Arsenal 1-1 Aston Villa – 19/08/06 – (Barclays Premiership) 19 August, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Premiership.6 comments
So we didn’t get off to a winning start at the new stadium, it could have been worse though, thanks to Gilberto’s late equaliser we shared the points. With Liverpool drawing against Sheffield Utd it’s not really that bad to draw against Villa, Also Bolton beat Spurs 2-0 which was nice…It’s Chelsea v Man City and Man Utd v Fulham tomorrow, hopefully they can drop points too. We didn’t play too badly yesterday, we just couldn’t get a decent shot on goal, and we kept passing it around the box which was really frustrating. The main highlight of the day was Theo Walcott coming off the bench on the 73rd minute. His immediately impressed and showed some great skill, he really does look like he’s going to be an amazing player for us. 11 minutes after coming on he crossed it in for Gilberto who grabbed the equaliser.
After a pressing first 45 minutes we thought we’d scored with the last kick of the first half, there was an eruption of cheers but then it was disallowed. It would have been a much different game if we’d scored that and gone in at half time 1-0 up, but we didn’t and 8 minutes into the second half Olof Mellberg headed a corner into an open goal as Lehmann had come out trying to punch the ball away and he missed. From that moment on until then end of the game it was non-stop pressure from the gunners, but with no decisive end product. It was really frustrating to watch and was edge of the seat stuff. We needed to bring someone new on and I was hoping Arsene would give Van Persie a run out, on the 66th minute he did come on for Adebayor. He changed the game a little bit but there was still no cutting edge. We needed something extra. We needed Theo Walcott.
He was like a breath of fresh air for us and immediately did some skills to get around to Villa defenders and he looked dangerous whenever he got the ball. Chants of “Theeeeo, Theeeeo” rang around Ashburton Grove. After all the attacking we finally came up with something on the 83d minute then Theo himself set up Gilberto Silva to make it 1-1. There was a massive cheer from all around the stadium, everyone was so relieved. After the goal we thought we could push for the winner and the non-stop attacking football continued in the search for that second goal. In the end it came with no result but it was a good effort.
We should have won the game really, we hit the woodwork 2 or 3 times and I think if we equalised a bit earlier we might have got a winner. At then end of the day it wasn’t to be and I can take the draw, at least we didn’t lose, it could have been worse. It was still a great day out, I’m now looking forward to Wednesday for the home leg of the Zagreb tie. See ya later people.
The race for the title starts today 19 August, 2006
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Premiership, Transfers.1 comment so far
Sorry I didn’t write anything yesterday, my flight was a bit delayed and the trains home took ages so I was home much later than I thought, also I was too fucking knackered to even think about posting. Anyways, we play Martin O’Neill’s Villa today to kick off our season. It’s the first competitive match at Ashburton Grove and should be a good game between the teams 1st and 2nd in the league, so a win is vital here. We should beat Villa, the only thing about their team that concerns me is Martin O’Neill. He’s a great manager but it would take some sort of managerial genius to beat us. We should collect all 3 points and it would be nice to start our season with but with have to put in a good performance, the win won’t come easily.
We have several players out; Rosicky and Reyes haven’t recovered in time for the game which will see Ljungberg come in. Senderos, Clichy, Diaby and Lauren are also all out, that’s quite a long injury list. I hate it when we have loads of players out, that’s what loses us the league. Most of them will be back soonish. Ashley Cole has made himself available for selection but Wenger has left him out because he thinks a deal will be done very soon. However it’s looking increasingly likely that he might actually stay, we know Chelsea are stubborn cunts so they’re not going to take much notice of our valuation of him. Also the Russians bought another defender which could be Gallas’ replacement. It’d be really good for us if Gallas came here as part of the Cole deal, he can play all sorts of positions and he’s good at it too! Hopefully this is all sorted out soon, I can’t believe Cole still hasn’t gone. I thought he would have fucked off while I was away but no. Arsene Wenger was asked where he thought Cole would be on the 1st September, and he said Arsenal, and I’m afraid he’s probably right.
Also Reyes looks like he’s off to Madrid soon with loads of reports and quotes flying about while I was away but Wenger has said Real Madrid haven’t made any offer and it is just unsettling for Jose. It’s really obvious the lad really wants to go there and fair play to him, he might be our record signing but he’s not our best player, it wouldn’t be that much trouble if he left. He was left out of the Zagreb tie because he was unsettled by the speculation, hopefully he can either get over it or get over there, just sort it out. However Wenger has dropped a bombshell saying that if Cole or Reyes don’t get sold, they are going to still be our players! Wow, shocking stuff. I don’t know what sort of reception either of them are going to get if they do get a game for us at some point, I’ve decided I’m neither going to boo or cheer them. Not that it counts what I’m doing…
Vito Mannone has gone to Barnsley on loan and Lupoli has gone to Derby County for the season. All these loans are quite worrying now, if we ever have loads of injuries and need back up, all our best youngsters are on loan. To add to those two there is Bendtner, Muamba, Larsson and I think Connolly’s off on loan too, that’s all I can remember off the top of my head.
That’s all the news that’s about. Can’t wait to get inside The Grove again, I hope we make it a good atmosphere, should be a nice opener to the season. I’m going with my mate, it’s going to be a good day, I just hope we get the points. Also one last thing, after that infamous blunder at the world cup, we’ve got Graham Poll refereeing the game today. I’m sure we won’t let him forget his 3 yellows = a red. Right, I’m just going to watch the end of Soccer AM then it’s down to The Grove. Have a good day. C’MON THE ARSENAL!!!
