The sun isn’t shining as brightly as it was more than a month ago when Arsenal went 5 points clear at the top (Monday, Feb 11). 5 days after that win, dark clouds started hovering on the horizon. And now, although the dark clouds have not caused complete darkness, they are blocking the sun rays. On March 4, the clouds parted just slightly to let in a ray of sunshine at about the time Adebayor’s goal crossed the Milanese line. Even though one can continue to sense the presence of the sun behind those clouds, complete light is still elusive. So the easiest way to bring the sunshine back is to dispense one cloud at a time. Sunday’s game against Chelsea offers a chance towards restoring a sunny weather outlook.
Case of expectations:
If Arsenal had started the season by drawing their first 4 games, I might have not been that disappointed as I have been in the last few weeks. Enough excuses could have been given to a slow start — departure of Henry & Freddie and loss of their experience, continued problems from the past seasons, etc. And given Manchester United’s slow start where they only got 2 points from their first 3 league games, scoring just one goal in the process, a possible slow Arsenal start might not have seemed that bad. In fact, Manchester had to wait until the 7th league game of the season to score more than one goal in a game (2-0 over Jose-less Chelsea). But Arsenal started their season impressively and improved on displays from the previous few years. For example, in the last few years, if Arsenal had gone down to an early goal, they were unable to come back. The start of this season, Arsenal managed to score late goals to win games and even managed to get wins in games where they didn’t play all that well. Plus the different goal-scorers, the manner of the goals, etc all pointed to a team ready for the title. The first real dip in the season came with the 5 dropped points against Newcastle and Boro on Dec 5 & 9th. And then the recent 8 dropped points constitute the second bad patch of the season. Even now, it is hard to believe Arsenal only have just one loss this season. Of course, the 10 draws has been their undoing. In a way, it was great that Arsenal made a great start as that helped give the team a good momentum and plenty of self-belief to charge at the top. It is hard to imagine the team would be near the top had they not started that positively.
Super Sunday Part I vs Part II
The clash of the top 4 on Dec 16 was always going to be a key fixture in the title race. Wins for Arsenal and Manchester that day left Chelsea and Liverpool on the outside. Many deemed it as a two horse race as Arsenal regained top spot, followed by Man Utd with Chelsea and Liverpool losing pace. Things have changed quite a bit regarding this Sunday’s reverse fixtures. Now, Man Utd have the upper hand with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool seeking to bring themselves back into the fold. Wins for Arsenal and Liverpool would certainly help in opening the race up a bit more.
Liverpool are 11 points back of Manchester and are hoping to bring themselves into contention again but one of their main undoings this season has been their 11 draws. Liverpool have the most draws this season (along with Fulham) and one can only wonder if Liverpool had managed to convert half of those into wins (not including that 1-1 tie with Arsenal, of course), then they would have certainly been breathing down Manchester’s necks. Of course, the same could be said of Arsenal’s 10 draws (Villa, Boro and Blackburn also have 10 draws). Even if the Gunners have converted half of those draws into wins, then the table would have been different with Arsenal clear at the top by 7 points.
When Sunday comes:
It has been almost three years since Liverpool won the Champions League and it is hard to believe that Rafa Benitez’s reputation is still built on those 6 magic minutes against Milan. Had Liverpool not come back against Milan, then I doubt he would have gotten the same respect that he currently does. Sure he has managed to outsmart plenty of top European teams over the years, but he has yet to lead his Liverpool team to a victory over Man Utd in the league; Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Man Utd in a 2005/06 F.A Cup tie is the only time Rafa got the upper hand on Ferguson. Considering the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester, it is quite frustrating from an Arsenal perspective that Liverpool have not managed to dent Man Utd’s bubble and given them a real derby like fight. In fact, Liverpool’s record in the league against Manchester is quite awful: out of the 7 league games that Rafa has faced against Manchester, his team have 6 loses and just one 0-0 tie, letting in 8 goals and scoring just one goal (even that one was an own goal by O’Shea). The manner of the goals let in has been disappointing as well, with only Tevez (this season), Scholes and Rooney deemed regular goal-scorers while the rest were scored by defenders who were not picked up (O’Shea, Silvestre with 2, Ferdinand with 2).
Arsenal’s win over Chelsea this season ended a run of 6 winless league games for Arsenal over their London rivals. Arsenal did not manage any wins over Chelsea in the Jose years. So this season with Jose gone (only in body but apparently not in spirit), Gallas restored the normal order of things by heading Arsenal to that crucial win. And Arsenal’s last away win to Chelsea was in that unbeaten 2003/04 season. Interestingly, that Feb 21 2004 loss for Chelsea against Arsenal was the last time they lost a home game in the league at Stamford Bridge. They currently hold the league record for longest unbeaten home streak, which is currently at 77 games.
Can I have just the good memories?
Part of being a soccer fan involves having a catalog of memories. With each passing season, multiple memories (good and bad) get added to a fan’s mind. It is amazing how many scores, players names and moments the average soccer fan can recall from the top of their minds. When things are not going so good for a team, then unfortunately sometimes a gush of bad memories (like past disappointments and failures) come to the forefront and attempt to bury the good memories. Every soccer fan has had to deal with those bad moments at one point or another. One can attempt to block these unhappy moments but can’t erase them completely. In the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind, Jim Carrey’s character wants to erase the unpleasant memories from his mind. But when that erasing process starts, unfortunately large chunks of his character’s life memories start to disappear as well. As it turns out, the bad memories were tied up with his life and if one took away the bad memories, then a large part of his life went away as well. And so it is with a soccer fan as well. These bad memories become part of the fan’s lives and somehow get burned into their psyche.
Thankfully in recent years, Arsenal have given plenty of good memories to their fans. It would be nice to have the happy times be always present but that is not always the case for many reasons. The last few weeks have been disappointing as far as the league has been concerned. But still, there have been many good moments this season. I can only hope that the good memories are not over yet. This team has worked so hard this year and they deserve to get something for their efforts.
