Arsenal turn it around: A-Villa Player Ratings.

Fabianski (7):Nothing he could have done about either goal. A few scary moments but other than that, he was good.

Coquelin (8):How much we missed him covering for Sagna. Good good player, excellent performance

Mert/Kos (8):Good game, stood tall to everything Villa had to offer.

Verm (7):Not his best game, but he did well. He was caught out of position for the 2nd goal.

Song (7.5):Better performance. Got into the tackles and broke up attacks well.

Ramsey (7.5):Another one who played better than we’ve seen him in the last few games. He was full of running, and was looking to make things happen.

Rosicky (8): Another top performance. He’s been superb in his past few games. Good to see have him back.

Walcott (7):Made good runs, decision making still suspect though. Got a freak goal, his first at the Emirates in a long while.

AOC (7.5):Good game after game, he keeps imposing himself. It will be difficult to keep him out of the starting XI.

RVP (7):25 goals this season and counting. 2 well-taken penalties when it mattered most. Could have got an assist from a corner. He’s also surpassed Bergkamp(120) on the list of Arsenal top scorers.

SUBSTITUTES:

Arteta (5):Came on for Rosicky and showed what we had missed. Kept things ticking in midfield.

Sagna (N/A):Another one who came back! Good to see him in the red and white again.

Henry (N/A):Less than 5 minutes and he could have got a goal.

There you have it guys! Trailing by 2 goals at half time we managed to overturn the deficit and set up a 5th Round encounter with Sunderland or Boro.

Any thoughts/comments, please drop them below.

Cheers!

Wilshere ‘Out For Season’ | Henry & Co Fit |Chamakh Back Early

Before you get tacchycardia at the first 4 words of the heading, notice the ‘ ‘ I put. That’s what we’ve been told to expect, worst case scenario. Wilshere has gone from being a medical miracle that was ready to return as early as February 4 to ‘setback, out for 6 weeks(possibly the entire season?). There goes Wenger’s big plan to announce Wilshere as a ‘new signing’ come February 1 when the window shuts down.

Not going to go on about mismanagement of youth and how no replacement has been(will be) brought in, its a huge blow(not like we’re chasing the title) but his return would have given the team needed lift and Ramsey in particular would be delighted as it means needed rest. Not going to happen now….well soon.

Positive news now and Henry, Arteta, Coquelin are fit and in the squad to face Aston Villa, Sagna too is but a little short on match fitness and might just about make the bench. Gibbs on the other hand should be ready by monday. Diaby? From ready in 10 days to ‘God knows when’. Oh well, good to see we’re following in the trend we’ve been for the last 5 years or so.

If you don’t like Chamakh, look away now. His national team of Morocco have been eliminated from the AFCON which probably had Wenger excited and foaming from the mouth from pure delight knowing the World’s best striker is coming back earlier than planned(he managed 1 appearance 0 goals & assists). Will AW push to have him back before the last group game like Newcastle are doing with Dembas Ba & Cisse?

To the Villa game, asides Wilshere, Santos & Diaby, almost everyone is fit, AW has hinted AOC could play centrally for us and not on the wings, I’d love that personally, anything to give Ramsey a rest. So I expect the team to look something like this.

Szczesny-Yennaris-Mertesacker-Kozzer-Vermaelen-Coquelin-Arteta-Rosicky-AOC-Walcott-RVP

I’m going with 3-1 in favor of the Arsenal. No upsets please. Hope you all enjoy the game & hopefully TH14 bags another goal.

Escobar

Follow us on twitter @goonermemoirs

Wilshere ‘Out For Season’ | Henry & Co Fit |Chamakh Back Early

Before you get tacchycardia at the first 4 words of the heading, notice the ‘ ‘ I put. That’s what we’ve been told to expect, worst case scenario. Wilshere has gone from being a medical miracle that was ready to return as early as February 4 to ‘setback, out for 6 weeks(possibly the entire season?). There goes Wenger’s big plan to announce Wilshere as a ‘new signing’ come February 1 when the window shuts down.

Not going to go on about mismanagement of youth and how no replacement has been(will be) brought in, its a huge blow(not like we’re chasing the title) but his return would have given the team needed lift and Ramsey in particular would be delighted as it means needed rest. Not going to happen now….well soon.

Positive news now and Henry, Arteta, Coquelin are fit and in the squad to face Aston Villa, Sagna too is but a little short on match fitness and might just about make the bench. Gibbs on the other hand should be ready by monday. Diaby? From ready in 10 days to ‘God knows when’. Oh well, good to see we’re following in the trend we’ve been for the last 5 years or so.

