Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal – 29/04/09 – (Champions League) 30 April, 2009

Well not the greatest of results then, but what I think everyone is saying today is that it could’ve been a lot worse. Almunia says we have to be happy with the score and I guess he’s right – if it weren’t for him it could’ve been two or three nil. The Spanish ‘keeper had a good game last night starting from the very first minute when he was almost beaten from a lobbed Rooney header but he did well to get a hand to it and keep it out.

United started the game very well and at a high tempo. We found it very difficult to get a decent spell of possession and were hanging on a little bit. A few minutes later Gibbs slipped allowing Ronaldo the ball in the box but his shot/low cross went wide. With 15 minutes gone Almunia made a great save from Tevez at close range before Toure got it clear and I thought we’d escaped what looked like a certain goal. However from the resulting corner we conceded.

The initial ball was too long but it fell to I think Fletcher who’s ball back in got a slight deflection off Silvestre to the back post and the unmarked John O’Shea who smashed it in. We had all been drawn to the ball and made it easy for them to score. I’m still pissed off at that defending, in a game like that we need to get it right for the full 90 minutes and a sloppy mistake like that has cost us. I’d much rather concede a wonder goal we could do nothing about than one last night’s.

In the 26 minute our first chance came – Walcott got down the right, fed it to Adebayor who laid it off for Fabregas outside the box. He had two defenders closing in on him from either side so had no choice but to hit it down the middle and was comfortable enough for van der Sar

There was no doubt about it that the home side deserved their lead and we were very lucky not to be more than one goal down when Almunia made another great save from a point blank Ronaldo header and then another Ronaldo shot outside the box that he did well to gather and keep away from the following up Anderson.

At half time we needed to sort ourselves out, badly. United were running riot and looked very deadly on attack. If it weren’t for Almunia we could’ve found ourselves struggling so early in the two-legged tie.

We did improve in the second half. I think Wenger would’ve pointed out the poor defending for their goal and other chances. The defending did get better and we did show a bit more going forward, but only a bit more.

On the hour, Adebayor gave us a glimpse that he was actually on the pitch when a ball was played forward to him which he chested down and volleyed towards goal. It never threatened van der Sar as it went over the bar but Ade didn’t have much time with Ferdinand on him.

At this point I did start to get worried. It was getting later and later in the game and we didn’t seem to be doing enough. If any team was likely to score it was going to be them.

Cristiano Ronaldo showed us exactly what he can do if we don’t close him down. He was allowed space in midfield and ran towards goal before releasing an incredible 30-yard shot that crashed off the bar. The dip that he managed to get on it was amazing to watch, and watch is all that Manuel Almunia could do as the ball was fired over his head. A lucky let off there.

United didn’t stop the pressure, Carrick had a long range shot go just wide when he was left unmarked outside the box and Silvestre headed over the bar just before it was converted. Also Ryan Giggs had a goal ruled offside by one of the most marginal decisions. It does look like he was just offside but that really could’ve gone either way.

We did get one more chance late on with a free kick from about 40 yards out on the left. Cesc swung it in to a busy box and Bendtner rose above everyone to get a head on it. However his header wasn’t delicate enough, it just needed the slightest touch to guide it into the open goal but it went over. He and Eduardo were both introduced late on, but too late. I don’t know why Walcott was taken off either, if we were searching for a late away goal then surely Theo is the man to keep on the pitch, tired or not. I’m not happy with Cesc’s positioning either, we need him in central midfield. Can’t we play Nasri behind the striker? Or Theo in the middle? It’s frustrating seeing so many players being played out of position.

So we take a 1-0 loss back to the Grove, not the worst result. United had 14 shots as opposed to our 5, of which only one was on target and we didn’t win a single corner. We have to improve, Arsene says we’ll see a different Arsenal next week and I hope he’s right. At 1-0 we’re still in it but it’s going to take a good performance, in fact if we were to make it to Rome then it’d have to be one of the most memorable performances ever. If United score we require three goals to go through – that is the burning fact in my mind. An early goal to cancel out the first leg loss would be perfect but we’ll start thinking about this next week.

It turns out that Eddy’s 10 minutes was still too much and he’s injured again. I’m guessing it’s just another short-term groin problem but it is so frustrating. Silvestre also picked up a groin problem; both of them are awaiting results about next Tuesday but will not play at Portsmouth for sure. Neither will van Persie or Gael Clichy, Robin has a slight chance of making the 2nd leg but Clichy is definitely out. There are bound to be changes for Saturday’s trip to Portsmouth, all the news and more in tomorrow’s match preview. Until then.

Man United Champions League Semi Preview 28 April, 2009

Well it doesn’t get much bigger than this game. A Champions League Semi Final at Old Trafford versus the holders – a Premiership rival regarded as one of the best, with a place in the biggest game in football at stake. Don’t want to make it sound daunting or anything…

This is going to be a great semi final – so much passion, so much to play for and of course a massive rivalry. The loser of this tie is going to be absolutely gutted and I’m sure that the one that progresses to Rome won’t let the other team forget about it.

The first leg is at their place and Arsene Wenger says, “At this level you have to be audacious away.” He says that an away goal is so, so valuable in this competition – so we have to try and attack. Ade fancies himself for a goal but if anyone can score it will be brilliant to take back to the Grove. I believe we can get at least one, it’s not going to be easy but I think we’ll get something there.

We’re without a few players in attack though. Obviously no Arshavin but also no van Persie and Eduardo still isn’t 100%; he’s been on the bench a few times recently but he’s still not quite ready. I think if we need him we will use him but there’s a risk he might pick up an injury as he has after every comeback game he’s made this season. Adebayor will start and we have options of Cesc, Nasri, Walcott or Diaby to play off him.

We have a few problems in defense too. Silvestre and Gibbs face late fitness tests but I think the latter will make it by the sounds of things. Silvestre was withdrawn at half time against ‘Boro so it looks like Djourou will take his place, but that’s what I would’ve done anyway fit or not. I don’t exactly fancy Silvestre against his old club. I do think Kieran Gibbs is up to it though and so does Kolo Toure. He’s done really well in Clichy’s absence and it says a lot that I’m not worried about him playing. If for some reason he doesn’t pass that fitness test then Eboue will come in on the right with Sagna playing left back.

There’s a number of options for tomorrow night but here’s how I think/hope we’ll line up:

Almunia
Sagna – Toure – Djourou – Gibbs
Song – Fabregas (c)
Walcott    -    Nasri    –    Diaby
Adebayor

I think Fabregas, Walcott, Nasri and Diaby can all alternate playing the attacking role, which will keep United on their toes. Cesc will stay central whatever happens and he will be helping defensive midfield depending how things are going. Wenger has been playing him forward quite a few times but I must say that I prefer him a bit further back dictating play, however his two goals on Sunday might sway Arsene’s decision. As I said, I do expect those four to rotate all night giving us a number of options at different points in the game.

It goes without saying that we need to be at our very best all over the pitch. At the back I’m sure Almunia will have saves to make, Toure and Djourou will have Rooney to deal with and Gibbs faces his toughest challenge yet to keep Cristiano Ronaldo quiet. We need Fabregas to have a big game in the middle and I believe if he plays well we have a big chance of getting a good result. Walcott has been really dangerous recently and I’m hoping he does it again at Old Trafford, they will do their best to stop him but once he’s away there’s no catching him.

I just can’t wait for this game to start now. I want the talking to be over. Chelsea drew 0-0 with Barca so it’s all set up perfectly for the final in Rome. I can’t take any more preview, I’m too nervous/excited already! I’m off then, C’MON YOU GUNNERS. Thanks for reading.

Arsenal 2-0 Middlesbrough – 26/04/09 – (Premier League) 27 April, 2009

Well that was a bit of a formality. A sunny day at Ashburton Grove and clearly a not very important end of season game was played out in a relaxed mood. With Villa drawing with Bolton and Everton losing against Man City the previous day our 4th place spot was under no pressure. In fact, yesterdays win means we’re now 10 points clear of Villa with only 12 points left to play for.

The visitors weren’t exactly giving their all either, surprising when they’re sat 18th in the table and facing possible relegation. If I was one of those ‘Boro fans who had traveled down to London I would’ve been fucking furious with my team’s effort. They never for a second looked like a team with anything to play for. They should be fighting for their lives at this stage of the season! For a large period of the game they were still in it and they never showed any fight to get forward and scrap a goal. I don’t care personally, but it was rather pathetic. Newcastle play Pompey tonight and you can be sure the Geordie’s will give everything whether they’re good enough or not.

Anyway, back to us and it was nice to see Cesc Fabregas back scoring again. He got both goals bringing his total to just three for the season. He played a more advanced role yesterday, which Wenger admitted was an experiment ahead of the United game. With no Arshavin or van Persie and Eduardo still not 100% he’s got a decision to make on who will partner Adebayor. Samir Nasri played centrally and did a decent job in an unfamiliar role.

Manuel Almunia was back starting again; he made a couple of decent stops in an otherwise uneventful day for him. Good bit of match practice though. Eboue came in for Sagna who didn’t look quite right at Anfield, I’m hoping Bacary is feeling a bit better for Wednesday night.

