Young Gunners too much for Experienced Spurs(as they claim)

Gunners crushed the experienced Spurs side 3-0. Spurs before the match had claimed that Arsenal team will be an easy on to play eventhough they have this beautiful passing game. After the match maybe they might chance the view to too much to play. Too much mind games and comments from Redknapp and Keane started off the match well for Arsenal.

Arsenal played the regular team with Bendtner starting instead of Eboue. Bendtner later left due to a injury and in came Eduardo. Spurs started well with cutting off Arsenal passes and holding the game well. They could claim they started well but had no chance going forward since they lacked creativity by playing Huddlestone, Palacios and Jenas in midfield. This left no one to attack for them from the midfield. Arsenal unlike the other games was bit shaky in the start. Van Persie opened the scoring from a beautiful cross from Sagna and then came the wonder goal. The wonder goal was scored by the Arsenal captain Fabregas. He cut off the pass from the touch by Spurs after the Van Persie goal and went on to beat 3 players alone before cutting in that goal past Gomes. That was awesome goal and one of the best in this season till date. There was some heated exchange of words between Robin and Bendtner when there was a mis-pass from the later.

Bendtner was strugging after 30mins in the first half and seemed like a groin injury and in came Eduardo. It was an awful day for Eduardo, he missed two simple chances in one on one occassions with Gomes. This was not expected from him and he also looked tired out there with his facial expressions. Arshavin was later substituted with Eboue. Arshavin had quite a few runs as usual and was unlucky in not scoring in few occasions. Arsene Wenger seems to be shouting at few players during the course of the match. Vermaelen stood tall against the tallest of all Peter Crouch. Vermaelen defended with style. He was tough to beat and helped Arsenal keep a clean sheet. The referee would have taken peoples curse by not using his yellow card on many a times he got chance.

Third goal came from Robin Van Persie's boots with a brilliant miss from goalkeeper and King. There was a confusion before the goal when linesman called foul and referee said play on when Eduardo was fouled. Most of the players stopped but when it started it was goal. Anyways it stands since referee said to continue and play on. Gunners who still has one game in hand in the premier league this time looks comfortable and in a dominant position. We still needs to go a long way and if our players keep getting injured this way and most of them groin. We could also doubt there is something wrong with our training or workout which makes it keep happening. I was expecting Samir Nasri to come off the bench but unfortunately Wenger didnt play him.

Current Injured players :
1. Rosicky
2. Denilson
3. Walcott
4. Wilshere
5. Vela
6. Bendtner
7. Djourou
8. Fabianski

That is hell a lot of players and we need to do something with this and its all left to Wenger to decide what will be best. Gunners Keep going and we fans are always behind you.

Gunners cruise through Liverpool tide!

Arsenal evolved as winners playing Liverpool at home in a Carling Cup Match which placed them into quarter-final stage of the cup competition. It was a delight to watch since in comparison with the mighty Liverpool squad today Arsenal was frail.

Gunners Squad had likes of Fabianski, Gilbert, Senderos, Silvestre, Gibbs, Eastmond, Ramsey, Merida, Bendtner, Eduardo and Nasri. Nasri was instrumental in planning and executing a excellant display with wide range of passes and dribbling. Benitez placed a pretty strong side against Arsenal for this match. It had the likes of Skrtel, Voronin, Kuyt, Insua, N'Gog and later Benayoun and Aquilani coming off bench. This was again a Liverpool side short of Gerrard and Torres.

Arsenal started the goal scoring with a brilliant strike from one of our best young players Fran Merida. Fellow gunners Fabregas and Arshavin rose from their seats to applaud for this wonderful goal which came quite early in the match. But Arsenal goal was taken off from limelight with a more accurate and deadly long ranger from Insua which gave a game on the half time with 1-1. Liverpool threat was constant on the wings and had few wonderful chances missed too. This never bothered free flowing gunners today. Arsenal right back Gilbert showed good defending skills. He had won quite a lot of balls to get gunners going. He seemed to slow on foot but wonderful in tackling and positioning. Senderos and Silvestre also played with the wisdom they gained from experience. Gibbs was the weak link in the Arsenal defence today. I would like to make this comment which I am forced to, "Gibbs is not at all a good wing back." He is good playing as left midfielder or central midfielder. Wenger should soon remove him from that position and try to play him in a role where he is comfortable at. He is good at tackling and long range passes. In fact he is a good passer. He is often out of position while backtracking from an attack. There were quite a lot of occassions when Silvestre found himself alone with no support of the left.