On Sunday, an Arsenal win coupled with a Liverpool victory would help ease the pain of the recent weeks. But it won’t be easy. Sunday will be full of nerves and tense battles. Not one for the faint hearted, that’s for sure. But being an Arsenal fan has never been an easy task. In 1989, Arsenal could have wrapped up the title long before the final game but they kept slipping up until they needed a two goal victory at Anfield, which they managed with only a few seconds to spare. Arsenal were completely outplayed for most of the 1994 Cup Winner’s Cup final against Parma but they worked hard to ensure that their only real shot on Parma’s net turned out to the winner. In 1998, they put together an amazing run of results in the league, including a memorable 1-0 win away to Old Trafford to take away the title from Manchester. 2002 and 2004 had their anxious moments before the team pulled away to win the title in impressive fashion. And the 2005 F.A Cup final win was a painful game to sit through as an Arsenal fan, but somehow against all the odds they actually won that game. The task in front of the current Arsenal team seems quite difficult but in recent years, the team has managed some amazing wins. Keeping those positive memories in mind, as a fan I can only hope that the team is extremely motivated to usher in a new page in Arsenal’s history.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:58 am
18 of Torres’ 20 league goals have come at Anfield. That’s an amazing imbalance.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:07 am
Sachin u mentioned 1989. The sceniro is quite similiar. Both young sides, took the lead, slipped up towards the end… Now we all knew the ending of 1989, not only brought up the first title in 18 years, also brought us the Nick Hornby classic “Fever Pitch”, for without the night of Anfield 89, “Fever Pitch” would not have become a classic.
So how’s the current side’s ending this season will be? Talent wise, they are 10 times better than class 89. But Arsenal 1989 was a squad made up by steel and lion hearts. Somebody should tell the story of 89 to this young Arsenal side, in case they are all foreigners who never heard of Arsenal 89. It was an inspiring story no Holloywood screenwriter could have come up with. I know many fans have already lost their belief, they call it reality, whatever. Important is our players still hold on to the belief - That IT CAN BE DONE. Afterall, a set of young players had done it before 19 years ago. So why can’t them?
March 21st, 2008 at 11:01 am
Well - Well - Well
We will beat Chelsea again tomorrow….la
Chelsea (0) Vs Arsenal (1)
1st Goal >> F4
March 21st, 2008 at 11:33 am
Ah, the Milan prophet has spoken.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:47 am
We need other teams to help us now.
Liverpool can definitely draw or win against Man United.
I could see 0-0 happening there… and that would open the door for Arsenal to control their own destiny again.
Thats all I want… that if we WIN all our games remaining, we are Champions.
So I hope Liverpool can get a point …
We will have to take care of our own business. I think we can beat Chelsea. They let in 4 against Spurs. Something is still not right at Chelsea. They can be taken, and we can take them…
But we have to go all out for the win… A win there gives us belief that anything can be done…
Should be a very entertaining “Super Sunday”.
I just hope we play with the passion and determination that is necessary, and that SOMEONE in the squad… finishes the chances we create… instead of pissing it away as we have done so often recently.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:10 pm
“18 of Torres’ 20 league goals have come at Anfield. That’s an amazing imbalance.”
He must start balancing those numbers on Sunday
March 21st, 2008 at 12:56 pm
No preview for this one coz its come out earlier than expected
. Hence the tactical thoughts down here. Here we go.
The back five pick themselves. So how do they line up and who will mark whom? I’m guessing Avram Grant will almost certainly pick a 4-5-1 with Drogba up front and SWP and Cole in support. If this happens then SWP will fart around on the right wing doing nothing like he has done for the last 2+ years after he left ManCity. Anyway there are wingers much better and quicker than SWP that Clichy has eaten up over the years. I’m thinking..I’m seriously thinking. Who was the last big name right winger to have destroyed Clichy? I cant think of one. Sunday will be no different and SWP will get subbed on 65″ for Malouda with Joe Cole switching to the left and then we will have a game on. Joe Cole has to be Chelsea’s best player - Inventive, tricky and two footed; he is another Ronaldo style winger who used to play striker at Westham. Only Chelsea’s style is more defensive so he doesn’t score as many goals. Again Sagna too will; although have a tougher time be able to keep him quiet. Now if the wings are quiet then obviously the battle will be in the middle where Chelsea are dominant — bigtime. Now that means that Grant will almost certainly start with Lampard and Ballack. The 3rd spot will go to either Makelele or Essien. I’m actually hoping he switches to Makelele who although a great player will be less feared going forward than the Duracell Essien who will be everywhere in attack and defense. If Lampard and Ballack do start I will tip us to win the game 2-1; because of the imbalance it will cause in the team. I’m thinking again..what has Michael Ballack done for the last 2 years? How much has he justified his huge wages? Like Sheva? I’m sorry…I don’t think he’s done much at all. Things could be tighter though if Makelele anchors and Essien and Lampard start either side of him. It might be a draw then. Juliano Beletti will not bomb forward as much because of two reasons - Clichy’s attacks down the wing which will see him hacked down atleast once and an early yellow card for either SWP or Beletti plus the trickery of Hleb which will drag the RB out leaving Clichy space to run into. Hence Beletti will be cautious. Which leaves us with Cashley Cole who should have been sent off for nearly destroying Hutton, moaning like an utter cunt and being disrespectful to the number one ManU fan - Mike Riley. I think he will have a decent game though defensively; he is a big game player and does quite well. Overall though its a diving match on the right wing with Eboue and Cole where I hope that EE does not act stupid and play a blinder.
Cesc will raise his game tomorrow and completely own Lampard who will have a quiet game but score once. If Flamini can stifle the DM and prevent the ball from getting to Cole or SWP too much I think Arsenal will have too much for Chelsea until they switch to a 4-4-2 depp in the second half when Anelka will come on. Then it changes all together — but thats possibly thinking too far ahead. This IS the game when Cesc, Hleb, Gallas and Toure have to get a 9/10 and where Adebayor or RVP score. If that doesn’t happen we will lose.
