Arsenal Ladies Win FA Cup

Arsenal Ladies won a staggering 12th FA Cup Final yesterday, thumping Bristol Academy 3-0 in a match that could easily have finished up 6-0.

Under new manager, Shelley Kerr, Arsenal have endured a torrid start to their Women’s Super League season. A shocking 4-0 home defeat at the Emirates Stadium to Liverpool wounded them, as did a 1-1 draw away to Lincoln, with only a once-in-a-lifetime strike from Stephanie Houghton late on securing that point.

Arsenal had battered Bristol Academy in the quarter-finals of the Continental Cup last Sunday, emerging as 4-2 victors thanks to strikes from Ellen White, Jordon Nobbs, Danielle Carter and Kim Little. Arsenal Ladies are not used to losing and after a difficult week, that win could only have renewed their belief ahead of the FA Cup Final in Doncaster.

Stephanie Houghton gave Arsenal a surprise early lead. There’s no surprise about Arsenal scoring, nor is there of Houghton managing to register a goal, but there is considerable surprise when a left-back scores from a header on the right flank of the penalty area, because of a cross from the left-wing. Rachel Yankey’s delivery for Houghton was first-class and Siobhan Chamberlain, who was let down by her defenders not being able to get closer to Houghton, stood very little chance with her header.

Jordan Nobbs went on to hit the post in the first half as Arsenal dominated play, but there were a few fumbles from Arsenal goalkeeper, Emma Byrne, which suggested that the nerves were still lingering amongst Arsenal’s players.

Despite dominating, Arsenal failed to capitalise and score another. Perhaps a lack of confidence with their game at the moment?

In the second half, things couldn’t have gone any worse for Bristol. Lucy Staniforth suffered a terrible injury when both legs buckled when her studs got caught in the ground. Houghton, who had suffered a similar injury herself, instantly turned round so as not to remind herself and Staniforth’s screams were audible from the other end of the pitch. Thankfully, Staniforth later revealed via Twitter that her knee is okay and nothing serious appears to have happened.

As Bristol sought an equaliser, the game became increasingly stretched and Arsenal were beginning to counter effectively and find exploitable gaps. In the 72nd minute, Nobbs looped a delicious header over Chamberlain, who again had little chance with the effort after poor marking from her defenders yet again. Ellen White then added a third late on, capitalising on the rebound from another Chamberlain save.

As with the first and second goal, Chamberlain was left exposed by her defence who had gone to pieces at important moments in the game. For the last 20 minutes, they were nearly non-existent as Arsenal ploughed through time and time again on the counter-attack.

After the match, Chamberlain said: “We didn’t really turn up. We have been playing well in the league but here a lot of our players didn’t perform as well as they can. It is disappointing, because we had a lot more to give.”

For Shelley Kerr and her Arsenal side, this trophy should revitalise their confidence for their WSL season as they look to kick on from a winless start. Bristol on the other hand, will rue the fact they did not turn up when they had so much more to offer.

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Posted on May 27, 2013 by Craig in FA Cup, Ladies Football Leave a comment

Millwall Chief Meets FA After Wembley Debacle

Millwall Chief Executive, Andy Ambler, has met with Football Association officials following the violence which erupted amongst Millwall supporters during Saturday’s 2-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Wigan Athletic.

Ambler had this to say on the BBC website:

“We have pledged to offer all the help and assistance we can during the course of the investigations. At this stage, we are still awaiting details of the arrests that have already been made and understand that the police will want to identify others. Similarly, they will seek to discover what caused the disorder to occur and we are grateful for all the correspondence we have received from Lions fans who were as appalled as we were by what went on.”

“The actions of a minority on Saturday spoiled what should have been an exciting day for 32,000 of our supporters who came out to cheer their team at Wembley. Furthermore, the reputation of our club, which over the last few years has been steadily and painstakingly rebuilt, has been severely damaged once again. We understand that there are now bridges to be rebuilt, and if there are lessons to be learned from the weekend I’m sure all parties will be keen to take them on board and ensure that those unsavoury scenes are not repeated.”

