Arsenal America

Hi all Arse Am Gunner Fans, what a week it has been! I have enjoyed my first trip to Highbury so much and was so fortunate to enjoy 2 top quality matches in which our team has performed extremely well!

The mood for the Real Madrid match was electric as everyone was excited and hopeful of our victory. The Gunners had thrilled us on the away game and after the loss at Blackburn we all were wondering which Arsenal team would show up. Well we soon saw the determination and commitment of all the players. One thing that was so different being at the match was that you could see how each of our players were picking up their man and so RM often had nowhere to go as all were covered and options were rare. It was just awesome to hear the singing and joining in, what atmosphere!

We had good chances and kept theirs to a minimum and we should of scored a couple. From the North Bank it was great to see the Gunners attacking during the second half and we all willed Pires’ shot to make it to the net at the end! It was almost a nail biting experience to see us defending from afar, RM seemed to always be close to the net when they got past the midfield. The Raul chance happened so fast that we could hardly believe our eyes! It was an amazing game and one in which we deserved to win but a tie was enough. We had the result that we wanted!

So after coming down from this great match it was now time to go to see Liverpool and it promised to a great game also. As such the atmosphere was not as great nor was the match but to see Henry put a few in and run right by us holding his nose after the gifted goal was great! Our coverage was still pretty good and so was the commitment but our passing was on and off. I really enjoyed my trip and am already thinking about the next!!

As for the Arsenal well, when I see the players working so hard and sacrificing for each other as they have, I know that there are very few teams that can beat them whether in Europe or England. Playing the 4-1-4-1 or 4-5-1 has not been been our usual style up until the FA cup final last year but we can see now that we are very difficult defensively to penetrate and we counter attack very well as we now have both Cesc and Freddie or Bobby to handle the ball in the middle. It leaves Gilberto to help out the defense and handle the ball less, which is a good strategy!! Arsene will probably have the squad playing this way in the CL and it may be a good idea to use it on the road. It has taken a while but our team has developed into top quality and I believe we will do very well the rest of the season. We have a very young team and we will get even better. Well I could go on but to finish first THANK YOU RICK B and everyone at ARSENAL AMERICA!! I would not have attended the matches without you! To end here is a bit of a song that I enjoyed!

We love the Arsenal, We Do ! We love the Arsenal We Do! We Love the Arsenal We Do ! Oh Arsenal WE LOVE YOU!!

Cheers Redshark