another Arsenal man at the helm. The League Cup followed in his first season, then Anfield ´89, and the FA Cup,  and the one-loss Champions of ’91, and perhaps his greatest achievement, the classic 1-0 in Copenhagen.

GG brought all this to the Arsenal and yet we were greedy. We wanted to see the expansive football which he first brought to AFC. We were sick of seeing a midfield of shire-horses punting the ball up to the genius of Ian Wright; the time was ripe for change and when it came it was to be shocking. As shocking as anything I can remember in football. As the news leaked of the Bung Scandal, we couldn’t believe it – “Not our George. not The Stroller,. He doesn’t need the money living in his beautiful Hampstead mansion”. But we were wrong, you could take the man out of the Gorbals but not the Gorbals out of the man.  I am still in shock!

But on the terraces of the Clock End we were excited, we knew Arsenal had to move on and we knew that if George went “upstairs” his shadow would affect any new manager. This was the best for the future of the club –  certainly not for George but no-one made him dip his beak.

I was delighted to see George on the pitch for the 125th Anniversary. He is a huge part of Arsenal’s history and despite him tarnishing the reputation of the club, he remains an Arsenal great. Had he not been so bloody stupid there would be a statue of GG outside the Emirates. But he was, and despite 230 games as a player and 460+ games as manager, he remains a peripheral figure at Arsenal.

George Graham remains a massive Arsenal fan with a huge collection of Arsenal memorabilia. Let us not forget that this is a man who had a cannon mosaic in his garden whilst managing Spurs.

To me George Graham will always be the man who scored that goal against United, for that and 26/5/1989, I am eternally grateful.

Why Ramsey should be the first name on the team-sheet this Sunday

Let me start by reiterating where I stand re Aaron Ramsey, or for that matter, on any young Gunner who wears the shirt with pride and gives their all for the team: I support them unreservedly.

For me, they are not machines from which we can pull the plug if we don’t like what we are seeing.

Anybody under the age of 23 at Arsenal is still growing into a mature, top-Gunner. Some will make it and some don’t, but just like potted flowers need to be watered regularly, our young talent need to be showered with encouragement and support as much as we can. We, as supporters, need to help our (young) players to reach their potential, because they are part of us, and by investing our energy in supporting them, on and off the field, we will be richly rewarded eventually.

That’s how the likes of RvP, Theo, Song and Koz have become such important players for us now: ‘we’, especially Arsene Wenger and his coaching staff, made them believe in themselves and finally they are starting to deliver for us.

Although the above sounds utterly logical – well, at least it does to me – a large number of fans seem to do the absolute opposite. Aaron Ramsey has recently become the favourite scapegoat for all that is perceived to be wrong at Arsenal, and he is suffering from it.

I could, now, go down the path of the hardship Aaron has had to endure over the last two years. How many times will he have woken up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat, worrying he might never play footie, or anywhere near to his full potential, again? It’s likely that the suicide of Gary Speed, his former national manager and hero, also has had a profound impact on him during the last six months.

Anybody who possesses a healthy dose of empathy and compassion should therefore take it easy on him at the moment – this is only his first full season for Arsenal, after all.

But, I don’t want to pity him too much. This post is about fighting back for Aaron from a pure footballing point-of-view.

As with any up and coming young player, it takes a while before we decide whether we believe he is good enough to make it at Arsenal. But I never doubted Aaron would make it at Arsenal before he broke his leg, and a number of fine performances at the start of the season – notably in Europe – have reconfirmed to me that he still has what it takes to become one of our future legends.

This season, he has been finding his feet, sometimes literally, but only now does he play in the best position for him: the one next to the DM – the link-up, box-to-box midfielder.

Ramsey is no Arteta, but then Arteta had effectively become our ‘first’ DM, and our more obvious choice of DM, Song, became our main link-up midfielder, although these roles were interchanged regularly during matches. Song and Arteta established a fine partnership this year and the latter has been duly missed since his recent injury.

Since Arteta’s season-ending injury, the defensive duties of our midfield have been a shambles. Song has not reverted back to the more traditional holding DM role and Ramsey cannot fill the gaps that are left behind in the way Arteta did. On top of that, and just as worrying, Song and Ramsey are not playing closely together and don’t form a strong partnership at the moment. There is no shape to our midfield as all players – including our most advanced AM, Rosicky – seem to be moving all over the place without much cohesion. Add to that the recent tendency of our CB’s to go bombing forward, running or passing straight through our midfield, and it becomes clear why our midfield has been struggling so much with being the absolute centre of our team.

In the game against Norwich, Ramsey had the highest pass accuracy of all 28 players on the pitch. See match statistics as per link below (posted by Gooner in Exile on Monday):

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/507262/LiveStatistics/England-Premier-League-2011-2012-Arsenal-Norwich

Yet, he only had 51 touches in 63 minutes of football, and that for an Arsenal – Wenger era – midfield link-up player! I watched the game again (Sky extended highlights) and I got tired from counting the number of times the ball should have been played to Ramsey, who was working his socks off to move into space to receive it. So, he received/touched the ball less than once a minute on Saturday: an absolute crime for such a pivotal position, and the main culprits were Vermaelen and Song. And there have been more games recently in which exactly the same has happened. The only time Ramsey seems to receive the ball is when his colleagues really have no other options, and that is simply not acceptable.

On the extended highlights, Ramsey’s passes were not only accurate but also very effective, moving the game on with precision and momentum. But the game needs to go through a player in his position constantly, and together with Song, Ramsey should be the fulcrum of the team: both the wall in midfield that shields our defence and the instigator for clever and effective attacks. On top of that, they should ensure the shape of our formation is kept in place and guard our style of play. The midfield also needs to bring composure and calm at times, and if this sometimes means that the game is slowed down, so be it. None of this is happening at the moment and Wenger needs to sort it out as soon as possible.

I am no expert, just a passionate life-long footie fan, as all of you are, and for the sake of blogging I am going to share with you what I believe needs to happen for the game against West Brom, if Arsenal wants to get a result there on Sunday:

First, the team need to be told by Wenger that Aaron is pivotal to our team and the ball needs to be played to him, whenever he is in a position to receive it. He should be the first on the team-sheet, so everybody knows how important he/that position is to the team. He needs a strong vote of confidence by the Boss.