Nasri controlled the game with his wonderful passing and dribbling. Merida gave good support to Nasri and was instrumental in Arsenal victory. Bendtner had missed few chances in the first half before gifting Arsenal with a good sweet left footer from 5-10yards distance. Ramsey was deployed into a more attacking role which was not suiting him completely. With the debutant Craig Eastmond playing the holding role. We saw Sanchez Watt, Randall and Coquelin coming off bench to replace Bendtner, Eastmond and Merida. This time around Wenger was playing serious and sensible substitutions, which made it clear Arsenal took this game more seriously than ever and not in the normal hit and miss cup games which was always a lighter part of Arsenal. Aquilani impressed the fans with couple of wonderful long passes and skills. He looks like a player who can fit into Liverpool midfield beside Mascherano and could mean trouble for opponents. Benayoun was not seen much with the ball after coming off the bench. Voronin had a good chance which was called offside towards the end of the game and also a hand ball claim against Senderos was not given by referee in the dying moments of the match.

Next weekend on October 31, 2009 Arsenal plays Spurs at Emirates. Don't miss that one!

Take it easy to make it a draw?

Gunners once again showed the take it easy attitude after the 2-0 first half lead which made them pay heavily. If Arsenal had not drawn today they would have sat in a good position in the table. Anyways the season is on and it looks like an open one with all smaller team showing some kind of urgency and raw power in crunch matches. This season shows no matches are easy as people used to think before.

Arsenal played the regular back four and the regular midfield and regular front men today. I guess no need to name them, they were same as last match. After the surprise gift from Green to Van Persie for the first goal. Arsenal pumped in one more with a good header by Gallas from a corner. West Ham goals came from Mannonne block which was headed in by Cole from a freekick of Diamanti and another penalty from Diamanti. Mannonne didn't look the comfortable shot stopper which he was last few games today.

Only man who had some bit of performance on his side today was Alex Song and its time and again now that this chap is coming out good. Eventhough the penalty was given by Song's pressure on Cole, Song was composed and disciplined. Arsenal had Nasri, Eduardo and Bendtner on the bench. I am not sure why Wenger want to keep it late again. It took him 80mins to bring on Bendtner and later Eduardo for Eboue and Diaby. We should have given this pair atleast 20mins time to work out the plans which they never got.

Hope Arsenal takes this as a good lesson. They have to kill matches quickly and don't take it easy. Needs to go for that extra push and finish off as soon as possible. Next match is a knock-out match with Liverpool in Carling Cup. Liverpool showed some style in last encounter with Manchester United. So Gunners get ready for the toughest task in this season for the youngsters.

Happy B'day Arsene Wenger

Well deserved draw!

Gunners were not near there worst form of the season, but was a significant loss of form seen. The not so early lead came to Arsenal when Arshavin pounced on a defensive error and setup Van Persie on the left for a clean strike who unselfishly inturn setup Fabregas for a clean shot on the right side of the post. AZ Alkmaar drew the match on the stoppage time's last minute and I would say it was a well deserved one. They played and protected the ball as gold with their own boots. I am not sure what the stats are but for a viewer it was all with Alkmaar except for few Arsenal passes. Arsenal was not able to play their normal game and wonderful work done by AZ Alkmaar coach on this regard.

Arsenal started with regular back four and had Song as midfield sweeper with Arshavin on left wing, Diaby and Fabregas and then Eboue. Van Persie was the front man for Arsenal. I always felt seeing todays team sheet, it was a wrong thing to do. We should have played our normal game with 4-3-3 and Vela/Wilshere should have started in front with Arshavin and Van Persie. But its all Boss's call we have to respect him. Ramsey came of for Eboue towards 80min and Vela for Van Persie. The best thing that AZ Alkmaar did and also the most sensible thing was not to give the ball to Arsenal in the starting minutes. This disabled Arsenal to settle down and inturn helped them to gain control. Clichy even though had quite a few good runs and passes but in defense he seemed ordinary. Vermaelen and Gallas played better than others. Song was very sloppy and Diaby contributed his usual meekish misses. Diaby had a good weekend last week which forced me to pick him as MOM for that match. But as expected from him he was inconsistent with his form.

There was no exceptional performers in todays match from Arsenal end. Arshavin played his normal game. Created few chances, took some shots and good link up with Fabregas. Cesc was very lazy today which affected the Arsenal game as a whole. Ramsey was played in the right wing of the midfield where he was miserable. Lad was not able to play his natural game. In Arsene we trust, so he should be having some planning trying out all these. We surely missed the creativity of Rosicky, Nasri, Eduardo and Bendtner today. Back in England Nasri played 58mins for reserves and setup the first goal for Arsenal Reserves. Coincidentally we drew the Arsenal reserves match too.

We should be marking this day as a black day for comparitively bigger teams in Champions league considering the following results.
Barcelona lost 1-2 to Rubin Kazan
Liverpool lost 1-2 to Lyon
Inter Milan drew 2-2 to Dynamo Kiev
Rangers lost 1-4 to Unirea Urziceni

Arsenal Training before AZ Alkmaar match

Arsenal comes strong out of Birmingham encounter

Let the advertisement complete on the video for highlights


Arsenal started well with strong passing display. With Fabregas being the center of the passing games it was delightful for the eyes. Gunners has two changes to the regular back four with Gibbs and Eboue coming in for Clichy and Sagna. Midfield was filled with Diaby, Fabregas and Alex Song. Van Persie once again spearheaded the three men strike force with Rosicky on left and Walcott on right.

