Portsmouth 1-4 Arsenal – 30/12/09 – (Premier League) 31 December, 2009

Just a quick match report because basically I don’t envisage many people reading it! I’ve had a bit of a hectic day today and I’ve just arrived in Bournemouth for a party tonight and this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down at my mac. By now most of you will be heading off to New Years Eve parties, or too drunk to understand what these random order of words mean, or tomorrow you will be far too hungover to deal with the bright light of a computer screen. Also I’ve just started drinking too and the longer this is the drunker I’ll get.

So anyways it was a great result down at Fratton Park but it never looked in doubt. No offense but we were a class apart from Portsmouth and even though we weren’t at the top of our game it was easy for us.

The home side started well and made it hard for us to play our football but once the first goal came in the 27th minute it was all Arsenal. The opener came thanks to a massive slice of luck – Eduardo stepped up to take a free kick on the edge of the box in a good position. He struck it but it took a massive deflection and snuck inside the opposite post. Incredibly lucky when they had a man on the post too.

The next came about ten minutes later and Eduardo was involved again. He took the ball into the box and his marker just held off him. Eddy took his time and showed great composure in the box to pass it sideways to Ramsey who in turn passed it right again to Nasri. The Frenchman took a touch and then smashed a shot across goal. A good finish, 2-0 Arsenal.

At half time we were cruising at 2-0. Never a winning lead but I felt pretty comfortable at the break. Portsmouth showed the potential to go forward but nowhere near to the extent we were. They had a few chances and Almunia was forced into a couple of saves but he did well.

The third came in the 68th minute, a fine solo goal from Ramsey. He nicked the ball in Pompey’s half, side-stepped of a couple of defenders before blasting it inside the near post from outside the box. Great awareness to nick the ball, great skill to get in a shooting position and a great striker to make it 3-0. A pretty ‘great’ goal in all respects.

Shortly afterwards Eduardo was replaced by Rosicky. The Croatian (or Brazilian or whatever) had a part in the first two goals but otherwise he had another quiet-ish game. He still looks like he’s lacking a bit of confidence but he’s getting involved in the goals now which is good.

In the 73rd minute the home side got one back. No doubt a consolation goal but we shouldn’t have let it in. Belhadj was in the box and played the ball out to the right expecting a low cross. The whole line of the Arsenal defence pushed forwards expecting a driven ball across the face of the goal but no one picked up Belhadj who dropped back and had an easy shot at goal. It’s easy to see where we went wrong on the replay so hopefully we’ll know for next time.

We restored the three-goal lead nine minutes from the end and Alex Song got a well-deserved goal. He tried to work his way through the defence on his own but got lucky when we kept possession. Song was in a good position at the back post when a cross came over from the right and headed it in the top corner to make it 4-1. Was a good header and glad to see Song on the score sheet.

Could’ve maybe been more but 4-1 is a good result and we keep up the pace at the top. Next up is the FA Cup on Sunday, build up to that one to come.

That’s it then for 2009. Thanks for everyone that’s read the blog over the last 12 months, really do appreciate it. Hope you all have a good one tonight and I’ll speak to you in the new year!

Here’s to a trophy-winning 2010 for the Arsenal. Thanks for reading.

Portsmouth Preview: Must win this first of four games 30 December, 2009

We face a tricky visit to Fratton Park tonight to face bottom of the table Portsmouth – that sentence is a bit of a contradiction, but it’s true. Liverpool lost there in recent weeks and they aren’t as easy to beat as their table standing shows.

With Chelsea beating Fulham on Monday we need another three points here to keep up the pace. Man United host Wigan tonight and I’d be surprised if there was an upset there.

Our next four league games are Portsmouth away tonight, Bolton home, Everton home and then Bolton again, away. The next four after that are Villa away, United home, Chelsea away and Liverpool home. So you can see it is vital that we pick up as many points as possible from our next four so that we’re not reliant on wins against Villa, United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Of course we’d love to win all eight but that’s a bit of a long shot. We want to be in a position where we if we drop points against the big boys we’re not totally out of it.

If we win these next four league games we’ll be high on confidence and give ourselves the best chance. By mid-February we’ll have a good idea of where we might finish up come the end of May and it’s vital we go into that run on the best form possible by winning the next four games.

That starts tonight at Portsmouth. We’re without one or two but we’re going to have to deal with that – we’ll have no Fabregas to rescue us tonight. Wenger mentioned yesterday that Rosicky could return but I’m more confident of him playing on Sunday than tonight. Denilson and Fabregas as we know are out from the weekend so I think we could line up like this:

Almunia (c)
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Traore
Song
Ramsey – Diaby
Nasri – Eduardo – Arshavin

I’d be quite surprised if it was anything other than that, the only other option I can think of is if Nasri came to where Ramsey is and we played Vela or someone with Arshavin and Eduardo.

I’m glad we still have Song tonight, with both Cesc and Denilson out that midfield would be looking very makeshift without him. We can also thank Diaby for his recent form – we need another top showing from him.

Tonight will mean a return to Fratton Park for Armand Traore. He’s actually been doing quite well in Gibbs and Clichy’s absence and I don’t think I’ve really mentioned him. He’s been very consistent and done his job well. I think I only noticed when Silvestre had to come in for him and how exposed we looked on that left side. He’ll be looking to impress tonight, I’m hoping for another good game from him.

Portsmouth have Jamie O’Hara suspended and David James has a calf problem so Asmir Begovic is expected to continue in goal. Pompey are known for their African stars but they’re lucky to have Kanu, Belhadj, Hassan Yebda, and Aruna Dindane all still available. It’ll be nice to see Kanu if he gets to play, amazing to think he’ll still playing at the top level. I’m sure he’ll get a massive ‘NUUUUUUUUUUU’ from the travelling Gooners.

I went to this fixture last season and I thought it was an odd ground, all up and down and all over the place. They make some good noise though so we need to be vocal and support the boys, I know we will.

Enjoy it those of you going (or probably gone by now). It’s Sky Sports 1 job for me, I’m watching this one in St. Albans. Thanks for reading. Come on The Arsenal!

Bendtner still 3 weeks away, Rosicky almost back but no word on Cesc 29 December, 2009

There’s another setback for Bendtner as he will miss another three weeks through injury – either that or we were mis-informed in the first place which I highly expect… I thought he was meant to be back early next month but now we can only hope he makes a return for that tricky run of games I talked about yesterday.

However Tomas Rosicky could return tomorrow night, if not West Ham on Sunday, which is positive news. Now Eboue’s left for the African Nations Cup we will not be short with the Czech’s return. Here’s what Wenger said today:

Rosicky I would say will be fit for Portsmouth or for West Ham. But Bendtner is three weeks away from returning. He had a hernia surgery and should be back from that already but he had a groin problem as well.