Secondly, Aaron needs to be told to stand up for himself and be more demanding. He needs to remain focussed and make the game look simple, moving the ball on constantly and effectively, without feeling he needs to make a killer-pass every two minutes. He can do this.

Thirdly, Song and Aaron need to be working as a close partnership, bringing shape to the midfield, and therefore to the team, once more.

Fourthly, Song needs to sit back as a disciplined DM and shield the defence in our last game. Whether this is the best position for him long-term remains to be seen, but it is absolutely crucial that he is our traditional DM in this last and pivotal game of the season. He can do this.

Fifthly, the CB’s and the rest of the defence need to be more disciplined in holding their shape and keep their composure. Although it is great that both Koz and especially TV like to bomb forward, this needs to be carefully timed and executed. Both CB’s need to be told to play it simple most of the times, which means passing it to either Song or Ramsey, so they –especially Ramsey – can set up the next attack whilst keeping our team-shape intact. With our FB’s already going forward at the first opportunity, I see a lot more risks than benefits in our CBs also leaving their defensive positions constantly. Yet, in recent games our midfield has often been skipped by our CBs with no need to do so, leaving enormous gaps behind them (see also Rocky Lives’ great post on Monday).

Sixthly, Rosicky needs to play closer to both Ramsey and RvP, and not constantly chase the ball all over the pitch. He needs to position himself in the area in front of the opposition’s ‘D’ as much as he can. He needs to help Ramsey in setting up attacks and RvP and the wingers in finishing off chances. Rosicky and the wingers need to make each other constantly available by clever movement, so Ramsey or Song can move the game forward quickly.

But the most important thing is not to give up on Ramsey now. With the above mentioned adjustments we can get the very best out of him again and the team will fully benefit. At pivotal moments like this, we all should hold together and help a player reach another level: this is when we make them rather than break them. Victoria Concordia Crescit are not just three beautiful words: it is what makes Arsenal such a special football club, and why we are fully entitled to associate ourselves with the classification of ‘permanent class’.

TotalArsenal.

Brittania Revisited

A third trip to the Britannia in three seasons brought with it some mixed emotions. The 2009/10 game was played in February, a month after being beaten by the Stokies in the 4th round of the FA Cup. Ramsey’s leg snapped like a twig but the team responded magnificently to record a fine 3-1 victory.

2010/11 at the Britannia saw Arsenal in end of season free-fall and another defeat ensued. What would 2012 bring? Stoke always raise their game against us, refusing to lie down to superior footballing ability. The touchlines are narrowed, local aircraft given warnings of possible collisions with footballs and Corporal Jones from Dad’s Army gives the pre-match, rabble-rousing speech. Could Arsenal resist the bite of the cold steel? Anxious and expectant, the Arsenal away fans gathered in the Potteries.

(photo courtesy of Stuart MacFarlane)

After an easy drive along the A50 we arrived in plenty of time to find a parking spot at a local bowls club which would enable a smooth getaway at the end of the game. A brief chat with a couple of Stokies in the pub before the game elicited the information that they were pleased not to be in Europe again as it had ruined their season. Mid-table mediocrity seemed to be the height of their ambition…..oh, and beating Wenger’s Arsenal, of course. Arsenal are lacking a player who puts his foot in was their considered opinion whereas none of their players minded being kicked!

We had a fairly good view but were much too close to the inbred hoards and soon realised the aggression between the two sets of supporters was going to colour how we would remember the game.

The first half began and it soon became obvious that only one team had any desire to play any real football. The first booking came in the first couple of minutes as Whitehead fouled Song. The Gunners began the game at a canter and Benayoun should have done better, scuffing a left foot shot after clever interplay with Robin. Then it was the Dutchman himself who drew a fine save from Begovic with a glanced header at the near post.

Stoke scored from their first effort on goal with a pinpoint cross from Etherington which found the head of the Human Pylon. Even with Vermaelen and Koscielny leaping front and back of Crouch, they still stood little chance of stopping the goal. “One Nil to the Rugby team” sang the Stoke crowd. If I was a Rugby player, I would have been offended.

Arsenal quickly responded with another straightforward goal in its simplicity, van Persie slotting home after good work from Rosicky. “He scores when he want” and “By far the greatest team” followed.

The first half petered out from that point onwards. Gervinho had a chance to shoot after a lovely through ball from Sagna but put his effort way over the bar. Another chance nearly came to Gervinho who just failed to get his immense forehead onto a whipped-in cross.

My brother went for a half-time pie and heard the following conversation in the queue in front him. Arsenal supporter, ‘What flavour pies have you got?’ Girl behind the counter, ‘Chicken Balti, Steak and Ale…. Arsenal Supporter, ‘Have you got any Meat and Potato? ‘Yes’ came the reply. Arsenal fan, ‘I had one of those last year and it was farkin horrible’. Cue the laughter from the serving assistants behind the counter. The news that Newcastle were getting thumped certainly improved the atmosphere behind the goal during the half-time break.

The second half began with the boys kicking towards us. Surely things would improve and we would earn the crucial three points. As far as the football is concerned, I thought the second forty five was pretty poor. Arsenal probed and prodded. Shots were blocked. Robin slipped on a couple of occasions when he might have sneaked a shot on goal. There were a few decent looking free-kick opportunities for the good guys but none really troubled the Stoke keeper.

At the other end Szczesny made a fine blocking save from a vicious drive and a long throw header was cleared close to the Arsenal goal line. There was a brief rendition of ‘We can’t spell his name, we can’t spell his name, Wojciech Szczęsny, we can’t spell his name’.

The other dominant impression from standing behind the goal in the second half was how hideous the Stoke fans were. They finally found their voice after Shawcross lunged in on Benayoun. They sang ‘He breaks things when he wants, he breaks things when he wants, Ryan Shawcross, he breaks things when he wants’. (It could have been ‘legs’ rather than ‘things’, it was difficult to understand the accent). Looking across at their fans there were gestures of breaking a stick in two hands which I found quite sickening. Hideous miscreants.

Yossi had a good shout for a penalty ignored by Foy who looked across at his linesman to see a totally blank expression and so he waved play on. The last twenty minutes were a pantomime starring Arsene Wenger. He began waving his arms in the air at the injustice of the penalty decision and other decisions which followed. The Stoke crowd began to imitate him by waving their arms in the air at every opportunity while singing, ‘ Let’s all do the Wenger’ and if an Arsenal player committed a foul singing, ‘He didn’t see a thing, he didn’t see a thing , Arsene Wenger, he didn’t see a thing.’