Millwall have done a lot to change their image over the past few years and it has been a painstaking ordeal for all. It’s a culture they’re trying to eradicate and that takes years open years. Sadly, for all the good that the club have done in trying to change their image, a select minority of their supporters constantly drag them through ditches.

As you can see from that video, the lot of them who are fighting are complete cowards. They aren’t tough, they aren’t clever and what happened at Wembley was an absolute disgrace. People who approach life with that attitude make me sick and hopefully, everybody caught on camera will find themselves banned from football for a long time and thrown in a prison. There’s no place for it in society and no place in our football stadiums. To see that young girl crying as people fought around her was horrific. I can only imagine it being my little brother and how he would feel, and it turns my heart to ice.

Send them to the Gulag.

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Posted on April 15, 2013 by Craig in England, FA Cup Leave a comment

Arsenal’s Foundations Crumbling

I wasn’t at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday for Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers. Instead I gave it a miss, watched it on the laptop and for the first half, made a Cheese, Bacon & Potato bake ready for tea in the evening. Normally, I’d be sat on the edge of my chair, nerves sky high, or at the Emirates shouting my face off, but on Saturday, it felt different.

As an Arsenal fan, facing lower league teams in your state-of-the-art home, on your world-beating pitch, played on by great players, you just expect a win. That is arrogant, I know, but you can’t help but slip in to that mindset. “We have the better things so we’ll beat you.” I was feeling, in all honesty, very relaxed. Read more

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Craig in Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, England, FA Cup Leave a comment

Sycophants Of The FA Cup Giant-Killing

“Leeds United will milk this for all its worth”, remarked Jon Champion, with Kevin Friend’s whistle still warm from having blown for full-time, bringing an end to an FA Cup tie fought between Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur, a match which Leeds United won 2-1.

“Young Sam Byram will remember this for the rest of his life”, said Jon Champion, indicating that the talented full-back will do nothing from the age of 19 to the potential age of 39 in his football career. “It’s a famous victory for the Yorkshire club”. Leeds famously being a club to have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, knocked out by Valencia. Don’t forget to count the prolific “Don Revie era”, when two league championships were won, along with… An FA Cup of all trophies. Read more

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Craig in England, FA Cup Leave a comment

Arsenal 1-0 Swansea

Good morning!

With variation brought to the Arsenal midfield, through to injury sustained by Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky, Arsene Wenger named a more physically powerful defensive midfield duo than what Arsenal are accustomed to, playing Francis Coquelin and Abou Diaby as the defensive pair. In addition, Santi Cazorla was moved wide left and Jack Wilshere played in the “number ten” role. Read more

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Craig in Arsenal, England, FA Cup, Swansea City Leave a comment

Chelsea Embarrass Spurs 5-1

Stolen from Twitter. Should Martin Atkinson have awarded this?

Good morning!

Yesterday I had no idea how Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur would go. On the one hand, Chelsea have improved x10 since Roberto Di Matteo took over the reigns from Andre Villas Boas, whilst Spurs have really dropped off of late, though there is always a worry their pace could exploite a porous defence. Whilst a classic match was on the cards, it also had the makings of a really scrappy affair and there was just no telling how it would go.

For a good 43 minutes, my worst fears looked to be confirmed. Neither team could grab hold of the ball, efforts on goal were skewing all over the place and then all of a sudden, Didier Drogba, turned William Gallas and shot in the same movement, hammering the ball past Carlo Cudicini at his near post, the ball nestling in the top corner. It’s the kind of goal we’ve come to expect from Didier Drogba over the years, out-muscling a defender before kicking a ball so hard it would have decapitated Cudicini had he dared get anywhere near it. As he’s getting older, we’ve seen less and less of Drogba’s quality and Chelsea would be wise to let him leave this summer, I think they need to build around Fernando Torres.