The game started as it continued with us in possession and dictating play. ‘Boro did not look dangerous and if anyone was going to score it was going to be us. Not saying we were playing really that well, it just looked really easy for us out there.

Our opener took 26 minutes to arrive. The move started off with Bendtner’s back-heel to Fabregas who sent Arshavin clear down the left. He made a good run, held the ball up to wait for support then picked out Fabregas perfectly in a crowed box who finished to make it 1-0 to The Arsenal.

The goal gave us a bit more confidence and we were looking for another goal to finish them off. Walcott smashed a shot from the right, which looked like it was creeping inside the far post, but it wasn’t to be.

Both of those saves that I mentioned earlier by Almunia came either side of half time. The first was a long-range drive from Downing, which Manuel did well to get to and hold to this left. The second was from when Aliadiere went through one-on-one but his late shot came off Almunia’s legs. A bit lucky there with the second save but he did his job. A goal at either of those opportunities would’ve been perfect for ‘Boro but it wasn’t to be, with neither of those going in for them it was just never going to be their day.

At the break Silvestre was withdrawn through injury and Djourou came on making his return from injury. I don’t think Wenger expected to have to risk him but he came through unharmed (I presume, *touch wood*) so was a decent run-out before the trip to Old Trafford.

After that early Aliadiere scare we were back in control again. It took us a little while to find that second but it did eventually come in the 67th minute. Eboue played a ball over the top, which Fabregas got on to. He rounded the ‘keeper who had rushed out to try and block it and it was an easy tap-in for Cesc. Middlesbrough nil, Fabregas two.

Immediately he was withdrawn, as was Walcott in preparation for Wednesday. Adebayor and Diaby were given the final 20 minutes, which were played even more relaxed than the previous 70. We never really broke sweat.

Arshavin had a couple of spooned shots which was quite funny and the crowd sarcastically cheered them both. I do hope he took the joke too, I’m sure he knows he won enough people over at Anfield.

So it ended up 2-0 and that’s all there really was to say about the game! Was nice being at the Grove again watching the Arsenal, and was nice to be watching in such a relaxed atmosphere! Too many times I’ve been there this season it’s felt like we have been scrapping for our lives.

It was clear that we had one eye on the Champions League Semi final up in Manchester Wednesday night. We can start looking forward to that now and I’ll bring you a match preview tomorrow. Until then, thanks for reading.

Middlesbrough Preview 25 April, 2009

With Aston Villa drawing with Bolton and Everton losing to Man City we can go 10 points clear in 4th with a win against ‘Boro and surely secure our Champions League spot. This is one of the less glamorous ties we have left this season but it still requires the same level of input. Not only do we need to points to push clear of Everton and Villa but to put the pressure on Chelsea so that we’re ready when they slip up.

There’s no new injury news since I spoke to you in the week. Adebayor, Almunia and Djourou are back in training but I haven’t heard anything since then one their possibility of playing. On Thursday Arsene said that Adebayor would only have joined training on the Saturday, the day before the ‘Boro game so I’m guessing he wont start. Manuel and Djourou we back training on that Thursday so I’m hoping they are good to go now.

I have a feeling that we might have Man United in midweek on our minds and we may rest one or two. Theo Walcott’s playing well and although he only came off the bench at Anfield I think he might be rested again. Cesc Fabregas has a shout to be rested too but after the long absence he had out with injury I hope he is fit enough to play twice a week. As I said, I think Ade will be rested for this one so that he’s good for United, the same might apply to Djourou but I’ve had no word on his fitness. Here’s how I think we might line up then:

Almunia
Sagna – Toure – Djourou – Gibbs
Arshavin – Fabregas (c) – Song – Nasri
Bendtner – Eduardo

There’s a chance that Nasri could sit out too, in that case Eboue would come into the midfield. I just hope that Wenger keeps the side as strong as he thinks he can because anything other than a strong win here might put us in the wrong frame of mind heading up to Old Trafford.

Middlesbrough are in a full on relegation fight and from here on out to the end of the season they will be giving everything they have to stay up. We haven’t found them an easy team to beat in recent years so tomorrow won’t be easy. They have Gary O’Neil and Didier Digard back available but Chris Riggott and Emanuel Pogatetz will miss out.

With them third from bottom and us fourth from top we should really we walking this. Whoever does get selected needs to play well this game and forget about the upcoming Man United game. Andrey Arshavin is bound to start and he only has the league left to compete in now so he will be looking to impress again. His confidence will be on a high after the four goals in a week and I fancy him to score again tomorrow. If not, he’s surely going to play a big role in the game.

I’ll be there, I’m back in London again this weekend again and looking forward to watching The Arsenal again. It’s a 1:30pm kick off and we’re live on Sky Sports 1. Make sure you’re watching.

Thanks for reading and I’ll speak to you soon.

Injury update, Cesc talks & possible away kit link 23 April, 2009

Just a quick post today because I’m so busy with work, but I better keep you updated. Wenger’s brought us up to date with the injury situation and I guess it’s mainly good news:

“From Tuesday night we are quite safe. We will rotate a little bit again but we have no major injuries from Liverpool.

Manuel Almunia was in full training today and we’ll see how he responds. Djourou was in full training also so we’ll see how he is too. Both could come back into the squad. It is not enough training to say [for sure] yet we need 48 hours more.

Emmanuel Adebayor should come back into the training on Saturday. He could be in the squad. But Robin van Persie is definitely out for Sunday and for Manchester United. Gael Clichy could be back for the second Manchester United game. He has a scan on Monday. We’ll go from there. He has a chance to be back in full training next week.”

That’s good about Almunia and Djourou training today, I do hope they are fit to play on Sunday because our defense has not been great of late. I don’t think that Adebayor will be rushed for Sunday but it is good to know that those three will be back for the 1st leg of the Champions League Semi.

We’re looking at the second leg for van Persie and Clichy and although it was a bit of a surprise to lose them I guess it’s good we will get them back for when it really matters, finger’s crossed.

Wenger also confirmed that Gallas and Rosicky will be out for the season. We’ve had so many answers on Rosicky’s return it’s unreal. I hope just hope he has a good recovery over the summer ready for a strong pre-season. If he’s still injured by then well that’ll be a bit of a joke but we’ll think about that if we come to it.

Cesc Fabregas was visibly upset when he left the field on Tuesday night with the way we had conceded in injury time. He’s been talking about our defense saying we need to do better if we want to make it to Rome. I think we’re all a bit annoyed we couldn’t hold on to the win at Anfield but we’ll get over that. However a late goal like that against Man United could be extremely damaging. We need to keep the defense tight and show more concentration. It’s good that we have Almunia, Djourou and Clichy coming back soon with Sagna already working his way to fitness.

You might remember me showing you this kit a few weeks ago. There were mixed opinions but personally I would quite like us to have that shirt. If you also like it then you can buy it here off this site! They say they know it hasn’t been confirmed but they are still selling copies of it if you want it. They also have a few more shots of their replica up there if you want to have a look. Thought I’d just pass that along to you incase you were interested.

And finally, regulars will know about the relationship I have with SoccerPro.com and they have sent me some more stuff. I’m playing in the Arseblog 5-a-side tournament this Saturday and they’ve sent me some new goalkeeper gloves for that. I’ve also got a couple of these new Calle t-shirts – I’d never heard of them before but they’ve got some quite nice stuff so go check out the Calle soccer gear if you get a chance.

Soccer Pro deliver around the world and got all sorts of football stock and sale items. Go have a look if you get a chance.

Right well I really better be off. Maybe speak to you tomorrow if I get a chance but I’m not promising anything.

See ya.

Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal – 21/04/09 – (Premier League) 22 April, 2009

Wow. A lot of bloggers this morning will have had a bit of trouble putting last night’s game into words. It was just unbelievable. When we visited Anfield in 1989 we produced a classic, 20 years on we produced another memorable performance.

Well, I say ‘we’ but it was more Andrey ‘from Russia with love’ Arshavin. Yes, I know what you’re thinking and you’ll relieved to know that he has apologised for not yet settling into the Premiership and we must give him time. I just laughed when I saw that on Arsenal.com this morning. What a player he is, I’ve always thought is since he moved here, it’s obvious what a special talent he is and last night he proved it on the big stage.

There’s been a lot of talk about him not being picked against Chelsea at the weekend, last night he showed Arsene Wenger just what he missed out on. Chelsea fans must be relieved, so too Man United fans safe in the knowledge he is cup-tied in Europe.

The opening stages of last night’s game was all Liverpool. They were putting the pressure on early and our defence was not looking very solid at all.

We had Bacary Sagna back in the side after illness but it has to be said he did not have a good time at all. Wenger said he was feeling a bit weak from his sickness and it showed last night, I think h was rushed back too soon. He was joined at the back by Kolo Toure who had the almost impossible job of keeping Torres on a leash. He was partnered by Silvestre, who was just Silvestre. He’s no good – Arsene get rid please. Next game out I want to see Song at the back; we’ll miss him in midfield but fuck me we will not miss Silvestre. On the left we had the young Gibbs, he was putting in the effort but was facing some of the toughest opposition he’s ever met so I can’t blame him too much.