Which brings me to our strike force. Ade has always been a big game player as well. He will drag Terry and Carvalho around a huge lot and create space for RVP to run into if he starts. I’m actually predicting a goal for the big Togolese and one for NB who will come on for RVP on 60″ to 70″ when its still even. It is at the risk of sounding cliched “too tight to call”.
Will it be a goalless midfield scrap? Will a long ball do the job for a 1-0 win either way? Will it be a RVP set piece special? Or will it be a dire 0-0 giving ManU the chance to pull away? Or will it be a Theo/Eboue cross with a Bendtner header which wins us the game? I dont know…
But I do know that it’ll be a big time scrap with Lampard, Cole and Terry moaning throughout and an encounter which if we win could lead us on an unbeaten run throughout the rest of the season. Yes I know its 77 games since Chelsea lost at the Bridge but like it happened with the Invincibles(sniff…) all good things do end sometime. Will this be the night it happens and which will catapult us to Old Trafford where some one some one steps and does this…
“Silvestre’s lost it and its Dennis Bergkamp on the ball and it s Freddie Ljungberggg ..again…Barthez saves but its dropped for Wiltorrrrrrrrrdddddd!!!!!..” Andy Gray(I love this part): This is poor play from Silvestre..but forget that..Look at the energy levels with that run from midfield..Tired legs and him??? You better not believe it!!!!!”…Oh well…maybe not fully appropriate here but I loved that little memory
Chelsea 1 - Arsenal 2
March 21st, 2008 at 1:02 pm
It’s the agricultural grinders of Chelsea versus the technical grinders of Arsenal. Always interesting.
As everyone knows, I think Arsenal have shot their wad, and it’s been shot for a while, in fact I’m not sure how much they had in the first place. Rosicky’s absence has hastened this process.
Chelsea are not as impervious as they once were but on the other hand they are a tad more freewheeling than under Mourinho and a more lucid offensive threat. Knowing they have to win I think they will scrap their usual brinkmanship style and go for our throats hoping we are vulnerable and chinny. I think those aggressive tactics will work for Chelsea and they will put the game beyond an impotent Arsenal by half-time.
March 21st, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Wow Mazza. Chelsea put the game beyond Arsenal by half-time?!!
Is this some sort of reverse mocking of the gods?
Can’t possibly see that happening. Its too big a match for us to come out and get steam-rolled…
I doubt that will occur.
I think we’ll be up for the match. I think Chelsea will be there for the taking.
The question for us… is always… WILL WE take our chances, when we get them… if so, anything is possible. If not, yet more frustration.
March 21st, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I think Chelsea will be up by 2-0 at half-time. That’s enough to put the game beyond us on a likely heavy pitch made heavier by the expected snow.
What has saved our arse in recent times against Chelsea is that they play so negatively and tactical at home, loathe to give up concessions. I always thought that played into our hands because it our gave our idiosyncratic players time to get settled. This time I think Chelsea will give a big push early doors and one of our defenders will feck up.
Of course, Chelsea going forward will leave gaps but are we going to punish them? I can’t see it.
March 21st, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Sure Mazza, they will put the game beyond an “impotent” Arsenal by halftime. Sure.
March 21st, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Chelsea’s current style works well for us.
They are less trench like and more “loose” and fluid …which is ok.
Their defense is NOT as bad as it seemed against Spurs. And even if it was that bad we wont take advantage of it the same way Spurs did.
Robbie Keane’s fourth goals is the kind of goal that Hleb will never ATTEMPT in his dreams. He would have run into the box and PASSED and hope for a pass back !!! LOOOOOL.
Anyway, they will play 4-3-3 for sure.
RB - Terry - Carvalho - Cole
Essien - Makelele - Lampard
SWP - Drogba - J. Cole
We will win it by the odd goal.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:55 pm
There’s no denying this current side is erratic and unpredictable. But overall, the one good thing is that we have pulled it out the bag for the big games. We bossed L’pool after giving away a silly early goal. We clawed back against ManUre. We outfought Chelsea to win. We totally outplayed Milan.
That gives me a lot of hope for Sunday. (Bolton away is another story!) Chelsea are still a formidable unit - strong, dull if needed, lethal when presented with a mistake. But if our Young Guns are up for it, they can take the game to them and rattle them.
It does mean Ade and Hleb have to get stuck in, but Cesc and Flamini are on form, and Theo is chomping at the bit. Van P will be that little bit fitter and hopefully Gallas and Toure can calm down.
The mudpie pitch is not great, but this is the real turning point of our season. Win here and the championship is ours to win again when we get to Old Trafford. I say, 2-1 to the Gunners. A VanP freekick and a Senderos header.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:00 pm
The L’Pool Champions League game on April 2nd is being shown on ESPN2 in the US.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Arsenal needs to defy history in order to win at Chelsea. Chelsea has a record unbeaten league run at Stamford Bridge of 78 games. In the same period they have not lost at Stamford Bridge in 97 domestic matches if penalty shoot-outs are excluded.
History be damned, but if Arsenal pulls out a victory on Sunday this might well provide them with the confidence to go for it all, making this a MAKE or BREAK game.
Having said all that, a draw would also do wonders for their confidence heading into the CL quarter finals although it could drive a dagger home for our EPL aspirations if Manu beats Liverpool.
Predictions:
Manu loses to Liverpool
Arsenal draws at Chelsea
Result: EPL is set for a scramble to the finish.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Supposedly van der Sar and Ferdinand are doubtful for Sunday. Maybe that will help Torres out.
March 22nd, 2008 at 2:15 am
I just watched our first game against Chelsea and we looked very solid. In fairness, they had lost Mourinho. Essien and Drogba was out as well. They then lost Terry in a challenge with Eboue.
Arsenal were pretty much at full strength. With Rosicky in the team we look nothing like the team that has dropped eight point in the last four games. Make no mistake, we will, again, miss his sword in the battle tomorrow. This game will be tougher than the first one. However, we have every chance to win it. This is an opportunity for us to give Chelsea a chance to start a new unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge by ending their current one.