If you don’t like Chamakh, look away now. His national team of Morocco have been eliminated from the AFCON which probably had Wenger excited and foaming from the mouth from pure delight knowing the World’s best striker is coming back earlier than planned(he managed 1 appearance 0 goals & assists). Will AW push to have him back before the last group game like Newcastle are doing with Dembas Ba & Cisse?

To the Villa game, asides Wilshere, Santos & Diaby, almost everyone is fit, AW has hinted AOC could play centrally for us and not on the wings, I’d love that personally, anything to give Ramsey a rest. So I expect the team to look something like this.

Szczesny-Yennaris-Mertesacker-Kozzer-Vermaelen-Coquelin-Arteta-Rosicky-AOC-Walcott-RVP

I’m going with 3-1 in favor of the Arsenal. No upsets please. Hope you all enjoy the game & hopefully TH14 bags another goal.

Escobar

Follow us on twitter @goonermemoirs

The Curious Case of Andrei Arshavin.

If anyone told me on April 30, 2009 that a day would come when an Arsenal fan wouldn’t want to see Arshavin kick a ball for Arsenal, I’d have told them to have their brain checked!

30th April was the day after the magical night at Anfield, a game in which he single-handedly took the game to Liverpool, scoring 4 beautiful goals. Most fans (including myself) were probably thinking then that our messiah had arrived.

Arshavin’s transfer to Arsenal was as protracted as they come, but we managed to beat the deadline for his signature. He joined at a time we were struggling, we were outside the top 4 and then ran the risk of missing out on UCL football.

But his arrival was like a breath of fresh air, the unbridled enthusiasm that accompanied him was there for all to see.

He didn’t disappoint. From January to May he gave us good game after game and took us back into the top four. I think it’s fair to say we couldn’t have made it without him.

His next season was not as explosive, he could not replicate the form he showed the previous term. As time went on, he began to lose form and his performances began to drop. He complained about being played out of position but nothing changed.

Roll on 2011 and people were beginning to complain, his commitment was even questioned atimes. Many felt he didn’t care about playing for the club, a claim I think emanated from his demeanour on the field of play.

What do I think? Arshavin is a honest individual as evident in his comments and he criticizes himself more than anyone of us does.

My fear is he’s done this to the extent it has affected his confidence. This is probably why things rarely work out for him. The cloud of invincibility around him has evaporated, the belief is missing.

What happened yesterday is sad and unfortunate. A player steps on the pitch on his home ground, and he gets booed; even the man who is supposed to be his strike partner questions his introduction.

We can all think the boos were as a result of The Ox going off. Granted that was a tactical error, maybe Theo Walcott shoud have gone instead. However if we look at it critically, it works both ways. What kind of message are we sending to the player coming on?

The second goal was not his fault as he shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Vermaelen was found wanting, Arshavin tried to help, he did, twice! But because he wasn’t successful, people blamed him for the goal. It just doesn’t make sense to me!

If his own fans and captain won’t give him a chance, how do we expect anything productive? For all our noise about Andrei, he got two assists against QPR and Swansea; two great passes I doubt any of our other forwards (apart from RVP) could have executed successfully. Moments like these are why Arsene persists with him and I understand.

Arshavin has not been in the best of form and he is always the first to admit he isn’t pulling his weight; even Wenger agrees. Fans pay for tickets so they are free to express themselves in whichever manner they deem fit.

However, the manner in which he was made a scapegoat in yesterday’s game is totally unfair and I just feel no player should be subjected to such treatment, at least not in a place he calls home.

Have a good day wherever this post meet you. Do share your thoughts with me in the comments.

Keep it goonerish!

Arsenal fall to Man United: The Player Ratings.

Szczesny (7.5) : Made a couple of good saves. Not at fault with the goals.

Djourou (2.5): Wenger rarely makes changes before the 60th minute mark. I guess that says it all.

Mert (6.5): Good game, his lack of pace left him exposed atimes but he more than made up for it with fantastic tackling.

Kos (8.5): Amazing defender he is. Started the attack that led to the goal, after an excellent tackle. Right up there amongst the best CB’s in the world. My MOTM!

Vermaelen (7): Had a tough game against Valencia, but did his bit. Maybe he could have done better for the first goal.

Song (6): Average game, sluggish most times, but won his fair share of tackles.

Ramsey (5): He should not be starting. His form has dipped and it’s so evident. He needs a breather.

Rosicky (8): This game showed us the Rosicky we bought from Dortmund. He was at the heart of every good thing we did. Top top performance.

Ox-Chamberlain (8): What a game he had. Did not have the best of starts, but he grew into the game. He always looked a threat and got a delightful assist. A star in the making for sure.