Fabianski has received a bit of criticism this week for him performance at Wembley so tonight was a big test for him. His rushing off his line was what most people weren’t happy with and he was called into action early on. Kuyt’s pass inside put Benayoun through on goal but he got out really well to get a block in. He had to rush straight back at the ball though as it had fell to Arbeloa, the Pole did well again. Soon after Torres hit a long range shot and tipped it over well.

We had out first forward more after 15mins. It was a good passing move around the box and I think it was Fabregas who nearly fed it through to Arshavin on the right but unfortunately it was cut out.

Midway through the first half the game really started to get heated. It all came from when Kuyt went looking for a free kick outside the box after a slight bit of contact from Silvestre. Never a foul but I can see how it might’ve looked that way. The home fans weren’t happy about it and that mood transferred to pitch and this tie started to spice up.

In this atmosphere a goal was not far away. Fabregas had a decent chance when the ball dropped to him in space in the area but his blind volley was going wide. Bendtner nearly stuck an outstretched leg on it to divert it in.

Down the other end Torres shrug off Toure to find space and hit a decent shot towards goal but Fabianski made a good save. And from a corner Nasri was called upon to clear off the line.

Liverpool were certainly putting on the pressure but it was us that opened the scoring ten minutes before half time. Fabregas dispossessed Mascherano outside their area and played it to Nasri. Cesc continued his move down the right and Nasri fed it back out to him and he picked out Arshavin in space in the area who smashed it off the underside of the bar and in.

The remainder of the half was spent under the pressure of Liverpool and I was glad to hear the whistle go for the break. It had been a good half but nail biting. We kept giving the ball away with sloppy passing; Denilson was especially guilty of this. Also we had been trying to pass it around the defence too much, which left me shouting at the screen to “FUCKING CLEAR IT”.

I decided to watch this one over the internet at home. I had a little note pad next to me to help me for today’s match report. I’ve got some decent notes from the first half but his is exactly how my second half note paper looks:

Goal – Torres 48
goal… benayoun 56mins
GOAL – Arsh 67mins
GOALL!!! Arsh 70
Goal – Torres 72
GOAL!!!! ARSHAVIN 90!!
goal – benayoun 93, shit defence…fucking liverpool.

No other notes, that’s all I have. In my second half I looked something like this just sitting on my own in my room. With the drama of all the goals I was lost in the game, a game I won’t be forgetting for a while. So lets have a look at those goals.

Liverpool got off to the perfect start in the second half with two goals in 2 goals in 8 minutes. The first came when the ball was dropped into the box but Sagna only managed to clear the ball out to the right. Kuyt picked it up and put a great cross in to Torres who met it with an even better header into the bottom right corner. The second goal came from another Kuyt cross, he put the ball into the back post and into a scramble of Toure, Sagna and Benayoun who tired to stick a head on it but got caught by the foot of Sagna. Fabianski on the back foot tired to keep it out but his save was clearly behind the line. Benayoun was down for a couple of minutes after the knock he took but soon recovered.

10 minutes later we were back level when Arshavin nicked the ball off Arbeloa, took a couple of touches before producing an unbelievable shot inside the far post. What a goal to make it 2-2.

Three minutes later he’d scored again! The move started with Arshavin playing Nasri out to the right who put a cross in the middle. A poor clearance gifted the ball straight to Andrey who took a touch and put it underneath Reina for his hattrick.

Our celebrations were short-lived though when Torres made it 3-3. It was a great bit of play by him on the edge of the box managing to find space to shoot and Fabianski could do nothing about out. The draw wasn’t enough for Liverpool and they pushed and pushed to try find a winner. It was this over commitment to attack that saw us score our fourth.

It came from a Liverpool corner, Toure’s header out fell to Walcott who picked it up and started sprinting up the other end of the field. Every single Gooner and Scoucer immediately thought of his run at Anfield last season in the Champions League and held their breath. There appeared to be no one in support but then on my fuzzy stream some engine came out of nowhere at the bottom of my screen. At first I couldn’t make out who it was, I thought it might’ve been Bendtner but as soon as I realised it was Arshavin and when Walcott’s square ball was perfect for him I knew it was a goal. And it was a great finish inside it near post. 4-3 to The Arsenal, what a game!

Liverpool somehow got a lifeline of 6 minutes added time and, of course, in that time they scrapped an equalizer. It was a bad bit of defending we just couldn’t get the ball clear in the box and Benayoun got the goal.

In the end it finished four-all and although it was disappointing to concede so late and not hold on I’m happy with the draw It was just amazing to witness a game of football like that so I’m not going to let it get my down. I would’ve taken the draw before the game and I think it was quite fair in the end. We had a couple of unfairly disallowed goals but Liverpool came close to scoring more too. I’m not going to get too upset about it.

It’s been exhausting just writing it all up again so I’m going to wrap this up. Andrey Arshavin has proved his worth and what an exciting Arsenal career he has ahead of him. What a game, what a fucking game.

Anfield Preview: 20 years on 20 April, 2009

20 years ago this fixture we completed the greatest league victory to memory and someone will have to go a hell of a way to match that. Two decades on we travel up to Anfield unfortunately not in the same circumstances. This time we are 9 points behind the Scoucers and pretty much out of the title race, they however do have strong ambitions of becoming Premier League champions for the first time.

However, despite the difference in circumstances we still need to go up north with the same desire and the same spirit to get a result. We need to forget about the loss to Chelsea on Saturday and win at Anfield not necessarily for the points but for confidence. Next week we go to Old Trafford for the first leg of the Champions League Semi and we don’t want to be going into that one on a downer.

Once again I have injuries to report in my match preview. We reached a point going into the international break a while ago jusr a couple of players short of a fully fit squad. As is always the case, since then we have lost many, we’re at bare bones at the back and can’t afford to lose anyone else. Well van Persie and Adebayor are out of tomorrow night’s game. Robin has a groin strain; the injury that forced him off on Saturday and Ade has a slight hamstring tweak and is rested as a precaution. Not sure how much Arsene is exaggerating to cover up resting players going to Anfield but oh well…

Bacary Sagna is back in squad but Wenger says, “We’ll decide if he can play tomorrow.” My guess is that he will only the bench purely because he will be the only defender we have anywhere near fit to play. With Song rested for Wembley he must be starting this one in midfield so is no longer an option in defense. Fabianski will continue in goal and after a bit of criticism for Chelsea’s goals this weekend and Arsene has been bigging him up again. He’s a young ‘keeper and will learn from these mistakes, just a shame he made them in such a big game. Tomorrow night might be his last game this season though as Almunia is due to return for the weekend.

Not sure who else might be rested, Fabregas is an option but there was all this talk the other week about how he is feeling really fresh after his time out with injury so it would be a bit contradictory to rest him here. Walcott might be given a breather after all the games he’s had recently but I hope he’s feeling good because he has been brilliant for us recently.

For the sake of this preview (and because I hope it’s the case) I’m going to assume there will be no more rested players ahead of this massive game at Anfield. Here’s how we might line up:

Fabianski
Eboue – Toure – Silvestre – Gibbs
Walcott – Fabregas (c) – Song – Diaby
Arshavin
Bendtner

I’m not sure how fit Eduardo Da Silva is; he’s been in and out of the squad with no mention of how he’s doing. If he’s fit now then I would prefer him to Bendtner in that line up.

As for Liverpool they have Steven Gerrard out which is always a massive blow for them. They do have Fernando Torres though and he will be very tough to deal with, especially with our makeshift defense. If he ever finds himself with just Silvestre to beat I will not be feeling confident. Toure needs to have one eye on him every minute of the game.

They didn’t play this weekend and we be feeling fairly fresh. They’ve had a week off since being knocked out of Europe last week – that means they only have the league to play for now and with the position they are in they are going to contest Man United all the way to the final day.

They are going to give everything they have in every game left this season to bring that long awaited title back to Merseyside. Therefore they’re going to be a difficult side to beat. We need to put in as much passion tomorrow night as they are bound to put in.

We’ve got 5 days after this one to recover in time for our next match so there’s no excuse for going easy or bring players off early or any nonsense like that. I don’t know if you can tell but I like a lot of other Gooners are still feeling a bit pissed off with Wenger’s team selection on Saturday. I feel a lot of people want to see a reaction tomorrow night to show we are up for the fight and we’re not just going to throw games. I’m sure all the Gooners going up there tomorrow spending one hundred odd quid to be there wouldn’t be too happy to see us roll over.

Kick off’s at 8:00pm and we’re live on Sky Sports 1. I think I’ll be trying to pick this one up on the internet rather than going down the pub for it, I’ve got a lot on at the moment so do excuse me if there’s a lack of activity on here – the next couple of weeks are going to be just a little bit hectic for me.

If I do end up staying in and I find a good stream to follow it on I’ll post it up on my twitter and well as tweeting during the game. If you haven’t added me up on there yet, do so. I can be found at www.twitter.com/the_cannon or click the link on the sidebar.

Well that’s all I have to say. 20 years on from Anfield ’89, lets see what sort of performance our young guns can give compared to that memorable night.

Thanks for reading.

Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea – 18/04/09 – (FA Cup) 19 April, 2009

It’s all over for another season then and a disappointing day out to Wembley ends in defeat for Arsenal. It’s a game we’d all been looking forward to for a long time but it wasn’t to be. A lot has been said about Arsene Wenger’s team selection and I have to admit I wasn’t happy with it, but I’ll go into that in a minute.