Arsène needed someone to tell him to sit down as he may as well have been the Stoke cheerleader, such was his influence in stirring the Stoke crowd to generate more noise.

At the final whistle, I felt disappointed that we hadn’t been able to rise above the overall poor quality of the game and produce a few moments of real class to win us the three points. A hard-fought point would have to suffice, a point which looks better in the light of Newcastle’s zero points. Whether it’ll look so good after Sunday’s fixtures, only time will tell.

Ratings

I don’t really do ratings but I’d say that Benayoun and Rosicky seemed to have decent first halves. The defence were resolute throughout, Sagna looking dangerous assisting the attack in the first half, too. Szczesny couldn’t do much about the goal. Sometimes I wish he would catch instead of punch, especially in the second half when the aerial bombardment was in full force. I’d probably give them all a 7, with Tomas, Yossi and Bacary 7.5.

P.S. The Man of the Match was announced over the tannoy as Dean Whitehead. Sums it all up really!

Written by chas

If the Kid’s are United: Stoke Preview

Some time ago I made a decision to stop belittling our opponents. This was due to a rash of defeats to lesser team following an abusive prematch (yes, I have that much power). But sometimes needs must, plus I have to be realistic and accept my  posts have no impact whatsoever of the result of the game.

So let’s get down to business.

Stoke: If there is a more miserable, wearisome, beetle-headed bunch of bum-baileys walking the planet then my name is Luther Blisset. Managed by a man who in the words of Oscar Wilde “has no enemies but is intensely disliked by his friends.” Stoke are the reason why the PL has slipped behind La Liga and the Bundesliga in world football. You do not find teams in La Liga who cannot play the ball on the ground or rely on set pieces in order to score.

Orcs in their natural habitat

Then there are their fans. Amplified to make the armchair viewer believe they can create an atmosphere, they reflect their team. Aggressive and hard to like. And, they hate us. Pulis thinks Wenger is impolite (!), their fans think Gooners are soft southern pansies and delight in calling our team wimps and cheats. We are the positive to their negative.

But can we beat them in what is an important game for us? One thing is certain, Stoke will give 100% and we will have to be at the top of our game to win. I think patience will be vital. Add in the Ramsey/Shawcross factor and there will be some genuine needle at the Britannia. We cannot respond to Stoke’s provocation – the early season stupidity of Gervinho and Song will cost us dear if they retaliate in what is sure to be a physical game; the Orcs (Huth, Whelan ,Whitehead, Shawcross + +)  will ensure it.  A strong referee is essential because it isn’t the stupid rash tackle that Stoke employ, it is the constant physical battle.

Crouch has scored his wonder goal for the season (and a brilliant goal it was), he has a good record against us  as have Stoke. They have won 3 out of our previous 4 visits to the Britannia. Pulis believes he knows how to beat Wenger and our games are never less than highly competitive.  Should we win, it will not be an easy ride – it never is up there.

My Team:

You may look at my team and say “Chamakh?  You’re having a Turkish” but I think we have to try something different. I would play RvP behind Chamakh, give Bennie the run of the left wing and swamp the midfield. The defence picks itself, as does the midfield (in light of the fragility of Diaby), though Coquelin is likely to get some pitch-time, if fit.

The obvious solution is to play O-C or Gervinho on the wing but given the loss of our speedster and Arteta, we could start the above team which would allow some flexibility.  That said, we are most likely to start with a forward line of O-C, RvP and Bennie.

Stoke Inventor? There are a few as you would expect in any industrial area. Oliver Lodge invented the wireless telegraph, the electric spark plug and moving coil loudspeakers (according to Wiki). Whether he did or not is lost in the mists of time.

Surely, we have more than the long throw in?

Against opposition whose main ethic is unrelenting industry and teamwork, Arsenal have to respond in kind. We have yet to win in the PL without Arteta and today is the day to remedy this. Arsenal can win but it will be through endeavor, inspiration, unity  and harmony.

COYRRG

Written by Big Raddy

The Next Three Games All Hinge On These Factors

Three games to go in this extraordinary season.

Three games to secure third place and a guarantee of Champions League football next year (not to mention the increased likelihood of retaining the services of a certain Dutchman who finds the net at moments of his own choosing).

Or three games to slip to fourth, maybe even fifth and re-ignite the poisonous debate about the future of our club and its most successful modern manager.

After a poor performance against Wigan and an unconvincing (though far from terrible) one against Chelsea, it would take a brave man to confidently predict a smooth run-in from here.

I’m not that brave.

I think it’s POSSIBLE we could win our next three games at a canter (Stoke away, Norwich home and West Brom away). I also think it’s possible we could lose two or even all three.

So let’s look at the balance sheet of pros and cons as we go into those games.

The Pros

We have a full week to rest between each game. Not that it seems to have been doing us much good lately.

None of our remaining opponents have anything left to play for.

We have some margin for error – particularly over Totteringham, but also (slightly) over Newcastle thanks to our far superior goal difference.

In recent weeks this team has beaten Totteringham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Everton, AC Milan and Manchester City.

Benny the Goon will be available (he was ineligible to play against Chelsea).

Diaby is back and managed to complete half an hour on Saturday without injuring himself again.

Coquelin is fit again to provide more cover in midfield.

Tomas Rosicky has been in his best Arsenal form for years.

We have two of the best central defenders in Europe.

We have the second highest number of scorers of any team in the EPL this season (17).

We have Robin van Persie and he scores when he wants.

We have Arsène Wenger as our manager.

We are The Arsenal.

The Cons

We are losing key players at this vital time.

Walcott is the latest to add to that list after idiotically trying to run off a hamstring pull. He reminded me of John Cleese playing a knight in The Holy Grail and getting his arm chopped off: “Just a flesh wound!”

With Walcott, Arteta, Mertesacker and Wilshere all unavailable for the rest of the season we can’t afford to have any more of our top players out – especially the PFA Player of the Year (Lord Dennis hear our prayers).

Arteta’s absence may well be the most crucial, as we tend not to win games without him and he dictates the tempo of the team. So far his replacements have been more garden gnome than metronome.