The groin problem looks to last longer so they [the medical staff] say to me it will be three weeks.”

We could do with Nick back now really but as long as he is three weeks and not four then I’m satisfied.

There was no update on Fabregas’ injury though which concerns me, hopefully Wenger isn’t holding back any bad news and the test just haven’t come in yet but you would’ve thought he’d know by now. Wenger did have some kind words to say on his incredible performance on Sunday. He says he hasn’t seen a much better impact that that and says he didn’t need to tell Cesc anything – he was completely focused. I love Cesc, what a legend. Lets hope that hamstring isn’t too bad.

Arsene is also pleased with Diaby’s recent performances and says the new 4-3-3 suits him well. He says it allows both he and Fabregas space to score goals coming from deep. We’ve had a great goal return from all over the pitch this season, not just from strikers and it’s mainly down to the new formation. Diaby’s been playing really well recently and we need him to keep that up, he’ll need to if he wants to get in the France squad this summer.

That midfield will get shaken up a bit when Song leaves for Africa next month but unlike a lot of other African stars he hasn’t gone yet. We’ve got the pleasure of his availability for another two games as Cameroon aren’t meeting up until the 4th. That’s great news but we’re going to have to cope without him sooner or later.

I think Denilson will be drafted in at defensive midfield when he leaves. I’ve heard some people calling for Ramsey but I think he is seen as one of the two attacking central midfielders. Denilson had a back problem against Villa this weekend but there’s no news on his injury either. I hope it’s not too bad, he’ll be out of tomorrow night’s game anyway but at least we still have Song for a bit.

OK that’s you updated for tonight. Will preview the Portsmouth game tomorrow afternoon. Until then, thanks for reading.

Arsenal 3-0 Aston Villa – 27/12/09 – (Premier League) 28 December, 2009

I said before that game that the inclusion of Cesc Fabregas would make all the difference but I didn’t think he would be such a massive influence! All the talk before the game was whether he would be fit enough to start or not. In the end he made the bench but came off it for a fantastic 27-minute cameo in the second half.

The starting line-up was as expected really, a shame no Fabregas but still some exciting talent in there. In the opening few minutes we had two great chances to take a very early lead. Firstly a cross fell deep to the feet of Vermaelen but the shot went across the face of the goal. Then Diaby broke through into the box and squared it for Eduardo, he turned his man but the shot was weak and was easily saved. Eduardo should really be putting that away but it was only the 3rd minute so I let him off.

Villa soon got into the game though and showed they weren’t just here to make up the numbers. Both sides looked well up for it though and were sort of cancelling each other out. There were chances in the first half but nothing worth shouting about. There were a few headers just off target and some optimistic shots but nothing worthy of a goal.

I thought 0-0 was pretty fair for half time. It hadn’t been exactly a boring half but something had to be changed, something special was missing. I said to my mate at the break that ‘the something special missing’ was Cesc and I was hoping that we would see him in the second half.

I didn’t have to wait long. Arsene made no chances at the break, waiting to see how the second half started but a back problem to Denilson meant it was time for him to call it a day so Fabregas replaced him in the 56th minute.

He said afterwards that it was a gamble bringing Fabregas on but a gamble he was willing to take. He thought the change was necessary to win the game. Arsene said he knows Song is off to the African Nations Cup and with Denilson coming off injured it could leave us short but he said it was ‘instinctive’.

His impact was immediate. He galvanized the team and we really looked a much more confident and capable side with Fabregas in there. Arshavin sprang into life at the captain’s introduction and the two were linking well.

However it was a sublime piece of individual skill from Cesc that gave us the lead. He won a free kick on the edge of the box when he was brought to the ground after a good run. He stepped up to take it and curled it perfectly over the wall and inside the post leaving Brad Friedel no chance. Everyone went mental including Fabregas, what a goal! It was quite similar to Denilson’s last week and from a team that never scores direct free kicks we’ve got two in two weeks.

We kept the pressure on after the first goal and quarter of an hour later Fabregas doubled our lead. Traore put Walcott down the right who went sprinting towards goal. Cesc had carried on his run too and showed great pace and determination to stay ahead of the defenders. Theo played a nice little ball into his feet and Cesc put it inside the near post past Friedel.

No such celebrations for the captain this time though, he got up and was worryingly limping around clutching his hamstring. It doesn’t surprise me he aggravated his injury making that run but it shows great commitment from him, even in that pain he knew how important the second goal was so just kept going.

That was his last involvement and was replaced by Ramsey. A shame it had to end that way but what a half hour he had. He won the game single-handed for us and that’s why we love him so much. He’ll now face two or three weeks out but luckily we’ve got no massive games in that time. He should be back for our tricky run of games starting at the end of January – Villa (a), United (h), Chelsea (a), Liverpool (h) and Porto (a). Ouch.

Right at the end Diaby made it 3-0 with a fine solo effort. He picked up the ball just inside Aston Villa’s half and drove towards goal, he saw a gap and just drove through it skipping past the defence before finishing nicely. Another great goal from Diaby to cap off another good performance. Lets hope he can continue this form, especially with our current midfield situation.

So 3-0 it ended up. Maybe a little harsh on Villa in terms of how the game went but I think it represents us well in terms of that little bit extra we have over Villa. At the end of the day the better side won and we made a good account for ourselves yesterday.

Next up it’s Portsmouth away on Wednesday night, lets try keep this run going.

Villa Preview: Cesc 50:50… winning 50:50 26 December, 2009

Happy Boxing Day! Although it doesn’t really feel like a real Boxing Day today does it… no football for poor old Arsenal. We’re playing tomorrow which meant the players had training yesterday.

I hope you all had a good, relaxing Christmas while the players were all training, and got some nice gifts. I got a pretty good one, my dad got me an Armoury Square stone for The Cannon. I’ll tell you where to look out for that when they get laid down next year.

Anyway on to tomorrow’s game and the big news is that Cesc is 50:50 to play. It doesn’t sound good though as he had to pull out of training on the 24th and I don’t think he’s trained properly since. Here’s what Wenger said about the captain:

“There is still an uncertainty about him. He was supposed to practice on Christmas Eve but he still had some pain in his leg. We did not get him out so we still don’t know if he will be available for the squad or not. It is 50:50.

“He is a very influential player and a great player too so I want him to be with us.”

I think the difference between Fabregas playing or not could be the difference between us winning or not. Wenger says there, “He is a very influential player” which is a bit of an understatement. When Cesc plays well, Arsenal plays well – He makes us tick. He’s vital to Arsenal, that’s why Peter Hill Wood is so “pissed off” with Barcelona..