My day started at 9:15 catching the coach from Bournemouth up to London. I was home by lunch time but my train back to the house meant going right past Wembley. I was desperate to just drop off my bag and head straight back in again, I was buzzing.

So I headed back down on the train to Wembley Park, walking out of the station it really hit that we had made it. There I met Gilbertosilver, went for a bit food then went and joined a group of Gooners outside a bar for a bit of singing.

It really felt like it was cup final day – the atmosphere, the setting and the mood all said this was more than just a semi final. I was getting itchy feet outside the bar and after a while we decided to make our way up Wembley Way.

On our walk over to the famous trail news of the team filtered through. No Arshavin? No Nasri?? I couldn’t believe that neither of them were in the side. Was good to see Gibbs had made it but when the defence had been bothering me all week is was now the attack that had me worried.

It seemed like the day was made for the Russian and he was on the bench. Very confused and somewhat frustrated.

Anyway, we made our way up Wembley Way and by now it was full of Gooners and Chavs, red and blue side by side walking up to the stadium.

I was getting goosebumps and to be honest was feeling quite nervous about the game ahead of us. It was a massive occasion and nobody wanted to be walking back down towards the station later that evening knowing they wouldn’t be coming back in a month’s time. When we finally made it into the ground this was the view I was greeted with:

I was sitting in the Club Wembley section, basically like the Club Level at Arsenal so I was with a mixture of fans but at least I was in the Arsenal end. I would’ve loved to be sitting below me with all the Gooners but I was just glad to have made it.

Even after the warm up it was clear to see the Wembley turf already cutting up. How it would look after a large portion of the game was a bit worrying. After a little opening ceremony the game kicked off.

The game was quite open; neither side really had taken hold of the game. However we were given a taste of our worrying defence just a few minutes in when Fabianski made a crazed run out to try beat Drogba to a header. He lost and the ball was heading towards goal, luckily Gibbs was tracking back and managed to clear it away.

I was hoping we could get an early goal to get comfortable and we did in the 18th minute. It came from that man again, Theo Walcott. He’s been playing really well recently and had another big impact yesterday. I was thinking before the game about putting money on him as first goal scorer, bloody wish I did now!

I was expecting Walcott’s pace to cause Chelsea problems but it was more his positioning that gave us the lead this time. The move started out on the left, Ade put Gibbs through and his deep cross was taken well by Walcott. He shot across the face of the goal taking a small deflection of Cashley’s hand but it was enough to confuse Cech and it was 1-0 to The Arsenal.

We always play much better when we open the scoring early so I hoped we could take control of the game. The goal had settled our nerves but never really dented Chelsea’s confidence and quarter of an hour later they had made it 1-1.

Malouda took down a cross field ball in the right hand side of the box, opened his body finding space away from Eboue to shoot low inside the near post. I had a perfect view of the goal and it was very disappointing to see. Eboue did not make it hard for him at all and Fabianski did not anticipate the shot well enough. Maybe if we had Sagna available for yesterday he would’ve never been allowed the chance to shoot but we’ll never know.

We were rattled and a few minutes later they nearly made it 2-1. Diaby was caught in possession in the box and Anelka’s low shot came off the post. Thank fuck.

We didn’t look quite right and I was happy to hear the half time whistle. We seemed to sort ourselves out in the break and it was an even game again in the second half. We were creating some decent chances; van Persie looked lively and had a few good shots. Chelsea looked a threat too but we were managing to keep them out.

Arshavin was finally brought on with 15 minutes to go however it was Robin van Persie being taken off. I couldn’t work out why and Robin didn’t look happy with the decision either. Later, Wenger said he had picked up a strain so lets hope its nothing serious.

A few minutes later, Adebayor was taken off which I just could not understand. Alright he wasn’t having the greatest game but with 10 minutes to go in a cup semi final and we’ve taken off our best two strikers? It seemed like Wenger had other games in mind and with extra time looming we had to keep players fresh.
Well the possibility of an extra half an hour was immediately gone when Drogba made it 2-1 with 7 minutes to go. I think it was Lampard who hoofed it up field and with Silvestre marking Drogba he never had a chance keeping up with him and in the end gave up. Fabianski saw this and felt like he had no choice but to rush out and try beat him to the ball. This made it easy for Drogba, he took a touch past the ‘keeper and slid it in the empty net.

We’ll be very disappointed with that goal but we had to deal with it. We now had just a few minutes left to try and equalize with Adebayor and van Persie sat on the bench. Samir Nasri was brought on for the disappointing Denilson but it was game over.

Eventually the final whistle came at it was the Gooners who had the walk back down Wembley Way knowing we won’t be back here until at least next year.

It was a sad way to go out against a Chelsea side that didn’t look quite at their best. Two long balls, two defensive mistakes and they’re through to the final. I’m sure if we hadn’t been so unlucky with injuries at the back this past couple of weeks we would’ve won yesterday.

There are a lot of people pissed of with Wenger’s team selection and substitutions  yesterday. This game was made for Andrey Arshavin and he never got a chance. He had a rest in midweek with him being cup tied so the FA Cup was his big chance to impress this season. The only explanation is the high difference making Arsene play Diaby instead but even still I would risk that in favour of Arshavin’s attacking ability. I imagine he is pretty pissed off he wasn’t selected, all he’s got to play for now is securing 4th in the league.

Even without Arshavin we really should’ve had Nasri involved, to leave both out is just a joke. We played a 4-5-1 for most of the game with Diaby and van Persie occasionally roaming forward. I don’t think the system worked to be honest, Adebayor did not look comfortable up front on his own with no support.

I could go on and on about this game but this is becoming a very losng post. Next up we have Liverpool on Tuesday night, they will be fresh from not playing this weekend and after being knocked out of Europe last week they only have the league to play for. They will be well up for winning this game and put the pressure on Man United. We will have to be at our best to beat them.

Wenger could be tempted to rest players but I hope he doesn’t. I see no reason for it, if he wants to keep them fresh for United then bloody do it at ‘Boro next week. van Persie could sit out after his knock yesterday, which is fair enough, but if there is no Arshavin, or Nasri, or Walcott, or Adebayor or even Alex Song I’m not going to be happy.

I’ll probably have to preview the match tomorrow so we’ll talk more then. I’m off to get myself sorted as it’s back down to Bournemouth tonight. It’s going to involve getting the train past Wembley which I know is going to hurt.

I’m back up to London again on Friday and will be going to the ‘Boro game on the Sunday. Lets hope we’re back in good spirits between now and then.

Thanks for reading.

FA Cup Semi Final Preview: More defensive problems 17 April, 2009

This is it; we’ve finally made it. Ever since we beat Hull in the last round I’ve been so excited about going to Wembley. It’ll be the first time we’ve played at the new stadium and we’ll want to make it a good debut. Tomorrow is going to be a massive day for all Gooners especially for those who have managed to get tickets. I’ll be there, I’m getting the coach up to London early tomorrow morning and I’ll be sitting with Gilbertosilver.

This might only be a semi final but it feels like a lot more than that to me. Not just because of the Wembley factor but it’s against Chelsea and no one will want to lose. There’s not a lot of love between the two sides, in fact there is a lot of hate. To name just a few names – John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Nicklas Anelka, Ashley Cole… We just have to beat them.

We need to be fully focused for this one and not let this occasion get to our heads. Beating Chelsea on any day is hard and it’s going to be made even more difficult by all our injury problems in defense.

I’ll start at the very back and Manuel Almunia is still out for around a couple of weeks. However being the FA Cup Fabianski would’ve played today anyway. The Polish no.1 turns 24 tomorrow, Arsene has wished him a happy birthday and reiterated his belief in Lukasz. I have confidence in him too; I just hope he is up to the job tomorrow.

The back four has been ruined by injuries in this last week or so. Sagna has been ruled out and Gibbs is a doubt for tomorrow. They join Gallas, Clichy and Djourou on the sidelines leaving us with only Kolo Toure from our first choice back four. The only other defender we have fit is Mikael Silvestre – what a joke. We have got Eboue and Song who can come in from midfield and I’m hoping Gibbs will make a recovery; he’s having a late fitness test.

It’s a shame to have to pull Song back from midfield when he’s been doing so well there recently but we simply don’t have any other options.

On the attack side of things we have a wealth of talent. Arshavin is back after sitting out the Villarreal game, Eduardo is back now but Wenger hinted not completely 100%, Walcott’s playing really well, Cesc’s playing like he never left, Adebayor’s scoring goals and so too is van Persie.

There are a number of styles and formations we can go for tomorrow but I’m not sure how Wenger’s going to approach this. With the weak defense will we sit back and protect them? Or, do we attack and simply try to outscore Chelsea?

Here’s what I reckon if Gibbs does make it:

Fabianski
Eboue – Toure – Silvestre – Gibbs
Walcott – Fabregas (c) – Song – Arshavin
Adebayor – van Persie

And if he’s ruled out…

Fabianski
Eboue – Toure – Song – Silvestre
Walcott – Fabregas (c) – Denilson/Diaby – Arshavin
Adebayor – van Persie

It seems a bit of a shame to leave out Samir Nasri but with the way everyone’s playing I don’t see where he’s going to fit in! Leaves a nice option to have a decent player on the bench though.

