Oct 22
Thierry Henry’s goal just one minute into the match pretty much set the tone for today’s clash with Reading at the Madejski as the Gunners romped to a 4-0 away victory over the Royals.
Goals by Alex Hleb, Robin van Persie and a converted spot kick by the Captain rounded out the win.
32 Responses to “Reading 0 - 4 Arsenal”
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October 22nd, 2006 at 1:13 pm
Great fluid football played.
You can see great friendship between Rosicky and Helb. I’ve seen that over a couple of games and even a picture of them having fun on the team bus. Good for the spirit of the team.
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:38 pm
i liiiiike
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:52 pm
Ecstatic with the performance and result. A clean sheet. 4 goals away from home. A win over a top ten team. Immediate bounce back from the Moscow defeat. This game could have been a potential banana skin, but the team made mockery of that. Couldn’t ask for more.
I just loved the way Hleb and Rosicky celebrated after the second goal.
Fabregas was awesome. I was ery surprised that AW didn’t substitute him to give the youngster with some well deserved rest.
I love the way Hleb and Fabregas run into the box when Henry has the ball. Rosicky needs to get into the act. He missed two easy chances to score.
Gilberto was poor. His passing was aweful. He gives the ball away far too easily. I fear we could pay the price sooner or later.
RvP needs to improves on his decision making. Shooting when having a 4 on 2 advantage is not the kind of stuff Henry likes.
A little perplexed with the substitutions. Bringing on Song completely blew the balance of the team. Walcott hardly got the ball despite being on the field for 20 min.
Despite the poor start, we have conceded the least number of goals. Isn’t that just lovely? Need to keep the run going into the crunch months of Nov and Dec.
As said before, I expect the head to head games with Chelsea and Bolton to be the deciders as far as a challenge to the title is considered.
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:56 pm
amzing stff frm arsenal
hleb and rosicky were like clockwork
the goal shud cut vanP some slack…but he was crap often
i think he’s wasted on the left!
and him and henry def dont gel…which is always gonna be a problem!
but good game good win….keep it up boys!
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:10 pm
What a wonderful response to the midweek loss. I was expecting a hard game against Reading and scrapping home with the odd goal. Today was an immense performance from the boys. This will build on the confidence against other hard teams like Bolton and Blackburn. For me, it was more than just 3 points! RvP was not sharp today even though he scored one and made a great pass to Rosicky who shud have scored. It was apparent the boys took their foot off the gas in the 2nd half and were lucky not be punished for some slack passing. Walcott did well using his speed on the ball but his final ball lacked the quality. Adebayor didn’t do much. Song seemed comfortable on the ball but did not see enough to suggest that he could replace Gilberto in the event of injury or fixture congestion. Was surprised that Clichy did not get a run out.
Will be interesting to see the team lineup for the Tuesday Carling cup game at WBA.
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:10 pm
How fuckin’ good was that? The sort of performance I was dreaming of two years ago when I urged Wenger to get rid of Vieira and let Fabregas have the floor. I wasn’t exaggerating earlier in the week was I? He probably is the best all-round midfielder in the world.
Still, he’s got plenty around him to bring out that talent. Hleb and Rosicky could be a fearsome double act. They’ve probably shot admiring glances at eachother (not in a gay way) during all those Dortmund-Stuttgart clashes and wondered what could happen if they played in the same team. Two kindred spirits who float around the imperious Henry.
Great performance with just a few concerns:
1)Van Persie- Looks a guy who has turned up to stag party uninvited and is trying his best to mingle- without much success. Doesn’t look like he belongs, but at times(charlton), it’s a good thing. One to keep an eye on.
2)Gilberto- someone please punch him. One of these days he WILL cost us. Great postional play as usual though.
3) Gallas. Turning into a bit of plank defensively at left back. Can’t be arsed to block crosses. Hasn’t been the same since injury. Djourou a bit dopey as well.
Have we got enough Rosicky/Hleb type players? Great as these players are- and what they contribue to our style- but if they don’t play, have we got anyone else with an ounce of their technical ability? Walcott, Song, Ljungberg come in and our passing level drops dramatically. On the plus side, we have more variation this way with more diverse characteristics. Also an issue to keep an eye on.
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:40 pm
Today was the type of game Football in general needs to see…kids need to see this n learn that this is what matters…footballl..played in the right way … stunning game…
Coming to your points….RVP as someone else mentioned is a waste wide left…he’s far too selfish to completely fit in to the Arsenal way…but as long as he gets a goal a game…no one is going to care too much…if he has 89 bad minutes…Titi n Him r okay too…. atleast Titi talks to him…unlike with JAR…lets c….