I’m sure Wenger will be desperate to play him tomorrow but it’s a risk only he can judge. I’m praying that Cesc starts but I don’t think Wenger will play him if he’s not ready. As much as we need him, Arsene wouldn’t risk injuring him further. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Traore is back though which is good news; Silvestre was a weak link out on the left and looked very dodgy against Hull. Here’s how I think we’ll line up tomorrow, I’ve done the team without Fabregas but he can easily be dropped in for Diaby/Denilson:

Almunia (c)
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Traore
Song
Denilson – Diaby
Nasri – Eduardo – Arshavin

I don’t think there will be a starting place for Theo Walcott tomorrow. He could be good out on our right to match Young’s pace but I don’t think he’s had enough football to be dangerous going forward. I see him more as an impact sub.

Eduardo’s still looking for a bit of confidence in front of goal too but he did score last weekend (albeit a tap in) so hopefully he can build on that. He can swap with Arshavin throughout the game getting the Villa defence guessing.

As for the visitors they only really have Heskey as a doubt, all their other stars are good to go. They’ll be a tough team to beat, especially without our captain. They’ve never lost at Ashburton Grove and they’re looking to make it four wins out of four over ‘the top four’.

Tomorrow’s victor will take a three point lead over the other so it’s a massively important game. I think in inclusion of Fabregas will really be the difference so lets hope he makes it.

My guess is a draw. And would I take a point now? Yeah I probably would.

Enjoy your Arsenal-less Boxing Day, see you at The Grove tomorrow.

Merry Christmas 24 December, 2009

Merry Christmas everyone! I know it’s only Christmas Eve but I shall be busy doing Christmas Eve stuff (eating and drinking) tonight and doing Christmas Day stuff (eating and drinking) tomorrow.

Hope you all have a wonderful piss-up tonight or whatever you’re doing and have good day tomorrow and get all the presents you’ve asked for. Mine are a fit Cesc Fabregas, three points off Villa on Sunday and turkey poisoning for John Terry.

Will speak to you on Boxing Day hopefully to preview Sunday’s match.

Cheers, from everyone at The Cannon (just me, the Christmas party was shite).

Random bits before Xmas: Wenger, van Persie & Walcott 23 December, 2009

Things are calming down a bit now leading up to Christmas. We have a massive game on the 27th against Aston Villa but right now I think the players and staff are more concentrated on getting those last minute Christmas presents in, building snowmen and rushing around trying to find an Asdas that hasn’t completely sold out of turkeys. I do hope that we have one eye on Sunday’s game though but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of news building up to it yet.

Hence the lack of stories I’ve done a bit of redesigning of the site. In my last post I asked you to choose what look you liked the most and the red and white stripy one came out on top. In fact all the red ones were favorites and I thought it was about time I made the site actually look like our home club colours…

I’m a bit concerned it looks a bit American. Not that that’s a bad thing but just not what I was going for. Oh well, I hope you like it. Next job is to re-do the squad pages that have been offline for a few months.

Anyways on to what news there is and the FA have charged Arsenal and Hull over the brawl last Saturday. We both have a month to respond to the charges but I think we will just pay the fine and get on with it. We’ve escaped a game-ban for Nasri so I think we will count ourselves lucky in that respect. It was a nothing ‘stamp’ but it’s the sort of thing you could still get done for.

Moving onto the stuff from Wenger’s webchat and Le Boss thinks that the last four years have been his best four years, despite not winning a trophy. I can see a lot of people disagreeing with him there, including probably myself but he has tried to emphasize how well we’ve done staying in the top four since we spent all our money on a shiny new stadium:

“I think moving into a new stadium and keeping the team at the top in the last four years is, for me, my best period at my club. Unfortunately it is as well the period when we have not won trophies. But people forget that we have been reasonably consistent. It has been the most difficult period but as well for me the period where I worked the best.

To move into a new stadium and yet still make some money in every single year without the team dropping the level, then maintaining a successful period in the Champions League, and doing reasonably well in the League has been quite difficult.”

It’s true, but I think this is really a bit of propaganda to calm some impatient fans. We do really need an actual trophy soon but the last four years haven’t been without achievements – and the successful transition to Ashburton Grove is quite a big one.

Wenger confirmed that we won’t see much more of Robin van Persie this season. I said earlier in the week about how we can pretty much forget about RVP for this year and Wenger’s confirmed that. It’s a real shame but we’ve just got to get on with it.

We might sign a striker to replace him and Arsene’s said it’s not vital that he be available for Europe. It would be great if we could find a good striker that isn’t cup-tied in the Champions League but Wenger says, “We are going for the domestic title and the FA Cup aswell.” He points out that Arshavin couldn’t play in Europe but still made an impact so I don’t think he is afraid to buy a striker simply to help us in the Premier League and FA Cup. We’ll have to wait and see though, Wenger’s been persistent that we will not buy unless it’s the right player – we won’t just be throwing money around for the sake of it, so I hope our scouts can find us someone good.

I did say that a defender was more important the other day but it seems Wenger’s more focused on getting a forward. That is his way. I do hope that he will be looking out for a centre back/defensive midfielder too though.

And finally, Theo Walcott has broken Thierry Henry’s 40m sprint record. . Theo has recorded a 4.72 seconds beating Titi’s 4.83 seconds making him not just our fastest player but the fastest Arsenal player ever recorded. Well done Theo, except there’s just one thing…

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading.

Help decide new look for The Cannon 22 December, 2009

No time for a blog today but here are some designs I did last night for the sites new look. Fed up with the crappy-away-kit look, I’m feeling a switch back to yellow or the white one. What do you think?

Help me decide by voting in this poll

Cheers. Have a nice day, hope you’re not still stuck in the snow.

A look at the squad before January: ‘Keepers & injuries 21 December, 2009

Not a great deal going on this Monday morning so I thought I’d take this chance to have a look at the current squad before the transfer window opens. Wenger’s told us that he will be looking what’s available in January but will not buy for the sake of it. Make sense really, I think we do need a signing or two though. I’ll start right at the beginning and that’s the goalkeeper…

Goalkeeper

The goalie position has been a bit of a worry this season. Almunia’s been dropped already for an extended period despite second choice, Fabianski being out injured at the time. Vito Mannone came in and made a good name for himself, he made some great saves and showed good reactions but he is still very young and is one for the future really. Manuel’s back in the team now after his dropping, ‘chest infection’ and family problems that he had but is back to that worrying form of early season.

Yes, he did save a penalty on Saturday but even he admits he was lucky – he just guessed right. I’m not on a one-man mission to get rid of Almunia, I just think he isn’t good enough for what we aim to achieve. I was all for Almunia being named no.1 when Mad Jens left and last season I thought he was great, however this year he’s proved that isn’t the class we need.

He looks like he knows it too, he’s a ‘keeper with no confidence and the back four have no confidence in him either. Charging out for unnecessary balls, not communicating with defenders and generally being on a completely different wave length to the back four.