Another worry is we have a few guys close to a suspension. Fabregas is close to ten yellows which means a two or 3 match ban (can’t remember). Flamini and Clichy are also close. I think Gallas and Adebayor might be getting close as well. We have a lot of important games coming up and don’t need players banned for silly cautions.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 am
Josh…I think Cesc is on 9 yellows in all competitions. A 2 match ban will come into play only if he hits 10 yellows in the league itself.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:03 am
“Wow Mazza. Chelsea put the game beyond Arsenal by half-time?!!”
Stag, now u know why i been so piss with stuffs being written over here. support? what support?
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:09 am
of the Man U Liverpool match. from as far as i remember, when it matters most, Liverpool always fuck up against Man U. In fact, they always fuck up against Man U regardless of the occassion.
i hope Rafa will forget about playing his tactical game. Just GO GET THEM. They really got nothing to lose. so go out and take the game into Man U, to the worst they got trashed 5-0. so what? it ain’t make any difference whether they lose 1-0 or 10-0. bottom line is - anything but a win their last hope of title chance is over. and if u try sitting back inviting Man U to attack it’s only a matter of time before they break u down. losing 1-0 at the first minute or 90th minute again won’t make any difference.
Same should be AW’s approach towards Chelsea. Let’s do an AC Milan all over again. We got nothing to lose. anything but a win if we want to stay in touch with Man U. a draw and a loss won’t make much a difference, so let’s GO GET THEM from the first minute. give them all we got.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:55 am
ManU will win at Old Trafford. When was the last time Pool did sumthing there? If it had been Anfield I’d have been a little more hopeful but at ManU…nope. Then again I hope I’m wrong
March 22nd, 2008 at 5:59 am
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=489286&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Wenger+-+Tough+to+say+on+Rosicky+return
Time to give up on Rosicknote?
March 22nd, 2008 at 6:03 am
Will Arsene start with Eboue or Walcott? I think it will be the former to be replaced with the latter if we need a goal.
March 22nd, 2008 at 6:26 am
Its really really sad about Mozart. If it doesn’t happen next season as well it might be time for him to go; but I’m pretty sure AW will not sell him because of an injury record. Its when he sees the motivation is no longer there in training or when a kid is not that good; that he will sell a player. Rosicky will be here next season as well ; mark my words.
And yes Eboue will start for sure because AW wants some power in that midfield and Theo might well win the game coming on late as an impact sub. I’m almost certain of this lineup. Then again I hope Arsene doesn’t go and start Big Bert and play Ade up front alone. I would still understand why he would do that playing away against a big Chelsea midfield but considering the situation we’re in where we probably(not mathematically but psychologically) need to win I hope AW stays a bit more positive and plays two up front. The 4-5-1 would be fine if Mozart was playing or maybe even Diaby in the centre of a 3 man midfield but if he plays Gilberto in this state of mind the 4-5-1 is not ideal.
Almunia
Clichy Gallas Toure Sagna
Eboue Cesc Flamini Hleb
RVP Ade
Subs: Lehmann,Senderos,Theo,Bendtner,Song
March 22nd, 2008 at 6:28 am
Just struck me…all those talking about draws. Didn’t the invincible record read -
W 25 D 12 L 0
??
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:09 am
Yes, it was W26 D12 L0.
Wenger has said that if Arsenal remain unbeaten in the last 8 games, he is confident we will win the title because we will have lost just one game all season. It’s possible but not guaranteed. The biggest achievement of the 03-04 season was not simply remaining undefeated (38 draws will give you that), it was winning the title undefeated.
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:27 am
http://www.onlinegooner.com/exclusive/index.php?id=566
Echoes Andez’ thoughts in #2.
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:11 am
On March 4, the clouds parted just slightly to let in a ray of sunshine at about the time Adebayor’s goal crossed the Milanese line. Even though one can continue to sense the presence of the sun behind those clouds, complete light is still elusive.
Awesome writing Sachin!!
March 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
I wish Wenger would stop going about this one defeat all season thing. The only thing it proves is that we are consistent at drawing games. Teams like United and Chelsea can lose a game and then come back strong and win the next game. Arsenal tend to feel sorry for themselves. That’s probably why it is so important to Wenger.
There is such a fine line between drawing and losing that I don’t really read too much into it. What I prefer to look at is the performance and the circumstances within the game. We can carry on proving our mental strength scraping draws against Boro at home. United will carry on attacking with gusto and intent trying to get it done early in games. I know which philosophy will end up winning titles.
March 22nd, 2008 at 10:44 am
AND sooo much gusto that there is a sole reliance on Ronaldo for the goals … YIPEE!
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 am
Well Saha and Tevez combined to put Tevez clear after two minutes. Ronaldo was not involved in the move. Whoa!
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:15 am
I think an option for the games ahead especially the big games might be to play a midfield and attack of:
Song - Cesc - Flamini (with Cesc ahead of the two)
Walcott - Ade - RvP
Or Hleb in place of Song but with a much stronger defensive brief.
The aim should be to give Cesc absolute freedom so he doesnt have to think about mundane stuff.
The three attackers up front should be REAL forwards NOT some pseudo winger thing. Their direction should be diagonal going straight at goal.
I like Song cos well, I would prefer him to Eboue…..And he could sit and let Flamini run forward and flee back more freely. But Fabregas should never be that be behind the half line.
Alternatively, Hleb, Cesc and Flamini could start in the 3. Flamini sits, while Hleb stand right beside Fabregas and holds at least 2 of the opposition’s players with some of his possession balls. This would mean Fabregas would need to sit back a bit but would free him up from on-rushing defenders - at least by one less man.
Clichy and Sagna should probably not bomb up that much since there is not much cover on the wings and since they dont do much when they go forward anyway. They could do the occasional diagonal crosses from in front of the halfway line directly into the box…..that way they dont compromise their positions.