Gilberto will be okay…he never was a great passer…I wondered why he was taking penalties too….yeah the occasional horror backpass will cost us…but by and large he does his job…
Galls was our worst player today…dunno if he’s mad at being played at Left Back too much….or he’s just tired….I sure hope its the latter….
The team is fine…Freddie is good in the scrap games…but when we need to play our game…he just isnt the Freddie of old…SOng N Theo are hardly match fit…not much you can expect of them till they get a few full games and playing with the team….
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Just simply BEAUTIFUL!
October 22nd, 2006 at 4:20 pm
good win….but in the last minutes our defending was quite unfocused.
hleb, rosicky and fabregas are in a totally different level technically. im so happy we have them with us.
now. i am getting a bit fed up with gilberto. why cant he give a normal 10 yard pass without messing up??
it might be time to really replace him with say owen hargreaves. i hope owen doest move to man u this january, so we can really bid for him in the summer.
hargreaves does EVERYTHING gilberto does plus can actually PASS the ball. and he is 26 with loads of european experience so is approaching his peak.
he is english and can speak german just like hleb and rosicky, meaning he will bed in quickly.
just imagine this midfield of: rosicky, cesc, hargreaves, hleb. now that looks DELICIOUS!
and if we can trade in flamini and aliadere and some cash for ribery. and move on ljunberg to say…villareal - that would be a GOOD UPGRADE FOR US.
October 22nd, 2006 at 4:25 pm
I used to think like you about Gilberto. But I now think you are getting him wrong.
Arsenal are playing 4-1-4-1 which can switch to 4-1-5 as everyone except Gilberto gets on the attack. His job is not to contribute to the front five, it is to cover the pitch and make blocks, interceptions, tackles, attempted tackles, shoulders, just get in the way, to ensure the back four are not exposed, make time for some of the five attackers to get back and generally not give the other team time to get on the ball. Forcing the other team to give the ball away is a success for him. In fact, he could have a great game without touching the ball.
October 22nd, 2006 at 4:30 pm
He’s not talking about Gilberto’s role in the team or general defensive capabilities, but rather his complete negligence when it comes to keeping possession around our area. He gives the ball away time and time again and we can’t afford to do that against the Chelsea’s of this world. He’s supposed to be the experienced one yet every time we have a lead he’s falls asleep. He has to cut it out.
October 22nd, 2006 at 4:33 pm
In the next two years we need a new number one goalkeeper (and a number two). Apart from that, there is enough potential in the squad and out on loan to cover most other eventualities. A loss of form, serious injury or a wish to leave would create a vacancy in the squad but with a better than even chance of filling it from within.
October 22nd, 2006 at 4:40 pm
Really enjoyed this game. Good antidote to last Tuesday.
Passing and movement excellent. Great goals. Great performances. Not a lot else to say.
Next four Premiership games are in London. Next two Champions League games are at home. It would be brilliant to win all six!
October 22nd, 2006 at 4:45 pm
Don’t disagree with that, but if the ball comes to Gilberto on the edge of our area, it won’t normally result in a flowing move to the other end of the pitch. No player can do everything. While Hargreaves may be a better passer of the ball than Gilberto, I don’t think he is better than Gilberto at all the other things a defensive midfielder needs to do. If we replaced Gilberto with Hargreaves, we might be better with the ball but we would not be better without the ball.
October 22nd, 2006 at 5:04 pm
yes, i agree with this…our defence looks set (except clichy continues having injuries) and our attack is ok, especially when supported with those on loan.
but ljunberg is pretty much useless for us now.
and for how long can gilberto continue to pass WAYWARDLY before he is exposed big time.
i am of the opinion that we should clear out dead wood this summer: flamini, aliadere, ljunberg and almunia. and upgrade on gilberto.
then in with: hargreaves, ribery and a goalie. and then we are set for like 3 years.
October 22nd, 2006 at 5:11 pm
But….
Traore from next season, Gallas, Lauren and Hoyte can all play left-back if Clichy is injured. That is better cover than last season. Denilson, Diaby, Muamba and Song are four replacements for Flamini and Gilberto (if you really want to get rid of them). Lupoli, Bendtner and Stokes are all scoring goals for fun and can replace Aliadiere. Walcott will get older and replace Ljungberg, but there is also Randall, a very good prospect who we may see in the Carling Cup. That leaves the goalie position. Mannone hasn’t had a great time out on loan.
