The Goon Blog

A beautiful, sunny Ashburton Grove saw Arsenal take a stroll in the sunshine and sweep aside ‘Boro to secure fourth place and warm up nicely for the Manc game on Wednesday, Denilson, Gibbs and Fabregas in particular were fabulous.

Arsenal started well, slick passing and probing the Boro back line and all day long superb passes split Boro in half, Denilson, Fabregas, Nasri and Arshavin being the stand out players.

The move for the first goal was superb, the ball eventually came to Fabregas on the edge of the area, arriving late to finish brilliantly into the bottom corner. His first goal since the lifesaver at Sunderland and it will hopefully be the first of a few more in the final games of the season. It was a brilliant end to a vintage Arsenal move, the sort of thing you could watch a million times over. Any offside claims over Bendtner are total and utter crap because he was in no way interfering with play, the keeper had a clear view of the ball the entire time, he just couldn’t save it.

Arsenal never really shifted out of first gear but they didn’t need to for the entire duration of the game, calm passing making sure Boro didn’t get much of the possession and when Almunia was called on he was a rock, denying Aliadiere in a 1 on 1 and a Downing pile-driver. Up front Boro offered very little and Djourou was given a bit of match-time coming on at half time for Silvestre.

The game was over after Fabregas latched on to a fantastic Eboue through ball, rounded the onrushing keeper and squeezed home a lovely finish at the near post. It was clinical and classy in equal measure, the composure he showed was very impressive as well. The little burst of pace is not something we see too often from our captain but it showed he can actually match players for speed.

After that we just had the formalities of making sure we didn’t let Boro into it and it also gave us the opportunity to give Fabregas and Walcott a rest ahead of the big game in the week. Adebayor came on and looked lively but missing his first touch somewhat, we are going to need two big performances from him against the Mancs.

There were no bad performances today, it was really good to see Denilson back on form with a quietly effective display and the occasional raking ball picking out players, he complemented Fabregas brilliantly and allowed him to fourage forward like he could with Flamini by his side last season. I do like Denilson, he has all the ingredients to be a superb player and he works very hard. I do think he has just been a but tired recently, maybe mentally tired.

Eboue had a good performance at right back, alongside the sturdy Kolo and Silvestre/Djourou who didn’t have much to do, Gibbs was fantastic going forward once again. Hes even faster than Clichy.

Nasri was operating a little deeper than normal I thought but had one good effort on goal that forced the keeper into a decent save…he was quiet but effective. Arshavin was brilliant, another assist, his seventh of the season, and series of great passes. We have a right star here and he is here to stay. The signing of the season without a doubt.

All in all, a very good performance today that has set us up well for the Manc game. Confidence will be high again after a defeat and a draw but a record you might have not expected us to break this season has been broken… our 8th home clean sheet in a row has broken a 100 year old club record, very impressive considering the injuries we have had.

A beautiful day all round.

’til tomorrow.

Morning all, today’s game might not be star studded but its in danger of being overlooked by the CL clash with the Mancs later this week. This game could pretty much secure fourth place and relegate Boro.

We might have Djourou, Almunia and Adebayor back but I would be surprised to see all three starting, maybe one of them will but certainly not all of them. It would be too much of a risk this close to such a vital game midweek.

I have heard mumblings that Fabregas may be rested along with Alex Song so it is possible we will have a diaby/Denilson partnership in the middle flanked by Nasri and Arshavin or Walcott and Arshavin. It would be good to see Eduardo get a runout as well because he has been sidelined for a little while and is a firm fans favourite.

Boro will be really up for this game, Southgate has never been defeated by Wenger and they need to get something out the game to stand a chance of staying in the Premiership, that’s why I think they will come flying out of the blocks looking to expose our vulnerable defence. I think we are one clean sheet away from a home record or something…. I’ll check it out. I know it would be our 7th or 8th in a row at home.

Arsenal just need to go out there, get the job done in the first half and not pick up any more injuries because that would just be rubbing salt in the wound, we just can’t afford anymore absentees, especially in defence, that’s why i don’t think Djourou will be risked but Almunia might be given this game just to get his bearings back.

Of course we have Rosicky, Gallas, Clichy and van Persie missing but we have the players capable of winning this game, one man who I think will score today is Walcott, that’s if he starts though. He is in some fine goalscoring form along with the man of the moment, Andrey Arshavin.

