Having just sat and watched a full re-run of the game here are some quick thoughts:
- We defended very well and it is no coincidence that since we have had Fabianski in goal, the defence is more organised. I never had him down as a talker but in the first half he was yelling at Cesc when we were about to defend a corner – Cesc either didn’t hear or ignored him, Fabianski then grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him into position. The corner landed on Cesc’s head, I’m sure he will listen next time!
- Denilson looked very tired and considering the amount of ground he covered last weekend and played a big part against Newcastle I think we can forgive him for that..
- It was stupid to allow Cesc to play on with his hamstring problem. You do have to wonder who makes some of the decisions – we have some massive games coming up and need our captain fit, on a different note his hamstring is fast becoming a chronic problem that needs sorting out desperately. On average he is out for at least a game a month with hamstring trouble.
- Chamakh didn’t have a bad game. There were a few people gloating about how Chamakh had a shocker and van Persie should now instantly come back … It was the type of game that doesn’t suit Chamakh as much, we were stacked in their half and he played a vital role in the build up I thought. Added to that, he produced some wonderful skill late in the second half. He has the touch and skill of Berbatov but is the hardest working player I have seen in a long, long time.
- I always believed we would win. I was on my lunch break at work when Theo hit the post, it was noticeable everyone was getting downbeat and it looked like it just wasn’t occurring to people that we score a hell of a lot of late goals. Sure enough we did. Check this over on Twitter…
- The three points were vital. United beat Spurs. Wolves beat City and we are now starting to separate from the big body of teams from 3rd downwards. There will be a chance to create a gap over United and close in on Chelsea, we just have to keep on winning. Easier said than done.
One last thing to say about Scott Parker – a player I like and rate very highly. This picture shows the result of the first of two tackles within a couple of minutes that should have resulted in a yellow at least… he wasn’t carded for either:
There is no reasoning for it and just because he is frustrated about playing in a crap team doesn’t mean he can completely clean up players in tackles. Denilson was very lucky to escape without injury. Chamakh and Nasri both stuck up for themselves yesterday… De Costa elbowed Chamakh in the stomach, the Moroccan responded with a swipe at his leg and grabbed hold of his shirt, he then went berserk at him when the ref blew the whistle. He wasn’t a happy bunny. Nasri also took an enormous swipe at a West Ham player and got away with it. He is one of those players that will just wind you up more and more.
It has been three clean sheets in a row now and that is a habit worth picking up. The players seem to have learned that if they don’t score they can’t win. Time to keep this run of clean sheets going and the winning run of five consecutive games in all competitions. Extend that run to ten games and I reckon we will be top of the table.
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The Arsenal Stadium Mystery is a fictional murder mystery in which the Arsenal team of 1939 play which fictional amateur side?
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That is it from me, whether I will be around tomorrow I don’t know. There are a lot of miles to be covered in the next 24 hours for me.
Laters.
I said it on twitter: Fabianski orders Fabregas around. Fabregas complains. Corner comes in: Fabregas perfectly placed. Fabianski knows his shit. Impressive!
Well noticed!
good, well informed article but you’ve gotto cut out the lactose on the headlines dude.
Nasri was excellent tracking back aswell there was no reason for him not to start in middle ahead of tired denilson and give vela or theo a chance on the right.
Excellent blog, always a good read. Our fans were so quiet yesterday. To begin with I thought it was because I was sitting in the East Upper. We were totally out sung by the Hammers fans. It wasn’t until the last 10 minutes when it looked like we were heading for a draw that things got a bit better.
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Whats the 2 above emails got to do with football? get em off!
As for Scotty Parker? Tough, Skillful, See’s a pass and can score goals. He would fit in Arsenal’s midfield a-la-Song and instead of Denilson.
It was a strange game. If Arsenal had failed to win y’day, I wouldn’t have blamed Arsenal on this occasion because West Ham just played really, really well. Normally when teams play like West Ham did against the Arsenal, they take points partly because Arsenal don’t react well enough. But on this occasion, they did. Watching tackle after tackle from both sides with Arsenal winning the game makes me conclude: the Arsenal tackle is back! And it’s about time too.
Why does r.green always save his best games for us,is he a spurs fan?.It was another frustrating day but thank god we got our usual late one,it would be nice to get an early goal or 2.Was watching soccer saturday on sky and at approx 4.35pm frustration beat me and i turned tv off and went for a depressed spin in the car.the relief was immense as i put car radio on to find out a.song headed in,i then proceeded to go to shop and buy lemsips and walked across to bookmakers to lift my winnings as i had ten pounds on him at 20 to 1 to score the first goal.must go now as ive got bad head cold but 9points out of last 9 will certainly help that.
O.K rory McPaddypower, what’s the score, 1st scorer, last scorer and 1/2 time score next week against Newcastle? Lets see if it was luck or you actually know what your talking about! 2 hundred quid’ll buy a lot of ‘lemsips’…
Oziam what you on about?.i didnt claim to be some sort of prediction genius dont be silly,i was just giving an insight in to my saturday afternoon as a passionate gooner,that was how it was.gambling is a mugs game and i have to fall in to that category no doubt,but i had bit of luck at weekend.when i bet an arsenal firstgoalscorer i always stick with a player till he gets it,on saturday that was first time ever betting song and he scored it.hes a midfielder who will chip in with goals because he always gets forward for us.anyway on to more important issues other than my silly weekend gambling habits,a draw will do in ukraine and i fancy a 2.2.oziams a way to the bookies as we speak.
I was at the game and loved that late winner
I think we will dominate for years both home and abroad
Havent been over so far this season.last game i was at was sunderland 2.0 home victory in feb,fabregas wrapped up the points late on that day with a pen.there is no easy game,saturday proved this and my last trip to emirates was tough game also,i think though if fab was in better shape on saturday we would have won comfortably he said he had tight hamstring and had to take it easy during game.walcott really looking lethal these days and im very pleased about that,i agree with goonertank dominance can be achieved with much hard work.i live in ireland and if i was living in england i would get to games very often,but hope to get over twice this season.i loved highbury but emirates is something else although highbury was an incredibly famous old unique stadium,it had something no other ground in england had and the playing surface there like our new home was top notch.we are very lucky to have visited both these amazing venues,never forget my first time going to the arsenal which was man city at home in 1990 or 91,0.1 down and 2.1 winners.strangely in many ways best game i ever was at was 2.4 home defeat v charlton,it was disappointing at the time but was amazing match,great goals and a game we should have won 12.8.
Well Rory I guess i wont be asking for the Lotto numbers… Youve inspired me to put a $ on Sagna, he’s gotta be in the John Jenson price range of 50/1!
Youve raised an interesting point there oziam,our full backs should score more considering they bomb forward all the time.sagna and clichy due a goal.nice cross though gael for alexs winner.denilson usually scores 2 or 3 crackers a year from distance followed by a wee dance.ill bet dudu for the first but i believe we will board the plane with something.it would be nice to win out there as our eastern european record is very average when we travel to these places.our strange recent clean sheet record,can it conyinue?
I hit y instead of t there in continue,hope the arsenal are better in front of goal 2morrow than i am with this keyboard.wilshere in for fab,hopefully hes back to hammer the geordies on sunday.
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