We still haven’t entirely shaken off last season’s bad habit of hitting the self destruct button (witness the two goals in two minutes conceded to Wigan).

In recent weeks this team has lost to both QPR and Wigan.

The zip and zing seems to have vanished from our open play. We need someone to just rip out the handbrake.

Tomas Rosicky is starting to look tired.

Robin van Persie has stopped scoring and looks jaded.

We have Arsène Wenger as our manager.

Which Arsenal are we?

When our strong run of results started in February (coinciding with the return of our orthodox fullbacks) one of the most striking things was the obvious camaraderie among the players.

Led by the captain, the team seemed really to be enjoying each other’s company and relishing one another’s successes.

Lately things have been harder going and the joy and togetherness engendered by some great wins and stunning late goals has been harder to spot.

If we are going to finish the 2011/12 season the way we all hope, the crucial factor (in my view) is going to be the players themselves. Arsene Wenger and the coaching staff can do their bit, but in these last three games it’s going to come down to the players refusing to fail.

In the last few seasons our players have not had the strength of character to finish strongly when it counted.

This year I believe we have a team with greater moral fibre, led by a captain with far greater powers to motivate and inspire than his sulky predecessor. Robin van Persie, regardless of his own scoring form, needs to remember that his role as leader and inspiration could still be the deciding factor in us finishing third.

(I’m sure you have your own ideas of ‘pros and cons’ that I have failed to include. Please share them in the comments).

RockyLives

Tangled up in Blue: Match Preview

Apart from supporters of the doomed bottom 3 is there a football fan who doesn’t want Wigan to escape relegation?  Their PL survival is a mystery given the small ground, low attendances and limited finances - they are the (Leyton) Orient of Manchester. And yet they survive without resorting to hoof ball and dull physical football, maintaining an admirable allegiance to playing attractive football. Their Chairman backs his manager and rightly so, Martinez is a top bloke – calm under pressure, always urbane and intelligent, a man who stayed at Wigan despite the attractive  job offer from Aston Villa. Wigan are a fine traditional club who deserve to stay up at the expense of Blackburn, Wolves and QPR but …….

We need the points, so sorry Wigan, tonight you are the enemy.

You all know the maths (to our American readers, there is an “s”  in Maths), another win and we go 8 points ahead of the chasing pack. True, they will have a game in hand but 8 points with so few games to go is a considerable margin.

More of the same, please

I am afraid I am going to be controversial. This run of wins is surprising because we are not a good team yet. It is my belief that the root causes of our improvement are luck, confidence and a fit squad. We have yet to see a full game of quality . Certainly the team has grown since being 2 down to the hapless crew who got humiliated at Wembley yesterday  but I still do not feel confident we can compete for the League next season without  surgery.  If we win tonight we will be 15 points behind an ordinary Man Utd  - do you really believe we can be at least 15 points better next season?

Yes, I know the counter-arguments. The dreadful start, the awful summer transfer window, the injuries to FB’s, the loss of JW etc but to counter this, we have found Arteta;  Song has been immense, so has Koscielny. and what can one say about  RvP?  Can anyone guarantee another season like this for our Captain? On past evidence, sadly no. He was not known as Chocolate Legs for nothing.

But enough of this rational thinking BR, which I must point out is purely my opinion and not representative of Arsenal Arsenal website. The bottom line is  - do we have enough to beat Wigan tonight? and the answer is an emphatic Yes.

Beating United last week was a major scalp for Wigan and they will come into tonight’s game full of confidence.  The Latics have tightened in defence and started to score goals. 2 months ago they were doomed but now there is light at the end of the tunnel. However, Wigan have only beaten us once in the last 13 meetings.(we threw the away game in a shameful  2-3 in 2010).

My team:

If fit, I would replace Bennie with Gervinho who is back in the squad. I hope AW sticks to giving O -C cameo appearances. I fear he will be picked for the Euro’s should he make a big impact over the coming month. Better The Ox stays at AFC and gets a full pre-seaso, much like JW. Club over country for me.  Ramsey to come on after 60 mins and score.

Today’s Gooner: Being the Titanic centenary it is only fitting I find a connection and of course there is one. According to Hollywood Kate Winslett was a survivor of the tragedy and she is a Gooner. Although born into the Man Utd stronghold of Reading, Berkshire, she discovered the wonders of Goonerdom through a friendship with TH14 and has remained a fan ever since.

Kate and some fellow sing “Let’s all Laugh at Tottenham”

A big night for both clubs but the footballing Gods are shiny on The Emirates at the moment. We have enough to beat them and beat them we will.

Written by Big Raddy

First Andy Carroll, now Robin van Persie. Match Report Plus Ratings

So, the great goal droughts are finally over.

Liverpool’s Andy Carroll (£35m, 9 games without a goal, 4 EPL goals so far this season) netted against Blackburn on Tuesday and Robin van Persie (£2.75m, 4 games without a goal, 27 EPL goals this season) scored against Wolves last night.

Not much to choose between them really.

Heh heh heh.

And so to our game at Molineux, which turned out to be doubly comfortable.

Firstly, the team strolled to victory, helped by two early goals and the sending off of Wolves defender Bassong. That’s right, the Bassong who just happens to be on loan from the Tottering Hotspuds. Heh heh heh again.

Secondly, it was not on live transmission here in North America, so I watched it hours later, already knowing the result, which made it very comfortable for me.

It’s a very different experience watching the full 90+ minutes when you know that we have won. There’s none of the agonising, the edge-of-seat anxiety, the frustration when passes go astray.

It’s like watching a video of yourself on an extremely scary fairground ride. You’re an observer, not a participant.

But this dispassionate viewpoint allows you to really concentrate on how each of our players performed and how the game panned out.

Arsène Wenger started with two enforced changes to the team that defeated the Manchester Oilers. Djourou was in for the suspended Koscielny and Santos replaced Gibbs, who was suffering from fatigue, having never played so many consecutive games without injury before.

But Le Boss also made one unenforced change, resting Tomas Rosicky, arguably our star player over the last two months, in favour of Aaron Ramsey. Yossi Benayoun deservedly kept his place in the team after a fine effort against Citeh.

On balance it was a cautious line-up, as if Arsene was expecting a tough battle.

Things didn’t pan out that way. As a contest it was over after 12 minutes. We started brightly, moving the ball well, and before too long Theo Walcott broke into the box and was brought down from behind by Bassong. A clear penalty and a straight red.

