Just testing out a new blogging app for the iPhone, hopefully it'll encourage me to update this more!
Anyone else concerned about Sunday? Yeah, me too....
Tuesday 10 August 2010
Hello?
When did I last touch this? Early October? Ah, I remember it well, things were looking good in the league, RvP was on a fine vein of form and there were no reasons we couldn’t sustain a strong title challenge.
DAMMIT!
Right, the blog is coming back I think. Might not be regular, might not be every game, might not even make any bloody sense, but something may happen!
Brace yourselves people…..
Monday 5 October 2009
A generic headline involving the number six……Sixy?
So, that was a bit of a drubbing wasn’t it!
Beating any team 6-2 is enjoyable, but erasing a team containing c**thammers like Diouf and managed by that fat walrus t**t Allardyce with the style of football we played yesterday is the kind of stuff that requires a change of pants.
The official site is currently showing the highlights for free here, the commentary is awesome!
Negatives, well the defending was questionable at times, we seemed to take the Brazilian approach to defending again, give it a shot but aim to outscore our opposition through sheer number of goals rather than preventing them. The first goal was a bit of a freak header but you’ve got to be disappointed that we succumbed to the long ball so easily, likewise the defending for their second, with both the left and right backs being caught upfield.
Ok, positives! Coming back from two early setbacks to pulverise a side, shows the character and belief in the side at the moment (starting to sound like Wenger now!), great to see. One comment I picked up on Saturday during Gillette Soccer Saturday was, I think from Merson, that we didn’t have another 15-20 goals a season man other than RvP. Well yesterday we had 6 different goalscorers, while 15 different players have gotten on the scoresheet so far this season. Why rely on one man like Liverpool when you can share the goals about! Notably our leading scorer so far this term was on the mark again yesterday, god I love Thomas Vermaelen. To think he’s not just a quality centre back but can strike a ball like he did yesterday is frankly scary. What a purchase.
Theo Walcott also made his first appearance of the season yesterday, and marked it by finishing a great flowing move from left to right with a well placed side-footed strike. Even better news is that he wasn’t included in the England squad for next weekend so will be nice and fresh and hopefully injury free for the visit of Birmingham City in two weeks.
The biggest positive for me was Cesc’s performance. After the Fulham game I stated he was going through a poor run, before looking more like his old self midweek against Olympiacos. Well yesterday we got the whole Cesc. The glorious passes, dictating our forward play and pulling the strings like a midfield maestro. The goal, a sumptuous left-footed volley from the edge of the area, left Robinson (oh how we love scoring against him, although anyone think he looks like an extra from Star Wars in his new kit?) totally stranded. The badge-kissing celebration, which I’m usually dubious about, looked heartfelt, as did the explanation in his post-game interview.
The only pisser is that now he goes on international duty. DAMN YOU INTERNATIONALS, DAMN YOU!!!!
Post game the Walrus was wailing about the penalty that they should have had and it being the turning point of the game. Ok, yes, it was a penalty. Probably wasn’t the red card that the chunky fish-muncher was also asking for. But the thing was if they’d have gotten that, we most likely would have scored seven, we were in that kind of mood, not to mention the penalty we should have also had for a foul later in the second half. So shut it tubby, the reason you lost wasn’t, the debatable penalty, it was the SIX goals against! Take some responsibility rather than try and look for an easy scapegoat!
Anyway, that’s that for two weeks. The w**ky international football is on next week so I’ll update this if anything significant happens…..
‘Till then!
Oh, and we won both our hockey games yesterday, 4-3 and 11-2, and I’m still averaging a point a game with 2 goals and 2 assists for the season. Just made yesterday better!
Technorati Tags: Blackburn,Fat Sam,Walrus,Cesc,RvP,Theo,Thomas Vermaelen,International Football is s**te,Farnborough Arrows
Friday 2 October 2009
Smashing!
Supposed to be a reference to Greek Restaurants? Geddit? Oh, never mind.
So, the other night we delivered the performance we’d been looking for, total dominance and some slick passing football against an Olympiacos side who never really turned up, if they did it was to only park everything in front of their goal and prey to Zeus that we wouldn’t score.
For 78 minutes I couldn’t help think of anything but the CSKA Moscow game a few seasons back, which despite 20 odd shots on target and this horrific miss, finished 0-0. Then Wenger dragged Diaby off, who despite showing some good turns and nice bits of skill, continues to run up blind alleys and can’t work out what kit we’re wearing when he passes, for Vela. Minutes later Eduardo worked his way down the left, and crossed low for RvP to slot home from close range. A few minutes later we wrapped up the tie, Arshavin with the cute backheel flick following a sweet interchange of passes. And that was that really. 6 points from 6 and a healthy position in the group.
I just wrote a whole load of stuff and my w**ky computer crashed and deleted it, so the next part of this blog will be sub par because I can’t be arsed….it was damn good stuff too, c**t!