That goal came just as Spurs were applying pressure to Chelsea and came at a crucial time in the match, no team likes conceding just before half time and having looked the stronger team in the first half before Drogba’s goal, Spurs came out fighting from within their shells and soon, Chelsea pressure would result in a controversial goal for Juan Mata.

A Chelsea corner was contested by David Luiz and John Terry, who both ended up on the floor along with Benoit Assou-Ekotto as Ledley King flicked a header clear. King’s header however was out of instinct and thus didn’t go very far, falling to Juan Mata who volleyed from an angle. There were shouts for a goal from Juan Mata, it looked very close on first glance and referee Martin Atkinson pointed toward the halfway line to gift Chelsea their second of the match.

To break down this goal, I’ll begin with the above picture. From an angle, it does indeed appear that Juan Mata has scored, so we can understand his celebrations, I’d celebrate too if I were a player desperate to score in an FA Cup Semi-Final at Wembley. Even if it is a goal, a picture at a favourable angle (zoomed in at that) is still contested to such fine margins that I fail to understand just how Martin Atkinson can can stand there in real-time and adjudge the goal to be given. Unless Atkinson has a photographic memory in which he can zoom in and analyse the situation, I’d say that he’s working entirely on guesswork, which just isn’t good enough for an FA Cup Semi-Final.

A few people have called for honesty from the players. John Terry and Juan Mata have been criticised in some quarters for celebrating a goal that wasn’t. I can’t get on my moral high horse over that. Even when I play five-a-side I say I’ve scored when it looks debatable. Why? Because I’m a winner and right or wrong, winners do everything they can to succeed. It’s why I understand diving. Not that I agree with it, but if it were 1-1 in the Champions League Final and I felt contact in the area, I would go down as if I’d have been blown away by a cannon. There are such high stakes involved in football that I understand why players go to such lengths to win, but all the same, it doesn’t make it right.

Again, we come back to video technology being introduced to football and if it were introduced, the problem of diving and goals that weren’t would be eradicated. Of course, players might still try diving, but they would be found out in seconds and then face a healthy ban, so it should wipe it out.

Bans sought out in retrospect to a dive are useless. By that time, a team has already suffered or gained as a direct result of diving, so what has been solved? Nothing. If players are found to be diving there and then, in the moment, it should be a red card and a one match ban.

Minutes after Chelsea controversially made it 2-0, Spurs had pulled a goal back. With David Luiz and John Terry caught embarrassingly square, Scott Parker slipped a precise ball through for Emmanuel Adebayor who went one-on-one with Petr Cech. Adebayor rounded Cech, only to be brought down, which would have resulted in a red card and penalty kick. Fortunately for Chelsea, Gareth Bale was present to roll the ball into an empty net and make it 2-1.

Personally I applaud Atkinson’s decision to award a goal and not sent off Petr Cech. At 2-0 down I’d much sooner have a guaranteed goal in my grasp and face Chelsea’s eleven men than I would have Chelsea down to ten men and fighting a war of attrition.

Despite Spurs fans finding their voice, their team looked largely incapable of forcing the game their way. A lack of penetration, will and quality has haunted Spurs for months now and it was coming back to haunt them, they just couldn’t find that edge of quality to draw parity with Chelsea.

Juan Mata, who was sensational yesterday, killed Spurs off with his left foot, first releasing Ramires in the 77th minute to kill the game off and then sending Florent Malouda clear in the dying minutes to score again, making it 5-1.

Inbetween those two goals, Frank Lampard scored with a thunderous free-kick, but the damage had been done with Ramires’ third strike which killed Spurs completely.

5-1 to Chelsea and an FA Cup Final between themselves and Liverpool.

That’s your lot from me today, I’ve a million things to do before I head south for the Arsenal v Wigan match.

See you tomorrow!

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Posted on April 16, 2012 by Craig in England, Premiership Leave a comment

Fernando Torres / Daniel Sturridge / Leicester City

Morning all!

