Fratton Park is one of the oldest grounds in English football. Records show that the first league played game at this stadium was Portsmouth against their local rivals Southampton in September 1899. Portsmouth are also known for being the first stadium to use floodlights for an English league game back in 1956. Having never been to the stadium, I can’t comment accurately on the atmosphere but from what I have read this 20,000 seater still has an old time charm about it. Seeing some of the recent games, one could tell that the fans were really behind their team. When Arsenal were leading 5-1 at Fratton Park during an F.A Cup tie in 2003/04, the Portsmouth fans were still singing and encouraging their team on. Such support despite losing heavily would be hard to imagine for some of the other big Premier League teams. Earlier this year, a plan for a new 36,000 stadium was announced so Fratton Park is probably in the final few years of its existence.
Head-to-Head Stats:
In 61 all time league meetings between Arsenal and Portsmouth, the Gunners have 25 wins, Pompey have 14 victories and the remaining 22 games ended in ties. Since Portsmouth returned to the Premier League in 2003/04, Arsenal are unbeaten in all 10 league and cup meetings (5 wins and 5 ties including the 5-1 F.A Cup win). In fact, Arsenal’s last loss to Pompey was at Fratton Park in the 1953/54 season when Portsmouth ran out 5-4 winners. Ofcourse, some critics would point to the fact that Pompey might have beaten Arsenal in the 1-1 draw at Highbury on Sept 13, 2003 when a Pires tumble allowed Henry to level the game from the spot. For the record, the Portsmouth goalscorer that day was Teddy Sheringham.
Boxing Day:
Arsenal have met Pompey three times previously on Boxing day but all three games were ages ago. Of the two games at Fratton Park, Arsenal tied 1-1 (Dec 26, 1951) and won 2-0 (1946). Whereas, the Dec 26th 1929 fixture at Highbury ended with a 2-1 Pompey win.
Ex-Gunners and other bargain buys:
There are three ex-Gunners on Pompey’s current squad — Sol Campbell, Lauren and Kanu. That total could have been 4 if Freddie Ljungberg had moved to Fratton Park in the summer as per initial reports. Over the years, Harry Redknapp has managed to collect a diverse but talented group of players such as Glen Johnson, Benjani and Pedro Mendes to name a few. In the summer, they strengthened their squad with three promising signings in John Utaka, Papa Bouba Diop and Muntari. But John Utaka who was quite good at Lens & to some extent at Rennes hasn’t transformed the same form to the EPL. Muntari on the other hand scored two beautiful goals away to Aston Villa in a 3-1 Pompey win.
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Current season
After 18 games Arsenal are still the highest scorers in the league with 36 goals, 4 more than Man Utd’s 32. Most of Arsenal’s goals have been quite beautiful but some of Portsmouth’s 29 goals haven’t been that shabby. If things go their way, then Pompey are capable of scoring goals such as in the 7-4 win over Reading, 4-1 away demolition of Newcastle and 3-1 away win to Villa. But if things don’t go right for Pompey, they are capable of not even creating a single decent chance as shown in the 1-0 home loss to Spurs. Prior to this weekend’s 4-1 away loss to Liverpool, Pompey had gone on a 6 game away winning streak. In fact, had it not been for that good away run Pompey might have been in the bottom end of the league as they have only won 2 of their 8 home games. The last time Portsmouth won at Fratton Park was that 7-4 win on Sept 29. Since then, they have had three successive 0-0 home ties (West Ham, Man City and Everton) before that 1-0 loss to Spurs.
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Point totals
Wenger’s previous analysis of 75 points being good enough to win the league is no longer true. In fact, the bar has been pushed much higher and it started with Arsenal’s unbeaten league season in 2004. The points of the top two teams and their cumulative points total over the last few seasons:
1999/00: Man Utd (91), Arsenal (73), Total: 164
2000/01: Man Utd (80), Arsenal (70), Total: 150
2001/02: Arsenal (87), Liverpool (80) Total: 167
2002/03: Man Utd (83), Arsenal (78), Total: 161
2003/04: Arsenal (90), Chelsea (79) Total: 169
2004/05: Chelsea (95), Arsenal (83), Total: 178
2005/06: Chelsea (91), Man Utd (83), Total: 174
2006/07: Man Utd (89), Chelsea (83), Total: 172
The 2004/05 season stands out not only for Chelsea’s point total of 95 but the high number of points the second placed team, Arsenal, grabbed. Since that season, the second placed team has earned 83 points, a total which would have been good enough to win the league in two of Man Utd’s triumphs in 2001 & 2003. So if 90 points are the new approximate standard to guarantee finishing the season on top, that leaves an error margin of 24 points (out of the possible 114 points available from 38 games). Dropping 24 points over 38 games does not leave too much room for error. But these point only show a narrow view at the top. An accurate picture has to take into account points total of all the league teams. Last year, the third & fourth place teams (Liverpool and Arsenal) only got 68 points each, much lower than the point totals of previous years third place teams (75 in 2003/04, 77 in 04/05, 82 in 05/06). And also at the bottom end, there have been a few teams that have performed worse than previously. The lowest dip at the bottom was in the 2005/06 season when the bottom two earned only 45 points (compared to the range of 58 - 66 over the last few years) with Sunderland only getting 15 points (West Brom got 30).
But the statistics can only give a picture of the past. If in a particular season, there are 2-3 strong teams setting a blistering pace, then the final tally of points required to win a title will be dictated by how many points the chasing teams earn. For example, the huge number of dropped points by the chasing pack account for the low total of 80 points needed to win the 2000/01 season. Considering the holiday season contains so many games over a short period of time, winning as many points is highly critical. Dropped points in less than a week could have consequences for the rest of the season. Currently after 18 games, Arsenal have 43 points, Man Utd have 42. No breathing room really. Chelsea are not too far behind with 37. Although Liverpool have 33 points, they still have a game in hand.
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Predictions, line-ups, etc
Well I can’t give any predictions. In the past when I have expected an easy win and Arsenal went onto drop points, I felt horrible. And in cases where I expected Arsenal to drop points and they did indeed go onto lose or tie, I felt even worse. So no scores from me. As for the tactics, well you guys do that best 
91 Responses to “Portsmouth vs Arsenal”
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December 24th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Very interesting data, Sachin, particularly the number of points needed to win the title. The inflation seen in the winning point total must be demoralizing to next-level teams with ambition such as Pompey and ManCity (and Liverpool, LOL).