As for Chelsea well they haven’t got anywhere near the problems we have. Bosingwa is out but Ivanovic’s been doing well in his absence and John Terry is back after being suspended in Europe this week.

Up front Didier Drogba will be looking forward to attacking our makeshift defense. Our back four always seems to struggle against him so it’s not looking too good. They are going to have to be on their absolute top form to keep the likes of him and the rest of the Chelsea attack out.

I just want the talking to stop now…I can’t wait for it to start and I bet the players are feeling the same. They will have had enough of the build up and just want to get out there and play their game. We have a great chance now too get through to a cup final and we have to take it. Cesc Fabregas says lifting a trophy with Arsenal would be ‘the best thing that’s ever happened to him’. He and all the youngsters have an extra motivation to win their first trophy; their energy and desire plus the experience of a few others should be enough to take us through to the final.

Theo Walcott says we are prepared to take this one all the way and we are not scared of a penalty shoot out. I don’t know whether my nerves would be able to take that tomorrow evening but he insists it’s worse for the players.

If you are going down to Wembley tomorrow make sure you wear red. In fact even if you aren’t going, do it! It’s going to look fantastic the sea of Gooners flooding down Wembley Way. It’s giving me goosebumps just thinking about it now.

Well there’s nothing left for me to say now, I’m gonna go pack my bag for tomorrow and dig out the flags. Enjoy the game wherever you’re watching and I’ll do a full write up of my day on Sunday. Until then, thanks for reading.

Wembley!  Wembley!
We’re the famous Arsenal and we’re going to Wembley!

Arsenal 3(4) – 0(1) Villarreal – 15/04/09 – Champions League 16 April, 2009

We’re through to the semi finals of the Champions League against Manchester United, the current holders with Chelsea to play in the semi finals of the FA Cup at the weekend. Exciting enough for you?

It was a great performance last night, we were just too good for Villarreal and well deserved the 3-0 win. We had a very makeshift back four with Sagna dropping out through illness. That meant we had no choice but to go with a defense of Eboue, Toure, Silvestre and Gibbs. They held up though and stopped a Villarreal side that came here with only one intention, which was to score.

I said in Tuesday’s match preview that starting Walcott might be an option to “help us get an early goal and try to put this tie to bed” and that’s exactly what happened.

The game got off to a great start and there were decent chances for both sides in the opening minutes. Surely whoever took one of these opportunities would dent the confidence of the opposition.

It was Theo Walcott who opened the scoring after just 10 minutes gone. Eboue passed from deep down the right to Fabregas who had Walcott running in behind him. Cesc attempted a little flick on to Theo but he only got the slightest of touches on it. It was enough though and Theo went through on goal down the right, he had options to his left but hit a perfect little chip over the ‘keeper dipping just under the bar. What a goal, what a finish, it reminded me of one certain other no.14 I used to go and watch.

The goal didn’t really change anything for the visitors though; they still needed to score; only now an equalizer would take the tie to extra time. So the game was still well in the balance, we needed to use the confidence from the first goal to keep up the pressure and get another.

Both sides were getting chances but we we’re looking the more dangerous. We nearly got the second at the half hour mark when van Persie’s free kick was saved and Adebayor headed the rebound towards goal. It took a touch off Pires on it’s way in but Rodriguez got back to clear it off the line. It looked like it had crossed the line and we did protest it but the replay showed it was a good clearance.

Somehow, it stayed 1-0 up to half time. Both sides had great chances and if I was a Villarreal fan I would’ve been dying at all the missed chances and close shaves. We were hanging in there though and were going through as it stood. It was too finely balanced though; we needed to come out in the second half and covert one of our chances.

The game continued in end-to-end fashion but on the hour we finally made it 2-0, scoring the most important goal of the tie. van Persie held up the ball on the edge of the area before sliding a pass through to Adebayor in space on the left, Ade showed his cool under pressure and slotted the ball inside the far post. 2-0 Arsenal, 3-1 on aggregate and us firmly in the semi finals of the Champions League.

Ade, Eboue, Silvestre and Song all celebrated with a little dance whilst the Grove erupted. This dancing is becoming quite common, not sure whether I like it but if they keep scoring they can do whatever the fuck they want! Even Arsene joined in with this little shuffle!

The visitors were struggling and any glimmer of hope was destroyed a few minutes later when Walcott was brought down in the area and the ref pointed to the spot. Sebastian Eguren was shown a second yellow for protesting before van Persie stepped up to smash it home.

At 3-0 it was definitely game over and we made a few subs with Saturday in mind. Theo, van Persie and Adebayor – the three goal scorers all came off with Diaby, Denilson and Bendtner coming on.

The rest of the game was a formality. We did have a couple of opportunity to make it 4-0, Diaby with the best chance but the rest of the game was pretty much spend celebrating our progression to the semis and praising Robert Pires.

Rob got a great reception from the Arsenal fans before, during and after the game last night. This was the first chance we’ve really had to show our support since his subbing in the 2006 Champions League Final. He acknowledged the support on more than one occasion and was pretty much the last player to leave the field. He said it was an emotional experience coming back to North London last night and hopes we go all the way in the competition.

Over in Portugal, Man United won 1-0 with a Ronaldo goal in the first couple of minutes. A bit of a shame Porto couldn’t hold out but what a set of semi finals it is this year. Fabregas is looking forward to taking on United and Toure says ‘bring them on’.

We’re a confident side at the moment and luckily our form has nicely coincided with our busy end of season schedule. Walcott’s been talking about our form and thinks that Man United will be scared of facing us the way we’re playing. Also, Adebayor reckons we can beat anyone at the moment.

We need to forget about this now and concentrate everything on Chelsea this Saturday. I’ll bring you all the news on that tomorrow in the match preview. Until then, thanks for reading.

Villarreal Preview: This is it 14 April, 2009

Well I don’t know about you but I have been looking forward to this game since pretty much the first leg. It’s poised perfectly at 1-1 with us just having the edge with that away goal. It’s set to be some game and although there are a few injuries it’s still going to be a quality show.

There is a bit of new injury news ahead of tomorrow’s game – Abou Diaby is fit but no word on Eduardo., I know he’s in training but I haven’t seen the squad for tomorrow. Wenger confirmed the loss of Djourou and Clichy to add to Gallas and Almunia. However we do have a few options at the back.

We have the choice from Sagna, Gibbs, Silvestre and Eboue to play wing-back then Toure, Song and Silvestre to play in the middle. I know a few of us including me have doubts about playing Silvestre in such an important game. Alex Song has been playing really well in midfield recently but I think that gives me a bit of trust to have him at the back tomorrow.

If we put Sagna on the left we could play Eboue on the right who has a lot more experience at wing-back for us than Silvestre. Injuries to Gallas and Djourou probably led the ex-Man United defender to believe he would get a good few games in this season run-in but even with all those out we can play without him.

I think we all have doubts about Silvestre so I’d quite like to see an Eboue – Toure – Song – Sagna back four. I can’t tell what Wenger’s thinking though. Gibbs could by all means feature at left back but I think it would be a bit like throwing him in at the deep end.

Further up the field I think we’ll operate with that kind of 5+1 midfield and attack with midfielders supporting going forward. Adebayor’s been playing that role in the last few games but van Persie is fit now so we have options. In the middle I think Song should be in there somewhere but if he’s drafted into defence we’ll probably see Diaby come in.

Well this is what I’d do/what I think we might play tomorrow night:

Fabianski
Eboue – Toure – Song – Sagna
Denilson – Diaby
Walcott   –   Fabregas (c)   –   Nasri
Adebayor

Seems a waste to leave van Persie out but I think Ade might be stronger as the lone striker. Walcott played 67 minutes at the weekend so if he’s not 100% then we could see Robin come in out wide or a complete re-shuffle. I do like having Theo as an option on the bench but if he starts then he might help us get an early goal and try to put this tie to bed.

Villarreal have their two best midfielders, Cazorla and Senna out injured. That may pave the way for Pires to start but he’s been talking about how much they will miss the injured duo. Of course, it’d be nice to see Robert Pires take to the field but he did look dangerous last week when he came on and can still produce a good quality ball. Last week Senna was injured but made a quick recovery for the game against us so it wouldn’t shock me that much to see him appear tomorrow…

It’s pretty simple what we have to do tomorrow night, a 0-0 or any win will take us through but a high scoring draw or a loss will knock us out. Villarreal must score tomorrow night to stay in the competition – they will come with attacking flair and we must show complete concentration to not let them through. I’d feel a bit more confident if we had the full choice of our defence but I’m not that worried.

Not a lot more I can say now, we’ve just got to wait until tomorrow night and let the football do the talking. Wenger believes we will create a good atmosphere and I hope it’s the case. I’m gutted that I can’t be there tonight, but I will be singing in the pub extra loud. Wherever you’re watching make sure you do too.

A possible Champions League Semi Final awaits if we’re up to the task. Barcelona and Chelsea are already through, lets join them.

Thanks for reading.

A massive week in our 08/09 season 13 April, 2009

Without a doubt, this is the most important week in the season so far. Wenger agrees but says he is really looking forward to it. Well I feel exactly the same. These are two games that not only will shape our season but I’m sure will be remembered by Gooners for years. Will it be for the right or the wrong reasons? We’ll see.