Standing orders would be:
Walcott and RvP: Cut and SHOOT on your good leg. No pansying about!
Adebayor: Stay central! And hold one or two defenders.
Fabregas: The key. Do whatever you want.
Hleb: No pressure. Just hold/distract two players.
All in all, I think this (in theory) will make for more direct football and give us 3 shooting options rather than the current 1.5 - ie Walcott, RvP, Fabregas…..rather than the previous RvP and half of Fabregas who has to do a bit of defensive work.
This will also push Hleb more central, give him less responsibility and we would not need to see Eboue!
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:23 am
Sole reliance on Ronaldo?
I don’t think so. What was the score in the FA Cup match we played?
Ronaldo not playing…. I don’t think they needed him that day.
Rooney and Tevez are very capable players. They’ve scored lots of goals between them.
Thats OUR problem. We don’t have players with a history of scoring goals. Thats why they dried up. RVP can’t stay healthy, and other than Ade, nobody has any record of scoring.
United have scored the most goals. Ronaldo doesn’t have all of them. They are not solely reliant on one player. WE are MORE reliant on Cesc playing well.
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
@ 31: Did that move result in a goal?? Nope. So it goes into the same basket as Fabregas slides the ball through to Ade who also did not score! ZING!
Ronaldo is the one putting the BREAD on the table. The 3 points on the column.
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
I’d actually like to point this out. Here’s a link to our stats in the invincible season. I wanted to see whether all our draws this season against relatively weaker teams were the same during that invincible season:
——————
Invincibles:
http://soccernet-akamai.espn.go.com/team/results?id=359&season=2003&_league=eng.1&cc=4716
Current:
http://soccernet-akamai.espn.go.com/team/results?id=359&season=2007&_league=eng.1&cc=4716
——————
Analyzing those links reveals the following:
Draws - 2003/04
Pompey(H), Charlton(A), ManU(A), Fulham(H), Leicester(A), Bolton(A), Everton(A), ManU(H),Newcastle(A), Spurs(A), Birmingham(A), Portsmouth(A)
Thats 3 home and 9 away draws. = 12 draws = 24 dropped points
Draws - 2007/08
Blackburn(A), Liverpool(A), ManU(H), Newcastle(A), Portsmouth(A), Birmingham(H), Birmingham(A), AstonVilla(H), Wigan(A), Middlesborough(H),
Loss: Middlesborough(A)
Thats 4 home and 6 away draws. = 10 draws + 1 loss = 23 dropped points
So by that record alone; we’re still overall on track and as AW says ; we will win the league if we win all our remaining games. And if we win all our remaining games ManU will not win all their remaining games. A tall order — indeed but doable; extremely do-able.
Even the invincibles who had only a Plan A of bulldozing the opposition dropped points at unfancied locations like Charlton, Newcastle, Fulham, Leicester, Birmingham. It happens — all the time to the best of teams for the varieties of reasons. However we need to win tomorrow — somehow to kickstart our run-in; else this is all hogwash. Interesting though
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:33 am
Stag: Rooney and Tevez have not scored that many winning goals or “going-ahead” goals in the league. Ronaldo has scored those in over FIFTEEN (15) games this season. That is some phenomenal sh-t!
That is NOTHING compared to our small reliance on Fabregas.
And quit re-stating the obvious over and over again. We are in poor form - everybody can see that. Dont you have anything else to say?
How about you shut up and stop moaning for once in your life.
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:38 am
@ stag: You are such a two-face….when we were winning you were all over the place calling 4-0s for every single match and what not, the moment the form goes you are all over the place spreading your negativity without even proffering any sort of analysis. Am sure if we win against Chelsea you will be all “positive” and predicting 4-0s again. Dummy!
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:41 am
Look at it this way guys. Take Ronaldo out of the ManU team. Take Ade out of ours. Who is more affected? I don’t know. Similar stuff was talked about us when Henry used to bang in 30 a season and people ; our own fans accepted that we were a one man team ; not a team of capable players. If Henry wasn’t playing everyone went — we’re done for. Where will the goals come from? Trust me - or rather go on to a ManU forum and read threads there. Ronaldo has carried ManU..brilliantly. Like Drogba carried Chelsea last year - alone. Or forget that . Look at the stats for goal scoring, which is the BE ALL and END ALL at the end according to many here.
Criteria - Greater than or equal to 4 goals in the EPL:
ManU - http://www.4thegame.com/statistics/premiership/manchester-united-fc/scorers/
Ronaldo : 24 — Rest — Tevez + Rooney + Saha = 11 +8 + 5 = 24
Total - 48
Arsenal -
http://www.4thegame.com/statistics/premiership/arsenal-fc/scorers/
Ade : 19 — Rest — Cesc + Rosicky + RVP + Dudu = 7 + 6 + 5 + 4 = 22
Total - 41
A goal difference of 7.
The goal difference is now 10 in the table. Thats all we need to make up. It proves nothing about us having less goal scorers or other funny obvious stuff. It is just the playing style which makes it seem that way.
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:45 am
Can’t we have an exchange of opinions without slagging eachother off? C’mon, I thought we had all moved on from that.
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
LDE, #35, I don’t understand your point. Those stats from the ‘03-’04 season was over thirty-eight games. We’ve already dropped as many points this season as we did in the entire unbeaten season and we’ve still got 8 games to play, including three against top four teams.
In 2004 we dropped a third of total points lost in the last eight games of the season. At that point in the season, for all intents and purposes, the league was already won and we could afford to drop those points. If Vieira had a groin injury, no worries as we had two who could play for him and we wouldn’t miss a beat. If Bergkamp or Henry got a knock, kein problem, as we had Wiltord, Kanu, Reyes, and even Aliadiere who could come in and perform. This team doesn’t have that luxury. Could you imagine us winning the league if Fabregas picks up a tenth caution and being without him for two games?
March 22nd, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Josh, If I am not mistaken the deadline for 5/10 yellows to convert into 1/2 game(s) suspension is over. I think it was end of Feb. I think I read it somewhere. Am trying to find a link.
