Man City 3 Ireland, Robinho, Sturridge
Arsenal 0
It is not a good title by any mean but the way things are going for Arsenal at the moment, the cloud of depression will be looming for a long, long time just like the monsoon clouds hanging over Kuala Terengganu at the moment.
The news that William Gallas has been stripped off his captaincy was received with a bit of joy but the French defender is not the only reason that we have performed so poorly as the display at the City of Manchester Stadium indicated.
It is like almost every single Arsenal players have gone off form with the names Gael Clichy and Denilson immediately came to mind.
Clichy gifted the goal against Sp*ds, could have headed past Manuel Almunia against Manure, finally completed the task against Aston Villa and last night's comedic tangle with Mikael Silvestre presented Steven Ireland with the opening Man City goal.
Denilson perhaps was asked to do a job that he is not really ready to do, yet but against Man City he was terribly poor, to put it mildly. There were numerous errors that I really wished that Arsene Wenger would take him off midway through the match.
Nicklas Bendtner had another poor game and perhaps Steve McMahon of ESPN-StarSports is right after all when assessing the Big Dane as a terrific Championship player but still not good enough to play in the Premier League.
With big matches coming up against Dynamo Kyiv and Chelsea it is very important for Wenger to get his thoughts right and come up with a good solution to the mess that we are in right now.
Being optimistic, I do feel that we are still within a shout with the rest of the table toppers but things really have to turn around in order to ensure we keep our place in the top four again this season.
Perhaps Arsene should go British again to be at the heart of his midfield and the player who would fit the bill is Aaron Ramsey who made Arsenal looked much livelier when he came on for Gavin Hoyte.
The recently capped Welsh international could be alternated with Jack Wilshere partnering Cesc Fabregas. Both of them showed a lot of quality and perhaps their British hearts could fire things up for Arsenal.
If you really believe in youth, give this suggestion a try, Arsene!
...
Sunday 23 November 2008
Sunday 16 November 2008
The Villan in Us.
ARSENAL 0
ASTON VILLA 2 Glichy OG Agbonlahor
I just simply do not know how to call the latest defeat at the Emirates.
Is is a debacle?
Is it a disaster?
Is it a setback?
What?
I would not go as far as calling for Arsene Wenger's resignation but the team he put out against Aston Villa was a different team to the one that won all three points against Manure last week.
Different in the sense of attitude.
Do we really motivate ourselves just against the like of Manure, Liverfool and Chelski? And for other matches, we just simply turn up and all the three points will be in the bag.
Of course the lips say 'NO' but the attitude seems to be saying 'YES'.
So it is not fair to blame Arsene as he puts his trust on his players to continue the momentum from getting back to their winning ways. For me, the players really let us down with the lack of hunger against a more motivated team, especially with former Gunner, Steven Sidwell was very keen to prove his worth after being let go by Arsene earlier.
We could just put the blame on luck as Bacary Sagna was down injured when Villa broke through his side and the referee for not awarding a free-kick after Curtis Davies had taken down Carlos Vela prior to the second goal.
But the truth was the visitors who looked more deserving to go home with all the three points.
And I for one, would like to see how are wee going to get back on track.
Again.
...
ASTON VILLA 2 Glichy OG Agbonlahor
I just simply do not know how to call the latest defeat at the Emirates.
Is is a debacle?
Is it a disaster?
Is it a setback?
What?
I would not go as far as calling for Arsene Wenger's resignation but the team he put out against Aston Villa was a different team to the one that won all three points against Manure last week.
Different in the sense of attitude.
Do we really motivate ourselves just against the like of Manure, Liverfool and Chelski? And for other matches, we just simply turn up and all the three points will be in the bag.
Of course the lips say 'NO' but the attitude seems to be saying 'YES'.
So it is not fair to blame Arsene as he puts his trust on his players to continue the momentum from getting back to their winning ways. For me, the players really let us down with the lack of hunger against a more motivated team, especially with former Gunner, Steven Sidwell was very keen to prove his worth after being let go by Arsene earlier.
