It’s always a great feeling to finish the day on the right side of a hammering, so to mirror our drubbing of Blackburn here’s seven reasons to be a happy Gooner.
1. This is a little tongue in cheek but looking back at our dreadful start to this season it’s nice to know we’ve hit the fabled 40 point mark and are now virtually assured not to be relegated.
2. Finally we recouped the minus six goal difference Manchester United took from us in the game we dare not speak of.
3. Alex Song is turning into quite the maverick. That was his fifth assist in twenty games.
For a holding midfielder that tally is pretty impressive. And when we look at those instances in isolation and marvel at the manner of them, for a man who’s probably used to getting bloody noses from being that high up the pitch his classy and intelligent assists are remarkable.
4. People will point to Walcott’s paltry goal count for the season as a stick to beat him with, and while that number is pretty low, as a wide player setting up goals should be just as important for him. He got three today and by all accounts put in a good performance. He’s owed us one.
5. Where to start with the Ox? Hunger, drive and all the talent and potential to apply his innate skills. It’s going to be fun watching this kid grow at Arsenal.
But brace yourselves, there’s an incoming Wengerism heading your way. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain really is like a new signing. Still there? Good. Before today he’s rarely featured apart from some eye catching cameos but he still hasn’t played 90 minutes and with his little playing time in the league he’s produced one assist.
Wenger said after the match today that “He was not ready earlier in the season. He has made a big step in the last months.” Against Blackburn he was the man, and for all those asking where was our attacking purchase in January, well, there he is. Except we bought him in August. That’s just how we roll.
6. Ramsey / Rosicky. Rosicky was given a start in the middle and Ramsey finally got a deserved break. I’ve really felt for Aaron at times this year. Including games for Wales he has already played 36 times this season and we are only half way through. Fatigue and high expectation to run a midfield like Fabregas could is too much to ask, especially when we consider he still might not be fully back to his best after nearly having his leg kicked off.
He’s a great prospect who has needed a rest as he’s looked like he has run out of ideas in the final third of late. A little breather will stand him in good stead and it was made even better to know that Rosicky can step in and, judging by today, play just as good.
7. Steve Kean, a charmless nobody who had the cheek to bask in his own supposed glory after Blackburn beat us earlier in the season, giving interviews and attending football shows telling anyone who’d listen how he had scouted Arsenal and worked out how to beat them. We scored half of their goals that day. So thank you Arsenal for sending him back to the wastelands with a seven-goal rout, the cherry on top courtesy of another goal from Thierry Henry.
Thierry passed to Robin, Robin passed it back. Thierry saw the gaping goal and said I'm having that!
In years gone by Henry wouldn’t have even looked up for the pass as he drove on toward goal concluding with his trademark side foot into the far corner.
Instead he staggered his run and gave it to RVP, the man who scores when he wants. He was probably content with just the three for the day and so he kindly gave it back for Henry to score his 228th Arsenal goal.
I’m loving every minute of Thierry coming home. Seeing his love for the club shine through is a disposition a lot of the other players could do with and aside from that his experience and advice will be a different kind of education for some of the players.
But it’s a bittersweet story, not only because this quick fling with the ex that got away will be ending soon because they’re going to go back to the rich American she left you for, but also because things are not quite the same. He’s carrying a few extra pounds and lost that jump start accelleration that saw him terrorise the league for all those years. No one will care though, he’s already scored more goals than Chamkh and he’s fat and old, but man, to have him in the shape he was in in 2003. We would be so lucky.
Without trying to spoil the party, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. It’s fair to say you can only beat what’s put in front of you but we haven’t been doing that of late, and today it was only Blackburn.
As much as I’m riding high on the buzz of seeing Arsenal run riot again it’s sobering to put put it in perspective. The fact that we went into this game without the expectation that we would batter them means we’re not completely on the right track.
But to improve we had to start at some point, and hopefully today was that day. Let’s push on from this, hit some form, and see how high we can finish.
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Yeaps, seventh heaven for the Gooners. Let’s enjoy the rest of the season with positivity, and less of rumblings. Arteta is good too !
Great blog! Revenge is oh-so-sweet. Hopefully this and the 3-2 comeback inspire us to go on the run we so desperately need…
One very happy Gooner here!
Song has always been my man!
RVP will win me a bet made at the beginning of the season
and Thierry brings joy every time he pulls on the Arsenal shirt!
Yes, one very happy Gooner here 🙂
One of the critiscims thats been correctly levelled at our team is a lack of passion. Beginning to see passion from unlikely sources. When the Ox and Coquelin lose the ball they try damn hard to win it back. Hopefully it will rub off on some of the other lazy sods!!!!!!