Despite all this I still don’t think Wenger will buy in January. He has a lot of faith in Fabianksi and you know how he feels about ‘killing’ his younger players, i.e. Mannone. I think it’s only a matter of time before Fabianski takes his place as the no.1 goalkeeper. These next few weeks are really important for Manuel, if he doesn’t perform I think he will lose his place again and will struggle to get it back. I’m not saying Fabianski is the answer but I just think Wenger believes he is. Only time will tell on this one.

Injuries

According to the injuries page on Arsenal.com we currently have eight players out. It lists Fabregas, Clichy, Traore, Bendtner, Rosicky, Gibbs, van Persie and Djourou as the casualties. We’ve been extremely unlucky to have our injuries in the same area and that’s what’s been our downfall.

We have all three left backs out! That’s insane! Clichy, Traore and Gibbs are all out until the new year, we’re not exactly sure for how long but we’re having to do with 4th choic, Silvestre at the moment who is a liability. He put us in danger several times on Saturday and the less time he spends in the team the better.

With Djourou also out for the rest of the season and Silvestre now our current left back it means we only have Senderos as back up in defence. You can’t really say we have Alex Song either because he is off to the African Nations Cup and he is required in midfield – as soon as you start playing people out of position everything fails, just look at Man United.

Senderos is more than likely to move on in January too so unless we sign a defender we will be left with no reserve defenders. Do we want to end up like Man United? No we fucking don’t so a central defender is vital this January. Before the season started we have Djourou, Senderos and Silvestre as back up but the way it has worked out we have no one now.

We’ve also been unlucky that both Bendtner and van Persie have got injured. I wont go into how pissed off I am that van Persie will miss most of the season after getting injured in a meaningless international friendly that has nothing to do with our club… He should be fit for end of April/May but it’s likely that the season will be over by then. His only hope is if we get in a major final or the Premiership goes right down to the wire but even then he will be lacking match fitness – we can pretty much forget we have the services of Robin van Persie this season.

Bendtner should be back next month, which is a massive boost. Wenger’s been hinting about finding a striker to replace RVP for the right price and not European cup-tied. We could do with another Arshavin-type signing this January but there’s no point in signing someone that’s not going to go straight into the first team – we still have Eduardo and Vela although both are struggling for goals and confidence. We could do with a striker but with Bendtner returning I think we could just about hang on without one, we just need Eduardo to find a bit of form.

As for midfield well Fabregas might be back for Sunday, if not the week after. Rosicky is going through one of those stages where it’s three weeks, then another three weeks, then three weeks after that then three weeks from then, so fuck knows when we might see him again. Samir Nasri might be unavailable for a while too if the FA decide to take action on his stamp again Hull. Alex Song as I mentioned is off to Africa next month and he will be sorely missed. I think Denilson will be drafted into the defensive midfield role but it wont be quite the same. Right at this moment we’re not doing so good in midfield either but Cesc will be back soon and hopefully Nasri escapes punishment. We have Ramsey to come in as well as back up so I think we’ll just about manage for the time being.

So in conclusion I think the main target should be a central defender this January and then we should look at strikers. Wenger will be reluctant to buy a defensive player as always but we are so close to being in a Man United-type situation and we can count our lucky stars that Gallas and Vermaelen have managed to stay fit all season. Without them God knows where we might be, they have been fantastic.

Wenger hints at adding a striker but I think that should come second to a defender. It would be fantastic to see a quality forward come in but I’d be a little pissed off if Wenger chose to ignore our thin defensive squad yet again.

Well done if you got through that essay, thought I’d better make an extra effort today seeing as I don’t know whether I’ll get a chance tomorrow with it being my birthday. I’m out for lunch and then will no doubt be on the beers. So maybe speak to you tomorrow, if not the day after.

Thanks for reading.

Arsenal 3-0 Hull – 19/12/09 – (Premier League) 20 December, 2009

Before the game I tried to point out the importance of three points yesterday, not just to fuck off Phil Brown, but also to bounce back from the draw at Burnley. The performance wasn’t quite there but we still managed to beat Hull 3-0 and with Man United’s unexpected 3-0 loss to Fulham we’re just two points behind them with a game in hand. It just goes to show that anything can happen this season and we have to just keep going because you never know where points might be dropped. Wenger said after the game that the most consistent team will win the league and he’s right.

Yesterday we took quite a while to get into the game, we had a few chances in the first half but they were spread far apart and we struggled to get a good few minutes of pressure in. Hull were hardly threatening but they were shutting us down and not allowing us to play our football.

Eduardo hit a curling effort from the corner of the box that went just the wrong side of the post, so close to scoring out of nothing – that’s the Eduardo we miss. Five minutes before half time Song made a good run for a header that deflected wide, could’ve maybe directed the shot better.

We were by far the team with the more quality but we were hardly convincing and you couldn’t say we deserved to be in the lead all that much. The game was a bit lifeless really, Hull’s anti-football mixed with our tired legs created a slightly dull encounter; the game needed a goal or something to spark a bit of life into it.

In the end it took a mass brawl involving everyone on the pitch – and it did just the trick! It all started when we were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box and the next thing I know fists are being thrown. I sit down the other end of the pitch so I couldn’t see how it was started but apparently Nasri stamped on a guys foot and it all kicked off.

In the end Nasri came out of it with a yellow card and so did some other cunt but there could’ve easily been a red shown. Nasri took the kick and it came to nothing but a few moments later we were awarded another in the same position. Samir looked to be taking it again but joined the wall leaving it for Denilson. The Brazilian stepped up and scored it with a great curling shot over the wall into the bottom left corner. Afterwards Wenger said he wasn’t even meant to be taking it but it was a finish anyone from David Beckham to Ronaldo would’ve been proud of.

So we went in 1-0 at half time, there were some harsh words exchanged as the players walked in and I was looking forward to an exciting second half.

Everyone expected Hull to come out and have a go and they did. They might’ve had the fresher legs but we had the greater skill and almost made it 2-0 straight away. Arshavin played it into Eduardo’s feet on the edge of the box and with a brilliant turn found himself one-on-one. A pre-leg-break Eduardo would’ve slotted that away with ease but it was typical of his current form to put it wide.

I said to my brother, ‘Eduardo just can’t score any more.’ I knew straight after saying that he’d pop up with the second and so he did.

But before that was the turning point of the game. Hull were awarded a penalty for a nothing challenge by Silvestre. It was given for the slightest of shirt-pulls off the ball and the ref wasted no time in pointing to the spot. It was the sort of thing you’d let go outside the area but he decided it was a penalty. Bizarre. Anyway so Geovanni stepped up to give Hull the chance of drawing level. I turned away in disgust and watched everyone cheer as Almunia saved it! I watched the replay and Almunia guessed right but it went straight back into the path of Geovanni who just as he was about to head it in had Stephen Hunt come charging in with his head too and made it go wide. Fucking hilarious and totally deserved for the stupid, dirty, hobbit-looking twat.