Olympiacos manager Zico decided to focus more on xenophobic conspiracy theories about the officials being French and allowing the second goal, which was just offside, rather than focus on the fact that his side were pretty gutless in their performance. The fact the referee also didn’t give a penalty to us for a blatant handball in the box also f**ks up his theory. Tw*t
The game also saw a welcome return to form for Cesc and Arshavin. Both of whom were literally everywhere. Arshavin using his low centre of gravity to bamboozle the Greek defence, and while he ran at them tirelessly for the whole game he tracked back twice as hard. Awesome effort. Great to see Thomas Rosicky is nearly back to his best with another strong performance. Slowly but surely he’s lasting longer in games so it can’t be long ‘till he lasts a full 90 mins, gets injured and is ruled out for another 6 months. Realism, not optimism people!
Another great effort was from Eboue, who provided a good alternative route of attack down the right wing. However in games against, how shall we say, opposition that aren’t this sh*t, I’d prefer the defensive capabilities of Sagna. Ideally I’d like a player with combined powers of both, but we don’t seem to have that. But yeah, fair play to Eboue, he’s gotten his head down since “Eboooooooegate”, upped his work ethic and played well.
Bwahaha, loving the save button at the moment. F**k you computer!
Right, this week, actually yesterday to be precise (or Thursday 1st Oct if you’re not reading this today) saw Arsene Wenger become the longest serving manager in the club’s history, overtaking the legendary George Allison. To say that the changes to the club with Wenger at the helm have been massive is an understatement. New stadium, new training complex, a couple of doubles, the Invincibles and some damn fine football as well. So thank you gaffer, and lets hope your experiment of developing a title winning team of 13 year olds works and doesn’t taint our wonderful memories of you that we currently have……..
Right, so onto this weekend. Blackburn and their massive c**t of a walrus manager Fat Sam roll into town. I hate him, the f**king massive horrible, bile spitting c**t of an anti-football preacher that he is. Team news is that Eduardo is injured AGAIN after aggravating a thigh strain he had previously against Olympiacos. Almunia is nearly fit so “Don” Vito Mannone continues in goal, aiming for a consecutive 3rd clean sheet. Theo Walcott is in the squad for the first time this season which is always good to see too. Blackburn themselves are coming into this after a good home win over Villa, and they’re scoring a few goals at the moment, so here’s hoping we have Sagna at right back rather than the more attacking option of Eboue. But realistically, on paper, we should be looking for 3 points. I know, football isn’t played on paper and this won’t be easy, but well, that’s the expectation.
I can’t watch the game as I’ve got two hockey matches on Sunday, cunningly positioned to keep me at the rink the majority of Sunday. Bas**rds!
Anyway, have a good weekend and COME ON YOU REDS!
..
Tuesday 29 September 2009
Winning badly is still winning….just!
Indeed it is. So another crap performance away at Fulham, but a decent result for a change as RvP’s excellent strike with his chocolate leg from a fantastic through ball by Cesc, coupled with some sublime work by Vito Mannone to keep the home side out, sees us win 1-0.
Before the game about 200 of us cruised along the river Thames from Westminster, out east before turning around and heading for Putney. The sun was shining, songs were vocal and the beer was flowing resulting in a quality pre-game for all!
Right, so, the plus points. Mannone was awesome with some fine reaction saves from close range, while the defence did a decent job limiting Fulham’s chances. Song also had a relatively good game, helping to protect the back four and winning the majority of tackles in the middle of the park. The negatives? Well we looked quite lethargic at times, struggling to find any rhythm or indeed our own players at times. Diaby was probably the most guilty of losing possession cheaply, how he is starting ahead of the likes of Vela and Ramsey is beyond me. Rosicky will, i would imagine, replace him in the starting lineup once fully fit, but Diaby continues to blow hot and cold too regularly to be taken as a starter.
One of those blowing more cold than hot at the moment is Cesc. Aside from his killer ball to RvP for the goal on Saturday he was practically anonymous, as was Arshavin. It’s hard to say if there’s something legitimately wrong there and that they’re genuinely not happy (suggestions from others about Cesc’s body language showing that he’s regretting not moving during the summer are probably a tad OTT), or if they’re simply just out of form. They’re human and it happens, but no doubt we’ll get all the bollocks about Barcelona resurface soon!
The club published their financial results yesterday, showing healthy profits, much to many people’s annoyance following our lack of activity in the transfer market and areas in the squad that need addressing. Peter Hill-Wood delivering the news with all the tact and guile of Prince Phillip! Interestingly though he stated that funds were, and always have been, available for transfers, and for the first time stated that it was Wenger’s belief in his project that prevented us bringing in players in the last window, the boss added that one of his objectives, aside from making winning teams, was to ensure that the club made money.
Now, don’t get me wrong here, but shouldn’t the business side of the club not lie with the board rather than the manager? Otherwise you have a conflict of interest. You may want to buy someone like Yaya Toure as he would improve an area of the squad that needs addressing, so you shouldn’t be also trying to crunch the numbers working out when your next gas bill is due! If the manager needs cash to make a winning team then he should be fighting tooth and nail to get it if its available. I’m not asking for us to live beyond our means here and do a Leeds, but a little outlay from the highest ticket prices in the country towards squad improvement would be nice. I guess he still believes that Song, Diaby, Eboue can win us the league. Hmmm……..