If we keep up our current blistering pace (a massive ‘if’), we finish with 92 points, better than the invincibles, and better than any prior United finishes. The bar has been set very high indeed!
December 24th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
The combined age of the three elder Arsenal players now playing at Fratton Park is almost the combined age of the current Arsenal squad. Okay I’m exaggerating but it still feels that way.
Pompey is the only club to hand out gift bottles of Geritol as a door prize on match day.
I wouldn’t be half surprised if the Pompey fans throw out soothers (pacifiers) on the pitch at Wednesdays match.
Those numbers needed to win the title seems like a hard mountian to climb even by any clubs standards. Then again I like things that are hard!
December 24th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
i think stats are not very useful but can be used as a sort of target i guess.
no second placed team has ever got more than 83 points before….so using that as our only prediction parameter, 84 or 85 points or even 83 points with a great goal difference should be able to win the league.
so if we can get 42 points from our next 20 games we might be champions.
so we need 14 wins. or 11 wins 9 draws.
oh the stats!
December 24th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
These next two games will tell us alot. I know we say that every week but these games will tell us if we’re still stuck in that Newcastle/Boro slump or whether the last two home games have replenished the squad mentally and physically to tackle these two top eight sides away from home. As I said before, if do not take advantage of the fortune we’ve enjoyed in the last few games and take on Portsmouth with gusto then we’ll know this team isn’t ready yet to contest the title.
December 24th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
aww Mazza, your a trick. “It’s a season to be jolly…..” Yet your still predicting thunder clouds overhead.
December 24th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Cheers Sachin…nice preview there. Yours are usually much more interesting than mine ;). I think Arsenal-mania.com has these 2 guys who put up hugely elaborate previews complete with images and logos n stuff; but great fun to read. Lately though I’ve been too busy with work. Portsmouth away is tricky…less travelling which is good but isn’t that one of the grounds with no roof and fans very close to the pitch?
Anyway Pompey have a lot of skill and Harry Redknapp likes to play football as well. So I’m not sure we’ll see a kickfest. Lauren, Campbell, Kanu all our great ex players; I try and watch them once in a way and hope they do well. On Wednesday I’ll hope for no such thing and hope we win comprehensively.
Any news on RVP’s “knock”? AW said he might be fit for Everton. I’m still guessing he’ll come off the bench at best. As for the side; the key this year is that all our injuries have been with the forward players and playmakers; but the defense has had a steady look to it which is so critical and which is what we didnt have last year. Someone mentioned that the invincible squad used to be predictable if everyone was fit. This squad is leaning towards that. If fit then AW WILL pick:
Almunia
Sagna Toure Gallas Clichy
Hleb Flamini Cesc Mozart
RVP Ade
I think we’ll nick a 1-0 here but drop points at Goodison Park for sure. Then again football is a funny funny game. Its STILL too early to predict anything..about the title. After the Christmas stretch…maybe. But if its still tight with 5-8 points separating the top 4 I don’t see how you can make a prediction. Time will tell.
Pompey 0 - Arsenal 1
December 24th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
A couple of stats I’d like to see are -
How early, i.e. at which game in the season, did the various teams win the league. Was it the last game as in 1989, or, say, the 34th game? Obviously the sooner you wrap it up the sooner you can take it easy and lose games.
Also how many points were won by championship-winning teams in the first half of a season, compared to the second half? Because if this Arsenal finishes the season as strongly as they finish most games, it would be a-fucking-mazing. None of this 2003 throwaway nonsense.
So far they keep surprising us. Even our one defeat at Boro was a surprise - suddenly we relapsed to being spineless on the road. Maybe that is why these two next away games now look like potentially very revealing signposts on the road to the title. P’mouth are bad at home because the team doesn’t know how to control games - they prefer things helter skelter against home teams who have to push out. That said, Campbell’s confidence should be fairly rock bottom after his Torres roasting, not to mention his Highbury crack-up history.
It is weird trying to predict our an emergent young team is going to do when they are achieving way above expectations, and also without playing consistently well.
Without RVP, this is a team with no inherent tactical logic, hence all the talk of Wenger’s blind spot about tactics. (His tactic is almost always - often fatally - keep doing what we do, even if we were too tired, or unconfident, or getting outmuscled - our beautiful brittle loser mode. When he switches to defensive mode, we generally seize up completely.)
This lack of tactical logic is in contrast to the Invincibles where pretty much every player was tried and tested in his best position. The only big reshuffling decisions were dealing with any Henry absences.
With this current lot, the best players are often used with a kind of hit-and-hope sense of tactics - makeshift CBs, semi-wingers, a lone barely supported tall targetman, who often pulls wide to send in a cross to be greeted by… precisely no-one. (Without Cesc, we have very timid attacking midfielders at times.)
And yet, and yet, there is the much-discussed mental strength factor. These guys WANT to be winners now, whatever it takes. They make tackles, they fight back, the find a way somehow, even if only for one flickeringly brilliant moment. And in games like Sp*rs, that is enough.
It should be enough for P’mouth too, but Everton look thoroughly organized, so like I said before, our midfield trio need to start clicking again.
We all understand it can’t be pretty and high-tempo every week.
December 24th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Thanks MarylandGooner & LDE.
LDE: This past summer Portsmouth finally put up a roof on that uncovered stand.
The reason I did these stats was to prove to myself that I was not paranoid in thinking Arsenal always had to win a title the hard way. By the way, I forgot to include these points totals:
1998/99: Man Utd (79), Arsenal (78): Total 157
1997/98: Arsenal (78), Man Utd (77): Total 155
1996/97: Man Utd (75), Newcastle (68): Total 143
I always felt Arsenal never won any title the easy way. They were always pushed until the last month. Whereas with the exception of 1999 (when Arsenal went into the last weekend with a chance to win), some of ManU’s titles were easier as the chasing pack dropped points. When ManU went to the World Club Cup in Jan 2000, none of the other teams could close the gap.
And in 2003, Arsenal lost the title as opposed to ManU winning it on their own. Giving up a 2-0 lead at Bolton cost 2 precious points. And then with a week to go, Arsenal were tied 2-2 at home to Leeds pressing for a winner. Leeds’s counter attack produced a last minute winner. Ofcourse, if Leeds didn’t need the points to prevent relegation, I don’t think they would have put up such a fight.