Walcott (4): Terrible game! Very very poor performance. Did not do one thing right!

RVP (7.5): Not the best of games. Anonymous in the first half due to lack of support from the midfield, miss an almost open goal, but made up for it. It wasn’t enough though.

SUBS:

Yennaris (6.5): Encouraging performance. Should have started ahead of that Swiss pipe!

Arshavin (4): His introduction created a lot of controversy and he didn’t help his case with some terrible positioning and defending for the 2nd goal.

Park (4): Came on for his EPL debut but didn’t have enough time to impress.

Arsene Wenger (*insert lowest score possible*) : This man probably gets a hard-on from annoying fans. Good call to start Ox, but why ruin it by taking him off when he was at his best? He practically handed United a lifeline. And I’m not buying that fatigue story, that’s an insult to our intelligence. Terrible decision!

There you have it guys! Any thoughts? Let us know in the comments!

Cheers!

Wenger Watches 8-2 Again, Wants Better Defending + Latest Injury News

Hello good Gooners from wherever you are reading from. Been a tough couple of weeks for us, watching dear Arsenal manage to get past Leeds United between two league defeats at Fulham and Swansea, both games in which we scored first.

And now, we have those demons of Manchester visiting and memories of the early season annihilation comes to mind… can we pull a win off?

Asides, Le boss admitted to watching our 8-2 defeat again “because you have to face reality” said the Wenger.

While he believes the scoreline was an “accident” on the day, Wenger has nonetheless called for the backline to get their acts right ahead of Sunday’s crunch encounter.

“When you come back to 2-2 and then 30 seconds later it is 3-2, it is very difficult to swallow.” admitted the manager just as he expressed his surprise that we lost to Fulham and the Swans, no thanks to defensive errors and called on the defence to be improved for Manure’s visit.

Away from that, Wenger would rather not lose our favourite Russian Andrei Arshavin, who will be celebrating a third year at the club soon. The manager’s reasons being the squad worn thin by injuries coupled with his quality and admittedly, the cocky Russian’s put in good performances recently.

Finally, Wenger updated in the injury situation at the club, stating Thomas Vermaelen doesn’t look like he’ll play on Sunday as well as Thierry Henry who has a calf problem. Mikel Arteta is completely out while Bacary Sagna, Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson are a couple of weeks away with Jack Wilshere set resume full training soon after them. Quite a number of bodies we’ve got in the injury room.

That’s the bit from here so far. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @goonermemoirs and have a great weekend, expect a preview of the big game on tomorrow.

Cheers!

Something worse than the Swansea loss.

This is not a rant, just the result of a series of calculated thoughts!

I was sat in my living room as early as 3:00 p.m (believe me that’s early in my books), waiting for the game, waiting for my darling Arsenal to put little Swansea to the sword.

They didn’t disappoint at first, RVP got a well-taken goal as early as the 5th minute, and my mind was set on a big win, the type we had at Wigan.

For God knows how, Swansea found a way back into the game, and won a penalty (maybe it wasn’t a penalty), to draw level. Terrible defending from Arsenal then gave them the lead.

We leveled matters through Theo Walcott and amazingly, we gifted them another goal even before I was done “processing” our equalizer. We couldn’t fashion a way back into the game and we were beaten, fairly.

A few individual performances spring to mind. Miquel shouldn’t have been playing that game had we brought in a left back. Ramsey was not up for it and Mert4 made a bad decision for the winner. Bar a well-taken goal, Walcott didn’t do a thing right, Szczesny is beginning to falter and we missed Arteta really badly.

Now to what really bothers me; there I was a few minutes after the game, feeling normal. I mean we just lost to Swansea after the game and I shouldn’t feel normal, I should be livid!

But for some reason, I wasn’t! I logged into my twitter feed and I was greeted with varying reactions to the loss. While some were venting their anger, others were searching for positives in what was an abysmal performance.

We have the worst away record for goals conceded and it is as though we need to score two goals to draw games away from home!

We were beaten at our passing game, and that’s quite worrying. Swansea seemed to want it more and that’s pretty disturbing.

I think I was somewhere in the middle of those two groups; and with time I concluded that the reason I felt that way is because I was gradually becoming used to Arsenal screwing up things.

You may have heard this before but I just wish to reiterate that Arsenal finishing in the top 4 this season will be Wenger’s best achievement to date. That in itself in enough to bring tears to anyone’s eyes.

We cannot maintain the pressure that accompanies a run of good form without messing it up. Look at this, we had a very poor start, recovered well, but the moment people started taking us seriously, we began to falter.