Robin van Persie, having not wanted to score for a few games, decided that on this occasion he would, and put the penalty away with an audacious chip down the middle of the goal after sending the Wolves ‘keeper Hennessey the wrong way.

One nil to the Arsenal. And a few minutes later it was two nil. Robin fed Theo who burst into the box and finished low and hard with real confidence for his ninth goal of this Premier League campaign.

After that we seemed to ease off the gas. We kept possession well but our cutting edge was a little blunted.

The commentators I was listening to kept moaning about our perceived lack of adventure, but haven’t we been guilty in the past of being too gung ho when we take a lead? You never know when you’re going to get Dowded, so I, at least, am pleased that we carried on with a steady possession game.

In addition, credit must go to the Wolves players who, although adrift at the foot of the table and on an appalling run of defeats, kept fighting throughout the game. Occasionally they were too physical, but this was partly the frustration borne of being two down with 10 men against a team who won’t let you have the ball (I believe we had 72% possession overall).

The Wolves fans were noisy for most of the match, but seem a pretty stupid lot. For a start they hounded Walcott all game long for having won the penalty. You’d think that after a few minutes word would have got round from people using their mobile phones that the decision was the right one, but apparently it didn’t.

Then they serenaded their own manager, the luckless Terry Connor, with a rendition of “you don’t know what you’re doing” for replacing a striker with a defender after going down to 10 men. It’s probably fair to say that that decision spared Wolves from a much heavier beating.

One noteworthy incident from the first half was when Robin van Persie was deliberately obstructed on the edge of the Wolves penalty area by Stearman. The ref missed it, but Alex Song bounded up to give Stearman a piece of his mind. I was pleased to see one of our senior players coming to the captain’s defence. I don’t think it would have happened last year.

The second half was more of the same (Arteta, Ramsey and Song controlling the game from midfield) apart from a period of about 15 minutes when Wolves had a bit of a go.

Their best moment was a header brilliantly saved by Szczesny, who was going the wrong way but managed to contort his body back in the opposite direction to make an important save to his right. At that point it would have been 1-2 and who knows how things might have panned out. Actually, on second thoughts, if they had scored I think we would have gone straight back up the other end and bagged a couple more. This year’s Arsenal has got heaps more bottle than last season’s model.

The Wolves revival soon fizzled out and we resumed total control, creating a hatful of excellent chances in the final 20 minutes. The only one that got tucked away was a fine shot by Benayoun from the edge of the area after a layback by Song. Benny shaped to do a curler to the far side of the goal. It completely fooled Hennessey and he was wrong-footed when Benny lashed it low and hard inside the near post. A quality goal from a player who has really endeared himself to the fans despite his limited game time.

There was time for a few more near misses by our front line and another great save by Szczesny before the final whistle went. Oxlade-Chamberlain got a run out as a sub for Walcott and looked as direct and dangerous as we have come to expect. And it was nice to see Carl Jenkinson get a few minutes in place of Sagna.

So we’re five points ahead of the Spuds and the Geordies and seven ahead of the Chavs.

The table is looking a lot sweeter than we could possibly have hoped for back in the early stages of the campaign.

However, with an in-form Wigan up next there’s no room for complacency. We need to make this third spot ours, not least for the stability it will give us as we make our summer transfer plans.

RockyLives

Player Ratings

Szczesny: Had little to do, but when called upon he made two fantastic saves – a real testament to his powers of concentration. 8

Sagna: Defensively as reliable as ever and got forward well. A couple of excellent crosses and a few wayward ones. 7

Vermaelen: Very solid and commanding at the back. 7

Djourou: Not too much to do but what he did, he did well. 7

Santos: Generally did OK, but rode his luck a few times. He likes to get forward, but can be caught out at the back. However, he will need a run of games before we can really judge him. 6

Song: Another fine performance, including an assist for Benny’s goal. Some of his attempted “killer balls” came to nothing, but he was combative in midfield. 7.5

Arteta: A good game for the Spaniard, but I thought he was a fraction below par and was dispossessed a few times as well as uncharacteristically misplacing some passes. 7

Ramsey: He out Arteta’d Arteta last night. He was involved in everything – his passing stats must be close to perfect – and he made numerous progressive through balls that could have led to three assists on another night. In one five minute spell he set up Robin twice and Arteta once. He was desperately unlucky not to score when Hennessey made a great block from point blank range, but earlier seemed to fluff a good chance through lack of confidence in front of goal. Nevertheless, he was our best player on the night by quite some distance. 8.5 MotM.

Walcott: What can you say? He had a really poor game apart from the small fact of winning the match for us. He ripped Wolves to shreds in the first 15 minutes to put us two up. After that, pretty much everything he tried didn’t work. Perhaps the crowd getting on his back for the entire game affected his equilibrium. But it has to be a high mark because he did the stuff that really counts. 8

Benayoun: He’s becoming a popular figure among the faithful.  He was less involved than Ramsey or Arteta, but was always a thorn in Wolves’ side and took his goal beautifully. 7

Van Persie: A stylish penalty got him back on the goal trail. He could have had another couple if the chances had fallen slightly better for him, but his hold-up play and linking of our attacking moves were outstanding. 7.5

Subs

Oxlade-Chamberlain: Always looks a threat. 7

Jenkinson: Brief cameo. Nice to see him back. N/A

RockyLives

The Ramsey Problem

Aaron Ramsey’s cameo appearance in our “class versus cash” victory over Abu Dhabi Oil Inc was not his greatest moment in an Arsenal shirt.

He had slotted in pretty well after coming on in the 78^th minute to replace Yossi “Busy Bee” Benayoun.

But what we will all remember is the moment at the death where he was through on goal with a chance to make it 2-0 and with Oxlade-Chamberlain and van Persie waiting in the middle to side foot the ball into an empty net.

Young Aaron chose not to pass. He also chose not to stroke the ball low and hard into the bottom right hand corner (from Joe Hart’s perspective) of the goal – which would have been the best option for scoring.

Instead he went for a “Bergkamp” – an ambitious shot curled with the inside of the right boot towards the opposite top corner of the goal.

Unfortunately the execution owed more to Jonny Wilkinson than Dennis Bergkamp – the ball flying high and wide into the crowd. Robin’s reaction – an incredulous gesture questioning why Ramsey had not passed – will probably stay with the Welshman for quite some time.