Things aren’t that easier this year either as it seems ManU and Chelsea are capable of grinding out results.
macmac123: Yeah I would like to see those stats too
Usually in Germany and Italy, the mid-season stats are easier to come by because they always see who wins the unofficial winter championship. And then they go on to see how many times the team who led at the Winter break went onto the title. Since there is no break in the EPL, I have not seen too many comparisons for mid-table season results.
And this wed’s game will be the half-way point for the EPL season.
December 24th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
typo…I meant mid-season table results
December 25th, 2007 at 2:16 am
This game could go anyway. Portsmouth are having a bit of a wobble and have an average good home record (2W 5D 1L). Arsenal are not playing well yet won over Chelsea and Spurs. Notably those games were at home. We will have to play better to win this one.
December 25th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Sachin, thank you for the interesting preview… filled with quite a lot of data! Well done.
I would imagine Wenger will rotate the squad again. With games coming rapid fire, gotta think he’ll play everyone during the Festive Season. So not sure how the team will look or gel on the pitch. Having said that, its a plus for us, because we have good players stepping in. Other teams during this period (like Pompey) might have older players who will tire late in the match? I hope.
Benjani is an excellent player. He is in very good form. He didn’t have many decent chances against Liverpool, but he scored on the one good one he had. I think we win… maybe even comfortably, with a few goals in the last 15 -20 minutes. 3-1 Arsenal.
Everton… will be tricky.
December 25th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Thanks Chris, although I am still tempted to write stag133
December 25th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
its all the same… stag133 or Chris…!!!
December 25th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
there U go!
December 25th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
For those of you who are curious, we had 42 points at this stage of the ‘03-’04 (invincible) season.
The question is can we carry the form of our first half into the second half of the season, particularly after we lose Kolo, Eboue and possibly Song….
We will need Theo and Eduardo to come good……no more talk of potential; these boys will have to deliver. We may also see Diarra and Gilberto in defense as well.
December 25th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Few more stats for the interested.
Each time Arsenal have won the league they have been trailing at Christmas time.
Arsenal have lost only one of their 15 Boxing Day fixtures and are on a 7 game winning streak ahead of the Pompey game.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:23 am
I just finished reading “Arsenal All-4-1″ by Bernard Azulay which was a diary/perspective of our 03/04 invincible season. Some of the authors sentiment does support the stats listed by sachin above.
We always talked about United being complacent and arrogant but the stats seem to suggest we’re the same. We lost the title with a 9pt lead in 2002/03 and if it wasn’t for the fact that Chelsea and United was that much more poor in 2003/04, we might still have had an unbeaten season but albeit ended up in 2nd place. After winning the league at WHL, we drew 4 of our 5 remaining games with players looking uninterested.
I hope United are chasing us all the way until the final game of the year, in order not for our players to fall into complacency. We never seem to win the league the easy way probably because we NEED to work hard to earn it. Although this won’t be as good on my nerves but whatever it takes to keep these guys on their toes is good in my book.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:23 am
Why bother about the results of games AFTER we won the title?
December 26th, 2007 at 3:11 am
One point to note is that, it’s still early days, but this could be one of the first seasons where more than 2 teams challenge for the title.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:17 am
That’s what..If we lose at Goodison Park and ManU/CHelsea/Pool all pick up 9 points each over the NewYear; its going to be unbelievably tight at the top in January. It might then actually come down to the 6 pointers between the top sides… after a long while.
December 26th, 2007 at 6:03 am
Festive season games for the top 4
Dec 22/23
Arsenal vs Tottenham
Liverpool vs Portsmouth
ManU vs Everton
Blackburn vs Chelsea
Dec 26
Chelsea vs Aston Villa
Sunderland vs ManU
Derby vs Liverpool
Portsmouth vs Arsenal
Dec 29/30
Chelsea vs Newcastle
Everton vs Arsenal
West Ham vs ManU
Man City vs Liverpool
Jan 1/2
Arsenal vs West Ham
Fulham vs Chelsea
ManU vs Birmingham
Liverpool vs Wigan
Arsenal easily have the toughest fixtures of all. The other three face at least one team near the relegation zone. If we are still on top on Jan 2, it will be the most amazing of achievements.
December 26th, 2007 at 9:10 am
Wenger’s a smart guy and will strive to keep player thoughts in perspective. Fans can say whatever but the professional players will know it’s one game at a time. We can’t play Everton until this weekend so that game can’t even exsist until after we play Portsmouth. If we drop points to Portsmouth then pros need to understand that that milk is spilled and we need to be fully focused on Everton, then West Ham, etc.
I know that’s a lame post from a fan’s point of view but I guess I think more like a player. Bottom line is this squad is good enough to defeat any team in the BPL so we just need to focus on winning one match at a time and at the end of the season, look up and see how we’ve done.
As a fan, I’d like to see Wenger utilize the squad a bit. It’s kind of tough to play a 4-4-2 when you’ve only got three strikers. I’m not sure but I don’t remember Eduardo ever scoring a goal when Adebayor’s been on the pitch so it might be a bad idea to play them together. Eduardo needs someone to play along side that diverts the opponents attention and Ade tends to vacate his cental position a bit too much for Dudu to be at his best. This is only mere speculation but it’s what seems to be real. We’ll see what happens tonight.
BTW, I was thrilled to see Bendtner get his first Premiere League goal.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:10 am
As I expected: Chelsea could lose points this week although I thought it would be because Cech was injured. Instead Cech is playing and makes his 2nd horrendous mistake of this season on Shaun Maloney’s 2nd goal for a 2-1 AV lead. Cech’s 2nd uncharacteristic mistake may become directly responsible for a 2nd lost if Chelsea can not come back. We benched Lehmann for costing us 2 points. Cech has cost 3 possibly 6 points before the day is over, wow. AV now down to 10 men.
Unfortunately, Sunderland are not Bolton. Is the over-under on Derby 6 today?
December 26th, 2007 at 10:16 am
Damn, AV have forgotten who Schevchenko is. They fail to close him down and he scores his 2nd goal on a 22yd rocket for a 2-2 comeback.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Chelsea is leading AV right now but we all know all the other teams will pick up points this weekend. AW needs to play 4-4-2 at fratton park cos the portsmouth defence wont be able to deal with Adebayor’s pace and power, anybody feeding off that will have a field day.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:45 am
That’s the difference between the top 4 and the rest of the pack. Quality counts in the end. Chelsea lose Lampard and Ballack comes on and wins a penalty and gets Knight sent off to boot.
