The Goon Blog

That was rather nice, wasn’t it? A fantastic display of attacking prowess put a hapless Porto side to the sword, it was a night where Samir Nasri found his talent, Nicklas Bendtner buried his demons of the weekend and pretty much every player played well, something we have not really had much of this season. I defy anyone to differ with my opinion that Arsenal are hitting form at the perfect time, and are really starting to purr.

The start was electrifying, Andrey Arshavin was tearing the Porto right-back a new hole every single time he had the ball at his feet, the first goal came after Samir Nasri slipped a Cesc-esque pass into the onrushing Arshavin, dividing the centerbacks and forcing the mistake that left Nicklas Bendtner with a sliding tap-in. It wasn’t quite as easy as it looked but it was in the back of the net, the tie was leveled and we didn’t take the foot off the pedal, we just kept on pressing.

It was Arshavin leading the Porto defenders a merry dance again that created the second. Dancing through three or four players then sliding a delicious ball across for Nicklas Bendtner to tap in a second. Was it tie over? No, but the hard work was done and Arsenal had seized the initiative.

After that the players took the foot off the pedal slightly and Porto did have their chances and it showed just why I don’t think we will win the Champions League this season – we give too many chances away and a better team may well have punished them, not to detract from a sublime showing of attacking football we witnessed last night though.

It ended up with us inviting pressure, Falcao had a snapshot which went straight at Almunia, either side of him and he didn’t stand a chance, they also had a header cleared off the line by Samir Nasri – we don’t usually have two defenders on the posts at corners but we are lucky we did last night or it would have been 2-1 and Porto right back in the game.

As it turned out, moments later Samir Nasri produced a spectacular solo goal – truly world-class. He picked it up on the right, twisting and turning through hapless defenders – its impossible to defend against when a player is changing direction so quickly and unpredictably, when through the defenders he absolutely hammered a shot in off the far post, it had to be perfect, an inch either way and it would have smashed the post and come out again or hit the keeper, he got it bang on and it was game over.

1 minute and 20 seconds later Arshavin broke and was overtaken by a lung busting run from Emmanuel Eboue, the Russian slid him in with a perfectly timed pass for the Ivorian to round the keeper and slot it home, 4-0, game well and truly over. It showed why we needed pace at that stage of the game and at first I was a little worried about the decision to sub Rosicky (who was very impressive) for Eboue, I thought it was a little too negative for that stage of the game, especially if Porto got a goal back, but I was happily wrong.

The last goal was created by Eboue, a jinking run was ended unfairly by some Porto oaf of a defender and who else but Nicklas Bendtner to step up and finish it off and complete his first senior hat-trick, its 6 in 5 games for the Danish international now – not bad going for a useless center forward, eh?

I watched the game via a stream on the SuperSport (or ShowSports) channel, they had two pundits – one was Carlton Palmer and the other was some old geezer who’s name I don’t know. The entire time they were slagging off Bendtner, even after the game, ignoring the goals and slating his attitude and commitment. He is probably the hardest working forward at the club and has improved a hell of a lot in the past year, if he wasn’t injured it would not surprise me if he had close to 20 goals this season, especially playing in a team as creative as this Arsenal side. Just no matter what you do, you can’t please some people. What the hell has Carlton Palmer achieved to slag off Bendtner? What right does he have to question his attitude and commitment? If I remember rightly he was a hated figure in the dressing rooms he occupied. It disgusts me.

The main talking point from this game for me is the position Samir Nasri is most effective in, and I find it no coincidence that with Cesc out the team and him slotting into Cesc’s role, we saw the best of him. It takes the pressure off the captain – even for the game at Hull at the weekend, he doesn’t have to rush back and risk a setback with his hamstring trouble.

All in all it was a fantastic performance to watch, not without its hiccups, but those aside it was beautiful football. Thomas Vermaelen is possibly the best blocker of a football I have ever seen and whilst Sol Campbell was a little sluggish every now and again he always recovered. I believe Vermaelen is developing into one of the finest centerbacks around and one day I can see him with the captains armband on his arm, I really can.