In the end it didn’t really matter. The game was won anyway. But I have been wondering why Ramsey did what he did.

He has acquired a lot of critics among the fan base during this, his first full season with Arsenal. He has been accused of slowing the game down, of taking too many touches, of trying too many flicks and backheels, of getting in the way of our other midfielders.

At various times he has been guilty of all of the above – especially in his more recent outings.

To me his problems really date from the period when Tomas Rosicky rediscovered his form and became one of the automatic starters in a midfield that also included Song and Arteta.

In away games, most recently at QPR, Arsene Wenger has started Ramsey in addition to the MF three of Rosicky/Arteta/Song, presumably to give us a more solid starting line-up.

Although he has ostensibly taken the place of either Gervinho or Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey is not naturally a wide player and tends to come in field, leading to overcrowding and confusion in our MF.

It hasn’t all been terrible. The same formation played some glorious football for the first 25 minutes away at Everton (with Ramsey taking a key role), but the system faded after that and never recovered – certainly not against QPR.

The other problem with Ramsey’s game is that he has lost his scoring boots.

He has always seemed like a player with the ability to make late runs into the box and pick up goals from midfield. Recently, however, he has missed a bunch of sitters – like the last minute effort against Man City.

So what is the Ramsey problem?

Is it positional?

Is it that he is as limited as his critics allege?

Is it a hangover from his horrendous leg break (Dudu Mark II, if you like)?

Is it confidence?

Before attempting to answer that, I thought it would be good to take a look at some of the ratings and reviews he received in Arsenal Arsenal match reports (from various authors) earlier in the season. Here are a few, all from the November/December period:

Versus Manchester City

Ramsey: brilliant game. Fought like a dragon and worked his socks off for the team. He was everywhere and made so many positive runs into the box. Sooner or later, he will start scoring goals on a regular basis and, ideally, we would have had somebody in Ramsey’s position yesterday, who can do what he did plus score (more) goals. But Ramsey gives absolutely everything and is learning and growing very fast: 8 (Total Arsenal)

Versus Everton

Ramsey: works and doesn’t hide, makes the odd mistake, but works hard to make up for that. Needs a goal and deserves a goal. I read on one website, Ramsey was deemed the worse player on the pitch, complete pony; he was very good and close to MotM for me. How anyone can berate him is completely beyond me. 8 (Harry)

Versus Borussia Dortmund

Ramsey: excellent second half when more space was available. Playing well at the moment and appreciated by his team mates 7.5 (FatGingerGooner)

Versus West Brom

Ramsey: had a good game, probes and drives team forward. His pass for Walcott to get him free for starting the move for the opener was quite simply brilliant. Presses well and breaks play up. 7.5 (Harry)

Versus Stoke

Ramsey: amazing game from young Ramsey. Cesc-like passes (especially the assist to Gerv), great work rate and dangerous shooting. He is going to be an Arsenal legend no doubt about it. Glad Shawcross has not ruined the great career he will have. 7.5 (Oz Gunner)

Versus Chelsea

Ramsey: super Welsh Wizard, truly a special player who gave his all today, his range of passing was fantastic, he has a great engine and never doubts himself. 9 (Harry)

Not bad, right?

It seems people forget very quickly how good a player is once they start having a difficult patch.

Which brings me to the answer to my own question – what is the Ramsey problem?

For me it’s all about a shortfall in confidence caused by the lack of support our young Welshman received from a minority of Arsenal supporters when things were going badly for the team as a whole.

So when we had that terrible run in January (which was entirely down to the fact that we had no orthodox fullbacks available), the critterati decided it was all Ramsey’s fault.

The vitriol that was directed at him by some of the hate blogs was quite appalling and quite out of proportion. Other people picked up on it and spread it. If you hear something often enough you start to give it some credence, so even decent fans began to have doubts about Aaron’s abilities.

And we can be sure that in this age of instant communication, the hatred and bile did not go unnoticed by Ramsey.

The result is that, lately, he has been trying too hard; trying to create moments of magic when all he needs to do is play the simple game and let things happen naturally.

It completely explains his desperation, in the dying minutes against Manchester City, to score a glorious goal that would have fans and pundits alike drooling with delight. That would answer his critics.

The Ramsey of earlier in the season would almost certainly have passed to Robin or the Ox.

So what is the Ramsey problem?

It’s the poisonous, negative minority that have plagued the Arsenal fan base for the last year or two and have done their best to destroy a young man’s career before it’s hardly started.

I dread to think what they would have said about a 21-year-old Tony Adams, who showed flashes of brilliance but was also accident prone at that stage of his career. At least when TA6 was labeled a “donkey” it was NOT by Arsenal fans.

The haters are already having to eat humble pie over Arsene Wenger, over Song, Arteta and Koscielny. Even over Robin van Persie (the “constant crock” who should have been “offloaded post haste”). Next season they will eat a portion more when Aaron Ramsey emerges as one of the players of the season.

RockyLives

Arsenal: back to earth with a jolt.

Few people have wanted to write about our losses this season – there have been too many sadly – and yesterday was no exception. Watching the game on a good stream it was difficult to draw any positives from a lacklustre performance that was more reminiscent of the dark days in January than the recent exciting football we have witnessed.

There were a few shocks. The team selection was strange for a start. It seems that Arsene hasn’t noticed that the team is unbalanced when he starts with Song, Arteta, Rosicky and Ramsey, who out of that four is supposed to run the left wing? Yesterday it was pretty clear that none of them were going to be, which meant that we only had an attacking outlet with Theo on the right.

Why does Ramsey have to start? Why can’t Gervihno or Oxlade-Chamberlain play for 60 minutes and then bring on Ramsey? If Ramsey starts then surely one of Arteta or Rosicky has to be dropped and Ramsey play in their role but Arteta and Rosicky are pretty undroppable at the moment so what’s the answer? Clearly Arsene needs more time to decide but we struggled against Everton away precisely because the aforementioned four started and yesterday the same problem occurred.

Wenger’s post match pretty much laid the blame at the players feet

It is very frustrating because they left us the ball and waited for our mistakes. We took the ball, did not do a lot with it and made the mistakes. At the end of the day that made the result.