That was Hull’s chance to get back in it and they blew it, you just knew we would soon make it 2-0 and Hull would regret that miss. Eduardo’s goal came just three minutes after that penalty but the credit has to go to Diaby. He got down the left side of the box, took the ball to the byline and waited patiently for the right pass into the middle. Eduardo was there for the tap-in and it was 2-0 Arsenal.

Great piece of skill and composure from Diaby and it was another great game from Diaby. He seems to be shite for 3 or 4 games and then have a great performance that leaves you thinking why he can’t do that every week. Well yesterday was one of those and everything good came through him, he stepped up to Cesc’s plate and did himself proud yesterday. All he needed was a goal and that came 10 minutes before the end.

A great through pass by Arshavin was controlled well by the Frenchman who took it through on goal. His shot hit the ‘keeper but it still went it and it was game over – 3-0 Arsenal.

Theo Walcott missed a great chance to make it 4-0 when he controlled a long ball down well after his inwards run was spotted. The ‘keeper came quickly so he didn’t have long to think and went for the lob that just bounced agonizingly wide. Theo could’ve really done with a goal yesterday for his confidence and it’s such a shame that it didn’t come off for him. Good run though.

So 3-0 it ended up and good win for us. We’re still not playing our best but we’ve pulled out another result and that’s all that matters. We’re going to have to up our game a little bit though for next week as Aston Villa come to town. They’re level on points with us (although we have a game in hand) so it’s a massive game. Build up to come this week. Thanks for reading.

Champions League Draw & Hull Preview 18 December, 2009

It was the draw for the knockout round of the Champions League today and as I’m sure you know we got Porto. We can count ourselves a bit lucky as there were some really tough games in there. Stuttgart or Porto were the two teams you would pick if you had a choice so we haven’t done badly. It’s not the first time a Champions League draw has gone our way this season so at least something’s going right…

We’ve played Porto a few times in recent years so we know what to expect. It’s not going to be an easy game by any means but it’s one that I think we will be favourites for. The first leg is away on 17th February and it’s a difficult place to go, we lost 2-0 there last season. We’ll have to do a lot better this time around and try to get an away goal to set us up nicely for the 2nd leg. We beat them 3-0 at our place though and they will be just as scared, if not more about visiting us. Here’s the rest of the draw:

Stuttgart v Barcelona
Olympiakos v Bordeaux
Inter Milan v Chelsea
Bayern Munich v Fiorentina
CSKA Moscow v Sevilla
Lyon v Real Madrid
Porto v Arsenal
AC Milan v Manchester United
Liverpool v Oh wait they’re not in it…

Some tough ties there for Chelsea and Man United, both having to go to Milan. Here’s Arsene Wenger’s thoughts on drawing Porto:

“It is a 50/50 game. Porto are always in there and always difficult to play against. The little advantage is that we have the second game at home but it’s important that we negotiate well our first game and try to score away from home. It’s a difficult draw. Last season we had a very good game at home and away we lost 2-0. But it’s the Champions League, it’s a cup game now, it’s form of the day and I believe it’s feasible. Difficult but feasible.”

Pretty much spot on, as always. The game’s a couple of months away so lets save the build up for nearer the time but it’s a good draw and we should all be looking forward to it.

On to more pressing matters and that Hull City at home tomorrow. We all know what happened last year and hopefully it’s still fresh in the memory of the players. They should be going out there tomorrow for a bit of revenge. We beat them here in the FA Cup but that’s not enough, they need showing who’s boss.

Hull are not the same side as last season, they haven’t got that 1st season fever and Phil Brown’s head has got too big and orange for his own good. He’s been on the verge of a sacking this season already but I’m glad he’s held out for tomorrow’s game so we have the opportunity to ruin his Christmas.

He’s still bitter about our hilarious FA Cup win and I bet he still feels like a bit of an idiot about the whole spitting thing. That game Cesc Fabregas was injured and made the headlines by coming on the pitch afterwards to celebrate the win. He’s out again tomorrow and I’m sure he’ll be sat on the sidelines, hoodie on standby ready to cause ‘mayhem’ again. Seriously though, it’s a bit of a shame we’re without our captain because against Burnley he showed exactly the sort of attitude we need at the moment; this might be considered an easy game but every game needs the same work rate and Cesc knows how to lead by example. Hopefully he’ll be in the dressing room before the game and will let the boys know just how important it is to put the effort in. Another uninspiring performance is not good enough.

The news on his injury is 8-10 days out. So there is a chance he’ll be fit for the next game at Villa but don’t hold your breath. Also Denilson is back but no one else is fit to play so I think we might look something like this:

Almunia
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Silvestre
Song
Denilson – Diaby
Nasri – Arshavin – Eboue

I’ve chosen Eboue because Walcott has played a lot recently and I think he might come off the bench. I know he’s trying to regain match fitness but he hasn’t really impressed either so I wouldn’t mind seeing him drop to the substitutes. I think Almunia will remain in goal despite his clear lack of confidence, I just don’t see Wenger dropping him right now but if Fabianksi does come in then it wouldn’t surprise me one bit. Silvestre at left back will be a bit of a weakness so we have to keep an eye on that too.

The amount of players we have out is ridiculous but that’s still an eleven that should be good enough to beat Hull. We’ve still got Gallas & Vermaelen, we’ve sill got Song and we’ve still got Arshavin who looks our greatest threat at the moment.

Hull have nowhere near as many problems as we do. They’re without Bullard who picked up yet another injury a couple of weeks ago but they might have Daniel Cousin back for tomorrow. Geovanni will play and we all remember him from last year, lets not allow him so much space this time ay?

We might’ve had a disappointing draw in the week but the best way to forget about that is to win confidently tomorrow. Man United are playing Fulham and Chelsea have West Ham and I’m expecting them both to win so lets not fall any further behind by dropping points.

Here’s to a strong win and a small orange explosion on the touchline. Thanks for reading.

Burnley 1-1 Arsenal – 16/12/09 – (Premier League) 17 December, 2009

Last night I was pretty angry about the result but I’ve cooled down now, enough to write a sensible match report! I pretty much thought our title chances were over – simply from dropping two points away from home a difficult ground to visit. Today I can see that it’s not the end of the world but a win would’ve been a great bonus.

We didn’t really deserve the three points anyway last night, we played well for about the first 10 minutes and then we were awful. It puts us back in the position we were before Chelsea drew to Everton last Saturday, which is 8 points behind them with a game in hand. Still a bit of a distance but not unreachable – Chelsea have shown they can drop points.