Go Gunners
the grove yesterday was a day to remember,I did ask the question What happen to the drubbing we use to hand out to other team? The7 -1 is the score is usually something we get twice season from years back,so its a nice feeling having it come back, the gooners are still bruise I also been one with past seasons performance,but having players come back usually bring in positive results and the right mentality.
Extra pounds up or down, hes still got “it”. Just read that AW might keep him for a few extra weeks. Wouldnt be bad if he stayed for the spurs game on the 26th.
1.Rosicky is a better player than Ramsey, plain and simple. Aaron is a good player, but his potential is limited, it is for all to see now. Arsenal playmaker’s role is way too much for him. We are far more dynamic, quick and direct with Tomas, his experience really tells. He needs to find his ability to shoot, he was brilliant at that years ago. Anyway, he should be played ahead of Ramsey, as he is in great shape at the moment. Let Ramsey grow and develop without too much expectation on his shoulders. He may become the next ray Parlour. But he will never be the next Bergkamp.
2. Great positive is Le Coq, who is emerging as a possible future 1st team player. He is the one who progressed the most in the last months. I can go as far as predict that Coquelin will overtake Ramsey in the next 12 months. Stronger character and a real fighter, plus very decent technique. The guy was supremely confident against BB, so its a good sign.
@Mark
and for all those asking where was our attacking purchase in January, well, there he is. Except we bought him in August. That’s just how we roll.
You really think so mark???? I hope your words don’t come back to bite you, and to put that responsibility on ox is unfair, he’s a good player coming on nicely
BUT i think we need to be cautious with how we rate him and don’t put the world on his shoulders, i can recall a number of players who came to us and perform well first up then when people start planning for them the totally loose it, ask chamakh, so while i like the hipe about the ox let’s not brand him world class just yet let’s give him time.
By the way i watch that game last nite again and we had some killer instinct BUT to be frank Blackburn were total rubbish they left passing channels as big as England am sure wenger which he could play team like this every week
we should be beating Blackburn with our b team.
The next couple of weeks will tell us for sure what the future holds
Well summarized. There should be no whining or whinging from Gooners for at least a week. A much needed shot in the arm for all, and as I said earlier, it’s best enjoyed on its own without thinking about last week or next week.
Regarding Henry, hey that’s how the great ones do it. They compensate. Whether it’s age, injury, the weather, bad officiating. They find a way. Clearly, 10 years ago he would blown by his marker and scored for fun, but instead he passed off to van Persie. A little one-two and wham, bam, thank you M’am, 7-1 vintage Arsenal.
The Ox certainly has the potential to massive for us in the next 2-3 years and a major star in the EPL.
Very little left to say about van Persie. Whatever else happens in the summer, we can all say we witnessed one of the most remarkable seasons by any striker in recent memory. He looked like a top attacking midfielder setting up Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal. The man was unplayable yesterday.
Great to feel like this after a most mediocre January.
Cheers all.
Wow ❗ 😎
@Kel
You’ve taken my quote and put your own spin on it. I haven’t put any responsibility on the Ox, simply highlighted what a good game he had and pointed out that we bought him in August. Together with the quote from Wenger I drew the conclusion that we will see more of him from now on and I’m excited about it. This is mainly in answer to the people questioning why we didn’t sign an attacking player in January. I didn’t hype the Ox as a world class signing people were asking for, just an option going forward that a lot of people thought we needed.
I’m completely with you on the unnecessary pressure loaded on youngsters’ shoulders. As Gooners we can only do so much but when, like Walcott, Chamberlain gets his first full cap and has a stand out performance for England it’ll be out of our hands and at the mercy of the media as to how much pressure there’ll be around him.
@Alex: I’m with you all the way with Le Coq. Exciting talent but I love his drive and determination most. He looks like he’ll play anywhere if needed and plays like he’s giving his all every time.
His turn of pace is awesome too, that’s not the first time he’s left a full back standing as he drifts pass.
@1NilToTheArsenal
It’s a good feeling indeed. Would be made even better if United pull their fingers out and take some points of Chelsea, 3-2 right now.
3 -3 Mark ask for another
@ mark, well said i think he understood u very well (Kel), unless if she/he is not an arsenal supporter…u can say that again nd again Ox is our Jan signing….
Amazing fightback at Stamford Bridge today. You can never count them out. Though I hate to give them any points, we need a draw or win for Spuds against Liverpool tomorrow to stay 6th.