Harry Redknapp thinks the only way an English manager will become good enough to manage England is if he manges a top four team. What top four team would want their team used like a bicycle with training wheels. Then it would become the top three by the season’s end. Redknapp and Venables are fossilized idiots. McClaren who ticked more boxes on his CV than any other England candidate turned out to be an utter disaster. Blind nationalistic allegiance does not translate into quality coaching . That also goes for incompetent English players hoping for the magical gloss of an Arsenal to impart qualities that are beyond their understanding or skill set.
Chelsea 3-2 as Shevchenko provides Alex with a simple chance for a goal. Aston Villa started the day so brightly. 10 man Villa come back 3-3 and now Carvalho justifiably goes off for a two footed challenge on Agbonlahor.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:51 am
Well, gave over for aston villa. Now lets see what Keane and sunderland can do to Manure.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:52 am
game over*
December 26th, 2007 at 11:03 am
Damn, Ballack 4-3 on a FK.
Cashley deliberate hand ball on a goal line block, Barry PK, 4-4.
Now Chelsea will be without two more starting defenders for three matches. Hooray. Unfortunately that’s Newcastle, Fulham and QPR.
December 26th, 2007 at 11:29 am
The Chelsea-Villa game was most amazing.
ManU are already leading Sunderland. Wouldn’t be surprised if they get 9 points in 3 games. We need to win tonight.
December 26th, 2007 at 11:31 am
2-0 to ManU.
December 26th, 2007 at 11:51 am
3-0 to ManU at half time. And they are without van der Sar, Neville, Evra, Scholes, Hargreaves, Giggs and Tevez.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
F’ing hell! If Setanta doesn’t stop showing that Mourhino puppet thing, I’m going to need a new Sony because something is going to fly through the screen. I do not pay $15 a month to see that junk.
Manure was impressive today, given their reduced roster. They will be a foe to the end.
I truly feel badly for Derby. They had a legitimate shot at getting a result from ‘Pool and instead ended up with nothing.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
forget about Man U …. they are a machine. puny folks like sunderland cant even dream of stopping them.
the chelsea villa game was awesome……3 red cards, 8 goals. perfect.
so terry, cashley and carvalho, plus lampard and drogba will all miss the next few games. and cech is on rotten form. perfect.
now we really need those 3 points today…..those manc bastards are breathing heavily on us. plus they already have a significant goal difference advantage over us.
wenger please dont balls up formations.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
This is the team in full, I guess AW is not going to risk RVP for this game either
Almunia
03 Sagna
05 Toure
10 Gallas
22 Clichy
27 Eboue
16 Flamini
04 Fabregas
13 Hleb
07 Rosicky
25 Adebayor
Substitutes
01 Lehmann, 02 Diaby, 08 Diarra, 17 Song Billong, 26 Bendtner
December 26th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
another tactical cock up from wenger. he played 4-5-1 against fulham on the first day and since then he cant let it go. and when he plays it he refuses to use the correct players.
hleb is playing right wing for crying out loud and adebayor is up top alone. infact he is on the left and we have no fulcrum. eboue is a terrible and pointless.
no urgency, no directness, no definite attacking policy….so to win this game we need a moment or moments of genius. wenger please sort this.
December 26th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
why cant we ever hit opponents hard from the start and demoralize them quick?? do we have to play this kind of game all the time. meaning that we have to work really hard in the second half.
if diaby can start against blackburn, why cant he against portsmouth. especially when eboue offers absolutely nothing.
December 26th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
The Gunners simply do not seem ready to play today.
December 26th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Story of our season. Start badly and rely on the likes of Bendtner to turn the game around.
December 26th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
We’ll probably see things turn around in the 2nd half hopefully. Maybe we might just need Bendtner to turn things round again.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Eboue should go off. He’s killing us
December 26th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Rosicky had his chances and could not convert. A decent chance of a stoppage time thriller, but it was not to be.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
no need rating any of the players…you only need one rating.
wenger: 2/10.
wenger FUCKED UP big time with this match AGAIN. just like with the boro game.
Man U threw down the gauntlet and what does wenger do? play 4-5-1 with hleb and adebayor playing more on the wings than in the center.
BALLSUP!!!
December 26th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
its not about rosickys chance….how many chances did we have the WHOLE game. hleb did not attempt a single shot. adebayor was acting like he was henry.
the shame is that like Boro, Pompey was little threat….yet we drop points.
i have said it a million times, this 4-5-1 is killing us. yet some people think formation does not matter, “players move around all the time”.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
If Wenger isn’t going to star playing Van Persie with Adebayor, Bendtner should start in his absence. This one striker thing doesn’t work well. We need more men upfront. Eboue is rubbish and I have to admit I feel we would have got something had Bendtner started instead of Eboue. I can’t wait for the clown to leave for the ACN. What a breath of fresh air that will be. Dude has absolutely no creativity and with his 1 good game out of 8 he certainly should be left as a sub for Sagna at best.
Now the mancs have paced us…
December 26th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
that game was incredibly frustrating… god I f*cking hate Man U. I’m not one of those dome-and-gloom types that thinks our title hopes are over… but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel an intense, burning hatred inside of me right now towards thier arrogant manager, annoying players, and wanker supporters.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Man U have a really mean, killer spirit about them. if they had gone to pompey today they would have f-cked them over 4-0 no dispute.
Bendtner could only come on in the 81st minute! while for much of the first half you have a bizarre scenario where eboue is playing more central while hleb is hugging the right touchline! i guess he was “looking for space” over there.
from now on wenger should just play the bloody 4-4-2 so he does not have to use his “tactics” anymore. it is infinitely better to start hard and try to get a goal early than to try to wait till the last 15 minutes before doing anything.
now i am seriously afraid as to what everton will do to us….cos unlike portsmouth they are quite deadly especially at home.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
hatred towards Man U ?? why?? we were the ones who fucked ourselves over so why hate Man U because we couldnt handle our own simple business.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Exactly. We lack true venom. There’s something luxurious about Arsenal’s players. What they lack is ….la pasión. Maybe besides Flamini but even him this game didn’t look inspired
December 26th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
I am really frustrated about this match. I knew this was going to be tough just by looking at the line up before the game even started. WTF!!! Wenger really needs to change things up and STOP giving automatic starts to the likes of Tomas and Eboue. Arhhh! I agree that United was more brutal and has been for some time now. We’ve got to do better on Saturday. Where the @##$$ is RVP?? This is the kind of game he would have made the difference.