Apologies for the lack of a post yesterday evening, it just didn’t happen. The reasons behind a no-show were to do with a redesign of this blog, so it wasn’t as if I was scratching my arse, doing nothing and not thinking of any of you.

As for the redesign, it should happen in the next week or two, I’m very excited as the site will look so much better than what we currently have and there will be so much more we can do to the site. We’re even having our own logo which is pretty cool! It’s going to be that big a facelift, Jackie Stallone would be envious…

Anyway, to the football and as we’re all aware, Fernando Torres has ended his five month goal drought, which spanned over twenty-four games. Speaking to ESPN after Chelsea’s FA Cup tie with Leicester City, Torres described ending the drought as a, ‘relief’.

Fernando Torres scoring goals again was never in doubt, class players just do not lose that kind of quality, it stays with them forever. As the old saying goes, ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’, this is certainly applicable in the case of Torres, but having watched Chelsea v Leicester at the weekend, couldn’t the team be doing more to supply a striker who, on his day, is miles ahead of Didier Drogba in terms of technique, pace, vision…everything?

Daniel Sturridge is a striker currently being asked to play on the wing for Chelsea, much in the same way Theo Walcott is at Arsenal. For me, Walcott is more winger than striker, but the term applies as both wish to play centrally for their clubs. On the one hand, Theo Walcott has a real grasp of how to use his pace and vision to lay assists for other players, having made eight assists this season, compared to Sturridge’s paltry effort of two. On four or five occassions against Leicester, all Sturridge had to do was play a square ball for other players, but he had to try something spectacular. At the moment, Sturridge is playing for himself and his own ego, not Chelsea Football Club.

It’s not just me who is frustrated by Sturridge, but large sections of the Chelsea support, too. Whenever Sturridge played for himself on Sunday, you could see the reaction of the crowd and having read the comments section on Chelsea Daft, it becomes apparent that whilst fans have very little time for Sturridge, they are delighted with the selfless talents of Torres.

For Chelsea’s fifth goal, it would have been easy for Torres to shoot and claim his hat-trick, but having noticed Raul Meireles in a better scoring position, Torres passed to the Portuguese midfielder, even though Chelsea had won the match by this point. In that moment, Torres demonstrated the difference between a world class player and an immature, futile novice. Sturridge is too much an individualist and unless that changes, Sturridge will never become a leading striker, but more of an impact substitute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4RyAHl9h_A

If Torres was indeed being supplied by the aforementioned Theo Walcott, just how many goals would the Spaniard have? It’s widespread for people to criticise Theo Walcott, even Chris Waddle has said he lacks a brain, but people seem to forget that Walcott had only just turned twenty-three and come September, Walcott and Sturridge will be the same. Robin Van Persie has mentioned how good Walcott is hundreds of times, claiming it’s crazy just how quick people turn on Walcott. Does Sturridge receive similar acclaim from his peers? No, and for good reason.

As I said two paragraphs ago, Sturridge will never become a class player until he learns to pass and with the reportedly poor attitude which emanates from the striker’s every pore, the day Sturridge learns to pass seems a day we will never see.

Leicester City

Whilst Fernando Torres was making the news for ending his goal drought against Leicester City, his victims did show glimpses of their future potential.

Despite being hammered 5-2 and largely outclassed by Chelsea, this match was pivotal for Leicester City in continuing their growth under Nigel Pearson. I’ve moaned countless times before over Leicester’s ridiculous affinity for hiring and firing managers for sport and the equally ludicrous buying and selling of players in languid fashion. This behaviour has resulted in Leicester City making no progress in three years, despite a hideous amount of money spent on players and coaching staff.

A fully-fit Leicester City side, on paper, is a lower mid-table Premiership side and with a more settled team, Leicester could easily be spinging shocks on teams such as Chelsea, but only if their erratic Thai owners allow Nigel Pearson some time.

Having offered Thai holidays to fans as part of a match-day programme prize and landed in the stadium via helicopter before another match, such implausible behaviour makes it seem unlikely they’re people who like to sit around on their hands, waiting for things to happen.