My only comment is before the game I had a strong feeling that we would “batter-” and fry- Blackburn and for me morally it means more than the 8-2 against Manchester to be beaten in their stadium on a rainy day. The defeat at Old Trafford came at a difficult and unstable time before the signings and there was an incredibly outstanding injury list… the defeat against Blackburn “shouldn’t have happened in a million years” as our captain -Van Persie- stated. The first defeat was much more easily explainable in my head that this one.. though very hard to swallow. Still I have faith there’s gonna be a day we will get Manchester back real harsh.. real harsh.. real harsh.
At the same time, my realization that the frustration in the players minds after not capitalizing the so many chances against Bolton the previous game, still I dared not be too confident in paying too much attention to my optimism and analysis, as to not get carried away – and disappointed later; the way things go for Arsenal can be quite unpredictable, and I’ve seen them outplay so many teams yet lose due to injuries/fitness, bad refereeing or even worse: exaggeratedly too much added injury time.. One can’t say Arsenal’s luck has been great for many years now..
Not only am I glad my feeling came not from a void.. but also that it came true.
Arsenal truly has a squad of fighters that have reacted before in the first leg and gone on a great run to bring us to fourth… Now that we underwent another awful spell on the full back to the level of calling it a crisis, we found ourselves losing game after another; hopefully all of that is behind us with the return of the width in Arsenal’s play, and the hunger and drive demonstrated in a team full of life and youth, and the ability to REACT and fight back.
Forward….
Nice to get a big,fat result.
Now to get ready for Sunderland and give the negativity a much needed week off.
Chelsea draws with ManU(re).
Might the Mugsmashers nick a point of S***s?
That would be nice.
Mark my words all, we WILL NEVER win anything with Ramsey in the side. I just had to calm down on it a bit, but this is the solid truth. He cannot shoot or pass like Rosicky or Benayoun, what has this guy learnt? When he and Fabs were competing back in the day, same way we have Coquelin and Frimpong, I used to prefer him.
NOW, HE IS A BIG BUNCH OF SHIT. Extremely wasteful and just covering grass with no direct play whatsoever.
The annoying thing is….when he plays with Rosicky or Benayoun, he refuses to allow them move more forward. If he thinks he deserves to play further up than these experienced guys, then he is simply an animal. How dare you allow a more technical player play behind you, when such a player should be delivering killer passes and taking game winning shots ala Lampard.
See, this is where Arshavin should be playing, he does not have the energy to be running up and down the flanks as desired of a wing player(which he is not), but our manager is so adamant that he refuses to allow the Russian blossom and this is partly why we cannot compete. If he thinks Ramsey will be like Fabs and fetch us millions in sales, then he is trying to be completely insane.
We have the players to win this league comfortably, but when you have a manager that takes off your most combative attacker to placate a club Legend who has no business whatsoever playing EPL games, then ………of course you fail to score and you loose or draw.
He took him off for Arshavin initially and the ‘kill Arshavin ‘ brigade started, then he said i’ll take him off even if the business is not finished and i’ll replace him with Henry(the fans all love Henry, so they shouldn’t complain). We almost lost that match because we lost all the momentum with the Ox out. It is okay taking out your best players after the job(leading 3-0, etc) is done, not before and especially not now that we need to WIN GAMES.
Anyone see the difference the EXPERIENCED Arteta makes? He absolutely controls the midfield with Song, allowing Rosicky to SUPPORT the strikers, the RESULT?
Wilshere has to bench him and allow Arteta to support the strikers, Ramsey is definitely out of this equation.
Part of the reasons we have failed to attack properly down the flanks has been because we used our only left back in a meaningless Champions league game. How many games and injuries to both Vermaelen and Coquelin has it taken before we can say they finally understand what it means to operate on the flanks? Now, these are talented players, these are the kind of players you allocate playing time to……..Fortunately, Vermaelen is already our best defender(guaranteed playing time), this means Coquelin has to be sorted out immediately.
gunners boss, you talk ignorant shit… whats with all this ramsey bashing. he is a very promising player. that should mature into a fine goal scoring midfield player for the arsenal. granted rosicky deserves his place in the team at this present time. really enjoying his return to form even if he does tackle like a certain ginger man utd player. thought he was one for the history books and just what we need right now an experienced midfield. song arteta and rosicky know how to boss games and help one another. but i feel aron and jack are the future of the arsenals midfield. plus sagna being back is awsome. him and le coq should mean that we get to pair kozzer and the verminator together at centre half which in my opinion has the makings of the finest centre half pairing in the prem.