I am not gone on Hargreaves as a replacement for Gilberto. Yes, he is a better passer, but is he better at everything else?
October 22nd, 2006 at 5:17 pm
Hargreaves ain’t coming to Arsenal. Not when Wenger has Diaby, Denilson and Song waiting in the wings.
October 22nd, 2006 at 5:30 pm
Agreed, he isn’t, and I wouldn’t want him to replace Gilberto.
October 22nd, 2006 at 6:24 pm
Hey, even in the new Football Manager, after the first season I wanted to offer them new conrtacts. I first offered new contract to Rosicky, and when I offered a new deal to Hleb he said he wanted the same deal like Rosicky. They are something like soul-mates
October 22nd, 2006 at 7:45 pm
What an absolutely fantastic performance by the Arsenal. BRILLIANT display of football, that was free flowing and awe-inspiring. A joy to watch when we are on that level of play.
Reading at home… came to play, with the idea they could beat us. Not a chance today. We OUTCLASSED them all over the pitch. It could have been more. That is the sort of performance that football fans love, regardless of who is playing.
I don’t get why Gilberto is getting stick. Seriously. He does what he is paid to do and supposed to do. Shield. He is very good at what he does. Its obvious we don’t need him going forward… especially with Hleb and Rosicky playing.
They worked extremely well with Henry and Fabregas… it was DIVINE.
Negative??
Sure. I don’t think RVP belongs. He’s a square peg in the round hole on this team. He should NOT start in that type of line-up. He doesn’t pass well or cross, and frankly, he’s NOT a team player. Our players tend to pass to the open man… VanPersie is an individual player with very good skills. He can make something out of nothing with those skills. But he doesn’t play a team game. That is perhaps why he is good off the bench when we require something special or different. He simply doens’t fit in today’s line-up. LOST out there.
4 on 2 break… and he shoots. That says it all. Thats not the Arsenal way.
Great stuff. On that result… I’d say we have a chance to beat ANYBODY. Thats a level of play I haven’t seen from us in a while… a different gear… beauty and skill. If we can rotate some of the players coming back from injury into the squad… keeping the team fresh… and everyone involved, we can accomplish quite a bit this season. Sky is the the limit.
I’d have to say that the swap of COLE and REYES… for GALLAS and BAPTISTA has breathed new life into the team. No negative vibes. Nobody on the team that doesn’t want to be here. It goes a long way to be TOGETHER as a team.
CHEMISTRY.
As for today… simple.
“We played them off the pitch”.
BRAVO. Long may it last.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:28 am
Just want Gilberto to get 10-yard passes CORRECTLY and CONSISTENTLY. How difficult is that for a Brazilian and a World Cup winner? One of these days, it is going to cost us dearly.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:34 am
That’s why when AW substituted Rosicky and Hleb, the team completely lost it’s shape.
When is AW ever going to substitute Fabregas??? He needs rest and we also need to try some variation in the central midfield.
Is it because AW has no other replacement for Gilberto that Song gets playing time?
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:37 am
One of the reasons to play RvP on the left is to inject some team play into him. But he is just not learning.
October 23rd, 2006 at 6:12 am
Read this on a football website -
The answer to the Arsenal fans’ chant of “Have you ever seen Chelski play like this is?” is no, but then neither have Arsenal been seen winning at Bolton or Blackburn recently.
Steve McMahon, the pundit on ESPN, also said that the difference between Chelsea and Arsenal is that Arsenal win by playing well while Chelsea just win. That’s why they are more successful at places like Bolton and Blackburn.
I think we’ll have to set that record straight to shut these people up.
October 23rd, 2006 at 6:17 am
We’re not asking Gilberto to join in with attacks all the time, we are asking him to stop giving balls away continously outside our area. It’s better to notice these things when we win rather than pay for it in Stamford Bridge in December. I can see Essien clocking on to that and intercepting every stray gilberto pass and bam, goal for Chelsea. The Cska Moscow midfielders did the same.
It’s simple 5-10 yard passing to the right back or left back, not 30 yard through balls. I don’t think we’re asking too much here. We can’t keep banking on Toure to bail him out.
October 23rd, 2006 at 6:23 am
RvP being left footed is better suited to the right side of the pitch so he can cut in. He did not have a bad game, he took his goal well, and it is not the end of the world to be selfish, when we dont score we ask for people to be selfish. He is very skillful and self critical, I saw an interview with him and he was upset with himself against Charlton when he only scored 2 goals, he had a chance to get 3, and was upset about that, more than happy to score 2.