Vichai Raksriaksorn, Leicester City’s owner, has spent a staggering £53 million on running Leicester City. Raksriaksorn (it’s as much a bitch for you to read that name as it is for me to type it) recently ploughed a £26 million loan into Leicester City Football Club through the holding company, Asian Football Investments. This is a loan at 8% and is not interest-free, suggesting that Raksria…Eric Clapton (Leicester’s owner will be referred to as Clapton for the duration of this post) is not looking to sit on his backside waiting for Leicester to achieve success, which could have devastating effect on the club long-term if they do not achieve promotion to the Premiership in the next season or two.

That however, is looking at things in a negative light and since it’s fantastic sunshine as I type, I can only think positively. Eric Clapton can only have been impressed by Leicester’s enthusiasm to attack Chelsea and their ability to really worry Chelsea when they attacked was commendable.

In defence, Leicester had real worries, all too often cut apart by Chelsea and whilst you would expect Chelsea to break down all Championship teams, it shouldn’t be allowed with such ease. Another season with the same back five would see Leicester improve dramatically and only then, would Eric Clapton be able to realise his ambition of Premiership football

That’s your lot from me today, I’ll see you in the comments!

Follow @J4goalpostsblog

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Craig in Championship, England, Premiership Leave a comment

Good Week / Bad Week. Sunderland Beat Arsenal, Leicester Defeat Norwich & Stevenage Hold Spurs

Good Week

Stevenage Borough

Drawing 0-0 with a team placed third in the Barclay’s Premier League is always a good achievement for a Championship team, never mind one fighting for a play-off spot in League One. Stevenage are enjoying a pretty good season in League One and currently sit 6th in the league, with two games in hand on most teams around them, apart from Sheffield Wednesday, who they have four games in hand on. Clearly, Stevenage hold a pretty enviable position in League One and could soon overhaul third place Sheffield Wednesday once Stevenage have caught up with their fixtures.

Despite such a good position being held in League One, it’s normally the case that when a Premiership team plays a side from a lower league, the lower league side will match their Premiership opponents for around an hour through sheer willpower and organisation. After that 60 minute mark, extra fitness and quality shows, meaning that more often than not, the Premiership team will dominate the final half an hour and claim victory.

For Stevenage, this wasn’t such a problem. In midfield, Luke Freeman looked brilliant on the ball, doing all the simple things to help Stevenage keep the ball. Freeman looked great in Arsenal’s reserves, I always liked him when I saw him play for the reserves, so I’m perplexed as to why exactly Arsenal let him go on a permanent transfer after yesterday’s showing from Freeman. All over the pitch, Stevenage seemed able to draw up a little bit of quality to help them through against Spurs and they’ll need to call upon it again in midweek for the replay at White Hart Lane.

Leicester City

The last two results in Leicester City’s fixture list illustrates Leicester’s season perfectly. A 3-2 defeat by the hands of Watford lead to my eternally optimistic Leicester City supporting friend claim ‘their season is over’ after what truly was an awful result for a team wanting to get promotion. If Leicester had won, they’d now be on 45 points, just 6 points off a promotion place, which is truly frustrating when you look at the potential Leicester City possess.

Players such as David Nugent, Jermaine Beckford, Matt Mills, Kasper Schmeichel, Andy King, Richie Wellens and the rest look, on paper, like a Premiership team. If that side was to be playing in the Premiership, they’d be in the top half. For certain, Leicester (again, on paper) have a better team than Stoke City for example.

So why are’t Leicester not higher up the table? Simply, it’s because of a ridiculous amount of players coming and going at the Walkers Stadium over the past three or four years, as well as Managers. Leicester have such a high turnover of playing staff and backroom staff, as well as management, that it’s hard to create a single vision for Leicester to strive toward. Even if it’s universally accepted at the club that promotion is always the target, it becomes equally hard to achieve that when the staff trying to achieve that goal is continually changing.