So, we are in the draw for the quarter finals yet again along with Bayern Munich. We won’t know what teams will be through until next Wednesday evening because of UEFA’s stupid publicity plans but if we get a kind draw we can make the semi’s and from there you never know… I’d take Barca though, that would be fantastic.

The focus once again now shifts onto the Premier League and the chase for the title, Hull away will be tricky so lets hope we perform as well as we did last night.

Til tomorrow.

So, after almost a month we can finally try and right the wrongs of the Porto game three weeks ago, and having not overturned a first leg deficit in Europe for over 30 years, there is a hell of a lot of work to do.

Lets put this in perspective: When this tie was drawn it was a good draw, Porto are not that much of a threat so anything but us going through tonight would be a failure in my mind. Are Arsenal better than Porto? Yes – so Arsenal should progress.

The task is made all the more tricky with Cesc Fabregas ruled out with his hamstring strain but Alex Song returns to the team after serving a league suspension at the weekend so he is a welcome return. It will be interesting to see if the boss decides to start with Andrey Arshavin after freely admitting he can’t last the 90 minutes. Will he go for it from the start to try and take advantage of the best team at our disposal and put Porto on the back foot? It will be interesting tactically.

In the Porto press conference yesterday their manager promised goals, is it a bluff or are they going to come out and attack? I think they might go for the away goal, if they get one, we need three to get through, so its vital we score the first goal to level out the tie, if we get in the ascendancy early on we can get into their heads, and when they start remembering they have never won on English soil thats when the heads could drop and we can capitalise.

In my book, Porto are not a great team so we should go through, after all we only need to win one nil, but as I said earlier, if we concede our lives are going to be made ten times more difficult.

With the absence of our top goalscorer someone is going to have to step up, be it Andrey Arshavin, Samir Nasri, Thomas Rosicky, Theo Walcott or Nicklas Bendtner – one of those players is going to have to perform better than they have all season and hopefully there won’t be too many nerves jangling come the 89 minute mark.

We need a commanding display from Almunia, Thomas Vermaelen and Sol Campbell, despite us needing goals the chances are they are going to have to mop up all the mess if moves break down and that brings me onto something else, over-comitting.

Its happened in every game against our rivals this season and we have been picked off, if Porto had an ounce of intelligence they will look to do the same. We must be careful.

We beat this lot 4-0 at home last season, they can’t have improved that much since then, call me ignorant but its my opinion.

Lets go and win this.

Til tomorrow. COME ON YOU REDSSS

Afternoon,

I guess the only negative coming out of this weekend is the tight hamstring Cesc has, his withdrawal was precautionary against Burnley but the worrying thing is that its the same hamstring that was torn earlier in the season. He didn’t train this morning.

The boss has said that if there is more than a 50% chance of his hamstring going in the game against Porto he will not play, personally I think if there is even the remotest chance of his hamstring tearing again there is no point in risking him, we can beat Porto without him. He is just too valuable a player to have missing for two or three weeks, 17 goals this season in all competitions is a remarkable total and he has at least that many assists to his name as well.

Porto will come to attack so we will not need as much craft to break them down unlike most teams that come to the Grove in the league, the most important thing that needs replacing is the sheer work-rate, Abou Diaby is a player that can score goals so him and Samir Nasri along with Song in the midfield could be very interesting – either way, we can survive without our captain tomorrow night.

If Theo Walcott plays like he did at the weekend then Porto will have a very different monster on their hands to the player they dealt with in the first leg, he terrorised Burnley and if Porto do what we expect and attack he offers so much pace on the break, we know what he can do when the game is end to end, another big performance please Theo…. remember he did it last season against Villarreal with that fantastic chip, one of those would be most welcome this time around.