You cant pick fault at a team that wins away and gets four goals.
The main difference with this game to last season was the early goal. Reading are a good team and will finish top 10 at the end of the season.
I have not got a clue about the line up for WBA, anyone from about a list of 25 could play, that is how open Wenger is.
He has said, Denilson will play, so that is one, I am guessing Almunia will start in goal and Clichy and Senderos will play at the back. WBA are no mugs, they won on the weekend, so there needs to be some experience on the pitch. I am guessing the likes of Adebayor, Aliadere and Walcott could feature up front. Matthew Connolly is the reserve captain and deserves a game, he may play at RB because we are short here in cover.
The squad will be announced tomorrow morning.
October 23rd, 2006 at 6:29 am
getting an early goal is what we need. We wont be doing this every time we play away, so patience is what we need. The squad now is a perfect size, even with 4 or 5 players out the first team is great and the bench strong.
Dont look for faults when you win away and score 4 goals, take the points and move on. The core of the team will have a mid week break, more time to train and work on movement.
We can win the league this year, forget about transison, the squad had changed, four or five out and the same number in, and they have gelled well.
AW has a beautiful problem, he has great players who cant get into the team, there is team spirit and competition, the perfect mixture.
5 wins out of 5 is the best form in the league, the only teams who have put more than 6 wins in a row win leagues.
October 23rd, 2006 at 9:32 am
Reading-0 ManU/Chelsea-1.
Reading-0 Arsenal-4.
Absolutely priceless. As I hoped, Reading was the lamb led to slaughter after our debacle in Moscow. Now we need to follow the lead of the Arsenal Ladies who gutted Everton’s women 4-1.
If anyone thought I had been too harsh in my criticism of RVP, please come to his defense. Goal of the season aside, I would just like some team work from RVP. Even a blind squirrel can ’see’ what RVP will do when he gets the ball. Was he actually paying attention to Bergkamp or was he just to full of himself to listen to the master. Punk.
A note of caution. This wondrous display at Reading only works when teams are ignorant in their tactics against us. If teams don’t come out and play, then we must be patient and must be prepared to play a more direct syle. We must have a plan B when smart teams close down Fabregas and hunt down all those loose balls from Gilberto (…er I mean passes). This is what CSKA did without the help of the referee. Their 3 Brazilians were better on the day than our one. Dudu alone, outplayed Gilberto in the MF.
October 23rd, 2006 at 9:39 am
Although I’m frustrated from time to time by Gilberto’s awful passing (is he really Brazilian?!), I have to say he’s probably the MOST IMPORTANT player of the current team right now.
With the kids matured, we got a lot of depth on the squad. And we can handle the games without Henry much better than previously (100% record so far this season). But Gilberto, imagine we play WITHOUT him. It would be a disaster.
He is a VERY good defensive midfielder, particular playing the anchor role. The advantage he has over Flamini, or Owen H, Parker the like is his size and his strength. Owen H no doubt is a hardworking player, but so does Flamini. Owen H is technically sounded, but so does Flamini.
Yet from what we have seen so far, no matter how hard Flamini work, how sounded his technic is, his LACK OF SIZE and STRENGTH would never make him an effective defensive midfielder for Arsenal, and particular in the modern game.
Diaby, the Beast is more attacking minded midfielder, Song is not there yet. There is virtually no one can replace Gilberto for the time being. A lot of things he did were not eye-catching, particualr in an attacking Arsenal side, while we often only noticed our brilliant attacking play. But make no mistake, the way Gilberto break up the opposition play (as good as anyone in the league) is just as important as henry’s goals IMO.
A lot of ppl question why Lampard seems to be a different player playing for Chelsea and England, the anwer is - Makelele. He allows the freedom for Lampard to bomb forward. The same can speak for Gilberto. Without him, Fabregas, Hleb and Rosicky would surely have a more difficult time than having Gilberto around.
October 23rd, 2006 at 1:38 pm
That’s what makes it really frustrating. The fact that we have no player to replace Gilberto. So he can get away with these mistakes every time.
Although I agree that he does a good job, that doesn’t make him the most important player in the team. What does is the simple fact that we don’t have anyone to replace him.
October 23rd, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Arsenal v Reading wasn’t a game, It was an exhibition. The announcer should have just said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the Arsenal Soccer Show!”
October 24th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
The most frustrating thing about Gilberto is that he is obviously capable of making good passes. On the first goal, it was his pinpoint pass across the field that set up the run down the flanks. How he can make such a nice pass and then continue to give a way a five to ten yard pass mystifies me to no end.