This is a criticsm, but mainly born out of frustration because I know how good Leicester can be, I know how big the club is and if Nigel Pearson is to keep everything together, Leicester will go a long way.

However for all the Watford results that come Leicester’s way, there is still an obvious abundance in quality and when Leicester do strike a chord, they can sweep most teams out of their way, in particular, a strong Norwich City side who have done very well in the Premiership this season. If Leicester continue Saturday into the rest of their matches this season, the Foxes could make a real push for the play-offs and finally achieve their goal of promotion. (though I personally feel they’re best having another season in the Championship to gel)

Sunderland

Martin O’Neill is some sort of miracle worker. We’re not talking small miracles here, I mean large miracles to the scale of turning the atmosphere of a whole club around and bringing them to the cusp of a Wembley appearance if Sunderland are to beat Everton in the FA Cup Quater Finals. O’Neill (MON) has started to get the best out of players who looked as if their careers were stagnating and that’s not down to any voodoo Doctor, but thanks to MON’s ability to get the best out a player by using the best motivation techniques.

Sunderland’s performance against Arsenal on Saturday was typical of a MON side, fighting to the last to ensure a win was secured. It wasn’t a ‘pretty’ performance from Sunderland and nor did the Mackems dominate, they realised they couldn’t compete openly with Arsenal, so stuck to a plan and carried it out to perfection.

A tactical master as well as a magician of a motivator, MON could well carry what were an infuriating Sunderland side to the next level.

Bad Week

Arsenal

If a 4-0 loss against an AC Milan side still in transition under Massimiliano Allegri (no idea if I spelt that right!) wasn’t bad enough for Arsenal, a result which effectively knocks them out of the Champions League then a 2-0 loss to Sunderland in the FA Cup, Arsenal’s only realistic chance of winning any silverware, is truly the stuff made of disasters.

Against Arsenal, Milan’s defence must have been laughing as they claimed the entire Arsenal side in their back pocket. Despite the Lion’s share of possession against Milan, Arsenal were woeful in the final third and looked awfully short of any initiative. Any initiative was provided by a 34 year old Thierry Henry (who has now returned to New York Red Bulls) and an isolated Robin Van Persie. This was imitated against Sunderland, where again, Arsenal just looked shorn of any clue as to how to break teams down.

It’s been a painful week for me, so I don’t wish to digest both games against AC Milan and Sunderland, but I do wish to share with you just why Arsenal are suddenly so painstakingly shit. Having sold both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in the summer, Arsenal have replaced two world class midfielders with Aaron Ramsey and Gervinho.

First and foremost, I must say I think both Ramsey and Gervinho are good players. What they are not, however, are ready made replacements for two quality midfielders. Ramsey for example is still young and at that, a year behind in his development and being asked to perform in the Fabregas role serves as brutal punishment. Ramsey is doing the hardest job at Arsenal and that is to keep things ticking over, which can’t be done with a player still learning his trade, whipping Ramsey in this role will only damage him and Arsenal either need Wilshere back, or another midfielder of a truly world class stature to be able to perform in the hole vacated by Fabregas to get Arsenal tickin again.

As for Gervinho, he’s already made more assists than Samir Nasri did in his entire Arsenal career. Gervinho however is an out and out winger unlike Nasri, whose preference was to come inside, meaning Arsenal have now adopted a new style reliant on pacy wingers, rather than playing with dedicated playmakers on the wing. With Gervinho still adapting to the English game, there will be inconsistencies in Gervinho’s performances and it’s this constant period of transition in Arsenal’s teams since 2005 which is killing the club’s chances of silverware.

There is one person responsible for this and that is Arsene Wenger. That story however, remains untouched for another article…

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Posted on February 20, 2012 by Craig in Championship, England, League One, Premiership Leave a comment

Arsene Wenger Launches Tirade On Arsenal Players

Morning all!