We could just put the blame on luck as Bacary Sagna was down injured when Villa broke through his side and the referee for not awarding a free-kick after Curtis Davies had taken down Carlos Vela prior to the second goal.
But the truth was the visitors who looked more deserving to go home with all the three points.
And I for one, would like to see how are wee going to get back on track.
Again.
...
Wednesday 12 November 2008
Wigan Vela-ed Off
Arsenal 3 Simpson 2 Vela
Wigan 0
As usual I have to wake up in the wee hours in the morning in order to catch the Arsenal youngsters in action but as it was against Sheffield United in the last round, it was totally worth it.
Another scintillating first half display (according to the commentator as I woke up with just five minutes of the half to go) was rewarded with a Jay Simpson goal that separated both teams at the break.
Then the young Gunners just continued where they left off and when you thought there was a hint of a fightback by Wigan, they just struck. As Wigan pressured the Arsenal defence, captain for the night Lukasz Fabianski punched away a cross and the ball found it's way to Carlos Vela.
The Mexican international's pace was simply too hot to handle and he cut to the byline with ease. Having the mind of a team player he squared the ball to Simpson who finished cooly for his second of the night and distanced Arsenal from their more experienced opponents.
A while later it was 3-0, as Vela displayed the kind of skill that made Arsene Wenger persisted in bringing him to the Arsenal fold. Another ball out from defence from Johan Djourou found Vela who flicked the ball towards goal.
Then it was a race with a defender to the ball and Vela just nicked it with a sublime chip that sailed over the bemused Chris Kirkland in the Wigan goal. It was such a priceless look, as I remembered he was one of the biggest culprit when it came to time wasting at the Emirates a couple of season back.
He did not waste any time tonight.
It was also a good outing for Fran Merida, whose long range effort had Kirkland scrambling to save and also for Kieran Gibbs. The young left-side player forced the Wigan custodian into making a couple of hard saves during the match.
Eduardo da Silva appeared on the TV screen tonight, and I really hope to see him in action real soon. But one of Wenger's summer acquisition did get his first competitive action in Arsenal colours during the match.
Amaury Bischoff was given his debut when he came on for Jack Wilshere, whose pass released Simpson for the first goal. It was a descent performance under a no pressure situation.
However, in the closing stages Wigan did pile up the pressure and Fabianski was forced to work hard to keep his clean sheen dream intact. Daniel de Ridder's mazy run ended up with a shot with the Polish goalkeeper did well to save but Henri Camara was following up.
Fabianski did well to get up quickly and got his hand on the goal bound ball and push it against the bar. Arsenal eventually cleared the danger and saw out the match.
Now we are in the last eight, I wonder who we could be facing next?
...
Wigan 0
As usual I have to wake up in the wee hours in the morning in order to catch the Arsenal youngsters in action but as it was against Sheffield United in the last round, it was totally worth it.
Another scintillating first half display (according to the commentator as I woke up with just five minutes of the half to go) was rewarded with a Jay Simpson goal that separated both teams at the break.
Then the young Gunners just continued where they left off and when you thought there was a hint of a fightback by Wigan, they just struck. As Wigan pressured the Arsenal defence, captain for the night Lukasz Fabianski punched away a cross and the ball found it's way to Carlos Vela.
The Mexican international's pace was simply too hot to handle and he cut to the byline with ease. Having the mind of a team player he squared the ball to Simpson who finished cooly for his second of the night and distanced Arsenal from their more experienced opponents.
A while later it was 3-0, as Vela displayed the kind of skill that made Arsene Wenger persisted in bringing him to the Arsenal fold. Another ball out from defence from Johan Djourou found Vela who flicked the ball towards goal.
Then it was a race with a defender to the ball and Vela just nicked it with a sublime chip that sailed over the bemused Chris Kirkland in the Wigan goal. It was such a priceless look, as I remembered he was one of the biggest culprit when it came to time wasting at the Emirates a couple of season back.
He did not waste any time tonight.