March 22nd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Seems like these are the rules -
5 yellow cards - suspended for one match if accumulated before the last day of February (otherwise a warning)
10 yellow cards - suspended for two matches if accumulated before the second Sunday in April (otherwise a severe warning)
15 yellow cards - suspended for three matches
20 yellow cards (and every multiple of five thereafter) - punishment decided by disciplinary hearing
Cesc has 3/4 games depending on whether it is on or before the second Sunday in April. Chances are he will surely get one in the Chelsea game, considering his record against Lampard and co. Let’s hope he can avoid one more.
March 22nd, 2008 at 2:36 pm
@Joshuad#40: I understand that that was for 38 games. I was just referring to AW’s statement that if we won all our remaining games we would be champions. So if we win all our remaining games we will drop a point less than the invincibles dropped all season. Thats where I’m coming from. I did say this..didn’t I:
“However we need to win tomorrow — somehow to kickstart our run-in; else this is all hogwash. Interesting though :)”
As for the backups. Sorry Aliadiere was never good enough as a centre forward; and wouldn’t have done the job too many games in a row. And Reyes had just come in from Sevilla that season. He did score that wonder goal against Chelsea in the FA Cup and a couple of crucial goals in the run-in but he was never going to replace Titi or MagicMan. Wiltord and Kanu..Yes I’ll give you that…were more than able backups. However if Dudu hadn’t had that freak injury we would have had able backups striker wise as well in him and NB albeit a bit young.
As for the wings..surprise surprise
our backups attacking wise were quite poor even in that year. Who was Freddie’s backup? — Ray Parlour. Who was Pires’s backup - Edu? . Yes thats why he bought Reyes but Reyes was going to need his adjustment time. So effectively for the whole season we had backups(I’m talking proper backups) only in the following areas:
CM: Viera, Gilberto, Edu, Parlour
Striker: Henry, Bergkamp, Wiltord, Kanu
CB(Maybe): Toure, Campbell, Keown, Cygan???
What else Josh? Clichy? Bentley? Hoyte? We had a ridiculously thin squad even back then. Just like now. The Professor likes to keep the balance and he’s right more often than not.Here’s the 2003-04 squad. I took all my stats from here:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/team/squad?teamId=359&season=2003&cat=starts&cc=4716&leagueId=23
One more thing: The invincibles scored 69 goals during that season. We have scored 56 so far. 14 goals in 8 games needed to better that. Possible? If we do that we will win the title. What do you think?
Lastly I said it above; Cesc is on 9 yellows in all competitions. 10 in the league is two games I think and even there there are some funny date calculations that go into it. But no..I think we’d be hard pressed to do it without Cesc though he has been off form for a while.
March 22nd, 2008 at 2:56 pm
LDE, this is what Wenger said -
“I feel that consistency will come out for good at the end of the season. I cannot imagine that it will not play an important part in the final part of the season. If we win our big games and if we continue to be consistent then I am sure we will finish in front of the other sides. I cannot imagine we will lose the League if we have lost only one game at the end of the season.”
He DID NOT say that if we won all our remaining games we would be champions.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:02 pm
fred 32…
i think the formation that u put up is excellent… esp with song in .. retains our midfield strentgth… but maybe leaves us a bit exposed on the wings… since van Persie and walcott do not track back that well…
wud love to see it against smaller teams.. ( not many left for this season )
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Thanks LDE @28. I truly wished that the bad patch was over when that goal went in. Still I am hoping, starting with tomorrow
yeah Andez #2, I thought of 1989 regarding how the team kept dropping points. And ofcourse I think back to Fever Pitch as well and how that season was described. My Arsenal fan days started at the moment the book ends with Anfield 89. Which is when I think you have mentioned previously that you started being an Arsenal fan as well. I sometimes wish to see Arsenal and Liverpool fight it out for the league title, just to get back to those old days. Even though I have a feeling I might be sick of seeing Liverpool 3 times in a week. The lack of arrogance about Liverpool makes me want to have them as a worthy league title opponent. That might take a bit of the edge off my frustration regarding Man Utd and Chelsea’s (more in Jose days) annoying mindgames and antics.
One thing I forgot regarding the game tomorrow. It will be a physical game and I hope the Arsenal players can keep their cool no matter what Lampard and Terry attempt to do.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
It’s shit or bust. Win tomorrow or forget it, the psychological blow will be too big, it will have been 1 win in 8, simply not good enough at the business end of the season.
Can we do it? Yes. We have the talent and the bottle. I fancied us to beat Chelsea at the Bridge from the very start of the season. I won’t change my mind now, mostly because Avram Grant has failure stamped all over him.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Josh, nipuna, pls don’t nitpicking LDE’s point. Regardless of the small little details, there was a POINT LDE trying to made, the “point” is what matters. And he had made an effort to collect those stats to make the point. Posts like that should be encouraged on this site rather than the usual wind up stuffs, with nothing but nonsense just so they could get a response.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Yeah, LDE, I know the point you’re trying to make is based on what Wenger said but is that likely? I hope he’s right and we turn a corner. We’ll have to let time tell.
My point is it’s very unfair to compare this young team to the unbeaten side. Besides the fact that the ‘04 side was f*cking awesome, at this point in the season, they were on 74 points with no pressure. We’re currently second on 67 and while that’s not bad, it’s not invincible form. That team had won the double together in ‘02 and knew how to win the title. Lehmann and Toure were the only new additions which meant they were a very comprehensive side. That sort of greatness is there for this team if they stay together but logic says it might not be there time just yet.
Relax, Andez. I’m not nitpicking or winding anyone up. LDE made a comparison and I told him I thought it was unfair and why. A simple chat. There’s nothing more to it
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
In Andez’ mind:
Anything that puts Arsenal in a good light- “What a perceptive comment. What a great supporter you are.”
Anything that shows Arsenal in a bad light- “Wind-up merchant. How dare you criticise Arsenal. Do you know the meaning of the word support?”