December 26th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Agree with Fred. I’m sick of this 4-5-1 formation. First, Cesc can’t show his true value coz Hleb takes over his play-making role, and 2nd, Ade is crap in this formation too, coz he drifts wide too much and there is no one in the center. Just like Fred said, he thinks he is Henry. And I really don’t know why Wenger doesn’t play 4-5-1 when RvP is not around. Eduardo scored two goals against Blackburn away, and Bendtner has shown many times this season that he is a quality striker, yet Wenger fields 4-5-1, like he has no other options. If we play 4-5-1 against Everton, we will lose more points, and if we play 4-4-2 we might have a chance against a well organized team. I wanna see Bendtner get a start, possibly with RvP as his partner.
December 26th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
WOW! That was no fun to watch. Is RVP injured? I can’t find any info on arsenal.com.
No creativity. Slow start. Everyone afraid to shoot.
Rosicky had a decent game. Only person with Balls in my opinion.
December 26th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
I agree that Wenger’s tactics are fucking us up. If you want to win the title you have to show a little more ambition in the right games at the right moments. I haven’t got a problem starting with the formation, as it’s a long game, but Wenger should have switched to 4-4-2 from about the 60th minute, not the 81st - as offensively it was obvious Portsmouth had given up and with one striker up top there’s no reason why Gallas and Toure can’t handle it.
However, it’s not the entire reason Arsenal lost, you have to give some credit to Portsmouth because they defended brilliantly. They’ve only lost one home game, have conceded only 7 goals, and drew a home to Man Utd and Liverpool. Although Arsenal did not create a lot, there was 2 clear cut chances for Gallas and Rosicky, and that should have been enough, whilst at the end of the day a lot of players simply performed poorly.
You can’t win every away game, so a draw is disappointing but you just have to live with it. These are tough away games and we just need to keep it close at the top, which we are.
More important is how Wenger reacts against Everton, he needs to shake things up or we’ll definitely lose there.
Almunia (7) Did everything well, beginning to trust him more and more
Sagna (7) Defended well
Toure (7) Defended well
Gallas (7) Defended well
Clichy (4) Really poor, his defending is getting worse as the season progresses, he lacks concentration. Gets forward really well but final ball is hopeless.
Eboue (5) It’s just not working, he hasn’t got the brains, Hleb needs to go back there
Flamini (6) Did ok
Fabregas (5) Too many errant balls, no creative spark
Rosicky (7) His best game this season, attacked with flair
Hleb (6) Tidy passing, but the radar is on the blink
Adebayor (5) Not his day today, Campbell had him in his pocket from start to finish
Subs:
Bendtner (7) Created things, deserves more than 8 minutes
Diaby (6) Difficult to get into a game like that from central midfield, just as he acclimatised the final whistle went
December 26th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Sorry, I said “lost” because that what it feels like, points chucked away because as soon as we went 4-4-2 the chances started to come - too little too late.
December 26th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
To put everything down to formation just makes thing sound too simple. Hleb and Fabregas still yet to pick up their pre-injury form. I do not believe just because we started the game in a 442 they would suddenly play much better.
That say, I agree that AW probably should have bringing on Bendtner earlier, around the 60 min mark.
Now we saw Bendtner making some impact the past couple games. But don’t forget when he came on, he’s against the tired legs. So it’s like van Persie when he first joined, he looked far more effective coming off the bench than as a starter, because against a bunch of tired legs defenders things are bounded to be easier.
If we started Bendtner right from the off, would it be still as effective?
From time to time, we have seen youngsters impressed when coming off the bench late and make an impact, and everyone started to call for him to start. Yet when they actually start, usually they failed to make as much an impact, then ppl start to question their ability.
the truth is always - they are either that good or that bad. it’s just the growing process of every young player would have to go through. I still yet to convince Bendtner is ready to start the game full time at the moment.
And credit to Portsmouth, they defended well. Particular Sol in the middle. I haven’t watched any Pompy matches this season, so can’t tell. but this game alone, he surely still look like the “rock” to me.
December 26th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Andez, Bendtner started against Blackburn, Sevilla, Steaua and in all games he made an impact. So yes, I would have played him from the start.
As for Cesc and Hleb, as I said, Cesc won’t shine again if we play 4-5-1. Hleb simply takes over his playmaking role and Cesc is somehow lost. Field 4-4-2 and Cesc will have more space to show his true value.
December 26th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
I would have been happy if Wenger started Bendtner OR played 4-5-1 from the start, but bringing him on so late was weak decision making. There’s no way of proving it, but I reckon we would have won had we switched to 4-4-2 from around 60 mins, but Wenger always leaves subs too late so you can forget it.
I also agree that just because you start with Bendtner doesn’t mean he will have a great game, sometimes it’s better to bring a fresh player on like him when things are opening up more. But then it’s also true the lad seems to have done well when he’s started. The one thing you don’t do is give him 8 crummy minutes.
Fabregas should have been subbed earlier as well, it was obvious he was having a stinker and we could have done with Diarra’s drive in there. Just because he’s fit doesn’t mean Wenger HAS to play him for 90 minutes even if he’s playing badly, it’s just stupid.
December 26th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
and all those saying hleb and rosicky should play central can now please keep quiet. today hleb was started central but decided to hug the touchline in search of “space” meaning that the brainless eboue had to move inside.
henry used to drift wide because we had “killer” midfielders like pires, ljunberg and vieira who were deadly in front of goal. but with adebayor what is his reason?? rosicky, hleb and fabregas are chickens in front of goal. they score by sparks of magic NEVER by routine. it is routine that wins the league. Man U will routinely spank these sort of teams in their sleep.
wenger must sort this nonsense. if he plays this same formation against everton, then i will know wenger himself, might not have what it takes to win the league.
December 26th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Calm down Fred, United are only 1pt ahead. The table doesn’t lie - so there is no massive gulf. The season will have ups and downs for every team. I am not saying Arsenal are good enough, they’ll probably lose out in the end because the team is still growing. Things aren’t perfect but by the same token you can’t win every match, it’s just not realistic.