Our performance was not good enough to win this kind of game, especially in the duels. They had a little bit of extra special commitment that took advantage of us in some specific positions defensively. Overall we can only congratulate QPR for their attitude and be unhappy with our own performance.

Playing teams that are fighting to stay in the Premier League are always going to be extra difficult to play against but it looked liked one of our senior players had decided to take control of the game all by himself. What was up with Vermaelen? He deserted Koscielny early on in the first half, was culpable for QPR taking the lead and seemed to not want to be a centre-back. In addition Song was finding it difficult to make his Fabregas-like passes find an Arsenal player. I don’t have a problem with Song or indeed any Arsenal player looking to play an eye of the needle pass except when a simpler pass would have done the trick and yesterday there were a few occasions when just passing the ball would have worked better.

Anyway, moaning apart, we started well, but after 5 minutes of not scoring we allowed QPR to get into the game and they went ahead in the 22nd minute. In the 37th minute Robin was fouled just outside the box but the ref allowed the play to continue and luckily Theo was alert and managed a shot that hit the post and rebounded into his path for him to slot home. I always like it when we come from behind but could we push on and actually craft out a win?

We started the second half brightly but were hampered by not really being able to find the right ball for Robin who seemed to be limping. At around the hour mark Robin hit a great free-kick that was pushed away by Kenny and in the next minute Robin is through again but Paddy Kenny makes a great save. The pressure had been building and it did look like we would score but in the 66th minute Mackie skips past Vermaelen and squares a ball to Diakite to score. 2-1.

There was a change in the 69th minute with Gervihno coming on for Ramsey but QPR were happy to dig in and make it even harder for us to play through them. When that change didn’t achieve anything Chamakh and The Ox were brought on for Gibbs and Arteta in the 82nd minute. I’d like to see changes made earlier when we’re chasing a goal, I can’t see how either Chamakh or The Ox really had time to change the game.

And so it came to pass that we lost our 9th game of the season. We didn’t play very well, we certainly didn’t create enough and probably didn’t deserve to get anything from the game. Was it complacency that led to this, certainly I didn’t think that we would falter in west London. We are still in third though and hopefully will see the weekend out there. The chavs won, the oily chavs dropped points and the scum play today. Seven games to go and still I think there’ll be  some twists and turns on the road to staying in the top four.

I’m optimistic that we’ll return to winning ways next Sunday against the oily ones.

Written by peachesgooner

And the following was written by LB

Yet another one of those infuriating games in which on paper we start as favourites but as the reality of the game dawns we are left with the very same paper embarrassingly crumpled in our hands.

Damn that was frustrating, made even worse by the fact that I have at least ten good friends who support that team, I am going to have to suffer smug knowing looks every time I see one of them. And believe me they have memories like elephants I still find myself from time to time in ear shot of them telling that silly story of oh I was there when John Jenson scored and Impey and blah, blah, blah they won three one if you didn’t know; still, at least they will have a new story to bang on about.

What? You want me to talk about the game? Are you sure? Well, we were crap but some players played more crap than others and I am not going to do the polite thing and just say oh well that was just a bad day at the office and we should all move on and focus our attention on the next game. That my friends makes for a very, very boring blog. Match reports are supposed to be about the opinion of the author, it has to be surely because if it was just about describing the game we could all just go and read far more articulate reports from the likes of Henry Winter.

Ok the game; there were two clear managerial strategies in play: QPR’s was to sit back and wait for us to make mistakes and ours was to play a close, tight, quick passing game in the hope of finding a way round them. The result says all we need to know as to whose strategy turned out to be the most effective.

For long periods we moved the ball around the half way line with all the penetrative thrust of a two month old banana. QPR just waited until we made mistakes and picked us off. And that is the fixture and the match report consigned to the dustbin after one sentence.

Szczesny: starting to believe his own hype, he is taking more and more risks and because of that he will not go the whole season without one major embarrassment. Should have held onto the ball and calmed play down just before QPR’s winning goal. 5

Sagna: a shinning light in a sea of mediocrity. 7

Koscielny: just when I was sitting back smugly thinking, well TA do you still prefer Mertasacker’s slow, giraffe-like style to the lightning mobility of the Frole and the Belgiun, Kozzer goes and puts in a scatter brained performance like that. 6

Vermaelen: Tom you were all over the place mate. 4

Gibbs: time for a change, I expect Santos to start in the next game, we needed attacking nous today and Gibbs left us wanting. 5

Song: you can’t blame him for the lack of chances created, well I can’t anyway. I wish he would be a bit greedier and have a shot when he gets the chance. 6

Arteta: The Spaniard gets my MOTM if one has to be awarded; he at least looked as though it really mattered to him. 7.5

Rosicky: went back to his ineffectual dreadful self, missed placed passes, running into dead ends, poor tackles. 4

Walcott: now you would think that I of all people would save the bulk of my wrath for Theo but even though there was very little space to operate in and his control still leaves a lot to be desired he was not bad, the goal obviously helped but all in all I liked Theo’s attitude. 7.25

Van Persie: service, what service? Isolated for most of the game, not at his majestical best when he got the ball it must be said. 6

Ramsey: we have a problem here, young Aaron is too good to be left on the bench and not good enough to be playing. Wenger knows he would never accept being on the bench for any length of time, he would be off, so the Welshman is shoe-horned into the left wing which as we all saw was no good for him and no good for the team. Yes, I know he is young and yes I know he will improve but this comment is about his performance against QPR. 4.5

I have gone from not caring one way or the other as to whether QPR go down to yelling: open the trap door now and let the bunch of banned words drop.

Written by LB (Not a happy bunny).

Alex Songinho, He Assists When He Wants: Match Report

Having endured the first 60 minutes of the Chavs’ vs. Spuds’ collective attempt to discover the best cure for insomnia, I was extremely pleased to find a half-decent stream to watch the mighty Red & White take on the Villains. I expected AV to put in a performance, partly based on their half decent effort during our last encounter with them in January (FA-cup), and partly on the fact that they have nothing really to play for anymore, which makes these sorts of games a bit of a bonus for them.

Arsenal has build up a phenomenal momentum since the dark PL days in January, mainly based on grit, togetherness, perseverance, and an occasional sprinkling of quality. It is fair to say that the encounters with Pool, NU, and Everton were not the most beautiful games of football Arsenal has ever played, but, at this stage of the season, we don’t care one iota!