Update: Cesc out of Porto game with a small chance of making the Hull game next weekend.

Days like this are always good for a bet on the football. There are some tasty odds flying about so as well as possibly qualifying for the quarter finals of the Champions League, you could pocket some cash too. Happy days!

Its good news that the only injury is Cesc, with a lot of players making their comebacks against Burnley it would not have surprised me if we had another niggle or two, I suppose confirmation of that will come in the boss’ press conference later but on first hearing, the only casualty has been Cesc.

It is the first game I’m going to be able to sit down and watch for a week or so now after work commitments keep getting in the way (and will for the foreseeable future). I just have to savor the games more I suppose!

The William Gallas contract scenario seems to be leaning on the side of him leaving the club in the summer now, on one hand its very bad news considering his brilliant form this season, on the other, it means the boss could try and solve the problem of our leaky defence that has been shipping goals despite the great form of both Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen. Roma seem to be interested in the Frenchman.

REDaction are calling for people to arrive to the Grove early tomorrow to create a hostile atmosphere. It worked last time against United – though not on the pitch.

Right, thats about it for today. More tomorrow.

Apologies for the lack of a preview, work commitments meant I had little spare time and I am relying on Match of the Day highlights to give me a picture of what happened down at the Emirates today.

I’m in a bit of a rush so I’ll use bullet points.

• Nicklas Bendtner had a nightmare in front of goal but you have to be positive, he scored in his three previous games (inc. against Austria) and hasn’t long been back from 3-4 months out of action. At least he was in the positions to miss the chances which is the most important thing. It was just one of those days and I would rather it at home against Burnley than most other sides. I’m backing him to score on Tuesday night against Porto.

• Cesc scored his 14th of the season yesterday, the highest total since Robert Pires hit that mark a fair few seasons ago now, he is set to break the club record of goals from a midfielder in a season. Quite some going considering the players we have had down the years – and what a lovely goal it was too. Nasri’s splendid chipped pass and a cool, clinical finish by one of footballs finest.

• The goal conceded was hardly unexpected considering how we have defended this season, it may be thinking too far forward but goal difference could decide the top three places this season in some respect, so we need to tighten up quite a bit and stop conceding these silly goals that have plagued us this season. Its why I don’t think we are massive contenders for the Champions League – the only reason.

• Theo Walcott’s form has taken an upwards turn, and about time! From what I could see, he was brilliant and scared the Burnley back-line to death, the main difference was end product, he created chance after chance and really got hold of the game when Cesc was off the pitch with his tweaked hammy. He is going to have a part to play in this title race if he keeps this form up. The goal was terrific, it was cool and composed, and full of quality too. Will it be the making of him after a few false dawns? I hope so, but have no real expectation in that regard.

• Abou Diaby & Andrey Arshavin, the injury returnees: Made a real impact and it was great to see Arshavin on the scoresheet again, again, he could have a real impact in this title race too – he has it all. The relief was there for all to see and heres to a few more of those goals in the next nine games.

• Overall: a very important win. The chances we created show that why we are not as fully attacking as we were in the early weeks of the season, we can still create more chances than any other team. On another day we would have won by six or seven goals, but we conceded again, annoyingly. If Wolves had scored against United and drawn 1-1 all three teams would be drawn on 61 points, amazing. We have a real chance here, a far bigger chance than I ever thought possibly. The unity shown before the whistle – by both players with the Aaron Ramsey shirts – and the fans with the banners, show what is so special about this club, the atmosphere and class. Brilliant.

There are concerns over Cesc Fabregas’ fitness for Tuesdays home tie against Porto where we only need a 1-0 win, but if Porto score it could be a different story. His loss would have an important say on the game and considering the kicks they gave him last time the boss will have to think long and hard about his participation – is another Villa-esque show on the cards?

Lets bathe in the warm glow of a win and an as exciting title run in as the Premier League has seen, its a nice feeling. The rest can wait til tomorrow.