December 26th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Fred, you can’t say Wenger might not have what it takes to win the league, when he has been there three times. It’s just since that CL run two seasons ago when we got to the Final playing 4-5-1, and that was because of injuries, he plays that formation in away games and even at home against the likes of ManU, Liverpool, Chelsea and thinks that’s the right was to get a result. If we played a cup game, a two legged game, this would have been a good result, but in the league it’s not good enough and now when I think of it, it would have been better if we never reached the Final of the CL. We are now paying for it, sadly, but true.
December 26th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
“the right waS” - I meant waY
December 26th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
The trouble with Wenger is he has no idea when to apply 4-5-1 and when not - and when to change it during a game and when not.
December 26th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
ofcourse he has won the league before….but in 98, 02 and 04 he never had to tamper with formation….and in 02 and 04 he hardly had to tamper with lineups…he just constantly played the same people throughout.
i could see after just 10 minutes that we would need a magical moment or two, like we had against spurs to get anything from the game.
now, his comments after the game are most frustrating of all:
“I was surprised they defended so much, even their midfield was focused solely on defending.
“In the second half Pompey did not come out of their half - offensively they did not play too well, but they just had Kanu playing up front on his own.
“I guess they got the maximum they could from this type of game. They made it very, very difficult for us.”
what the hell is he talking about? that defense was there for the taking. i never felt they packed the bus…..i felt we were incompetent against inferior opposition.
December 26th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
“incompetent against inferior opposition”
That’s the only match report we need. That says it all.
December 26th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Wenger is slowly but surely throwing away any semblence of a title bid we had. By sending us out to play 4-5-1 dot-to-dot football in a pyramid fashion he has succeeded in clogging up the minds of an already clogged up and confused set of footballers. He has failed to scent the weary air around the team and re-model us to a 4-4-2 and enable the players to breathe again tactically. At the moment the players are suffocating in one-dimensional system which is making every away game a battle of attrition mentally. In our heads we’ve probably already played ten more games than United. Their superiority in terms of mental freshness and clarity is becoming clearer and clearer with every passing week.
Please Arsene, wake the hell up. Throw Eboue in the reserves and play two up top. At least until the players have found their joie de vivre again. Especially Fabregas, whose lack of form is killing us at the moment.
December 26th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Whilst everyone thinks that Arsenal’s midfield is strong and have a lot of world-class players on and off the pitch, I think this is where everyone has got it wrong. A lot of Arsenal fans have been asking the question: why 4-5-1? The answer is that we do not have the Essien, Vieira, Petit type of midfielders who can boss the game, and so the need for the extra man. All this nonsense about defensive balance and that’s why Eboue is crucial etc., are crap. If we had proper dynamic warriors in our midfield, 4-4-2 would be possible and that would allow us to operate 2 strikers and score goals.
The only warrior we have right now is Flamini and he is not yet physically imposing. He can be brushed off easily by someone like Papa Dioup, but he is getting tougher recently. When we have the ball, we are wonderful. Fabregas, Hleb and Rosicky would work their triangles and all of them can pass through the needle, although Fabregas does that best. In Hleb we have a fantastic skilled player who can hold the ball well, take on 2 or 3 opposition players, dribble and make space for his colleagues. When he is on form, 4-5-1 works to an extent with Fabregas supporting the attack well and finishing off moves like he did regularly a couple of months ago. However these two players are off form now and maybe they are not fully fit yet.
However when we don’t have the ball, the only person you can count on to win it back in midfield right now is Flamini. Otherwise opposition move freely in our area and the ball will be won back either they attempt a pass which is intercepted by our defense or broken down by other means or Almunia is forced to make a save or goes out for a corner. Therein lies the problem. During the invincibles, you can trust Vieira to win back possession using those long legs and as opposition is caught upfield, launch a quick counter via Berkgamp. However since our midfield is weak, we have to make do with this silly 4-5-1.
4-5-1 can still work (to an extent) provided we have a talented and hardworking target man. In Ade we have a hardworking man (however he is getting rather lazy nowadays), but talented he is not. If anyone doubts this, suggest you replay the Portsmouth match, and see how well Kanu holds the ball and passes to his partners. Comparing Kanu with Ade, our former striker was miles ahead in terms of talent and intelliegence. However he is not as fast as Ade right now, but he is everything else.
Watching this match, what I have suspected this whole season, albeit the wonderful start, just got strengthened. This team is not good enough to win the title and is partly because of Wenger. Bendner did so much in the little time he was given, one tends to wonder what this kid will do if he regularly starts games. I am sure a lot of us prefer to play an attacking 4-4-2 with Ade and Bendtner rather than this useless system as everyone can see that 5 in midfield is doing nothing but killing the game. So much for the attacking ethos of Wengerball…..
December 26th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
It’s not ALL about systems. It’s a combination of factors. It was only a few weeks ago everyone was salivating about the football that you are now criticising - remember the first half at Villa, yes 4-5-1.
I agree that 4-5-1 is annoying when not implemented in the right game, at the right time or not modified when it needs to be modified. But for god sake, take into consideration our opponents, individual player form, psychology, and the obvious by simple fact that the Arsenal machine is not going to work smoothly week in, week out no matter what you want to attribute it to.
Look at some of the away results in the unbeaten season:
Charlton 1 Arsenal 1
Leicester 1 Arsenal 1
Bolton 1 Arsenal 1
Everton 1 Arsenal 1
Newcastle 0 Arsenal 0
and yes…
Portsmouth 1 Arsenal 1
All 4-4-2 I expect. Surprising huh? It’s never going to be as easy as we’d all like it to be.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
does anyone have Eboue’s email.. so i can ask him what that whole.. praying to the ref thing was… and how and embarassing that was to watch… and why he never covers for Sanga when Sanga makes a forward run..
December 26th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Agree with andez above, Fabregas is looking slow and non-creative, probably from his injury.
The game I saw from Portsmouth: 1. Punt the ball. 2. Chase it down with KANU. 3. Ten behind the ball.