Injuries? Look at Man United and get back to me. I think it’s something to do with the mindset of the players, they are just not up for it, even Cesc said it!

They don’t see themselves as a team capable of winning things, and if anything that’s the major positive I see from Henry’s return to the club.

Arsenal players are like that kid in high school, who knows the pass mark is 40%, but he needs to study hard for 85% to get an A+. How well do you think he’ll perform? My guess is he’ll party hard and target 50% which in all fairness is a pass grade, and move onto the next one.

For all the talk about contending for the title, I just think they do not believe it. They just look to be in the top four every year, get into the Champions League and “do well” in the cup competitions.

Yesterday’s loss is just another on a long list of unbelievably poor results, and what’s worse is that us fans are settling for it.

Slowly, the same Arsenal fans that celebrated titles a few seasons ago are the same ones “celebrating” a Champions League qualification. Yes, that’s how bad we have become.

The club posts profits year in year out and neglects what really matters, the football. If you told me (with concrete evidence) Arsenal have no money to spend, maybe I wouldn’t have written this post. But apparently there’s some money to spend, we just don’t think it’s ‘necessary’.

“I think it will be stupid to drop points simply because we don’t have full-backs.” – Wenger, two weeks ago.

The talk of sacking Wenger now doesn’t even begin to arise. He gave a reasonable argument for why he’d rather wait for the injured players to return than bring in new faces.

Whether or not this loss will change Arsene’s stance on winter transfers will be revealed in the coming days.

That’s all I can take for today. Apologies for an unusually long post, I only felt the need to share everything I was thinking with you. Feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.

Keep the faith wherever this post meets you!

Cheers!

Wenger rules out a few names|Left Back Linked|Swansea Preview

Morning guys! A boring couple of days on the Arsenal front if you ask me.

The feeling of “Henryism” seems to have died down a bit, the noise gone down a notch and everyone is back to their senses, realizing we still have needs.

Henry is only a stop-gap solution, we still need a goalscorer when Titi leaves. But more urgently we need a left back; 4 natural full backs out until God knows when, and Coquelin won’t be around for a a few weeks.

Rumours have been flying around concerning players we should and could have signed, but at least we know those we won’t be seeing in an Arsenal shirt, if Arsene’s words are anything to go by that is.

The boss has revealed we won’t be trying to sign Kalou in January. He also denied links to Ravel Morrison and Suarez the non-racist. In his words:

“Ravel Morrison at Man United? No. We know him well, No to Kalou and Suarez as well.”

How comforting Arsene…telling us exactly what we want to hear. Our squad has enough quality, Park and Chamakh will come good. I wonder how long we’ll have to put up with dross.

Some transfer news; Felix Bastians is the latest on a list of almost 300 left backs linked to us. The 23 year old who currently lines up for Germany side, Freiburg isn’t new in England.

He played at lower league clubs like Gillingham, MK Dons, and Notts County. He’s got £5m slapped over his head and Arsenal are thought to have shown interest.

He’s a typical Wenger signing, young, unknown, with a lot to prove. In a few days, we’ll see if this story ends up on the pile of rubbish stories before it. My bet is it will.

We travel to Swansea tomorrow, with no full backs, but with Thierry Henry. Swansea are a good side, they play lovely football and we were lucky to beat them at home.

Miquel and Djourou should be available, so we can play Kos and Mert in the centre. Arteta, Song and Ramsey in midfield; and Walcott, Arshavin, RVP upfront. Titi starts from the bench again and Arshavin should be given a chance to build on an encouraging performance.

We HAVE to win tomorrow though, anything short and we are in trouble. I know it’s still early days but we are 12 points behind City, but more painfully 9 behind Spurs.

Finishing over Spurs is not our birthright! We cannot keep believing they will drop points, like we won’t. We need to cut out our mistakes now, get the points so Tottenham’s losses can count for something.

That’s all from me today, I’m done ranting. We have a game to win tomorrow. No mistakes will be tolerated.

It’s a very cold morning in Lagos, a few hours before the first round of EPL games kick off. Here’s to hoping all our rivals drop points and we win our game.

Any thoughts or comments on new signings and Swansea? Please drop them below.

Keep it goonerish wherever you watch from!

Cheers!

FairyTale Return As Henry Scores On Second Debut To Send Arsenal Through | Coquelin Injured

Wearing the number 12 jersey, 12 minutes before the end of his second debut, he scores his 12th goal against Leeds in the year 2012, ladies and gentlemen, Thierry Henry, is back. As someone said, “The first player to score inside the Emirates while he’s celebrating outside it(in reference to his statue)”

With all the media hysteria of Henry’s homecoming surrounding the game, one would forgive Leeds for feeling hard done by as the fixture was supposed to be about us & them and a possible cupset, and with the way they started out you could see they didn’t come to be rolled over.