I think Ramsay has been pushed too much this season – out of necessity. The last month he has looked short of confidence and plain knackered. I still think he has a big role in our team’s future and would take him any day over Denilson, Diaby and numerous other midfielders who have not performed. If Rosicky had showed the sort of form that he did on the weekend then I am sure he would have played more. He has been the shadow of a player he once was for two or three seasons now. And don’t forget Ramsay has also come back from a career threatening injury. I hope Rosicky can keep it up as he gives us another creative option.
Walcott is an enigma though. Perhaps the form of the Ox has given him a rude shock cos he was great on Saturday. If and when Gervinho comes back Theo might fear that he will be back on the bench if he does note play well. Wenger can’t drop the new kid on the block if he plays like that!
I watched the Chelski Manure game and if we can’t finish above the Chavs then we don’t deserve anything. They are rubbish. Really slow build up, no pace up front and apart from Mata no creativity.
Sunderland away though next week – they are on a good run of form and it will be a tough one based on our recent form away from home. O’Neill seems to have had a good effect up there. Just hope we can put in another shift like Saturday’s.
Hey uze guys,
We won 7-1 this week. Can we wait until we go on another skid and then get hateful? Or maybe just give the this or that guy bashing the rest of the weekend off. There are probably more pitfalls and trevails ahead, mayhaps we should just enjoy this for a spell.
@Mark, u ‘ve mentioned da seven points, wich are fine. But talk about our custodian when it comes to saving set-pieces, Perdersen made Sceczeny look a fool, i remember da same thing at OT, when Rooney had fun of him in free kicks dis one field 2 look into 2 enhance our chances 4 top 4 finish.
Hey Umar, Wojciech and free kicks are a weird one, and good point. He got a hand to Pederson’s one yesterday but it still found it’s way in.
I remember against Udinese in Italy they had a free kick and he tried to anticipate the cross and left his line before the free kick was struck and it looped over his head and hit the bar. As you said, same sort of thing at Old Trafford.
He is young, so maybe this sort of thing improves with time. I think we can all agree it’s better than having Manuel in goal right?
By the way, if you haven’t seen it yet, we’re interviewing Per Mertesacker and want some reader’s questions. Check out the latest blog post!
Have a good day all.
@dave the gooner – its a pity you do not watch our matches……
23 GunnerBoss
pitty you have no foresight. i have marked your words though. hehe and i go to most games and i can see the talent in the boy. good engine, good touch, gets stuck in, good range of passing, eye for a goal, just been run into the ground this year after a year out recovering from a pretty bad injury. but i do understand some people need a scape goat, and why not get on the back of a by all highly rated young lad. lampard was not as good at his age and he did all right. but your words have been marked as you wish. “we will never win anything with ramsey in the team.”
Loard bless our GUNS coz we wont to be happy every game
@dave – With Ramsey starting, we WILL not win anything…..until he knows how to shoot and pass accurately……
I watch all our matches in HD, understand now?
He has been run to the ground my ass, he should learn how to make the ball and people around him run…..
Stop giving stupid excuses, why has RVP not been run to the ground? You seem absolutely ignorant….
I definitely agree that he should be tired, but what has that got to do with letting Benayoun and Rosicky play behind him anytime they play together? I noticed this right before the match he let them rob him and score….
I can NEVER blame him for being tired(maybe Wenger wants them to die on the pitch before they get substituted).
Do you know what it means to be an attacking midfielder? Do you know that attacking midfielders can win games single-handedly? Do you know that if they are influential, they can easily control the game? Where is Ramsey’s influence?…..Can you see what FABs is doing in Barca now? Did he learn it there? The coach knows he can shoot accurately and immediately deploys him as a support striker/attacking midfielder, the result? But, our coach wanted FABs to be a defensive midfielder….Wenger is very stubborn. If you think my rant was all about Ramsey, then you are completely wrong…..Why does Wenger play/take off people just because of seniority/sentiments? He makes us hate the players….but, this does not take away the fact that the boy is going way too forward for his capabilities and it definitely makes us look ordinary in the middle.
I feel Henry should be used to spearhead the attack WHENEVER RVP is not playing(cup matches or when we lead 5-0), not competitive matches we want to win. I feel Rosicky and Benayoun are way more experienced than Ramsey in that position. A lot of us hate Arshavin now, but how many of us can doubt his shooting and passing skills? He is even better than Rosicky in that position. Why not deploy him as the arrow-head in the midfield, where his attacking/defensive capabilities would not let the team down? I remember how he helped us seasons ago and can NEVER blame the young man, I can only blame the one who always throws him in the wrong side of the cauldron.
Understand me now?
More on the Ox later