The sad part of the match is Walcott took a blow and was substituted at 38th min. Arshavin came on for Walcott and which changed some of the proceedings. The goals came out off Van Persie, Diaby and Arshavin. Bowyer was the only player to smash the net for Birmingham which kept them in the match until Arshavin closed the hopes with an 85th min beauty. He placed the ball instead of banging and placed it so well that Hart never stood a chance.

Vito Mannonne once again proved his worth with a string of wonderful unbelievable saves. I guess Almunia would get some good competition for his spot. This also might push Fabianski to be the third preference for goalkeeping. Italian goalkeeper claimed that Birmingham had fouled him for the first goal but referee had differnt view on it and the goal stood. Abou Diaby was another player who was exceptional. Not just with his passing and dribbling but first time this season with the much expected tackling. Diaby has good ability to tackle and get the ball from opponents. Since he is played in the front line and on left is seldom uses this. Today there were quite a few occassions he came to help out young Gibbs. Diaby once again showed his worth in the team. But the question remains...Is he reliable? Is he consistent. We need to wait and watch rest of the season. Wenger is a man on mission and he had earlier declared this could be Diaby's season. I trust in Arsene too! So there should be something behind that declaration.

Gibbs was not that impressive today but filled the void left by Clichy to some extent. But he keeps making silly mistakes and there were few occassions when Gibbs has to just hit outside which is not that great in intense matches. He needs to win possession and once ball is with him needs to move forward. He has shown some skills with his long passing as usual and I am sure we will have more to see from him in the coming years. Sagna came off the bench to substitute Rosicky and Eboue gave way to Wilshere on the 90th minute. Van Persie missed few good chances too. Otherwise the scoreline would have been different. Eduardo, Bendtner and Nasri is due to return during next game. Not sure how much Walcott will be missing. But it is quite evident that he won't be playing the next match which happen to be a champions league encounter.

Arsenal punishes Blackburn for early lead

Blackburn took early lead with a marvelous header by Nzonzi which no one would have bet for. Arsenal responded with a beautiful goal again by Vermaelen from the edge of the penalty box. The shot from Vermaelen had hit the back of net with some force. Game on once again and Blackburn got lucky with a deflected shot from Gallas to back of net. Arsenal again came back with a beautiful goal left footed goal by Van Persie to make the game equally poised. It never looked equally poised after that to be frank. Arsenal started a rampage run with Arshavin, Fabregas, Walcott and Bendtner on score sheet towards the end of the match.

Arsenal started with the regular formation which is tested throughout this season's campaign.
Sagna-Gallas-Vermaelen-Clichy
Fabregas-Song-Diaby
Rosicky-Van Persie-Arshavin

Eventhough Rosicky could not get to the scoresheet he did his job remarkably well. He had few shots on goal himself and setup lot of attacks with his meeky passes and runs. Fabregas was instrumental in Arsenal victory who masterminded most of the goals and scored one himself. Rosicky was substituted by Walcott on 67th minute as expected. Walcott immediately delivered his goods which might had caught Fabio Capello's mind with no surprise. By 75th minute Fabregas and Arshavin was substituted with Bendtner and Ramsey. Ramsey won the challenges well and laid few long ball threats with the help of Walcott who was at the end of the ball always. Robinson was lucky to save couple of shots from Walcott and one mishit which should have been a goal any other day. Bendtner closed the charts with a wonderful dribble and blast run similar to those seen from Arshavin quite a few times. Young lads seems to be learning quite a few tricks from those old chaps out there in the team. This is how experience helps the team building.

Eventhough Arsenal won the match in some style. Defensive errors were not few, Infact countless. Song and Diaby were not providing the much needed sweeping as usual. Arsenal got carried away with attacks and forgot the defensive side of their game. Most of the occassions Gallas and Vermaelen came for the rescue. We are not marking men or attacking the ball when it is with the opponents and near our goal area. We are trying to ease out and relax and wait for their errors. This is not a fair practice to be employed by any team. We need to attack the ball and win the tackles, this is key area which has more scope for improvement. Going forward Arsenal do have lot of options with the likes of Samir Nasri coming back to team and Eduardo and Denilson getting back from injury. Vito Mannone once again saved few great shots and was perfect with his positioning. This guy never did that against Fulham by luck. This looks sheer brilliance and promises a better future for Arsenal in years to come.

The biggest celebrity off the pitch for any Arsenal fans in this game would be the presence of Thierry Henry on the ground. Henry and family watched the match from the gallery and looked like enjoying every bit of it. Arsene Wenger started his illustrious career in Highbury(London) with a 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers on an October fixture 13 years back and this was a good gift to him from the young gunners.