Til then.

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Quick links to stuff on their website: Arsenal Shirts – Football Shirts you may like – World Cup shirts

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Afternoon,

after being away for a couple of days I think it is time to move on from the Ramsey leg-break and start looking forward to the rest of the season. It is a topic that is bound to be revisited over and over again so for this weekend at least we should get back to the footballing side of things, starting with tomorrows game against Burnley

It seems that we will have Abou Diaby back, whether he will start is another thing but with Aaron Ramsey obviously not in the squad for the foreseeable future we are going to need Diaby to stay fit, Cesc and Denilson are fit so I am guessing those three will make up the midfield trio. Of course, Alex Song misses out and starts a two game suspension for picking up yellow cards. There are worse games he could miss I suppose but thats probably a bit unfair on Burnley.

Andrey Arshavin is also back, and its about time he scored really. He has carried little niggles all season and has been playing out of position, now is really the time for him to shine though, we know he is a class player capable of very, very special things.

In defence we could have a little bit of pant browning as Silvestre will come in to replace Sol Campbell who has groin trouble but should be fit for the Porto game, and the injured William Gallas – its unknown when he will be back but hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. Again, there are worse games that Mikael Silvestre could be starting because if there is ever such a thing as a routine victory, tomorrow should be it.

One player who could start the game is Theo Walcott, who featured for England on Wednesday night and really, flattered to deceive. This prompted Chris Waddle to claim Theo is lacking a football brain, which is a very valid arguement – not that Waddle has much of a brain himself. Understandably, the boss defended his player:

“I believe he has not only a football brain but he has a brain,” said the Frenchman. “That means he will continue to develop at a very quick pace. Don’t worry for him. I believe for a while maybe people expected too much of Theo and now they are too hard with him.

“I believe Theo will be a great football player, he is very young, he will be 21 this year, and he will have a great future. I believe in him because he has a fantastic attitude, he’s an intelligent boy and he is highly motivated. These players always improve.”

I have made no secret of the fact that Theo has disappointed this season, but as pointed out, he only started playing the game in his teens so missed one of Arsene Wenger’s most important phases in his ‘building a house’ model of a players development. (Cesc Fabregas Show)

Arsene Wenger re-iterates he admires the tackling art - but not the leg-breaking sort and rightly so.

Good news that Ramsey’s injury is not career threatening, he still faces an arduous next 12 months minimum, though.

Nicklas Bendtner is a man coming into form after three or four months out of the team, he scored again midweek with another brilliant header against Austria for his native Denmark. An in form Bendtner is a brilliant addition to the forward line, despite what other people might think, I think he has the potential to be a wonderful forward player and has now scored in three games in a row, first Sunderland, then Stoke, and then against Austria.

The “Do it for Ramsey” banner to be unveiled at the Grove – courtesy of Arseblog.

News of an exclusive 15% discount on all Arsenal goods will follow this post so watch out of that.

Til next time.

Morning,

I guess we are reaching that time when everything will start moving on from the weekends events and at the time of writing, nothing has happened, the FA haven’t commented on it to my knowledge and you would have thought that if they were going to have a say it would be out there by now.

Why do I think the FA have kept quiet? The England squad. Shawcross was called up to the national team on the evening of the tackle and the FA are hardly going to stick their necks on the line are they? Cowards.

So another leg break, and no change? How many more will it take? Four? Five? Hell, it might even take an England star getting his leg smashed into atoms in a World Cup or Euro’s year for that to happen. Its shameful but it is how things happen in this country, out of sight, out of mind. Ramsey’s injury doesn’t effect the FA so they couldn’t give a damn.

Yesterday Thomas Rosicky went onto Sky Sports News and said what we have all been saying, all it gets is a 50 second video on a website story and a few rounds in the news round-up every hour. The Czech captain said:

“I think you cannot blame the player (Shawcross) or to tell that he wanted to break his leg, of course not.”