First up we have Villarreal on Wednesday night to set up a possible Champions League semi final – Wenger has been drilling that fact into his players. He’s also said we wont be playing for the 0-0; he says we aren’t the sort of side to do that plus it’s far too nerve-wracking! I would imagine we’d go for the win anyway. The one away goal does at this stage mean we would go through but it just isn’t enough to rely on. Villarreal will come to attack, they must score, so need to be right at the top of our game and show our maturity.

You must say we have the upper hand going into the game. We have the away goal advantage and although recently we’ve had a few injuries so too have they. Marcos Senna and Santi Cazorla have both picked up injured since the first leg and will be out. That’s got to be positive for us. Meanwhile, Cesc Fabregas is feeling fresh after his time out and is good to go.

We have a huge chance here to make it back to the Champions Final and it looks likely we could be given the chance to right our wrongs against Barcelona.

At the weekend we play in the FA Cup semi final. It’ll be our first time at the new Wembley and set to be a massive day out. Chelsea stand between us and our first FA Cup final since 2005 and I do believe they are a team we can beat. They are now under a decent new coach but proved at the weekend they aren’t perfect. We’ve beaten them already this season so why can’t we do it again?

This one could really go either way but with both teams involved in Champions League Quarter Finals midweek the outcome of those games could affect the game.

By Sunday we could be out of both cups with only the league left to concentrate on and it’d take some dramatic collapse from United for us to be thinking about the title, so we’d only really got 3rd to play for. Or, we could be drooling at the prospect of being one step away from Champions League Final and an FA Cup Final to look forward to in May.

If we can come through both ties with victory it’s going to be one hell of a finish to the season. Slip up and well it looks like another disappointing season.

I just can’t wait for it all to start now. I’ll bring you a Villarreal match preview tomorrow evening, until then.

Wigan 1-4 Arsenal – 11/04/09 – (Premier League) 12 April, 2009

So, a good result in the end but yesterday really was another game of two halves. Last Tuesday we didn’t have a good first 45 minutes against Villarreal but turned it around in the second half; yesterday was even worse.

It was the same story as in Spain: one goal conceded and more injuries at the back. Johan Djourou came in for the injured William Gallas hoping to put in a good performance and show we wont miss the ex-skipper. Well just our fucking luck he was stretchered off after half an hour. He fell awkwardly on his knee, it didn’t look good and I’d be surprised to see him back before the end of the season.

…But in the second half we turned it all around scoring four goals and outclassing Wigan.

I said before the game it would be an irregular line up and so it was. At the back Wenger went for Gibbs over Silvestre but with Djourou’s injury it looks like we have no choice but to play the pair of them now.

Then we had Arshavin and Walcott on the wings with Denilson and Song in the middle with Cesc playing that forward role again behind Bendtner.

On the bench we had Szczesny (*gulp*), Silvestre, Eboue, Nasri, Vela, van Persie and Adebayor – so we did have attacking options on the bench showing we have come to win this one but hoping we could rest one or two.

As I said, the first half really did not go to plan and it was all Wigan. They opened this scoring in the 18th minute from a corner. The cross came to Scharner who headed it down and we didn’t clear it. The ball fell to ex-cunt Mido who smacked it towards goal from close range, Fabianski got to it but flapped and it came off him into the back of the net past Gibbs. Awful goal to concede but you can’t say Wigan didn’t deserve it.

Our immediate response was good Wigan soon took control again and put the pressure on us. The closest they came to scoring was after a dramatic series of events just before half time. By now Silvestre had replaced Djourou but it was Kieran Gibbs who was nearly at fault for Wigan’s 2nd.

A long all came over the top for Valencia but Gibbs got in front of it and as the last man attempted to head it back to goal. The touch was soft though and Valencia overtook him chasing down a ball to go one-on-one. Gibbs felt him had no choice but to haul him down outside the box. We’ll never know whether Fabianski would’ve made it out or whether the rushing back Silvestre would’ve got a challenge in but either way Gibbs was the last man at the time of the challenge.

He was a very, very lucky boy though and got away with a yellow card. I have to say if I was a Wigan fan I would be furious with the decision but the referee must’ve been miles away so you can understand the doubt. From the resulting free kick the stranded Fabianski watched the ball come off the inside of the post and the danger was cleared.

Somehow it was only 1-0 at half time. After the game both managers called that moment before half time a turning point of the game and it sure was. Surprisingly there were no changes at half time but I was hoping we would buck our ideas up.

We got off to a bad start when a mix up between Fabianski and Silvestre forced Gibbs to clear Mido’s lob off the line.

It wasn’t looking good but we pushed on in hope for a goal.

It took an hour for it to come but what a relief. Thanks to some skill and persistence from Andrey Arshavin he managed to get the ball through to Walcott who shot across goal making it 1-1.

Straight away van Persie was brought on for the disappointing Denilson in the push for the win. A few minutes later Adebayor was brought on looking for his 4th goal in his third game back from injury. He replaced Walcott.

The second goal came in the 71st minute. Arshavin nutmegging a defender to set Fabregas up to put a low cross in. It was an inch perfect ball for the arriving Silvestre who scored in his first game since 3rd January.

Wigan were defeated, there was no way back for them now. 5 minutes later we almost got the third when Arshavin’s shot from outside the box hit the post. van Persie converted the re-bound but he was flagged offside.

Andrey did get his chance to make it 3-1 in the 89th minute. It came from a Wigan attack and we broke with Adebayor charging forward. He tried to put Fabregas through but the ball wasn’t very good and the defender collected. However he tried to clear the danger by squaring to his team mate not seeing Arshavin charging between them. He intercepted the pass blasting it low first time under the ‘keeper.

In injury time Alex Song added a classy 4th running through the Wigan defense before a cool finish into the far corner. A goal any of our strikers would’ve been proud of.

So it finished 4-1, a little flattering but we showed what we were made of in the second half. Wenger praised our ‘mental strength’ in his post-match thoughts. He also said that Djourou doesn’t look good and will certainly be out for Wednesday. We will probably get a more accurate answer tomorrow.

So job done then, in the end. Was a bit of a stressful one watching but it’s alright now. Villa play Everton this afternoon so that could be interesting but all the top three won yesterday so no ground made.

We have a massive week ahead of us this week. A bit of early news – Marcos Senna is out. Interesting… More build up tomorrow and Tuesday.

Thanks for reading.

Wigan Preview: Squad rotation inevitable 10 April, 2009

So we’ve got a quick trip to Wigan in the midst of all these massive cup ties but this game is just as important. Our players have had a tendency to drop their heads for uninspiring games but at this stage of the season every league game is huge.

We need three points again, and against Wigan anything else is unacceptable. No offensive to them, because they are a decent side having a fairly good season but all the top four teams should see this as a must-win game.

With Villarreal on Tuesday still in the memory, with the 2nd leg on Wednesday and an FA Cup Semi to follow you wouldn’t blame us for having our minds elsewhere. I’m guilty of it too, I’ve hardly even thought about this game this week. The players should be more focused than the fans though and it is down to Wenger to drill in the importance of the win.

We’re six points ahead of Villa and it’s the same gap between us and 3rd. One weekend where win we and Chelsea lose and then with them still to visit the Grove anything can happen. The same the other way – we have all the top three to play and Aston Villa will be there waiting for us to drop points.

However we will be going into this game with some forced changes. I told you yesterday that Gallas is out for the season, Almunia for three week and Clichy for a fortnight. So they will all need replacements. Fabianski and Djourou are the obvious two to come in but at left back I’m not sure.

Gibbs has done well there this season but now Silvestre’s back Wenger might see it as a chance to bring some experience into the side after losing Gallas and Almunia. Silvestre knows what it’s like to complete a season run-in; he’s won stuff before. Whether he’s still got what it takes though is yet to be seen. I think tomorrow could be a test for him, see how he reacts, if he isn’t up to it then we can stick with youth and play Gibbs until Gael is back. We’ll see what Wenger thinks tomorrow.

I’ve watched van Persie’s ATVO interview and he had tests yesterday and he’s ready to play tomorrow, but whether he’s included in the starting line up or not is yet to be seen. Wenger might see this as an opportunity to rest a few of our regulars ahead of the Villarreal and Chelsea games. I hope we go as strong as possible tomorrow but I want us to be 100% for Wednesday and Sunday.

Fabregas has only just come back so he might not need a rest, Denilson could probably do with sitting out though so maybe Song will partner Cesc tomorrow. Adebayor has also just returned so he should be fit enough but we now have options with Bendtner, van Persie and possibly Eduardo (I don’t know how his tests have gone).

It’s no use me debating how we might field this one, I don’t know how fit every one of our players is, I don’t know who’s suffering a bit – only Wenger does. So this is what I would do tomorrow, if it were up to me:

Fabianski
Sagna – Toure – Djourou – Silvestre
Eboue – Fabregas (c) – Song – Arshavin
Adebayor – Bendtner

As I say, I have no clue how accurate that’s going to be but there you go.