If we want to win the title, we can’t lose these matches. And we are. This sucks
December 26th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
ooooh oh… i almost forgot… and who was the hypnotist that got him to believe he could shoot
December 26th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Danny, of course it’s not just about systems. I’ve always been a fan of 4-5-1 when played properly but it relies too much on players being fresh, alert, and imaginative. At the moment, certain players are not playing well and haven’t played well for a while, and to combat this we need to simplify the game. Give the players another outlet, another idea. Something to reinvigorate the team. Wenger doesn’t feel the need to do this and it is costing us. We’re not guaranteed to win with a 4-4-2 but I pretty sure players like Fabregas would prefer having more forward options even it if means more running.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
well, danny, the problem is standards have risen significantly since we last won the league in 04. Man U is meaner for one. And more consistency is needed.
and i can bet that more than half of those draws were after we had already won the league!
anyway, we must move on. wenger must throw eboue out. move to 4-4-2.
and whenever adebayor finds himself in a 4-5-1 again, he must use his brain and not roam to the wings. roam in a 4-4-2…do not roam in a 4-5-1……its easy to remember. it will be interesting to find out if wenger actually gives them any instructions when they are on the pitch.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
The notion that Arsene Wenger, winner of 3 EPL titles, is incapable of comprehending what everyone posting on this site believes are obvious tactical truths is absurd. To summarize, you all believe the following:
1. Eboue must not start.
2. Bendtner must play at least 30 minutes a game.
3. Arsenal must play in a 4-4-2 formation rather than a 4-5-1.
4. Arsene Wenger is tactically incompetent and the fact that his team is second in the EPL halfway through the season is an accident and not attributable to him.
Here’s what I believe, get a clue.
Wenger has forgotten more about football than any of you will ever hope to know even if Arsenal loses to Everton and finishes fourth this year.
Wenger drives me crazy as well. Why does he play Senderos? Why did he play Cygan? Why not ream out Eboue? Why not buy a big name CB in the transfer window? Why not buy a Van Der Saar or Friedel?
But you know what, on balance, there’s not another manager in the game I — and I suspect each of you — would rather have leading Arsenal.
December 26th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
I agree with you Mazza, but to attribute Arsenal’s recent troublesome away form to just one thing is too simplistic.
And Fred, I don’t believe Man Utd are better now than they have been in the past - I think they’ve had much better teams than this one. I always believe they can drop points now when they have a tough game, whereas over the years they have been much stronger, notably before Arsenal did the unbeaten season. Utd’s current team is highly reliant on one player - Ronaldo - for half their goals and most of their creativity, and if Rooney is missing they can’t score at all.
Of the draws I listed above only Portsmouth was close to the end of the season, The Newcastle draw was 7 games from the end - I believe we won the title at Tottenham 2 weeks later, and that was another draw - 2-2.
December 26th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
Our dream run has come to an end. We are finally off the top of the table. Exactly mid way through the season. Almost as if we were supposed to stay top until Christmas, so that the “Arsenal don’t win the league when they lead at Christmas” comes into effect.
It’s been an amazing achievement to be on top for half a season. We were completely written off at the start. ManU had signed quality players paying loads of money. We had let Henry leave. Our goal scoring options were limited to Ade and RvP. We missed RvP for several games. Despite only Ade and Cesc scoring consistently, we somehow managed to stay on top till now. For me, that’s a great achievement.
December 26th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
@ 73:
wenger’s strength and the reason his team’s whether first team or carling cup teams are always strong is:
- his patience with players,
- the freedom he gives players to express themselves and to attack
- his excellent training and fitness methods.
- his continious emphasis on pass, control, speed and technique thru the team.
the above are strengths. and with those his team plays at a high standards.
when it comes to matchday tactics he is definitely lacking … that is why for over a decade we always come short in the CL against inferior teams….(the fortuitious trip to the final aside).
all the 3 times he has won the league, he did without touching his formation once and with a very settled team line-up.
ofcourse with the wonderful gift of wengerball we must endure the curse of tactical inflexibility.
December 26th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
As for the game, Hleb was off colour, Cesc was below par, Rosicky was his usual average (despite having two great chances), Eboue offered very little and Ade was totally frustrating and frustrated. Wait a minute, that sounds a total repeat of the Spurs game. Exactly the same team as well.
I had hoped that Wenger would change around things a little to keep things fresh and the players on their feet. Not only did he not do that, he left Bendtner off longer than the Spurs game. What was that? I have no clue.
As I said before, Wenger believes that by putting his strongest team (in terms of individual players, not tactics), Arsenal stand the best chance of winning. That is true as long as the players are in form. If not, other factors come into play and that’s when Wenger kind of fails to change things around. It’s ironic that this is coming out so soon after many of us expressed Wenger’s inability to be tactically wise.
It’s kind of early to write off our title chances, but it’s fair to say that ManU will most likely take max points in their next two games, while Arsenal are likely to drop more. So the gap will widen before Toure, Eboue and Song leave for the ACN, after which it gets even tougher.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:07 am
I might be wrong on this but from what I remember Rafa used to go with 4-5-1 against only a few teams like Chelsea or ManU. But against other mid-table teams, he often started with 4-4-2.
I have not seen Wenger’s post game comments but Fred if that is what Wenger said, it is shocking. This was a Pompey team that had not scored a home goal in 4 games & only let in that one goal to Spurs and managed three goal-less ties against Everton and Man City. So yes, they would be expected to defend.
But Arsenal should have put them to the sword. Maybe go with 4-5-1 until half-time but then change things around at the start of the second half. But I don’t think I have ever seen Wenger make a change of his accord right at the start of the second half. Usually, he waits until the 65th or 70th minute. Today he waited too long. I think Bendtner is good enough to cause defenders a problem, so he can be a pairing up front.
Not sure if playing this formation is giving the other team too much respect or approaching the game with a cautious frame of mind? I know in the 2006 CL, using this format worked against European teams but that is something different. Anyway. Still 19 more games to go. Just hope RVP is back to full fitness soon.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:22 am
Frustrating. It was clear we needed to change our aproach at around 60 mins. But Wenger is not normally too good with that type of switch. Inevitably he waits to around 80 mins.
I still think our problem with 4-5-1 is end product/goals related.
Eboue, Rosicky and Hleb haven’t got a lot of goals in them. Fabregas covered this for a time, but he is trying to regain his rhythm and find his shooting boots. Too much is asked of Ade, his game is suffering because the service and support he is getting is increasingly crappy. With Fab and Hleb’s passing off-song, Rosicky flitting with little impact, Eboue very limited and almost no offence - what can we expect Ade to do?
I reckon RvP for Eboue would have transformed that side even with Fab and Hleb not quite on song.
I was dissappointed, but I see it as 1 point gained in the macro view. If we can get 3 points from Everton, 4 out of 6 from these 2 tricky away fixtures isn’t too bad.