We opened the scoring in the 7th minute. Cesc Fabregas worked his way through the defence to score a fine individual goal. The captain was the life of the team last night, he was at the centre of everything good we did and really looked up for the game. He knew that if we wanted to win this league then this is the sort of game we have to win and was trying to set an example to the rest of the team.

However I’m sure you know how things work as an Arsenal fan – as soon as something good happens there’s only something shortly around the corner to bring you back down. Cesc got injured just before half time and had to be taken off, we’re not sure how long he’s out for yet but he will definitely miss this weekend. Fingers crossed it’s not too bad.

Back to the game and we were level at 1-1 in the 28th minute. The goal came from the penalty spote, Vermaelen the culprit flying in with a tackle and we can have no complaints about the decision. Almunia had no chance but I never expected him to…

We came close to regaining the lead a few times whilst Fabregas was still on the pitch, but after that we hardly threatened. Just shows how much we’ll miss him while he’s out through injury.

At half time I was not happy. In fact I was probably angrier than we were 1-0 to Liverpool on Sunday. This might’ve had something to do with my temperamental internet and trying to watch the game over a stream but the football was hardly satisfying. I wasn’t expecting Wenger to have another go and the players last night but something needed to be done at the interval. At Anfield we came out for the second half with new life and dominated the game but nothing such happened last night and Burnley were the bigger threat.

I find it hard to admit that they outplayed us – but they did. They came close to taking the lead a few times in the second half and even had a goal disallowed. If you’ve seen the game back you’ll see Almunia making an incredible mistake allowing the ball roll to the back post for them to make it 2-1. Luckily for us we were saved by the lineman’s flag but Manuel would’ve had that one to answer for had it been allowed.

It finished up 1-1 and it felt like all the efforts against Liverpool had been thrown away. However Turf Moor and Anfield are difficult places to go and 4 points out of 6 aren’t that bad with all things considered. We took a point more than Man United at Burnley and with how our form has been recently four out of six is ok. We just have to accept that we dropped two points and get on with our next game which is Hull at home.

I came up for this fixture last season and watched us slump to a 2-1 loss. That won’t be acceptable again this year – three points is a necessity and anything else is not acceptable. I’ll be there again on Saturday and I’m hoping Arsenal will put it right.

We’ll be without Fabregas but we’ve just about got a few players left that are more than capable of winning a game so lets hope we can pull out another good home performance.

I’ll speak to you tomorrow to preview the game and talk about the Champions League draw which would’ve taken place in the morning. Until then.

Burnley Preview: Three points essential 16 December, 2009

We kick off in at Turf Moor in just a few hours so only time for a quick preview today. We’re all still a bit giddy from Sunday’s win but tonight is just as important and we have to be totally focused. If we don’t pick up three points here then the come back at Anfield will have been pointless.

And it’s not as if we can think, ‘Oh it’s only Burnley.’ They have a terrific home record, which includes a win over Man United. Only one team has managed to take all the points away from a game there this season but we need to become the second.

Man United and Villa both won yesterday so have made a bit of ground. Spurs host Man City tonight and Wigan are playing at Liverpool. Anything less than a win tonight and we’re going back a step again after all our hard work.

Traore and Denilson are injured from Sunday. Traore might return after Christmas but I’m not sure how serious Denilson’s is. It means Silvestre will come in at left back for at least the next couple of games. Arshavin was set to miss out too but he has recovered in time and Wenger has hailed his toughness. I was expecting Eduardo to start tonight after not playing at Anfield but I’m not so sure who’s going to be centre forward now.

Arsene’s also been talking about Almunia and says he has full faith in our no.1. He didn’t have the best of games at the weekend but Arsene doesn’t blame him for the goal.

Ok so I think we might start like this tonight:

Almunia
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Silvestre
Song
Fabregas (c) – Diaby
Nasri – Eduardo – Arshavin

I can’t tell what Wenger’s going to do but I do know he will put out the best possible team in order to win this tough game. Not like Wolves last night who made 10 changes for their trip to Old Trafford. How embarrassing.

We’re not on TV tonight but I’m going to see if I can find a stream. If I get a decent one I’ll put it up on my twitter.

Thanks for reading. Come on Arsenal!

Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal – 13/12/09 – (Premier League) 14 December, 2009

The little Russian’s done it again! A pretty anonymous game but then came up with the goods when it mattered. That win yesterday puts us three points off United and six behind Chelsea and with our game in hand that means we’re in a very healthy position indeed.

Andrey started as centre forward again as Eduardo was not fit enough to start; he did make the bench but made no appearance. It meant a start for Walcott too, he spoke before the game about always putting in a top performance against Liverpool but we hardly saw him in his 70 minutes he played.

In fact the whole side was pretty rubbish in the first half. We were giving the ball away like I had never seen us do before. Maybe Liverpool were just quick to react but I wish I could’ve seen a stat on how much we passed the ball to an opposition player. It really was awful, and it wasn’t just one or two offenders either, even Cesc was guilty of it too.

The front three of Nasri, Arshavin and Walcott couldn’t get in the game at all. We were ok getting two thirds up the pitch but the rest we didn’t have a clue what to do.

The first 45 minutes was all Liverpool. We were lucky not to be 3-0 down at half time. Gerrard was tripped by Gallas inside the area and it looked a definite penalty. Howard Webb waved it away for a goal kick and we can count our lucky stars for that one. Whether the ref thought the ball was already going out of play or whether his recent dives had anything to do with his fortune only Webb will know. However what is for certain is that we were let off there and it stayed at 0-0.

Another great chance came from a Liverpool break where we were caught wildly out of position. Liverpool got down the right flank and whipped a great final ball across to Torres. You’d bet anything on him scoring from the position he was on in but hit a very tame shot low to Almunia’s left and it was quite a comfortable save. Phew!

Liverpool did manage to score just before half time and it was a very sloppy goal to concede. The had a free kick floated in midway inside our half, Almunia came but suicidally flapped it right into the busy box. Kuyt reacted first and managed to squeeze it past all the legs into the bag of the net.

It was awful goalkeeping my Manuel Almunia, the sort of mistake that lost his place earlier in the season. He recently said he’s back to his best after everything that’s happened this year but after yesterday I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fabianski back in the frame.

So half time came, lucky to only be 1-0 down and Wenger had to sort us out at half time. And sort us out he did. Arsene very rarely loses his temper but yesterday he remembered to bring his hairdryer and let the players have it. Cesc Fabregas explains:

“The boss screamed. I’ve never seen him like that before. He was really disappointed in the first half and said we didn’t deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt if we played like that.

And I think he was right. In the second half we turned it around.”

I was a bit shocked to hear how Arsene reacted at the break but it worked! I’ve never heard of Arsene shouting before but yesterday he must’ve just lost his cool. After all the incredible results on the Saturday this trip to Anfield was bigger than ever. It was a massive test for our players and he said before the game that the players knew how important it was. For the players to go out and give that performance in the first half I’m not surprised he was angry. He probably told them that if they were serious about winning the league then they go out there in the second half and win the game. And so they did.