He had to say that, if he didn’t the media would be all over him like shingles. He went on to say:

“But it’s always against us. The teams operate aggressively against us, that’s no problem for us, I think everybody copes with that but I think we have to be more protected from the referees. Because if you see, for example, how many fouls the opponents can do against us, five, six and after that it’s a yellow card, we are making one or two fouls and we’ve got immediately yellow cards.”

That is very true, a prime example of that happened against Stoke where Alex Song picked up a yellow card, the Stoke players persistently fouled and impeded the players and it went unpunished, but as soon as Song gave some back….yellow card.

This team doesn’t take being kicked, it does give it back. Rosicky himself ended up in the refs book and was lucky to stay on the pitch when he totally took out a Bolton player off the ball at the Reebok, the Bolton players went mental but what preceded it was Abou Diaby getting hacked to bits, Rosicky stuck up for his mate and thats the way it should be.

On the actual injury he said:

“It is something horrible of course. Aaron is a huge talent and to see a young boy suffer like this is horrible. I saw it when it happened and you do not want to see these things on the pitch.

“(I) just have to wish him a speedy recovery because he’s a great talent and such a young age. Of course, it’s not easy.”

I guess he knows what its like to be sidelined with a career threatening injury, personally, I thought Rosicky was a gonner and never expected to see him in an Arsenal shirt again. I think it was 18 months at least he spent out of the game after limping off against Newcastle with an injury that was expected to take “days” to heal.

I still can’t believe some of the tripe that is getting column inches and Newsnow coverage at the moment, but I think the best way of dealing with it is just to block it, either on Newsnow or simply don’t visit the websites, don’t give them the hits and encouragement to keep whirling out this trash. TalkSPORT seem to have riled everyone this week with their repetitive monotonous moronic trash talk, Stan Collymore in particular (so much so Gunnerblog has taken aim at him and well and truly fired). Stan has form for picking on the sites that criticise him, inviting them onto his radio show and shouting over them. Car crash radio I think its called. If it comes to that again I think every single Arsenal blogger should call up that show and let rip at him, one after the other after the other. That would be good radio. But, if that doesn’t happen, or until that happens, lets just ignore them and let them fester in their world of chatting total and utter rubbish.

__   __  __  __

So….moving on. And it has to be done, we have a league to go and win.

The Guardian claim that the Boss is still interested in Brazilian Felipe Melo after being priced out of a move in the summer – or it could have just been that he wanted to stay in Italy rather than have his leg smashed to pieces – (sorry!). I don’t think there is anything substantial to the story to be honest, they have some quotes from the boss, mainly “We still think he is a very talented player and with Gilberto Silva, Brazil have a very useful pair in midfield. We are still looking at Melo.”. Has he had a press conference recently that he said this at? Are these comments fabricated? If anyone knows about where they came from feel free to say in the comments.

There is some good news for the Arsenal faithful in The Guardian too, the old stand names from Highbury are going to be incorporated at the Emirates and the clock is going to be moved from outside, to inside the stadium. Fantastic news, the concrete bowl (albeit a brilliant and expensive one) will finally become ours, its a fantastic idea and will have the support of every fan I’m sure. Its come a long way from this:

All that is needed now is to get rid of the horrible Elvis tune at the start of games and get something playing to really get the atmosphere going, maybe that will come with success though? Still, its great to have the return of the North Bank, Clock end and East + West stands. Maybe those two will get re-named after a club legend in time? Or even Arsene Wenger himself? Time shall tell. Theres some stuff about Cesc at the bottom that we already knew, too.

Johan Djourou has spoken!! I thought he had died. Honestly. We haven’t heard a peek out of him all season. At least hes alive, though.

I guess all thats left is to say to all these players please please please please please please don’t get injured in pointless friendlies!! We have had enough of that for one season.

Right, no blog tomorrow as I’m away but I shall return on Friday.

Til then.