One man who has a hoodoo over us is former striker Jeremy Aliadiere who scored against us earlier this season and last season at the Grove and is a player capable of being totally and utterly shit in the run up to a game like this but has the quality to score at any time, he has scored about seven goals for Boro since his move there and something like three or four have been against us. Its worth pointing out that Boro have the second worst scoring record away from home in the league, only scoring nine.

I have a sneaky feeling Boro will get a draw out of this, they have so much to gain from winning or drawing this game whereas our eyes, rightly or wrongly, will be on Wednesdays game, not the clash this lunchtime.

Momentum is a vital thing and for that reason I think we NEED to win this game, its not as glamorous as some games we have left this season but after losing and drawing our last two games we need to get back on track and get the confidence up for the trip up north.

The preperation for that match starts today, and hopefully with a win.

COME ON YOU REDSSSSSSSS

’til tomorrow.

We knew he was world class but this is really just taking the biscuit. Its quite some feat to score four in one game, its quite another to do it against Liverpool, one of the top sides in Europe, a team that is fighting for the title. I don’t think Ive seen a better performance in my life from a player…not Zidane, not Ronaldinho, not Thierry Henry or Dennis Bergkamp, not Vieira or Robert Pires. Not even fat Ronaldo. Andrey Arshavin was simply out of this world last night. I can’t remember much about the game to be honest, but what I do know is that it was probably the best football match Ive seen in my entire life, too.

It was 1-0 Arsenal against the run of play with Arshavin converting a cut back from Fabregas superbly. Soon after it was 1-1, quite predictably the defence was all over the place and Fabinski had no chance of saving from Torres, Fabinski was immense last night and it really was fantastic to see. I take back what I said about him because he saved that game for us, along with the Owl faced Russian of course.

Liverpool completed the turnaround with a Yossi Benayoun goal before Arshavin thumped home a brilliant second, it arrowed across the goal like a bullet, there was the tiniest gap and he found it. A truly brilliant goal. Literally seconds later Arshavin capitalised on a defensive mistake to finish neatly, 3-2 Arsenal, what a game.

Then, at the drop of a hat Liverpool were back on terms and it was Torres again who had done it. Silvestre was caught out, perhaps predictably, and Torres siesed on the mistake to finish, Fabianski just couldn’t quite get there. 3-3. Shit. We had given it away AGAIN.

Liverpool, needing the win to keep their league dreams alive flew forward before Theo Walcott got the ball, repeated his run from the Champions League quarter final and gave it to Arshavin on the edge of the area and he made no mistake, a classy finish from the man of the moment, his fourth goal of the game. Amazing. But that was it, surely, 90 minutes gone, another 5 minutes of injury time was played for some bizarre reason. You knew what was going to happen.

You just knew when the ball fell to Banayoun in the box what was going to happen.

Usually I would be angry, but I’m not. Yes, I’m disappointed but it was an amazing game and we were playing with a defence with more holes in it than the net itself. As I said, Fabianski was superb but with nothing in-front of him apart from Kieran Gibbs who was brilliant again, he didn’t stand a chance.

I will have one small criticism…Mikael Silvestre is not Arsenal quality, I want him out of this club now. He is a walking liability. Howard Webb… where did you get those SIX MINUTES of added on time from? Please…do tell me.

Last night ladies and gentlemen, you witnessed (if you didn’t you can see the highlights here) probably the greatest game in Premier League history. It was that good.

Lets not moan over mistakes that both teams made, lets admire our new star, a player that is truly one of the worlds best and probably, the best player at Arsenal Football Club.

Arsenal fans wanted a star, they wanted a big arrival. I can tell you Gooners, we have got him.

Its still sinking in for me and for sure I will be talking about this tomorrow, people will be talking about this game for days, weeks, months and probably years. It was truly epic. How many times have you heard me say that I ask you?

Lets just marvel at the brilliant, brilliant player that is our Russian superstar.

Twelve games

Seven goals

Seven assists

Now that guys, is world class for a new arrival to the Premier League.

Take a bow, Andrey Arshavin.

’til tomorrow gooners.

So like it or lump it, Saturday is history and we can pretty much seal fourth place tonight with a win at Anfield. A place we have not got 3 points from since 2003.

One person I do really really hate is Rafa Benitez, I think he is a crap manager and day after day he talks total and utter nonsense. I just hate the guy. He really pisses me off.

There have been the inevitable comparisons and mutterings about ‘89 and when we won the league at Anfield with the last kick but to be honest its probably left on the back-burner because we have to concentrate on going out there, giving a decent performance and getting the three points.