It was also a good outing for Fran Merida, whose long range effort had Kirkland scrambling to save and also for Kieran Gibbs. The young left-side player forced the Wigan custodian into making a couple of hard saves during the match.
Eduardo da Silva appeared on the TV screen tonight, and I really hope to see him in action real soon. But one of Wenger's summer acquisition did get his first competitive action in Arsenal colours during the match.
Amaury Bischoff was given his debut when he came on for Jack Wilshere, whose pass released Simpson for the first goal. It was a descent performance under a no pressure situation.
However, in the closing stages Wigan did pile up the pressure and Fabianski was forced to work hard to keep his clean sheen dream intact. Daniel de Ridder's mazy run ended up with a shot with the Polish goalkeeper did well to save but Henri Camara was following up.
Fabianski did well to get up quickly and got his hand on the goal bound ball and push it against the bar. Arsenal eventually cleared the danger and saw out the match.
Now we are in the last eight, I wonder who we could be facing next?
...
Saturday 8 November 2008
Such Satisfaction!
Arsenal 2 Nasri 2
Manure 1 Da Silva
It was such a satisfaction to get a win after all the less then positive results that we had over the last few weeks, and the satisfaction tripled when the win came against one of the big rivals for the League title, Manure.
It was a nervy start which had me pulling my hair as early as in the third minute when Manuel Almunia continued with his uncertain form of late by catching a back pass from Mikel Silvestre. But the Arsenal goal survived the threat from the indirect free-kick awarded and also a few more anxious moments afterwards as the visitors tried to impose themselves.
However much to their credit, Arsenal players also began to find their feet and Nicklas Bendtner should have done better with the crosses that were played to him. United also rode their luck when a bad punch by Edwin van der Sar landed at the feet of Abou Diaby who could not find an opening along the sea of legs in front of him.
But luck was with Samir Nasri in the 22nd minute when he controlled a header from Dimitar Berbatov from a corner and unleashed a left foot shot which took a slight deflection off the f*ck-face Gary Neville to carry it past van der Sar.
It was such a great satisfaction that he was the one to give us the lead.
But it was a great credit too to Nasri whose technique was superb in executing the shot which was difficult to say the least.
It was a great football match which had all the ingredients to make it a classic, when both teams decided to come out and play football the way it should be played.
Then the second goal came just within minutes from the restart of the second half. Arsenal kept possession with their passing game. The a crucial off the ball run by Theo Walcott took Nemanja Vidic away which gave Nasri the space for him to run to.
Cesc Fabregas saw this and his pass opened the door for Nasri to blast his shot past van der Sar. A typical Arsenal goal which we have not seen for a while.
If people were expecting that Arsenal had learned their lesson and shut up shop, they did not know Arsene Wenger's Arsenal that well. It was true that Manure staged a wonderful fightback to salvage something from that match but Arsenal managed to hold on.
If referee Howard Webb was in a bit more centre position he would have seen the tug on Nasri's shirt in the penalty box by Vidic. But he was viewing the incident from the back and in his eyes it was simply a come together of both players.
Then in the last minute substitute Rafael Da Silva volleyed home past Lukasz Fabianski, who came on for the injured Almunia earlier. It was such a sweet strike that there was nothing the Polish goalkeeper could do and Arsenal were made to sweat it out for the six minutes added time due to the Almunia's injury.
Thank God, there was no repeat of the Sp*ds episode. The Gunners even had the chance to kill off the match but Bendtner who seemed to be a bit off in the last few matches decided to be selfish.
In my view he should have set up either Nasri or Fabregas who were ready with their support. But given the amount of effort he put out, it was understandably that he could not make the right decision.
I fell down on my knees as if I was the one who scored the winning goal upon hearing the final whistle from Howard Webb.
Hopefully we will pick up steam from here and turn our season around.
...
Manure 1 Da Silva
It was such a satisfaction to get a win after all the less then positive results that we had over the last few weeks, and the satisfaction tripled when the win came against one of the big rivals for the League title, Manure.
