I’m in a loopy mood after a crazy Sunday of football, so don’t be surprised if that comes across in the rest of the post. Just look at the headline, for goodness sakes.
First things first, let’s talk about our game.
A 3-1 win against Stoke, our sixth home win in a row and we’re up to seventh on the table. A couple of weeks ago we were 16th and in all sorts of bother, so that is improvement that cannot be denied.
Our cobbled-together defence is looking a little better with each outing as Koscielny and Mertesacker acclimatise to each other and Santos works hard to fit in. Koscielny, for the third game in a row, was excellent.
There were clear similarities with last week’s win at Sunderland against Stoke. We scored a good opening goal, played some very decent football and then conceded out of nowhere. Then we ambled along for half an hour, producing very little quality until a late Robin van Persie goal (or two, in this case) made the difference.
His seventh league goal of the season will give our captain the plaudits again but I thought Gervinho was our outstanding player on show. His pace and movement, both with the ball and without it, was excellent and he was constantly thinking, something you should probably expect from a man with a brain head thing as big as his.
The Brain has married the searing pace of Theo Walcott with the trickery of Andrey Arshavin and has become our most important support-striker in a short space of time. His directness is refreshing and he has made an obvious connection with van Persie and that bodes well for the rest of the season.
Further back I thought Alex Song took responsibility in his first ever start as a captain, driving on from deep when the game became too static. He misplaced passes in an attempt to be positive but his willingness to take control was more than encouraging.
A fine evening became an excellent late-night for me in Australia after I tuned into a recorded telecast of Manchester City’s assassination of city rivals United. Their 6-1 defeat was just as shocking as our 8-2 loss, even moreso if you consider the quality of the team United had on the park, and for a person like me, who absolutely hates the red team, it was pretty damn sweet.
Then came Chelsea. A 1-0 loss, two red cards and several yellows means that we will face their team without Didier Drogba, Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole missing through suspension. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Glorious.
This was probably the first weekend this season that was just plain fun for us Arsenal supporters. Let’s enjoy it!
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best birthday present for wenger !!!
ferguson : worst result in my history
wenger : best bday present in my life
Agree Gervinho played his best game for us that I have seen. I also thought Ramsay was pretty good and most of the rest were solid. What’s the deal with Chamakh though? And I still can’t work out why Walcott is starting. After our third goal I felt comfortable enough to switch over to the Manchester derby. Couldn’t believe what unfolded there! And despite all the gloom and doom we are only six points off the top 4. Big game coming up against Chelski next week. That will be a test of our recovery…
@ Terry – My brother and I had an interesting chat about Chamakh. We thought he wasn’t too bad, but when the ball was played through to him up front nobody wanted to work around him. It seems to be a combination of the lack of trust and a lack of effort from the support players, something which changed when van Persie came on. All of sudden the team was willing to support and work hard for him and we improved as a unit.
I’m getting sick of the Sunday fixtures, Andy. Means I can’t come out and watch with you guys because of stupid work!
That awesome news!cole will be out next week but couldn’t he just miss the league cup game n be in contention for the london derby?. I don’t know about drogba he hasn’t been the same from a few seasons ago,but still a threat,probably its still good for us no runners for chelsea,just mata,fernando,terry n lampard to look out for,as long as we do the basics right there should be points to take home with.
@ Darragh – Yeah, I can understand that. You can always record it and watch it on iQ the following day?
Step by step we are moving up,chamak has lost his self believe,he will gain it back with more matches under his belt.Theo should be ready to work harder or lose his stating shirt.
What a great week of football,at first CLUD DE MIDFIELDER (liverpool) drew at home to norwich city.then came d great super duper Sunday for the ARSENAL.mighty MANURE were beaten mercilessly by their noisy neighbours and chelsea playing against Arsenal without didier and ashley cole after 1 nil loss to QPR.ha ha ha
Doesn’t ashley cole just miss the league cup? please correct me if I’m wrong.
my joy knows no bounds today. Happy seeing the garulous “boys” utd humiliated. Wished Sagna were available for our clash against chelsea. Also wished there were no league match this week so that cole will miss our match
Hi to happy gooners, yeh it was great weekend of soccer and fantastics results all round.
Its called karma, i always say dont gloat at other peoples loss. Manu,s drubbing on sunday was great considering when they beat us 8-2 we basically had no team, with RVP at the helm & the rest of the gunners coming back from injury we are going to get stronger
what a fabulous performance from Gervinho 1 goal wit 2 assit. That is extremely good, keep up the pace.
let just hope
kudos, 2 Ramsey, Gervihno, rvp, Koscielny and Song 4 yesterdays performance, hope they keep it up. I want 2 send my condolences 2 Ferguson, man u players and all their supporters worldwide 4 yesterdays funeral hahahahahahaaa, when u guys did it to arsenal, u were on top of d world, so u guys should try and live with it. 1 6 hahahahahahaaaaaaa
I love that part..”it was pretty damn sweet”….