Just kidding Andez but it does some of it rings true.
March 22nd, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Fred, you are a one trick pony, all you do is call names when people don’t agree with you. Get over it. Please.
Did I predict Arsenal would lose tomorrow?
Did I predict we would lose in recent weeks??
No. The answer is no I did not.
I think we can beat Chelsea tomorrow… which I said…
And… I thought if Liverpool could take a point(2) off United, we would be back in control of our own destiny.
I realize that saying that United is a very good team… and they are not a player team is… against what you are saying … thus sacreligious to you… but tough shite. We are more reliant on Cesc than United are on Ronaldo. Thats MY OPINION. Got it? Good.
March 22nd, 2008 at 6:14 pm
stag: Its not about opinion, its about facts. Ronaldo’s assists and goals have put far more points on the table for Man U than Cesc has for Arsenal. Those are facts….and when you choose to ignore them for your negative reasons you deserve “correction”.
March 22nd, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Its just absolutely HILARIOUS that Walcott is among the top 4 strikers in England according to Capello. He has soo much to learn but there just arent any options. LOL.
Its also hilarious that the likes of Agbonlahor and Young didnt make it. Just goes to show that starting or even bench warming for a top-4 side is pretty much the most important criteria.
If Walcott was starting at Villa or Blackburn will he be in this team ahead of Defoe - who starts for Pompey??
NOPE.
This is why Bentley is SCARED….he knows Walcott will get ahead of him pronto.
March 22nd, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Sacchin, I only have good memories until the bad ones come, which in the scope of things is better than no memories. I remember beating Chel$ki and I’m looking forward to doing the same tomorrow.
Great stuff on the writing of the post as well my western friend - Sacchin.
#34 Mazza - slagging off is better than several other *_offs I can think of. But I’d much prefer to *_off than slag or is that stag_off.
As a hooker I deal with all together too many *_offs.
As a SToneD I got off and get off often.
As an emirate I simply… light’s off.
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Look how many times Adebayor is blown offside compared to the three top strikers at Liverpool, Man U, Chelsea:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/03/23/sfntac123.xml
That’s ridiculous, he’s given offside more than all three put together in less than half the same time period.
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Bentley looked like he was auditioning for Capello yesterday. He was playing out of his mind. You can’t knock him for that, though.
Capello is so biased including Walcott. It’s all based on the strength of his performances against AC MIlan. Young Theo came off the bench very late and still managed to have a very dramatic impact over both legs. If Walcott had done that against Lyon or Schalke then he would have been overlooked.
But he did it big against the Italians, which is why Capello picked him. Congrats to Theo.
I’ve got a feeling Manu are going to draw Liverpool and we’ll win.
March 23rd, 2008 at 12:26 am
@nip#44: Yeah I might have got the exact words wrong
; I seem to do that a lot for some reason.But that was the gist of it; beating the big teams.
@josh: Yes fair enough. This side has done nothing; its just that mathematically its still possible to better the Invincible’s point record and that was where I felt AW was coming from.
@Andez: Thnx 4 sticking up 4 me
March 23rd, 2008 at 4:03 am
@LDE, u welcome! A good point is always more important than the small details.
@Mazza, now u know where i m coming from. I am a die hard Arsenal fan. I love the club, and I support it with PRIDE. I got nothing against anyone personal over here. I reply posts with the stuffs they wrote, not the “name” on the top.
To me, my opinion is never important. It’s all about ARSENAL. If anyone comes and knock my club down, I don’t care who you are i will stand up for my club to the end.
And that’s why I am here at the first place. Otherwise i may go and join the ManureAmerica.com or ChelseaChinese.com whatever.
@55, Danny, that’s also the case with Henry. in fact, even worse. i lost count the number of times Henry’s perfectly good timing run got ruled offside simply because of the fact the linemen couldn’t catch up with his movement, he’s too quick.
Ade maybe a bit different, he does not time his run as good as Henry. but that’s his game anyway - run the channel. the more agile forwards like Henry, Bergakmp would do that benting run, but Ade is too damn big if he bents his run he may not be able to catch up with the through ball. so he can only do straighforward run. i guess that’s why he put himself in offside position so often.
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:00 am
Been quiet but still reading..
Nervous anticipation for the matches today. My hope-biased expectation for today is Man U draw and Arsenal win- don’t care about the scorelines TBH.
There have been references to “breaking history” regarding Chelsea’s home record- that actually gives me hope as this squad had made history throughout its existence. Let’s make histort today!
This 2nd bad patch has had a few more unfortunate turns than fortunate but I am hoping that van Persie has played enough that he will be dangerous today and score.
Shocking lack of lineup predictations- shouldn’t we bring back Senderos to face Drogba!! jk.
So,
Sagna-Gallas-Toure-Clichy
Eboue-Fabregas-Flamini-Hleb
Adebayor-van Persie
I guess the selection is too straightforward this time. Agree that Walcott will be the 1st sub especially if we aren’t winning after 60. Please 4-4-2. Hleb in the slot for 4-5-1 might be Wenger’s choice away.
I think Chelsea will focus on not conceding a bit more in the beginning though both teams should be looking for the win- a draw does little good for either.
Other reason for optimism- we should be fresh with a full week without a game- Chelsea’s mid-week battle could be the edge we need and TAKE!
Go Arsenal!!
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:11 am
ManU start with Carrick, Anderson, Scholes and Giggs in midfield, Ronaldo + Rooney as strikers. Surprised to see Tevez benched. A bit defensive? Rafa has gone for his strongest attacking lineup.
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:17 am
ManU will drop points today with that lineup. Giggs and Scholes together probably doesnt work too well. And Carrick playing gives Gerrard license to roam specially since Alonso and Mascherano are playing. Another example why Ronaldo is NOT a winger.
March 23rd, 2008 at 10:20 am
Absolute nightmare, a goal down and a man down. When will Lillypool start to play like contenders? Anyway here’s to a good arsenal win later on today. I’m off to church to pray the boys to victory.