Anyway, Olympiacos at home tonight in the CL.Team news is Bendtner is out after crashing his car on Sunday, nothing serious but enough to rule him out for one game. Denilson’s back injury is worse than initially feared, turns out to be a fracture similar to the one that ruled Gilberto out for most of the season a few years back, he’s expected to miss 8 weeks. Eduardo is back in the squad after missing Fulham for whatever reason it was, while Theo is in/out of the squad depending on what you’re reading!
Tonight won’t be easy, Brazilian legend Zico, who did great things getting Fenerbache onto the CL scene, is now at the helm of the Greek outfit, while familliar faces will feature, namely Matt Derbyshire formerly of Blackburn fame, while ex-Villain Olof Mellburg is marshalling their back four, which has only conceded twice in their opening ten games this season. Plus we’ll no doubt make things hard for ourselves as usual. But here’s hoping for a win and an improvement of recent form.
COME ON YOU REDS!
Friday 25 September 2009
WBA get a Dirty Sanchez in the Beer cup & Fulham away
Apologies for the lack of updates, been doing a bit much recently and consequently I’m half asleep most of the time now!
So, Tuesday night saw the Young Guns make the 4th round of the beer cup with a 2-0 victory over WBA. Those expecting an easy night like the 6-0 demolition of Sheffield United were somewhat over expectant given Albion’s form going into this match, as the first half proved with both sides going close.
The tuning point of the game came shortly after half time, with the sending off of ex-Gunner Jerome Thomas for bitch-slapping Jack Wilshere. Roberto Di Matteo has criticised Jack for saying something to instigate the slap, but at the end of the day, if you raise your hands to a player then you’re going to get sent off.
Following the red we dominated play and went one up, Dirty Sanchez Watt, who made an impressive first team debut, was first to a parried Carlos Vela shot, before Vela himself turned poacher, taking advantage of a monumental defensive cock-up after a Mark Randall lob from distance came back off the bar to kill the tie. Great to have King Carlos back, lets hope he can transfer his awesome Carling Cup form from the last 2 seasons into the Premiership and Champions League.
Right, so, it’s Fulham away tomorrow. Not a happy hunting ground in recent seasons, and especially last season when a lightweight and toothless Arsenal went down 1-0. Arshavin is back in the side, RvP faces a fitness test while Wenger was coy on Theo being involved:
“He has only played 45 minutes since June so he lacks a little bit of competition. He was short for the West Brom game [on Tuesday] but he's available again. He needs match practice. I don't know [if he could figure this weekend] He is still a bit short because it's the week he's back to full, normal training. But the good news is that he's available again.”
So probably the bench for Theo, maybe. Almunia is definitely out, and with Szczczczczczczesny impressing midweek against WBA Wenger hinted that there may be competition for the nod this weekend, saying that it would “normally (be) Manone” getting the start. We shall see.
One thing for certain is I will be hammered as REDaction are running their boat trip to Fulham, starting at midday from Westminster, going out to the Thames Barrier before turning around and heading for Putney, plus the Italians and the mental Croatians that we met in Austria are over too, so don’t expect any sense from me until Wednesday at the earliest!
Anyhoo, have a good weekend and COME ON YOU REDS!
Tuesday 22 September 2009
Ah, so, blog…….
Right, this is my lunchtime so I’m typing quickly.
Wigan at the weekend was a piece of piss. We didn’t really get out of first gear against a poor side and worse support than our own. I actually think the reason we didn’t make the away section smaller is because it physically couldn’t get any smaller, and they still couldn’t fill that. At least we still get a whole end at their place.
The concerning thing about the weekend was that it was just another exercise of papering over the cracks, much like the Portsmouth game, although that did pose a few questions about Almunia that has arisen since then. While we cruised to a simples 4-0 win we were still pretty average, play like that against a vaguely competent side and we’ll get found out, like City away the week before for example.
Tonight the nippers are at home to West Brom in the beer cup. Apparently Vela is back from injury so could feature (yay!), while Senderos will feature in his “fresh start” to his Arsenal career. That's the fresh start he’s been granted since Djourou got injured. Expect to see Sanchez Watt, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Kieran Gibbs et al feature as well.The bad news is Silvestre is also in contention……
It won’t be a walkover, WBA are coming off of a 5-0 demolition of Boro at the weekend, going well in the Championship and playing some good football under new manager Roberto Di Matteo so it should be a good game tonight.
As much as I like to see the nippers do well in the beer cup, I shan’t be too annoyed if they fall short.
One more quick thing, managed to get a few pics of the Arsenalisation courtesy of a few people from the Online Gooner Forum (Basil and Josh, cheers guys), looks like the club have done a good job so far:
Starting to look like home!
COME ON YOU REDS!
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