Mansix in one day…Glorious….
I’v never seen a man leave his beer on table but yesterday they left half full beers on table….i guese they could not handle the gadaffi like murder…..n so they went on to have it with their chelsea like wives……..
But we salute the Mansix players they stood strong in their backyard for 6 shots in one hole..
Kudos Arsenal!!! u made me a hero….that was awesome…..
Gunner4life…
it was a good match 4 arsenal.Gervinho was superb and outstanding.
congrat goonersfamily..our match agaist sunderland has already set a turn around for our team,,yesterdays game was great but let face it song was off the game…out of all his passes nor was correct,arteta have put on a shoe that was missing from start of the season..he now win balls from players,Ramsey had of and on period yestaday,chamahk is not connceting with the team yet walcot should be given a break,gervinho has being the best ,santos has brougth xprince to our left back,per and kosher is working li
Great post andy,we luv u,great great game 4 gervinho,gunners luv u,about chamakh,i almost agree wit u andy on dat one bt u gat to see dat after we conceded d game went dull nd nt until walcott came off did it come bak to life,chamakh is a good striker,he’s no vanpersie bt he is good,jst needs more starts under his belt
It was awesome day indeed…
Cant believe it actually happened…
This is best week of the season indeed 🙂
Guys lets stop pretending about Chamakh. He showed us in broad day light that he is utter crap. Can he show cause why he shouldnt be shipped in January?.The guy must be fresh as he has been rested for months but never did he even take a shot at goal. What sortr of striker is this who even can’t do the basics. I dare have two bendtners on the pitch than Chamakh. He is just rubbish we must stop making excuses for him. What would happen had Persie been out of that game. Assuming he got injured like it may happen soon. Can this guy take us anywhere. Wenger must bench this guy and sell him immediately in January.Where is Park the Monaco striker. We need him on the pitch otherwise the Chamakh alternative is risky business. We now have a chance of getting a point at the Bridge but even three points will do as long as PERSIE starts.
Andrew Webber, spot on about Chamakh. Plus Arshavin gave a much bigger boost and quality then Theo.
Chamak’s situation is certainly becoming more concerning.
We can’t expect Robin to play every fixture for the rest of the season, the unnerving thing is that our alternative hasn’t scored a league goal in nearly 12 months.
He got himself into a few ok positions yesterday, and in reality probably should have converted the ‘easiest’ of them. Hopefully it’s something a goal or two in the Carling Cup can fix.
For me Theo’s form is more worrying. At least Chamakh isn’t starting every game.
I hate Wenger when he still keep Chamak in Arsenal squad. The guy is a good player yes, that is not my argument but he is not Arsenal kind of player. We shouldn’t be pretending about that. If not RVP what would have being our faith yesterday? Wenger you have tried Chamak and he is not working, why don’t you try Park who knows he may be a messiah. Gunners we are coming back by His grace. However, kodus to Gervinho, RVP, Song, Ramsy, all defence line, in short all the players excluding Chamak and Wat.
What a good news! Next weekend we’ll be facing a weaker team side concerning arsenal team they played well overpowering a physical side like stoke is not a joke .I as a person i appreciate everybody who featured in yesterday’s march yes gervinho,van persie,koscielny,song and arteta produced a top class football but djouro gave all what he has to ensure that the rightback is not leaking.congratulation gunners for making me happy this morning
Chamakh is a gud player, but not Arsenal kind of player. We need to sell him in january, Walcott is another problem, he doesn’t wana grow up. Think he time Wenger give him a break for Chamberlien to show what he can do. Best game of the season, best week of the season. Ashley Cole will feature against us, he would only missed the league cup game on wednessday. With Alex song and the new Arteta, Mata wont be a big problem. Go Gooners.
It is said tht revenge is a dish served whn cold. Here in kenya Man U fan blabd @ us saying.”ujinga ni mtu wa arsenal kuuliza ati umeshindaje?” meaning “stupidity is whn an arsenal fan asks u hw u’ve been?” ask a man u, chelsea fun the questn in swahili thn xpect an answer.
Chelsea are playing against Everton in midweek, in other words; I think Ashley (Cole) will be playing against us on Saturday …
I really had a sweet and deep sleep last night. I believe if we can continue this way, we will surely be in first four. On chamack, we should give him time. He is good player.
That is our Arsenal playing a solid side but a good perfomance and a win!!!! song,arteta,santos,gervinho,met and our solid defender Koscieny show the spirit we want….THE GUNNERS FOREVER.
superb result from a superb display. Gerv and Vantastic were wonderful. GOONERS pop champagne. We are getting better game after game.
Credit to arsenal once again solid defence by kosh and per. Everybody must be giving all credit to van but lets not forget gerv with a goal and 2 assists i think he was our man of the match and lovely games from ramsey djourrou santos arteta practically evrybody and as for man utd i really feel sorry for them,duh they got wat they deserved they finally got a taste of their own medicine but i wish it was some other team that beat them.