It is absolutely stating the obvious but we need someone to score a goal at Everton. Maybe Gallas or Toure if the more predictable avenues are constipated. We just need to get through this period until RvP returns and Fab & Hleb’s passing and general form improve.
December 27th, 2007 at 3:19 am
Kiwi, I wrote an article saying how important it is for Arsenal to have more goal scoring options. At the time I wrote it, Arsenal were banging in goals, so it was not visible. Now with RvP injured, Cesc’s goals drying up and Ade struggling with the formation, it’s showing in our face. Since the Boro defeat, two of our goals came from set pieces and only one from our trademark fluent passing. Y’day was the first time we failed to score in a game.
December 27th, 2007 at 3:54 am
After reading the reviews of the match posted here…i’m glad i didn’t sit up late (for once) to watch this one
Even though i’m not in the best position to comment…since I haven’t seen the match…i still think that some people are being overtly critical of Wenger’s tactics.
To put things in perspective….we are currently going through a round of really tough games (probably the toughest spell this season) ..and are still just 1 point behind Man Utd in the title race…..Definetly not a bad place to be in. Porstmouth even though they are going through a bad spell are definetly not pushovers…they have real quality in that team. And judging by the fact that they had to play ultra defensive (judging by what i read and Harry’s post match comments) at their home ground…really says something about their opinion of the current Arsenal team.
To put things further in perspective
….look at where we were supposed to finish at the start of the season…6th..7th??…mebbe finishing 4th would have been a real achievement. Fast forwarding to the present to where people are now slating Wenger for not coming out with a win against Portsmouth (Away)..in the middle of a tough holday fixture list…really speaks something about how far this team has come 
Realistically speaking…i never expected the team to win the title this season..and i still don’t expect them to win it …. From this start and present standings…I would probably be very disappointed if we finish outside the top 2 this season.
Next season however…i fully expect the team to challenge for honours and would be totally disappointed if we do not win.
And lastly…look at how the season started for Man Utd…and look at where they are now ….I think Arsenal need to learn from that and sort out whatever weaknesses that have been spotted over the course of the last few games. I’m glad the “blip” has come at this stage of the season where we still have a chance of finishing strongly ..rather than the run petering out in the final stages.
Cheers,
December 27th, 2007 at 4:12 am
I stayed up till 3 am to watch this game. In terms of quality, we were better than we were in the Spurs game. Our defense was hardly troubled, unlike in the NLD. In attack though, it was a different story. Gallas and Rosicky has two of our best chances and if we had taken one of them, we would sneaked in another 1-0 victory. Rosicky actually had two more chances - one acrobatically saved by James and another hit the side netting.
For me, the most frustrating part was watching Eboue. At the start of the season, many had predicted that he would turn out to be a one trick pony in midfield. But he defied everyone by putting on good shows. Now unfortunately, he has become just that - a one trick pony. His “push the ball past the left of the opposing defender and run past him” trick is known to all. I think between the Spurs and Pompey game, he must have tried it atleast 5-6 times and failed all.
Surprisingly, his crossing (usually a strong point) has also got worse. Now, he hits the ball so hard, nobody can get it. At the start of the game, there was a chance when if Eboue had crossed with measured strength, Cesc would have had a sitter. Instead, he struck the ball hard and high and it sailed over Cesc.
December 27th, 2007 at 4:17 am
Just noticed that Senderos was not on the bench for the Pompey game.
December 27th, 2007 at 6:24 am
Don’t worry about Eboue, he is off to the ANC in January, so he won’t be in the line up for a month or month and a half. I hope then Wenger will start with two upfront.
December 27th, 2007 at 8:57 am
Read that Djourou was benched after his atrocious mistake vs Bolton and Birmingham romped to a 3-0 win over Boro. Now that’s two of Arsenal’s backup CBs who didn’t make it on Boxing Day.
December 27th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Why are we reading between the lines so much? Its all speculation really.
December 27th, 2007 at 9:11 am
Wouldn’t it be ironic if we switched back to 4-4-2 and drew/lost at Everton? On the face of it, we should have been playing to win at Pompey and a little more cautiously at Everton.
December 27th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Unless Wenger changes something defeat against Everton is inevitable.
December 27th, 2007 at 9:44 am
That was the ideal scenario. Going to Everton with margin for error. Now we could easily find ourselves four points adrift by Saturday evening.
I think there is a very good chance that United will not move from top spot for the whole season and they will romp to the title again. We can talk about systems and stuff but United are simply the better side. Stronger physically and mentally. And Ronaldo is just a wrecking ball that never gets injured.
Right now it’s just about getting second place. That would represent a big step up from last season and give us hope to improve further next year. I just hope we don’t finish more than ten points behind United because we could finish in second place and still finish around 20 pts behind them like last year, which would dampen the achievement.
December 27th, 2007 at 10:25 am
RvP has been ruled out for the Everton. I doubt we will see any changes in the team. To make matters worse, Gallas is a doubt.
December 27th, 2007 at 11:21 am
I think the team, physically, gave everything they had last night but weren’t clever enough to get through Portsmouth’s determined defense. Flamini and Rosicky were outstanding last night and tried their best to make a difference. Flamini realises that the position in the team is his to lose to very capable competition. It’s truly bringing out his best as that was his best game in an Arsenal shirt last night.
Our biggest problem is the young players were giving the ball away too cheaply. Vieira absolutely did not play that and the team are missing that no-nonsense leader on the pitch. It’s not a dis on Gallas but PV4 realized how important it was to keep the ball and strongly stressed playing for the team and not for themselves. Last night it was plain to see players out for themselves. I’ve never seen an Arsenal team lose the ball so many times dribbling. Since when is dribbling Arsenal’s strength? It’s as if the young guys are starting to believe the media hype. Gallas and Wenger need to check that.
I’ve been critical of Wenger’s tactics throughout the season. Like I’ve said so often this season, you have to apply tactics that give your team the best chance to win. I won’t beat that horse anymore. My only criticism of the players is if you’re going to have a lone striker, he’s got to stay in a central area. Even if Ade doesn’t know, then Wenger should know.
I also told you guys in the summer to respect what Hleb did out wide and that Eboue only had one move and wasn’t dynamic enough to do what Hleb did. I had to apologize after watching him in the Emirates Cup against Inter Milan but time always tells the real truth.