There will be a few changes in the team because Adebayor has been ruled out with a muscular problem, as has van Persie with a slight re-occurrence of a groin problem he had a few weeks ago. In their place comes our number 9 Eduardo who I would really like to see beside Niklas Bendtner up front, more on that later. We also welcome back Bakary Sagna into the squad but its still debatable whether he will play. Wenger has said:

“From Saturday we have lost Robin van Persie, who has a little groin problem, Emmanuel Adebayor is rested. He has a little hamstring alert and we don’t want to take a gamble on him. Bacary Sagna is back in the squad we’ll decide if he can play tomorrow.”

I’m pretty sure RVP and Ade are just out as a precaution, there is nothing serious in either of the niggles.

I would expect Sagna to start alongside Toure, Silvestre and Gibbs with Fabianski in goal. Arshavin will pop back into midfield and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Walcott rested with Nasri coming on in his place, Song will probably start next to Cesc.

I do wonder if we will start with the dreaded 4-5-1. I think we will and it worries me somewhat. If i was Wenger id play Bendtner and Eduardo up top because when they have played in the same side they seem to have a fantastic understanding of each other, more-so than any other striker partnership at the club. Before Eduardo’s injury those two were scoring a fare few goals and I feel if given a chance, they could spring a surprise.

To be honest I’m expecting Diaby to start instead of Eduardo. We have also been boosted with the news that Almunia will be fit for the Boro’ game at the weekend.

I feel we need to fly at Liverpool all guns blazing and catch them a little cold, their defence is not as good as it used to be and with Arshavin and Nasri in the side and Cesc sitting DEEPER we can unlock it. An early goal would be fantastic, after that we would have to build on it though rather than sit back like in THAT game at the weekend.

You have to hope that Wenger does not spring another surprise tonight, I have confidence that we can win this game and Liverpool are not as good as they are said to be. The game is winnable.

So lets go and win it.

COME ON YOU REDSSS

’til tomorrow.

We really didn’t deserve to win by a three goal margin yesterday and the defending was really worrying. Silvestre does not have a clue, he is rusty and has not strung two games together for about three years, Djourou may be out for a while with a knee injury and before that, he flattered to deceive as well.

Highlights | Wenger

This is all very negative but we could have been two goals down at half time, down to ten men and on our last legs in defence. Let me say this now, Gibbs should not have been on the field after the pull back on Valencia, he was the last man and even if Fabianski might have got close to Valencia when he was rushing out Gibbs stopped a goalscoring opportunity, he was also the last man. Wenger admitted at the final whistle that he should not have been on the pitch. We got very lucky. AfterwardsWigan hit the inside of the post from a free kick, on another day Fabianski would have been picking the ball out the net again. On the Fabianski’s performance, well, it left a lot to be desired. He is young, he pulls off spectacular saves but he flaps at crosses a hell of a lot, in certain respects he is mad and doesn’t demand confidence.

On the positive side we fought back from going behind again and when the system was changed to a 4-4-2 at half time the game changed in our favour, Theo Walcott leveled after the brilliant Arshavin managed to sneak a little ball through to him to finish with the outside of his right foot into the top corner. Classy finish.

Second up and who pops up with a poachers goal? Our fish faced Frenchman who was diabolical at the other end, Silvestre. It was a nice finish, i will grant him that. He has a chance to win affection from gooners in the next month or so, if he gets injured he could be on his way out of the Grove in the summer. He has a chance to produce, its got to be now or never for him.

After that Arshavin got the goal he really deserved, a counter attack started by Adebayor who had a big impact, finished off with a defensive mistake that fell to Arshavin on the edge of the box and he drilled it home first time. Before that we were starting to come under the cosh a bit and it really released the pressure. Arshavin almost won us this game on his own, I forgot to mention his fantastic pass through to Cesc that started the move for the second goal.

For the fourth Alex ‘Messi’ Billong Song finished after a fantastic run, he rounded two defenders and finish nicely into the bottom corner in the dying moments. Its was so unlike him it was surreal and capped off a fine performance from the dancing Cameroonian.

At half time Wenger introduced van Persie into the mix, this was to add attacking impetus I am sure, but I also feel that Denilson has looked very tired during his last two performances. He will be needed to mark Senna on Wednesday night providing he is fit and I think Wenger may just have had that in mind.