We were a changed side after the break. We were more together, our passing was miles better, we were creating chances and playing the sort of football Arsenal play.

5 minutes in we were handed the bit of good luck that we really needed. It was a great passing move by us ending in Fabregas spreading the ball to the right. Walcott was in the box and Nasri tried to pick him out with a low cross but a couple of deflections caught Glen Johnson off guard and it went in the back of the net off his knee. An awful own goal to concede, a lucky goal to score but we’ll take that. 1-1. Come on Arsenal!

We weren’t finished there though, we got back hold of the ball again and it was clear that we were going for a second. It didn’t take too long for it to come either. In the 58th minute we took the lead, it came from a Fabregas cross from the right that fell to the feet of Glen Johnson again. He didn’t quite control it perfectly and Arshavin nicked it from his feet before belting it in off the inside post. What a finish! I’m sure you’ve seen it but if not Arsenalist’s got all the highlights and goals.

We’d turned the game around in under 10 minutes and Liverpool looked shocked. The remaining half hour of the game I spent on the edge of my seat and the whole thing seems a bit of a nervous blur now.

However in calm coolness of reality nothing really happened – Liverpool were beaten with that strike and struggled to get back in the game. Almunia didn’t have a shot to save in the second half and maybe that was a bit of a blessing after his blunder in the first half. The thought of a Gerrard dive in front of the Kop in the 4 minutes of extra time was always on the back of my mind but it never happened. In fact the ref was very strict and had a keen eye on every player that went down, there was a few attempted dives but Webb was having none of it.

So 2-1 it finished and what a fantastic result that is. Wenger says we’re back in the title race now after being written out of it a couple of weeks ago. Next up we have Burnley on Wednesday night, a really tricky place to go but we have to win there otherwise yesterday was pointless. Lets think about that later though and bask in this victory for a bit.

It feels good to be a Gooner today doesn’t it?

Liverpool Preview: Don’t concede four and I think we could win 12 December, 2009

We all know what happened in last season’s trip to Anfield, an incredible 4-4 draw with Arshavin grabbing all four. It was an amazing game for any football fan but very disappointing for us that we couldn’t hold onto it at 4-3.

This season Andrei hasn’t been in as good form, he’s sort of picked and chosen his moments to shine. However I know for a fact that he is very proud of his reputation at Anfield and that he always gives us that little bit extra in the big games. I have a feeling that tomorrow he will really turn up for us again; I’m not expecting another four goals, but a good performance from him and we really have a good chance.

Theo Walcott also has fond memories of Anfield, he was a Liverpool fan as a kid and admits, “I have always played very well there.” That run in the Champions League springs to mind I’m sure. Actually it’s been a while since I looked at that…

The seven minutes that came after that goal still haunt me so lets move on quickly… Theo played 90 minutes on Wednesday in order to get some football under his belt. He’s declared himself fit but I’m expecting him to come off the bench. We’re lacking options in his position so I wouldn’t be surprised if he started but that’s down to Wenger.

As for the rest of the team news well Rosicky and Eboue are out but Diaby might return. Even if Abou is fit I don’t expect him to start so soon so this is how I think we will line up:

Almunia
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Traore
Song
Fabregas (c) – Denison
Nasri – Eduardo – Arshavin

We experimented with Arshavin as the central striker last weekend and it didn’t go badly so I would expect Eddy and Andrei to swap as the game goes on. We’re used to seeing Nasri partnering Fabregas but with everyone that’s out I think we could play him as part of that front three tomorrow.

Liverpool have recently got Aquilani, Gerrard and Torres back from injury and they will no doubt play if they are ready. They’ve had all three out for most of the season so I guess we can count ourselves a bit unlucky that they’ve all returned to play us. Aquilani is a bit of a doubt but Liverpool’s main threats in Gerrard and Torres should be fit.

With Chelsea and Spurs dropping points today this is a chance to make some ground inside the top four. Villa are playing United as I type so hopefully they can do us a favour there too. Three points tomorrow would be very good for our title hopes and I’m feeling good about it happening. We haven’t won at Anfield in the league since October 2003 but I think we can set that right tomorrow. I don’t really know why but I have a good feeling.

Lose, and Liverpool will be just a point behind us. Shocking considering how far behind they were not long ago.

Well all I can say is good luck to us and try not concede four goals this time, especially none in the last five minutes. Enjoy the day everyone that’s going up, should be a good one.

Thanks for reading.

Olympiacos Preview: Don’t be upset if we don’t win… 9 December, 2009

Sorry for the slightly negative headline but I think it’s a point that needs making. We’ve already done our job in the Champions League and have secured qualification at top spot in the group. We could not bother going all the way to Greece and just forfeit the game and it’d make no difference! At the weekend we face Liverpool and with our injury record as poor as it is we can’t afford a single injury.

That’s why we’re sending a Carling Cup squad out for our final group game. Not only is it saving our first teamers from injury, it’s an incredible opportunity for the kids.

Some Gooners get a bit upset when Arsene decides to play the kids but I think tonight he’s doing exactly the right thing, there’s nothing we can gain by sending our best team out. Wenger knows it’s a risk playing the kids but he’s confident they will do well. He honestly believes in our players and is giving them a chance to put that Man City result right.

The thing is, Olympicos still need a point to qualify in second place so will be more than up for this game. I just feel that a side of their quality searching for a Champions League qualification worth millions of pounds are going to cause problems for our reserves. However if they did manage to beat them then what an achievement it would be!

Against City our second string side kept it at 0-0 up to half time and had a few threatening chances. They’ve proved that they can compete with the best but over 90 minutes they just need a little bit extra. Tonight is another big test and if they can better the performance at Man City they do have a chance.

Theo Walcott’s back from another injury and Alex Song is set to start so there are a couple of first team players in there. We’ll also have experience with Silvestre and Fabianski at the back. Ramsey, Merida and Wilshere will probably all feature too and Wenger’s been talking about a possible loan move for Jack. He says he is desperate for some football and is becoming a bit inpatient to wait for his chance here, but he’s a bit wary of letting him leave. I’m not against loaning Wilshere out – as long as he comes back to us! He’s got an exciting future ahead of him I just hope he has the patience to stick it out here at Arsenal.

I’m quite looking forward to tonight’s game, it’s a massive test for us and I’m excited to see how we do. Just as before the Man City game, I’m not going into the game expecting anything, just to simply enjoy watching us play so anything else is a bonus for me. I’m glad our first team are getting a good rest in ahead of the weekend and I’m sure they’ll be tuning into ITV1 like the rest of us.

Enjoy the game. Thanks for reading.