It was a nervy start which had me pulling my hair as early as in the third minute when Manuel Almunia continued with his uncertain form of late by catching a back pass from Mikel Silvestre. But the Arsenal goal survived the threat from the indirect free-kick awarded and also a few more anxious moments afterwards as the visitors tried to impose themselves.
However much to their credit, Arsenal players also began to find their feet and Nicklas Bendtner should have done better with the crosses that were played to him. United also rode their luck when a bad punch by Edwin van der Sar landed at the feet of Abou Diaby who could not find an opening along the sea of legs in front of him.
But luck was with Samir Nasri in the 22nd minute when he controlled a header from Dimitar Berbatov from a corner and unleashed a left foot shot which took a slight deflection off the f*ck-face Gary Neville to carry it past van der Sar.
It was such a great satisfaction that he was the one to give us the lead.
But it was a great credit too to Nasri whose technique was superb in executing the shot which was difficult to say the least.
It was a great football match which had all the ingredients to make it a classic, when both teams decided to come out and play football the way it should be played.
Then the second goal came just within minutes from the restart of the second half. Arsenal kept possession with their passing game. The a crucial off the ball run by Theo Walcott took Nemanja Vidic away which gave Nasri the space for him to run to.
Cesc Fabregas saw this and his pass opened the door for Nasri to blast his shot past van der Sar. A typical Arsenal goal which we have not seen for a while.
If people were expecting that Arsenal had learned their lesson and shut up shop, they did not know Arsene Wenger's Arsenal that well. It was true that Manure staged a wonderful fightback to salvage something from that match but Arsenal managed to hold on.
If referee Howard Webb was in a bit more centre position he would have seen the tug on Nasri's shirt in the penalty box by Vidic. But he was viewing the incident from the back and in his eyes it was simply a come together of both players.
Then in the last minute substitute Rafael Da Silva volleyed home past Lukasz Fabianski, who came on for the injured Almunia earlier. It was such a sweet strike that there was nothing the Polish goalkeeper could do and Arsenal were made to sweat it out for the six minutes added time due to the Almunia's injury.
Thank God, there was no repeat of the Sp*ds episode. The Gunners even had the chance to kill off the match but Bendtner who seemed to be a bit off in the last few matches decided to be selfish.
In my view he should have set up either Nasri or Fabregas who were ready with their support. But given the amount of effort he put out, it was understandably that he could not make the right decision.
I fell down on my knees as if I was the one who scored the winning goal upon hearing the final whistle from Howard Webb.
Hopefully we will pick up steam from here and turn our season around.
...
Sunday 2 November 2008
Delapped at The Britannia
Stoke City 2 Fuller, Olofawhat?
Arsenal 1 Glichy
As an optimist Arsenal fan I would say the latest defeat at the Brittania Stadium came at a very good time, as it is still early in the season. But this was our third defeat and they all came against sides that were not really up there in 'our league', or so we thought.
But if we cannot beat teams that are from the lower league, then are we ready to compete in our own league then?
As it is, we are still just three points off the pace, a bit of gratitude to the boys in white tonight who clearly benefited from our generosity on Thursday morning (Malaysian time that is). Chelski's mauling of Roy Keane's Sunderland meant they went to the top on better goal difference than Liverpool.
Back to the match against Tony Pulis's Stoke City, we started without the injured (allegedly) William Gallas. Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott found themselves on the bench with Nicklas Bendtner, Abou Diaby and Alex Song replacing them in the first eleven.
But watching Arsenal play you could not believe that this is a team who has not won anything since 2005. They lacked the hunger and drive to play the match with a fast tempo, something which I really think was urgently needed in order to get past the ageing Stoke defence.
Then we fell behind when our defensive frailties were exposed again. For the goal I really think Manuel Almunia should have came for the ball as it was travelling right at him, or at least he would have squeezed a foul from the referee with Ricardo Fuller backing into him.
I would have expected that we would show more creativity and pace in search for the equaliser but there was none. Manu Adebayor's body language clearly showed that he did not wish to be there.