Wigan’s only real problem is Amr Zaki who has gone walkabouts or something. Went off and got injured with Egypt and never bothered returning to his club. Apparently he has a meeting to discuss his future today with Steve Bruce. Funny stuff. Otherwise yeah they are almost fully fit so will have a fairly decent side out.

I’m sure though that with whatever team we put out we should be able to get a result. As I said, this is a team we should be beating and have to be beat. If I was to do a bit of UK sports betting I’d put money on us to win tomorrow, but you just never know. And if you’re in to a bit of soccer betting I’d go for Adebayor as first scorer to make it 4 goals in 3 games of his comeback.

All of the top three are playing teams they should be beating too so we need to keep up with the pace. It’s 5th vs. 6th as Everton go to Villa Park on Sunday only a point behind the current UEFA Cup spot holders. That should be an interesting game.

Right then I need to be getting down the pub so I’m going to wrap this up. Here’s hoping to a good, focused, injury-free win tomorrow setting us nicely for Wednesday…which we will not be thinking about. Nor next Saturday. Or lots of nice Easter Eggs. Or anything else for that matter.

Right then I’m off, speak to you Easter Sunday hopefully. Thanks for reading.

Villarreal reaction: Injuries, goals and more 9 April, 2009

I’m really sorry for the late update and I’m afraid it’s not even a full match report like I usually do, it’s a bit late for that now. It’s down to a combination of things – not getting home from Tuesday night until late yesterday and being very hungover. I’m sure you’ve managed without me though.

What a game it was though, a Champions League classic. If you read my match preview you will know that I went to the O2 Islington Academy to watch the game and it was packed with about 700 Gooners. Great atmosphere in there to watch the game and I’d definitely go there again to watch us. I’ll let you know if they’re putting on any other events in there.

We started with the same approach as the Man City game just with Nasri in for Arshavin. It wasn’t quite as effective as it was in the league and you have to say that the home side had the best of the first half. In fact nothing went right for us in the first 45. Not only did we concede a great strike from Marcos Senna but Almunia and Gallas came off injured.

We now know that we’ve lost Gallas for the rest of the season, Almunia for three weeks and Clichy for two. That’s three of our first choice defense out at a really important stage of the season. That means Clichy will miss the 2nd leg, the Chelsea semi final and Liverpool in the league. Manuel might just make it back for the Champions League semi finals if we’re lucky, but Wenger has a lot of faith in Fabianski and has been talking him up.

The second half of Tuesday night’s game was a lot better. I don’t seem to remember Fabianski having much to do after half time. It was all Arsenal, we piled the pressure on and Fabregas has said how proud he was to be captaining and playing alongside a group of “warriors”.

We pushed and attacked all half and eventually we did manage to get that goal. If you were also watching on ITV4 like we were then you’ll know that they nearly missed the goal, they were showing a replay then quickly switched back to play for us to see this finish out of nowhere – celebrations were confused but once we’d realised it was a goal the place erupted. It was a valuable away goal and we celebrated like it was a winner. I got punched in the eye by a stray fist and I thought I was going to go blind but you’ll be pleased to know I’m alright…

Ade’s been talking about the goal saying how he didn’t really anticipate it until the last minute and thought it was worth a try. It was a great chipped ball from Fabregas into Ade who chested it up with his back to goal before putting it across goal with a bicycle kick to score what Walcott has described as the best goal he’s ever seen.

They were both great goals of the highest quality and can see them and the highlights here. And if you’re after a full match report here is Arsenal.com’s plus accounts from Gunnerblog and Arseblog who both travelled out for the game.

So we took a 1-1 back to England and you have to think we’ll get the most out of that draw. The away goal is so valuable and it means Villarreal must score at Ashburton Grove. A 0-0 will see us though, as will a win of course. I’m optimistic about our chances of getting through to the semis but Villarreal showed in that first half they are not to be underestimated and they have some really great players. In the other game United have some work to do as Porto will be taking two away goals back to Portugal in their 2-all draw. I’m hoping Porto can do us a favour and knock out the holders.

In the other corresponding Quarter Finals Chelsea won 3-1 at Anfield meaning Liverpool have to score three goals at Stamford Bridge to stay in the competition and Barcelona proved just why they are favorites beating Bayern Munich 4-0 and putting on one hell of a show.

I’ll bring all this back up next week ahead of the second leg but for now we have to go back to the league and we play Wigan this weekend. With those three injuries from Tuesday plus van Persie and Eduardo still needing late tests there’s a bit of a selection problem. Arshavin’s back of course but I suspect the likes of Fabregas, Adebayor and Walcott will all be rested ahead of next week’s two massive games. I’ll bring you all the news ahead of the trip to Wigan tomorrow in the preview but for now I best be off and tend to what I suspect is a two-day hangover, ergh…

Thanks for reading.

Villarreal Preview: Nasri & Walcott make the squad 6 April, 2009

It’s back to the Champions League tomorrow night and it’s really getting serious now. It’s the first leg of the Quarter Final out in Spain against Villarreal and we’re all familiar with them. Last time around it was the second leg of the semi final in 2006, this time it’s just a Quarter Final but just as important.

Once again there’s good news and bad news regarding the team – Nasri and Walcott are fit but van Persie, Eduardo, Diaby and Rosicky are all still out. Full squad here. A bit of a shame about those who haven’t made it but I think we still have enough to put out a good team.

We could go with almost the same approach as the weekend with the 5-man midfield and Cesc playing a bit further forward except with Nasri coming in for Arshavin. That could work, or we could start Bendtner and go with the more traditional 4-4-2. It’d be nice to see Walcott again but I wouldn’t be that surprised to see Eboue start if Theo’s not completely 100%. Saturday’s formation was effective and being away from home in Europe it might not be the worst idea ever to go with that 4-5-1/4-3-3/4-2-3-1/whatever it was again:

Almunia
Sagna – Toure – Gallas – Clichy
Song – Denilson
Walcott      –     Fabregas (c)     –      Nasri
Adebayor

Whoever does end up being picked needs to get it drilled into them the importance of this game. I’m not sure if it’s just me but it all seems to be a bit quiet going into this game. Usually you wouldn’t be able to move for build up to a Champions League Quarter Final. Personally, I’m well up for it already but it does seem quiet.

My worry is that there might be a bit of complacency…they might be thinking ‘Oh it’s only Villarreal’ and are just expecting to turn up and it’ll work out. Well that would be disastrous, it’s not only Villarreal – they are a top side and will be a massive test for us. We need to concentrate and perform to the best of our ability, if we can do that on the night I believe we will have no problems.

We’re going into this game with a bit of confidence, the same can’t really be said of Villarreal. They’ve just lost 3-0 to Almeria in a game which Robert Pires picked up two yellows. Also Santi Cazorla broke his leg which will see him out for the season.

They have got a boost in Marcos Senna and Cani returning from injury to face us. Senna is a massive player for them and I was hoping he was going to miss it but oh well we’ll have to deal with that.

We’ll also be reuniting with two Arsenal legends – Pascal Cygan and Robert Pires will both be looking forward to facing their old club and doing their best to knock us out! Wenger has been praising Pires saying he’s still a quality player and we need to keep an eye on him. The player himself says he’s really looking forward to the game and says he needs to do everything he can to help his new team but wont be celebrating if he scores. It’ll be good to see him again but once we’ve shaken hands we need to forget about it and get on with the task at hand.

There’s not much more for me to say ahead of the game, we just need to go out there and do our stuff. I think if we can go out there and get an away goal that would be good to come back with. I do believe we can win out there, it’s not going to be easy but I think it can be done. If we came back with a couple of goals lead or something I’d be really happy with that but anything other than a loss and I’ll be satisfied!

RedAction are holding an event for tomorrow nights game at the o2 Academy Islington. It’s supposed to be the next best thing to being in Spain and decent prices too, it’s free to get in and £2.90 a Carlsberg. That’s where I’m gonna be, it’s going to be full of passionate Gooners in there and I’m up for a bit of an atmosphere to watch the game. So if you’re not decided on where to watch the game yet then why not head down there. It’s right near Angel tube station in the heart of Islington, a short walk from Kings Cross – here’s a map for you.

Right then, maybe see you there tomorrow night? If not, enjoy the game and I’ll speak to you Wednesday. And if you’re not already excited about the game I’ll give you this, I’ve watched it about 5 times today.

Arsenal 2-0 Manchester City – 04/04/09 – (Premier League) 5 April, 2009

Job done, we took the three points we needed putting the pressure on everyone else and everyone’s happy. We were very efficient and for the most part controlled the game, the main reason it was so comfortable was down to Man City’s terrible performance. When we went up to their place earlier this season it was one of the worst showing’s we’ve seen from us in a while and they took us apart. Yesterday was City’s turn to disappoint; apart from a couple of decent openings in the first half they never threatened. The second half was 100% Arsenal. Especially after the second goal went in, I can’t believe it only ended 2-0.

We started with a 4-5-1 with Cesc returning as captain in a forward role behind Adebayor. Arshavin and Walcott were out wide completing an attacking line-up.

We showed just how much an early goal can help our game scoring from pretty much our first chance in the 8th minute. Sagna was fouled by Robinho on the by-line and Fabregas stepped up to take the free kick from the right. He floated a ball in to a crowded area where Adebayor somehow found himself without a man within 3 feet of him and had a simple standing header to make it 1-0 to The Arsenal.