Mixing youth and experience, Wenger went for a formation of Szczesny-Coquelin-Miquel-Squillaci-Koscielny-Song-Arteta-Ramsey-Arshavin-AOC-Chamakh. The first half was the closest you’ll get to a bore fest as chances were few and far between both teams, Ramsey and Arshavin at the heart of most of the attacking which just lacked the bite typified by an Arsenal team.

AOC was having a quiet game just like the Leeds attack which found Song & Arteta too much to handle in front of the defense. After just 20minutes, Coquelin picked up an injury and had to be substituted for Yennaris. The first half ended like it started with zero shots on target for both teams.

Second Half
Resisting the urge to make changes, the same team resurfaced and started to play like they really wanted it, AOC took it on himself and collected a pass on the left and ran at the defense before unleashing a stinging drive. That wasn’t the end, he went on another mazy run down the other end but missed the target.

Ramsey and Arteta kept feeding the Ox with passes as Chamakh continued to be pretty much inactive in the game and this time, the young englishman hit another rasping drive which was turned round the post for a corner.

AW had seen enough and called on club legend(former number 14) and current number 14(Walcott) to replace Oxo & Chamakh(I wanted Ramsey & Arshavin to go off as they had been average). In less than 10 seconds Henry had touched the ball but he was offside. But not to worry, the script had been written to perfection, Song slipped him a delightful pass, he took one touch, dropped his shoulder & bent it calmly past the goalkeeper… Vintage Henry, the celebration that ensued said it all, running and shouting and beating his chest before going to embrace AW & celebrate with the lads.

Leeds threatened to score but Chesney pulled off a great save to ensure no other mortal graced the same scoresheet as Henry. In what proved to be a poor performance, no one would remember as Henry grabbed the spotlight as he had done all week. I say let’s sign him till the end of the season.

We’ll leave the review of the poor performance for another time but credit to Yennaris who came on for Coquelin and showed pace, heart & desire, would get a run in the first team till Sagna is fit.

Well there you have it, we face Aston Villa in a couple of weeks at the grove, but before then, its Swansea on sunday. Do have a great day, see you in the comments. Cheers

Follow us on twitter @goonermemoirs

Kalou in Arsenal talks?|The Return Of the King

Morning everyone! It’s the start of another week and I’m sure you are all fired up for tonight! We welcome Leeds to the Ems in the F.A Cup, a game with a lot to look forward to.

Just over a year ago, we were involved in the same fixture, one we had to rely on a last minute penalty to secure a replay!

I’m sure Wenger would have taken a lesson from that encounter. We made wholesale changes that afternoon and we lacked a spine to win the game.

RVP is in Dubai on break, and deservedly so. We need him fresh for the title run-in. Arteta should also get some rest as he’s played almost every game since he moved. Apart from these two guys, I expect everyone else to be involved.

I will like to see Sz13 in goal, with Kos and Mert, flanked by Miquel and Coqeulin in front of him. The midfield should comprise Song, Rosicky and Ramsey, and a front three of Oxo, Chamakh and Arsha will do just fine!

Oh? Haha…I can NEVER forget him! Thierry will definitely play this game and I think it will be from the bench to replace any of the front three. I’m looking forward to the kind of reception he’ll get! It will be mad I tell you!

Ramsey, Theo, Squid, Almunia, Benayoun, should all be on the bench just in case.

They have their own injuries too and it’s the Emirates at night, so I don’t see them posing too much of a threat. 3-0 to the good guys is my prediction.

To some more interesting news, Sky Sports reported early last night that Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou was on his way back to London for talks with Arsenal.

This story was later refuted as a rumour that sprang up in Arsenal column. Whatever the truth is, we know there’s genuine interest from Arsenal.

Kalou is a player who will definitely split opinions among Arsenal fans. No doubt, he’s experienced, very skillful and he definitely has some goals in him.

I’m not sure he’s what we need at the moment. Add this to the fact that he’s African and we’ll have to release him for the AFCON early next year. He’s a dynamic forward, not the clinical finisher we crave!

But at £3m, I wouldn’t refuse the chance to add another “wasting” talent to our ranks. What’s to say Arsene can’t reform him and convert him to the striker we want?

Do let me know what your thoughts are concerning Kalou and the return of Titi!

Meanwhile, we have a game to win tonight, C’MON YOU RIPPIN ROARERS!!!

See you in the comments!