Come on! You are a six foot plus striker but did not strike any fear at all to the opposing defenders who are just happy to hassle you into making mistakes with your poor first touch and lately clumsy jumps. The less said about your finishing the better.
I do not think I have ever said this before but seeing Adebayor going off was perhaps my highlight of the match. Last season I was all out defending the Togolese poor finishing, that he would have to have quite a number of chances before finally finding the net. I was proud doing that because Adebayor seemed to give everything he got.
Unfortunately, his transfer episode during the summer has completely turned me against him and I would rather have the millions from Milan or Barcelona than having to see him giving half hearted performance such as the one at Stoke just now.
Credit must be given to Pulis as he maximised the strength that his side has and the home fans deserved to go home with all the three points. It was rather unfortunate that the hunger and drive which was lacking throughout the match from the Arsenal players only came during time added on.
Congratulations to Gael Clichy for scoring his first senior goal with a pinball effort which gave Thomas Sorensen no chance at all. But it came all too little too late.
Arsene Wenger must be counting his woes as Walcott and Sagna went off injured. I really must say that a straight red card for van Persie was rather extreme by Rob Styles and the most the Dutchman should have got was a yellow card.
But as an optimist Arsenal fan, I really believe that there is a silver lining somewhere in the clouds for us Gooners. So just be patient and hope we will see it soon.
Really soon.
...
Arsenal 1 Glichy
As an optimist Arsenal fan I would say the latest defeat at the Brittania Stadium came at a very good time, as it is still early in the season. But this was our third defeat and they all came against sides that were not really up there in 'our league', or so we thought.
But if we cannot beat teams that are from the lower league, then are we ready to compete in our own league then?
As it is, we are still just three points off the pace, a bit of gratitude to the boys in white tonight who clearly benefited from our generosity on Thursday morning (Malaysian time that is). Chelski's mauling of Roy Keane's Sunderland meant they went to the top on better goal difference than Liverpool.
Back to the match against Tony Pulis's Stoke City, we started without the injured (allegedly) William Gallas. Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott found themselves on the bench with Nicklas Bendtner, Abou Diaby and Alex Song replacing them in the first eleven.
But watching Arsenal play you could not believe that this is a team who has not won anything since 2005. They lacked the hunger and drive to play the match with a fast tempo, something which I really think was urgently needed in order to get past the ageing Stoke defence.
Then we fell behind when our defensive frailties were exposed again. For the goal I really think Manuel Almunia should have came for the ball as it was travelling right at him, or at least he would have squeezed a foul from the referee with Ricardo Fuller backing into him.
I would have expected that we would show more creativity and pace in search for the equaliser but there was none. Manu Adebayor's body language clearly showed that he did not wish to be there.
Come on! You are a six foot plus striker but did not strike any fear at all to the opposing defenders who are just happy to hassle you into making mistakes with your poor first touch and lately clumsy jumps. The less said about your finishing the better.
I do not think I have ever said this before but seeing Adebayor going off was perhaps my highlight of the match. Last season I was all out defending the Togolese poor finishing, that he would have to have quite a number of chances before finally finding the net. I was proud doing that because Adebayor seemed to give everything he got.
Unfortunately, his transfer episode during the summer has completely turned me against him and I would rather have the millions from Milan or Barcelona than having to see him giving half hearted performance such as the one at Stoke just now.
Credit must be given to Pulis as he maximised the strength that his side has and the home fans deserved to go home with all the three points. It was rather unfortunate that the hunger and drive which was lacking throughout the match from the Arsenal players only came during time added on.
Congratulations to Gael Clichy for scoring his first senior goal with a pinball effort which gave Thomas Sorensen no chance at all. But it came all too little too late.
Arsene Wenger must be counting his woes as Walcott and Sagna went off injured. I really must say that a straight red card for van Persie was rather extreme by Rob Styles and the most the Dutchman should have got was a yellow card.
But as an optimist Arsenal fan, I really believe that there is a silver lining somewhere in the clouds for us Gooners. So just be patient and hope we will see it soon.
Really soon.
...
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