You can see what Wenger said after the game in the link at the top of the page hand after admitting we were lethargic at times today he also revealed that Djourou’s injury may keep him out on Wednesday:

“Johan Djourou has a knee problem and that’s the bad news of the day. It looks as though he’ll be out for Wednesday. We lost two central defenders in two games, we have a few more games to go and we haven’t got enough of them to lose one every game.”

If we lose another centre back we are screwed, Gallas and Djourou are now out, that leaves the injury ravaged and frankly crap Silvestre, Toure and Song who does not convince in that position. After that the only other alternate is Sagna who can play there with Eboue filling in at right back. After that we have Ayling and Bartley from the youth/reserves.

Coming up next we have Villarreal, then Chelsea in the FA Cup semi at Wembley followed up with a midweek trip to Liverpool. At this point it looks like our attack will have to be on song for all three games, we have to really outscore the opposition because personally, I think we will concede in every game. A defence of Fabianski in goal Sagna at RB, Toure and Silvestre at CB and Gibbs at LB just does not convince, other teams will look at that defence and feel confident about scoring, the likes of Torres and Drogba, two of the worlds best strikers will think: ‘oo i fancy a goal or two here’. Both sides can be weak defensively at times, especially Chelsea after the Bolton near comeback yesterday so there is hope there for our strikers.

There has been an interesting interview with Arsene Wenger in the NOTW, I’m not sure where it originally came from but I’ll try and track it down and give it a good read through, there will be more on that tomorrow along with a Djourou injury update hopefully.

I have been negative today but we have to be realistic, we have been poor in the first half of the past two games, we have conceded goals and looked generally unstable with the majority of our defence missing.

On the plus side the team are scoring well and generally looking dangerous. We are an underdog in the FA Cup and the CL, that works in our favour and if we keep plugging away and grinding out results I’m confident we will be victorious in one of those competitions. Lets just keep looking at the next game though. There’s many a mile left to be walked.

Right, I’m in desperate need of some catching up sleep.

’til tomorrow.

Morning.

Lassana Diarra is a little dolphin headed cockmuncher isn’t he? I don’t know how he has the nerve to say Jose Mourinho is a better manager than Arsene Wenger, and after that, have the nerve to say that Wenger took no notice of him!

Diarra said:

“I didn’t learn anything from Wenger, all he taught me was how to doubt myself, how to doubt everything. Wenger never said a word to me until the day I left. He spoke to the others but not with me.

“I played only fifteen games and I did not have a good relationship with him [Wenger], I respect the way he coaches but I learnt more with Mourinho. He looked me in the eyes when he talked to me. Mourinho showed me how to fight. If he had any problem, we discussed it. I feel like I never played at Arsenal. If people don’t remind me of that fact, I just forget it. It has been wiped from my mind.”

Look my dolphin headed Arsenal reject: 1) You shouted your head off about not getting any games. That’s really going to endear yourself to Wenger isn’t it? 2) Did Wenger actually have a chance to talk to you? You were in and out faster than a sex addict in Amsterdam.

No player is bigger than Arsenal FC, not even a little scroat like you so enjoy your six months in Spain. Diarra, you are not a big enough name for Real Madrid and you will be replaced by a big name sooner or later, then its back to Portsmouth for you.

Less about that little rat and onto one player who is the exact opposite of Diarra, Andrey Arshavin.

He has barely been at Arsenal three months and he already wants to stay for life. To be totally honest I think its a message to the media as much as its a commitment to Arsenal, the underlying message is: ‘look, NOTW, The Sun, Daily Mail and all you gutter journo’s. I’m a gooner, I’m staying here and your little bullshit stories can’t change that. Stick that up your hole.’ From a fans point of view this is exactly what we want to hear from one of our best players, something tells me he is going to become a legend at the Grove, its early days but the potential is certainly there for him to become an Arsenal great. His words were:

“At Arsenal I feel at home. I like everything here, the friendly team, a wise and experienced manager, and fantastic fans, I won’t leave the club for any money. That we are fourth in The Premier League is an achievement of the whole team, not my own. I hope my real successes with Arsenal are still to come.”

I love you, Andrey.

Talking of fatigue Wenger is defiant that the team is able to cope with the tough schedule for the rest of the season, whilst it is true that some players (notably Denilson) will start to feel the strain, Arsene is convinced its more a matter of mental strength to overcome fatigue:

“Tiredness is more mental than physical. Sometimes when players come into the team they look as tired, if not more tired, than the players who played the game before. It is very unpredictable.