A nice goal but shocking defending from City.

So 1-0 up early on and we were able to express ourselves and play the game we wanted. The visitors had to come at us and we know that always works in our favour.

We didn’t stop after scoring the first and came close to doubling the lead a few times. I think Kolo Toure’s chance was the best when he drove through the defence and forced a save from Given.

Manchester City did start to get back into the game though. There was a period around the half hour mark which saw three decent opportunities open for them, they would turn out to be their only opportunities…

A Gael Clichy slip on the halfway line from a Wright-Phillips turn put them in the clear. Almunia making a good block on that one. The worst ‘heart-in-mouth’ moment though was when I think it was Fernandes found himself clear in the box with his back to goal. Not sure how they managed to find him but suddenly there he was! He turned and shot but luckily for us it went just wide. That would turn out to be the best chance of the game.

Just before half time Arshavin had a good low shot turned away by Given and we went in at the break with a slender 1-0 lead. It had been quite an even first half, we probably deserved the lead from the possession and chances we had but Man City should’ve really scored too – top marks to Manuel Almunia.

Four minutes into the second half the visitors were punished for not taking their chances in the first half when we scored again. It was Fabregas combining with Adebayor again – Cesc showed why he is so good flicking the ball perfectly over Richard Dunne’s head into Ade’s feet. He showed his composure in front of goal side-stepping Given and finishing into the empty net. A beautiful goal, 2-0 to The Arsenal and pretty much game over.

It was all Arsenal now, all Man City could do is try keep the score down. First Song had a glancing header go across goal and wide. Then Fabregas nearly made it a hattrick of assists for him and a hattrick of goals for Adebayor on both their returns but Given put a halt to that.

Theo Walcott had a couple of long range shots right after each other. He got behind them quite well and at 2-0 up it was worth a try. Good to see him with a bit of confidence and shooting though.

Theo came off with 20 minutes to go for Eboue. The Englishman had been subject to a lot of fouls from City and spent the rest of the match with an ice pack on his knee. Hope he’ll be alright for Tuesday, Wenger says ‘he doesn’t believe we lost him’ but at this stage his is a doubt. Adebayor was also withdrawn, Bendtner replacing him.

Eboue and Bendtner had decent cameos I thought. Nothing that will automatically get them in the team for Tuesday but it’s nice to know we now have capable players on the bench when recently I would’ve hung my head in my hands to see either of them take to the pitch.

Fabregas was replaced by Aaron Ramsey in the 77th minute to a standing ovation. It was a good comeback for Cesc, he showed that extra bit of class others don’t have and should be pleased with his two assists and overall contribution. It looked like he had never left.

So we saw the rest of the game out and it finished 2-0. The only complaint could be that we didn’t make it more in that second half but I’m sure if we were still at 0-0 with the same chances we would’ve made them count.

The defence made two or three sloppy mistakes in the first half but we can forget about them as long as they learn from them ahead of Tuesday. I guess I’ll be writing that match preview tomorrow then, there’s a bit of early injury news from Wenger’s post-match conference yesterday:

“I don’t know [what changes I will make]. I don’t know if we lost Walcott today, I don’t believe so. We have a little opportunity to get Van Persie back, a very small one to get Nasri back. We lose Arshavin who is not eligible and we have absolutely no chance to have Diaby or Eduardo available.”

Well I’ll have a full round up of all things Villarreal tomorrow. Until then, thanks for reading.

Man City Preview: He’s back 3 April, 2009

The big news ahead of tomorrow’s game is about that man. Yep he’s back after limping off against Liverpool in December. Joining him are Theo Walcott and Adebayor who have both returned from injury – Ade playing and scoring for Togo this week.

Eduardo also played and scored for Croatia but he picked up an injury so is going to miss out. So is van Persie, Diaby and Samir Nasri who hasn’t recovered from the flu. Wenger’s hoping he’ll be alright for Tuesday’s trip to Villarreal but he isn’t so optimistic about the other three. We’ll have to see on Monday how they are doing.

We’ll be alright though, we’ll miss van Persie, Diaby and Eduardo but we have Adebayor, Walcott and Arshavin to come in for them. I’m expecting all three of those to start. My only doubt is on Theo, he might come off the bench with Eboue starting. Cesc has also hinted he might come off the bench but whatever happens he’s really happy to be back playing football.

I hope he does start, but then again I don’t want him to be rushed. I think the priority will be to make sure he’s good for Tuesday so we’ll have to see.

So with that team news in mind here’s how I think we might line up:

Almunia
Sagna – Toure – Gallas – Clichy
Walcott – Fabregas (c) – Denilson – Arshavin
Adebayor – Bendtner

If it were up to me I might have Song partnering Denilson but I dunno. It’s a good team though even with those absentees. The thought of Walcott, Fabregas and Arshavin in one midfield sounds really exciting, hopefully we’ll get to see how that would work out tomorrow.

As for Man City well Bellamy is out after picking up an injury away with Wales. Robinho also got a knock with Brazil but City are thinking he might be alright for tomorrow. Michael Johnson, Martin Petrov, Daniel Sturridge, Benjani and Didi Hamann are all missing.

Bellamy and Robinho out would be good news for us. Robinho is a good player and he proved that last time we played, and Bellamy well it’d just be nice not to have to look at him.

This is the first of a very busy and very important April ahead. This is the set of fixtures we have ahead of us this month:

Manchester City (PL), Villarreal (CL), Wigan (PL), Villarreal (CL), Chelsea (FA Cup) Liverpool (PL), Middlesbrough (PL) & Man Utd/FC Porto (CL)

We could either come out of the month looking forward to two possible finals or going into the final month of the season with only 4th to play for. It’s exciting times to be a Gooner and we need to get off to the best possible start against City.

We were in good form going into the international period so I’m hoping we can just get straight back into it. I’m feeling confident, that might have something to do with me going tomorrow, it’ll be my first game for ages and I’m really up for it. I’m looking forward to seeing Cesc, Arshavin and Theo again, I’m quite excited about what those three will produce.

I best be off now, need to get ready to go out. Will speak to you on Sunday no doubt. Happy Friday.

Fabregas, Adebayor & Walcott in; RVP, Eduardo & Diaby out 2 April, 2009

So it’s good news and bad news on the injury front. Fabregas, Adebayor and Walcott are all fit and in the squad for the weekend. However van Persie, Eduardo and Diaby will all miss out after picking up injuries on international duty. Nasri has the flu so also might be sidelined, Carlos Vela will probably be a bit unfit to play but Bendtner has recovered from his injury with Denmark. Here’ what Wenger said today:

“We have lost Robin van Persie for a groin problem. We have also lost Eduardo through a groin problem, he picked it up after 80 minutes in the Croatian game. We lose as well Abou Diaby with a thigh problem that he picked up in France in training. We might lose Nasri too because he came back with flu and could not practice today.

So three players are out and there is a question mark over Nasri. But Fabregas, Adebayor and Walcott are all back and available in the squad.

Nicklas texted us last night and said everything was alright with him. But Carlos Vela, I count out because he lands on Friday morning at 10.30am. However if needed he can be in the squad.”

Good news about Cesc, I think we were all expecting him to be back but it’s nice to hear it from Le Boss. Pretty lucky that we have Adebayor back seeing as Robin and Eduardo are now injured. The Croatian picked has picked up another muscle strain which is pretty frustrating but we have to be patient in his return to football. I doubt he will be out for long but we will find out tomorrow, as will we about van Persie and Diaby. Lets hope they are all OK for next week’s trip to Villarreal, maybe they’re being rested this weekend so that they can play next week.

So for the weekend we’ve got the choice of Adebayor, Bendtner, Walcott and Arshavin in attack. I suspect all four will play but with Theo and Arshavin on the wings; no point in risking Nasri when we have those two fit and ready especially as Arshavin can’t play in the Champions League next week.

He dd play two sets of 90 minutes for Russia this international period so hopefully he’s feeling alright from that, he should be. There’s a full round up of all our players in international action here with details of Eduardo scoring for Croatia, Sagna and Gallas in action for France, Fabianski keeping a clean sheet in Poland’s 10-0 win over San Marino and everyone else who represented their countries.

Well with Wenger’s pre-press conference tomorrow we’re due a whole load more of news. We’ll also probably get more details of those players out injured. I’ll bring you up to speed on all of that tomorrow night + a match preview of the City Game. Until then.

I’m watching England and I’m bored 1 April, 2009

Not a lot going on today, nothing more than an April Fools joke anyway… It’s the last round of internationals tonight so tomorrow we are officially out of the ‘Interlull’ so we should start to get some news.

I’ve settled down tonight to watch the England vs. Ukraine match, it’s currently 1-0 to The Three Lions at half time with Peter Crouch scoring. Not going to lie, I haven’t been that involved in watching it. Not sure why it is but I find it hard getting excited about watching my country play. Wish I was though. I think when things start getting a bit more exciting towards the World Cup I will be more interested, and hopefully we get to see a bit more Theo Walcott.

I do like England’s new kit though.

Well the 2nd half is about to start so I guess I better pay attention. Nothing to really talk to you on here about so I’m going to save it all for tomorrow. Until then, thanks for stopping by.