However, our game against Villa was very different from our recent incredible achievements as a result of blood, sweat and thunder: there were periods of free-flowing football and, on more than a few occasions, of individual brilliance. In fact, I felt I was watching a game of the Fabregas-era yesterday; you know, one of those where we were in total control from the start, as a result of an early goal. This probably was our easiest game of the season and it is fair to say that the Villains’ lacklustre performance, combined with the early ‘easy’ goal, helped us a long way.

First Half

Arsenal suffered a mini-blow when, unexpectedly, Koscielny could not start as a result of a knee-problem. However, Djourou was ready and fit to take his place, and his mind was instantly taken off any nerves he might have felt, when Heskey planted inadvertently the back of his arm firmly in Johan’s face. Another great example of Johan Cruijff’s fantastically simple quote: ‘Every disadvantage has an advantage, and every advantage has a disadvantage’! JD never looked back and had a fine performance during the entire game.

Both teams started with a formation of 4-2-3-1, with an aim to press early on the opposition’s goalkeeper and defenders. This led to an open start in which Arsenal dominated and created a number of chances. However, AV had a few half-chances themselves as a result of quick breaks, mainly from the right, through their promising – yet disappointing on the day – young talent of Albrighton.

On the 9^th minute, Arsenal produced a great move on the right by the almost telepathically aligned duo of Theo and Sagna, and goal scoring machine RvP. The latter’s lay-off reaches Theo who shoots at goal from close range but straight at Shay Given, who is able to parry his effort, albeit straight in the path of Sagna, who then fluffs his shot with his weaker left foot. Arsenal keeps up the pressure and it does not take long before we score.

Most of the pressure had been coming form the right, but it was Gibbs and Gervinho who were able to breach the Villains’ defence first. In the 16^th minute, Gervinho, who played quite centrally during the first period of the game, picked out a good run by Gibbs and the latter found himself in the box with a half decent shooting opportunity. I expected him to pass sideways to another player, but he decided to take a shot himself and was richly rewarded for it: 1-0! The goalkeeper should have done better, but one should not look a Given-horse in the mouth, and I am sure Gibbs won’t do that either: his first PL goal, so early in the game, was just what we needed.

AV kept pressing high up the pitch, forcing Szczesny to demonstrate to us the one skill he still needs to improve on: kicking the ball out with some precision. Arsenal, though, managed to pass itself with relative ease out of the Villians’ inconsistent pressing, and a few quick attacks made sure we kept the pressure on our opponent. TV found Theo with a fine diagonal cross and our right-winger demonstrated once again that he possesses a fine first touch, leaving Warnock for dead in a fraction of a second. This time though, it was not to be, as his second touch pushed the ball just a bit too far so Cueller could clear it at the last moment.

The first of three top-quality moments of the game materialised at the 25^th minute. Alex Song, who probably has the most complete skills-set in the PL – he can play as a CB, DM, AM; he might even be good as a nr9 or a goalkeeper! – produced once more one of his trademark lofted balls over the top. This time, it was not aimed at RvP but at Theo, who made another clever horizontal run towards the box. His first touch was excellent again and he finished clinically past Given: 2-0!! Some will argue the Villa defence should have done better, but the sheer quality of a) Song’s lofted ball, b) Theo’s first touch and c) his controlled finish were a joy to behold: football at it’s very best!

The second top-quality moment happened on the 39^th minute. Song and RvP combined through the middle to reach into the box: RvP seemed to have lost the ball but somehow drags it back from the defender with his left leg, moving it swiftly onto his right, but his shot somehow hit the head of Warnock: it could so easily have been the third goal. It was a brilliant piece of skill by our captain.

Second Half

AV started the second half with a low tempo and similar tactics. Arsenal was able to pass the ball round with relative ease but we lacked a bit of urgency and focus in our attacking endeavours. Gervinho was involved in a few attacks but was no longer able to deliver a precise final ball for his teammates. But the damage was done in the first half, and with the Villains lacking the spirit to start a fight-back, the sun shining nicely, Arsenal enjoying the ‘easiness’ of the game and the supporters singing in unison, we allowed the game to peter out a bit in the second half.

There were still some noticeable moments though. Rosicky had a decent effort on target in the 65^th minute, and Santos, who had just come on for Gibbs, gave the ball away clumsily in his first minute on the pitch, which could easily have led to a Villa goal. He can be forgiven though as he, naturally, will have been a bit rusty after such a long lay-off. In the 73^rd minute, RvP takes a cheeky free-kick from the left, only for Given to just tip it over the bar. In the 82^nd minute, the newly-on Ox makes a blistering run on the right into the box, but a last-minute, great tackle by Ireland just keeps the young Englishman from pulling the trigger. I think Ireland just had enough of the ball for it not to be a penalty, so Dowd called it well imo.

The third top-quality moment of the match was left to the very last minute of the game. In extra time, Arsenal were rewarded a free-kick well outside the area, after a foul on Song. Arteta stepped up once again and this time he was successful with a thunderous bullet to the top right corner of the goal.

A magnificent effort and thoroughly deserved: 3-0!!! You won’t see a better free-kick this season.

Finally

Seven wins on the spin, another clean-sheet, a fitter than ever squad, and a real belief our team can go all the way and finish in the top-3 in May. Happy times!

We are in the driving seat and ahead of us are the Manc teams – the new Oilers and Old Bacon Face’s bunch of scrapers – and they are lucky there are most probably not enough games left to catch up with them anymore. In the rear-mirror we can see the sorry-Spuds and if we narrow our eyes with a bit of effort, we can see the old Oilers, the Chavs, catching their breath whilst desperately looking around who they can put the blame on this time. In the far, far distance we can see some ant-like spots that can only be Dalglish’s darlings. Ooh the virtues of momentum!

We are not there yet though – let’s be careful not to become complacent – but if we can keep this good run of form up, then soon we’ll be firmly positioned in third spot. Not only would this make us the top team in London once more, it would also provide a perfect platform for a firing-on-all-cylinders team for next season. It has been a year of transition, with some tough moments and big disappointment, but the road ahead is full of promise and potential, based on a sound foundation of all the things that matter in football: a great squad, a great manager, a financially healthy club with money for one or two more quality players, a great stadium, fantastic support, and a football philosophy based on total football. Class is permanent – long may it continue!

TotalArsenal.