It is something you don’t want to talk about. My experience from France is that they always talk about ‘fatigue, fatigue.’ When you talk about it you are tired.

“The mysterious nature of football means that on any day the team can look flat as a unit. Even if you are rested sometimes you can look tired because we don’t really master how our body turns up.”

We should be alright, we have a wealth of attacking cover and that is probably most important. Defensively with Gallas out we have only Gibbs and Silvestre in reserve, that could be a problem but I’m sure the team will be rotated giving key players a rest when its needed. Remember Adebayor and Fabregas will be fresh, along with Eduardo and Silvestre.

Moving onto the game today and I feel we will win the game, we should do it comfortably but with the Villarreal game midweek and the Chelsea game after that we may see some players rested.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Denilson rested with Song and Fabregas in the middle of midfield and Bendtner partnering Adebayor. In defence Fabianski will start in goal with Sagna, Djourou and Gibbs certain to start, the only question is will Wenger rest Toure and play Silvestre? We will have to wait and see.

This is where the squad player really do earn their money and its timely that Wenger has backed his squad. One thing that they will need is confidence but we are on this unbeaten run and in that regard, there is no better time to come into the team. Looking at the fixture list however its probably the least convenient time this season.

Lets hope it pays off and on tomorrow morning there is a cheery post here celebrating another win and hopefully….no new injuries. We can hope..

Can’t we?

’til tomorrow.

Fantastic result yesterday, moreover, we have two of our best players back and boy were they back with a bang.

Phil Brown won’t be happy about that new tattoo of Cesc’s though….. maybe he will ask for the FA report back so he can edit it?

Have your say|Wenger reaction| Highlights

It took less than ten minutes for us to open the deadlock and it was the returning Tognator who simply stood there and nodded the ball in off his bonce. It was simple but the effect the goal will have on him will probably be massive. He has captain Fabregas to thank for a delightful free kick delivered into the box, it was of the highest quality.

It could be seen that the players had just come back off international duty but the performance was still outstanding, there was so much quality in the side and it had van Persie, Nasri and Eduardo missing. Its mouthwatering – the thought that this side was not even full strength.

The second goal was beautiful: Fabregas chipped a millimetre perfect pass over the gormless defender and Adebayor then semi rounded the keeper and put the ball in the net. Game. Set. Match.

Fabregas was unstoppable.

We didn’t add to that but there was a feeling we had a couple more gears to move up if the need was there, Emmanuel Eboue is a totally different player now and had a big impact on the game. What have they started putting in his porridge?

The only worry seems to be over Theo Walcott who took several blows to his right knee in the game, I worried when he was repeatedly sent back onto the pitch after treatment only to be on the ground again ten minutes later. He finished off with an ice pack round his knee after the game so might be a doubt for Tuesday but we will have to wait until tomorrow for more news on that. Hopefully he will be okay. Nasri, Eduardo and Diaby look set to miss out though.

Most importantly we have hit the ground running and it turned out to be easier than I for one was expecting, we have got the momentum going again and it will be vital with a massive month ahead of us, there is no better way to start it than the performance of yesterday.

I really enjoyed watching the game, the stadium was basked in beautiful spring sunshine, it was warm and we hit our stride straight away. You have to applaud City for not parking the bus in front of the goal…it was good to see a different approach.

This was also good to see: despite the ongoing crap surrounding Cesc’s future he made a statement in the match programme:

“Once more, there have been stories in the media recently talking about my future, I’m very happy at Arsenal and have said it many times – but I cannot control what the newspapers say or stop the press. When they speak for me, I don’t understand it because only my friends, family and the boss know what I think.  It’s just a story that will go on and on, even if I was to say I would stay and retire here!  I’ve said many times I’m proud to be captain of this club and I see my future with Arsenal. All that I want to do is to focus on my football and finish the season very well because I think Arsenal have a lot to say in the next few weeks.”

Amen to that. Stick that up your hairy chuffs NOTW.

But…you guessed it, some other twat has come up with some sort of story concerning Fabregas. Catch this:

At present manager Arsene Wenger is worried that Fabregas will be able to buy out his contract for around £16m next year under FIFA rules. But if Fabregas agrees a new deal this summer, Real Madrid or Barcelona would have to pay nearer to £25million to sign him in 2010.

Riiiiiight. Fabregas is on an EIGHT YEAR DEAL. Go bark up some other tree.

Thats all for today, i will leave you with this little present:

’til tomorrow.