Arsenal 2-0 Stoke – 05/12/09 – (Premier League) 7 December, 2009

I said in my preview that there was a real need to get back on track with three points on Saturday. And with a win at Ashburton Grove secured before Chelsea losing later in day to Man City we are well and truly back on track – Not back in it just yet, but certainly back on the right course.

We’re now 8 points off the top, six points off United and a game in hand over them both. After an awful November we need to turn it around and re-find that early-season form this month. It’s not going to be easy though, Wenger has declared it our worst season ever for injuries with currently 12 players receiving treatment! Eboue, Traore, Gallas and Rosicky are the latest to add to the list, all picking up knocks at the weekend. Rosicky could be out for up to three weeks but hopefully the former three are all good for Sunday’s Anfield clash.

Wenger is hinting that we will buy a striker in January but says its hard to find a high quality player that’s not cup-tied in Europe. Arsene says he hopes Father Christmas will help him find the right man for Arsenal…

Anyway, onto the weekend’s match. Before the game Eduardo was declared unfit which meant Arshavin was drafted into centre forward. A lot of Gooners have been looking forward to seeing the Russian in this role and I think it suits him. For the first 20 minutes or so I was getting a bit frustrated with him, he was getting a lot of the ball, getting in great positions but he lacked the end product and extra bit of quality we saw last season. He soon found his feet though and put us ahead in 26th minute with a great finish.

Just before that we had an even better chance to take the lead when Andrei won us a penalty. Cesc stood up to take it but it was well saved to Sorensen’s left. We didn’t let it get us down though and soon after Fabregas thread Arshavin through on the left hand side of the area. He took a touch and got a shot away across goal sneaking just inside the post. It was the sort of finishing I knew he was capable of… not the spooned effort almost going out for a throw-in a few minutes before in the same position!

So 1-0 to the Arsenal and we could really give it a go now. It really shouldn’t have taken 26 minutes to get the lead but we got there in the end. We so nearly made it two soon after, the ball was lose in the area and fell to Fabregas with an open goal but Eboue got in the way of the shot on the line. Incredibly unlucky. Eboue knew what he’d done and looked a bit upset about it, he spent the rest of the game working his socks off to make up for it and had a couple chances of his own. Eboue’s hard work might’ve been what ultimately lead to his injury early into the second half, but he did look good up until that point.

Rosicky was replaced by Vela at the break, there didn’t look like there was a problem with him in the first half so I thought at the time the change was just precautionary but as I said it turns out he’s out for a few weeks.

We struggled to get that second goal even though we were well on top. At 1-0 this Arsenal is never safe and Stoke reminded of that with a couple of counter attacks. Just after the hour Arshavin had a shot deflected onto the bar and it just didn’t seem like it was going to come.

It did eventually with ten minutes to go on the break from some Stoke pressure. We broke quickly and some good work between Ramsey and Arshavin saw the Welshman through on goal. A good finish made it 2-0 and it was all over.

Shortly afterwards it was nearly three. Arshavin got through but a last-second sliding block meant my 16-1 shot on Arshavin scoring first and Arsenal winning 2-0 came in! I just wish I put more than a quid on it now…

So 2-0 it did finish then, but there was just time for another couple of injuries right at the end. Traore needed treatment up the other end of the pitch and was replaced in the 88th minute, also Gallas was hobbling around in extra time but with all our subs already made he had to hang on until the end. No word on them both yet but we’ll find out soon; I’m praying they both make it though otherwise we’ll be going to Anfield with a back four of Sagna, Vermaelen, Senderos and Silvestre.

Ok that’s it for today. Speak to you possibly tomorrow if not Wednesday. Until then.

Stoke Preview: Must get back on track 4 December, 2009

Sorry I’ve gone missing for a week. I haven’t been crying in a corner at all these defeat or anything so don’t worry about that. Just been a busy week with work and things and I just never got round to it. I haven’t missed anything amazing though, two 3-0′s and some more injuries and suspensions…

I’m not that bothered about the loss in the week. We could never expect to beat a full-strength Man City side with our reserves so anything else was just a bonus for me. We kept it at 0-0 in the first half and looked like we could score but City were easily better than us and go through to the semis. Wenger got a bit of criticism for sticking with his youth policy but I don’t get the fuss. It’s a nothing competition and I don’t think the Carling Cup is really the sort of silverware we’re desperate for. All I hope now though is that he takes the FA Cup more seriously.

Before that, we had the defeat to Chelsea which was much more disappointing. We had our chances but they were just that bit better than us at the end of the day and you can’t really argue the result. Puts us a bit behind in the league table though but we have just to keep going.

Starting with Stoke tomorrow. I’m back in London for the game and I’m looking forward to cheering on the boys. I can understand one or two might be a bit down at the moment but that’s not going to help anything, we’ve just got to get on with things and end this losing streak.

Tony Pulisis is expecting an Arsenal reaction and is wary of a strong performance. He’s right; we’ll be going out to win as well as we can. It’s not going to be easy but we should certainly be taking three points from this.

We’ve lost Theo Walcott and Alex Song due to an injury and suspension respectively. It leaves us a bit short but we’ll manage. A bit annoying to see Theo injured again though, I think he’s only started one game this season. This was supposed to be a big one for him but he’s just had terrible luck with injuries. With RVP and Bendtner out at the moment this is a good chance for him to get a run in the team. He should be back for Wednesday night’s game though. We hope anyway.

It’s a choice between Denilson and Ramsey for Song’s spot and I think it will be the Brazilian. It’s good practice before Song goes off for the African Nations Cup and I believe Denilson will step in then too.

Here’s how I think we might start tomorrow then:

Almunia
Sagna – Vermaelen – Gallas – Traore
Denilson
Fabregas (c) – Nasri
Eboue – Eduardo – Arshavin

It shows injuries are bad when I have to have a quick check of the squad pages on Arsenal.com to see who we can actually play. It’s really gutting that we’re without van Persie for most of the season, Eduardo still hasn’t made an impression since the Dutchman’s injury and Arshavin’s not at his best either. Wenger has hinted quite strongly that we will be active in January so lets just see.

Stoke’s injury situation is much better than ours and pretty much have a full strength squad to pick from. They’re going to be tough to beat tomorrow. Tough in a literal sense too, without Diaby, van Persie and Bendtner we’re quite a short team and we have to make sure we’re not bullied off the park tomorrow. Get an early goal and we’ll be able to play how we like but if it’s still goalless with 20 minutes to go it will get quite frustrating.

I’m confident we can win tomorrow though. We really need to so we don’t fall further back off the pace and we need some confidence ahead of the Anfield trip next weekend. Plus, I fucking hate seeing Spurs ahead of us in the league.

Not much more I can say about tomorrow. If you’re going then try get behind the team however wet and cold it is, they need us. Thanks for reading.