Today’s a bit of a slow day, mainly because I refuse to talk about Europa League football. I mean, if Stoke City can rest players when it comes to their first bash at European football, then I’m going to give my fingers a rest by not talking about a competition nobody else cares about. If Patrice Evra wants to moan that it’s ‘embarrassing’ to play in the Europa League, then it’s certainly ‘embarrassing’ for me to talk about it.

So with that, our attention again focuses on Arsenal, who are looking to pick themselves up off the proverbial floor tomorrow with victory against Sunderland in the FA Cup, seven days after having beaten Martin O’Neill’s rejuvenated Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

A 4-0 loss away to AC Milan in the Champions League has created a feeling of further unrest amongst Arsenal fans, who are angry at not having top players replaced during the summer, and a sudden realisation of the fact that Thierry Henry, who has now returned to New York Red Bulls following his loan spell, was Arsenal’s second best striker behind Robin Van Persie. Now Henry has gone, (again) a realisation of having a particularly weak squad is hitting Arsenal fans and there is rumour that Arsene Wenger is going to field his strongest side against Sunderland, so as not to risk further backlash from fans who would be angry about being knocked out of the FA Cup just three days after being effectively knocked out of the Champions League.

To be fair, there has been a feeling all season that Arsenal’s squad is weak. Whereas last year, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Alex Song and Jack Wilshere lead the midfield, this season it’s been Mikel Arteta, Alex Song, Tomas Rosicky and Aaron Ramsey; only the holding midfielder has remained, otherwise the creative hub behind Arsenal’s beautiful passing game has disappeared. Replacing Cesc Fabregas with a player still in the early stages of his development is nothing short of naive. Ramsey will become a great player, but he shouldn’t achieve that goal through being hammered most weeks by fans who are frustrated at watching a player still being in educated in football, try to fill the gigantic boots vacated by Cesc Fabregas.

Wednesday’s defeat to AC Milan was terrible and recognised as a real sign of regression, especially when compared to last year’s stunning 2-1 victory over Barcelona. That night, (as well as in the second leg, Arsenal were in the driving seat when Van Persie was sent off) Arsenal matched Barcelona, then triumphed over the Spaniards, eventually proving too good for Barcelona at their own game. It was emphatic, the best night of my life as an Arsenal fan in the past few years and on Wednesday, that night seemed worlds away.

Arsene Wenger wasn’t happy with his players either. John Cross, a football journalist for the Daily Mirror whose job is to cover Arsenal, said in his online column that Wenger barely spoke a word to his squad in Milan, before hammering his players when back at London Colney. (Arsenal’s training ground) Cross reports that very few Arsenal players had seen Wenger as furious as the man berating his squad for an embarrassing performance in Milan and having demanded a reaction from his players, it’s very likely Wenger will name his strongest team available, with maybe a few alterations.

Rather than Theo Walcott on the right, I believe Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will move to the right, whilst Andrey Arshavin will move in on the left, as Walcott has been eternally disappointing in recent matches, so it is time for a natural change there anyway. Van Persie may be rested due to what the San Siro pitch may have done to his infamous knees and Koscielny won’t feature out of injury, but otherwise, Arsene Wenger will be fielding the strongest side available to him.

Arsenal need a positive reaction and after one of Arsene Wenger’s rare tirades, will the Gunners deliver against Sunderland?

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Posted on February 17, 2012 by Craig in England, Europe, Italy, Premiership Leave a comment

A Game Of Two Halves

Morning all!

I’m sorry this post is later than usual, but do let me throw my excuses your way as I begin to explain just why today’s post is later than scheduled. First of all, my Car is in the garage being fixed, meaning my normal route of driving down the motorway to Cockfoster’s tube station was taken away from me, so I had to get to the Emirates yesterday via National Express coach.

To cut a long story short, we got back late and very tired, so thus I’ve afforded myself a lie-in and this post hits your screen later than scheduled.