Hey Andrew,
A good performance from the Arsenal yesterday, and you are right in that Gervinho’s contribution was immense. RVP of course is quality and it is good that we could bring him off the bench and still win. The reliance for goals on him is a slight concern, but like you I think Chamakh can provide us with something. He isn’t an out and out goalscorer, but his link up play can be excellent and he is good in the air. A little more game time should see an upswing in confidence and production. I hope he starts on Tuesday, but I think Park will get his chance instead and that will be interesting too. Maybe he can become the goalscoring backup we need.
I’d also think we’d have the young guns like the Ox, Coquelin, Frimpong, Miquel, maybe Miyaichi all playing in the League Cup. Here’s a question for you. Should we play Squillaci as well? 🙂
Also, are you sure Chelsea will be without Cole and Bosingwa? Wouldn’t both of them just be suspended for the one game, which would be their league cup match.
P.S. What a brilliant chip pass it was from Ramsey to set up Gervinho’s goal.
Howdy Drew,Howdy all,
Agreed, Gervinho was MOTM for me. Nice to have Robin’s magical foot at the end of the moves though. I think Chamahk had his most motivated outing and is showing signs of life. Whether it will be enough I’m not sure but at least the effort is there. Walcott hmmmm, what does he want anyway? A new contract with us or out?
Anybody have the faintest idea who will start at the back for us in the cup tie? BFG, Kos and Santos are due a day off. Who does that leave? And what about Park or Miyachi?
Ox is a good bet to start and Benayoun may get the nod since I’m pretty sure he cannot play against Chelsea.
It’s nice to be looking forward to games with some renewed sense of optimism still, I’m not going to get too giddy yet. There is a long way to go and a lot of points between us and that last champions league slot.
COYG!
This weekend was simply a crazy weekend of football. Arsenal beat Stoke (not so crazy), Liverpool draw, Chelsea lose to QPR, United get smashed by Moneybags City, La Liga’s Moneybags Malaga were beaten 4-0 by Madrid, Barca failed to score and it was basically Sevilla keeper v Barca, no surprise he got MOTM. Levante currently top La Liga and Milan came back from 3-0 down to win 4-3. Crazy Weekend!!!
Does anyone know if the CC game is televised? I can’t find it on anywhere here in Oz? Am hoping there’ll be a stream somewhere and not a repeat of the Shrewsbury game.
Also, Vermaelen will play against Bolton. Either off the bench or starting.
Great news.
@Gruggy,
I’m not sure if the game will be broadcasted live outside of the UK.
Setanta had it last year but they got the chop.
I use livescorehunter.tv. I think Dennis10 or Terry posted a link but you can google it up easily. Great news about Vermaelen though. I wonder who or whom will he partner?
I LOVE the title of today’s blog, as I just watched “Megamind” with my kids on Saturday (“Oh, my great big blue head”).
What a Monday in which to bask for any Gooner! A great win; the rich form of RvP continues; Chelsea implodes; and Man U do something they haven’t done in an age – just refuse to show up. I mean, WtF? A perfect weekend marred only by the fightback by Spurs.
As for us, What about Koscielny? He was excellent again, and may indeed prove himself to be one of the best defenders in the game if he manages this kind of play with any consistency.
Our progress is definitely there. It will face a huge in test next match however, against a Blues team who will be itching to prove something themselves after that weird outing at Loftus Road.
To comment on the Manchester Derby, while the epicentre of the Premier League may yet move to the Northwest, I think it’s waaay too premature to either write off the Reds or crown the Blues. Like Andrew I HATE Man U, but true hatred of a team for me is derived out of respect. The battle of Good vs. Evil is elevated when EVIL has as much talent as history as Man U does. I wouldn’t be nearly as much fun otherwise. In other words, they’ll be back. I hope hope we’re right there to meet them AND send them back to where the sun don’t shine.
1NTTA
I just love this sport and this team.
some of your expressions made me smile . . . 😀
I just saw the last thirty mins, cause I thought the match would have been later on that day . . . it was looking good and promising, something of the ‘old’ Arsenal, or that Arsenal one is more used to or one is expecting. . . , and with the goals on the right side, . . . ** glorious** 😀 -)
Our boys are becoming more confident and their understanding is now perfect. But my concern now is the re-injection of Thomas Vermaelen with the already coherent pair of Koscienly and Mertasacker. Thomas is a very dogged player who has delivered Arsenal in several occasions since his arrival at the emirate. Also i want to remind us that Arsenal Fc has no replacement for Alex Song, the stone and the dreaded Robin Van Persie. Some thing must be done about this in January transfer. Best of luck against Chelsea on Saturday.
My opinion is our beloved team is on his way to conquer some silverware an with some luck we can do it !!! especially if we add some good players in January
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