Right, I’m not going to pussy foot around the subject, but we must start this morning on booing in stadiums. My first gripe with yesterday, was the boos for Arshavin as his name was read out during the teams being announced. Now, I must stress it was only a small minority, but that for me was disgusting. On a match day, we get behind our players and give them our unconditional support, if you feel you must show you don’t like something about the club, then do it away from the stadium, not at a place you so desperately want to turn into a fortress. I’m proud to say I cheered Arshavin’s name.

Yes, Arshavin has now earned himself the title of a ‘marmite’ player, but that does not give anybody the right to shoot down what little, precious confidence the Russian has left. If good form is required from Arshavin, then he needs to be supported, Andrey’s blatantly suffering, so why not get behind him? Pathetic. Again, it was the minority, though more effort could have been made to cheer him.

Those boo’s erupted at half-time as well, as Arsenal found themselves 2-0 down. Okay, that would have been a fourth loss in five games for Arsenal, but again, what good does booing do when your team is clearly stuck in a rut? Arsenal may well have gone on to win the match, but for me that was down to the players and management, not senseless booing.

As I said before, take protests and boo’s away from the stadium, it’s not productive and does absolutely nothing positive for the club. Have you ever been criticised at work? How does it make you feel? If you’ve answered how I think you will, then you’ll see sense, otherwise, there is clearly nothing between your ears but cotton wool.

Anyway, moving on to the match, a pretty damned good one at that!

Aston Villa found themselves 2-0 up at half-time, something I could not begin to fathom as Arsenal had dominated. Despite never really creating anything of note, aside from Aaron Ramsey’s penetrating run into the box which resulted in a save from Shay Given at his near post, there was nothing to suggest Arsenal would score five, but then again, there was nothing to suggest Arsenal would concede, having looked very much in control of the match.

From a corner, Richard Dunne managed to beat three defenders and Fabianski to head in the first goal. I agreed with the decision to field Fabianski, he needs game time after his injury and the FA Cup against a poor Villa side represented a good opportunity to get some match practice in. There were faults in Fabianski’s play, notably in his footwork when he found himself clearing the ball under pressure from Robbie Keane a few times. You do get the feeling that Szczesny, had he been on, would have nut-megged Keane before clearing, such is the confidence of Arsenal’s number one.

For the second goal, I do disagree with Arsene Wenger when he says Fabianski did well with Bent’s initial shot. Breaking it all down, Bent has shot at Fabianski from an angle, and Fab has parried Bent’s shot away to a more acute angle. As Fabianski would be grounded when the ball inevitably falls to Bent, there are opportunities for both a cross and a precise strike at goal. Bent opted for the latter and scored. For me, Fabianski calculated his angles wrong and thus Arsenal were 2-0 down.

A performance lacking edge resulted in the fans being far from pleased with on-pitch matters, but that second half was so enjoyable. At the Emirates, I sit in Block 28, so I’m fairly close to the away fans, but far away enough I don’t get hassle from any idiots. This makes for good banter and in the second half, as Arsenal picked up their game, the songs were flowing thick and fast, as were the goals.

Richard Dunne gratuitously bundled Aaron Ramsey for the first penalty, which Robin Van Persie, predictably, dispatched with ease. Theo Walcott’s indecision when through on goal at an angle meant Hutton’s clearance from a Walcott cross hit Theo and went in. Darren Dent then seny Laurent Koscielny flying for Arsenal’s second penalty and third goal, which, obviously, was converted by Van Persie.

After a glorious fifteen minutes, Arsenal were back in control and as soon as Agbonlahor went off, Villa’s threat evaporated as Arsenal played without fear, knowing there was no real pace in the Villa side to trouble them on the counter. Stephen Ireland could and should have scored when he found in the box, but for some reason, Ireland took a touch away from goal when he should have shot, allowing Arsenal’s defenders to recover.

Arsenal are now through to the next round of the FA Cup and hopefully, yesterday’s second half performance proves to be a catalyst for greater things to come.

Right, I’ll see you in the comments!

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Craig in England, Premiership Leave a comment

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