March 23rd, 2008 at 10:25 am
ManU up a goal and a man by half time.
Lovely refereeing by Steve Bennett. Torres is kicked a few times before he is given the foul but is booked for complaining. Mascherano goes in to defend his Spanish speaking team mate (a little rashly, perhaps in hindsight) but with no sign of any aggression towards the ref and is booked to be sent off.
Ashley Cole almost maimes an opponent and shows disrespect of the worst kind to the ref, but is given only a yellow. No surprise to see the English commentators defending the ref for taking “charge” of the situation.
This is the same Bennett who sent off Vieira and gave ManU a penalty in the infamous 0-0 draw at OT in the invincible season. Somehow ManU always end up on top of such tight encounters. Call it luck or whatever you like.
By the way, horrible defending on the goal. What the hell was Brown doing there? It’s the equivalent of Sagna or Clichy scoring from a counter attack.
March 23rd, 2008 at 10:31 am
Totally agree, Nipuna. Insanely inconsistent refereeing. How can Ashley Cole stay on a pitch in the same week as Mascherano is sent off for speaking - without any histrionics - to the ref. Ditto the yellow for Torres, who dared to speak - quite reasonably, it looked like, without any insults - to the same ref.
This is hair-trigger refereeing and of course leaves us in the shite. ManUre are a soft goal up against 10 men. Can L’pool pull one back? Where’s the Easter Bunny with his basket of F***NG MIRACLES!!!!
March 23rd, 2008 at 10:42 am
Start of second half…… I see Man U crushing Liverpool from here out.
Oh, well.
Need a BIG win today! I have wanted that unbeaten record all season, lets see if we can take it.
March 23rd, 2008 at 10:47 am
Yet another Man Utd defender scores against Liverpool. Wow, year after year…
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:18 am
3-0 now…
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:25 am
ManU crush Liverpool. Repeat bad defending on the second goal and slick move for the third. Liverpool had no chance with 10 men.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:28 am
One of the English commentators was Alan Smith. He kept repeating that Bennett had done the right thing. Bennett continued his erratic refereeing by booking Ferdinand for what looked like a proper clearance. Let’s hope for better stuff from Mark Clattenburg.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:28 am
The title is increasingly looking like Man Utd’s to lose now…..hope Arsenal come up with an equally good response against Chelsea. Anything less than 3 points and the title race is over.
Cheers,
Wayne
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:31 am
ah well, so its win-or-die LOOL.
bring it on.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:31 am
The other side effect of this result is that Liverpool will be minimum 9 points behind the second placed after today. Expect Rafa to focus on the CL.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:35 am
If Liverpool ever wants to seriously challenging for the title, they gotta learn how to beat Man U. i think even Kevin Keegan back in his first spell with Newcastle had a better head to head record Vs Man U than all the recent Liverpool managers - Evans, Houllier, Rafa combined together.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:37 am
Andez, Houllier had an excellent record against ManU. I think Liverpool won three years in a row at OT, all winners coming from Danny Murphy. It’s Rafa who is clueless.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:38 am
Chelsea playing with Essien as RB, Ballack + Lampard in midfield and Drogba as striker. Grant has chosen his best players.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:39 am
The one encouraging thing is that L’pool looked so toothless, even with 11 men, which bodes well for our three encounters. The really bad news is that ManUre are all but uncatchable even if we beat them at OT and they draw with Chelsea.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:42 am
so man u are in the pole position to win the title but we stand a fighting chance if we beat chelsea today and maintain consistency through the rest of the season but pool will have their tails up for the champions league now.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:45 am
I do hope we can shake off our bad form and start playing with more passion. I watched the mancs game and i have to admit it was breath taking.
As much as liverpool didn’t give them much to fight for, most of their games have been similar in kind.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:57 am
ManUre-Pool
If you ask me Mike Riley and Steve Bennet are secret lovers and not so secret ManUre supporters. That’s probably what Mascherano said “Where’s your boyfriend Mikey?”
All this pontificating about respecting EPL Referee’s like Rugby (who watches Rugby anyway?) is a mute point when you see them doing such a lousy job like the ManUre-Pool game. I mean really. It’s just another attempt at reaching fascism in the game. Look if they complain they get a RED CARD now what more respect do you want. Who can respect such bad calls.
It’s almost getting to the point that it’s not who your playing but whose referring the damn game (operative word here is almost). What’s scares us about that is that based on stats this means ManUre will always get the benefit of the call.
Sad to see the Pool loose - nervous about the fixture starting in 3 minutes and I have to go celebrate this glorious Easter with my family, so I’ll be watching this game later today
Happy Easter - He is Risen.
March 23rd, 2008 at 12:34 pm
eboue needs to be subbed right about now before he goes off and does / says something stupid.
March 23rd, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Looks like Eboue wants to do a Mascherano
March 23rd, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Eboue doesn’t look like he will last the whole game.
March 23rd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Eboue is really tempting the ref
March 23rd, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Oh, Toure had a great chance and Gallas missed a sitter, though incorrectly called offside.
March 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Toure makes up with some gallant defending.
March 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
What a clearance by Almunia. May have hurt his groin.
0-0 at half time. We had some chances, but Chelsea finished stronger. One goal might win it.
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Holidays are not supposed to be this stressful… Some of that tension can be releived if AW brings on Walcott fot that clown Eboue at the start of the 2nd half. COME ON YOU GUNNERS!! Records are meant to be broken. No English team had ever beat AC Milan at the San Siro and we did. Well, time for us to end another home-record streak. We’ve got 45 minutes to do it. Let the football do the talking.
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Wenger better take eboue off soon, or it won’t be his decision, will it?
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
If Wenger does not SUB Eboue at halftime then it will be ALL on his head. Eboue is surely going to get sent off in this game. Wenger - dont fool around!
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Wenger needs to get Eboue OUT NOW!!!!!!!
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Sagna is down NOOOOOOO Not now!!!!
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
WTF we need to settle down!
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:49 pm
oh dear
sagna off and the defence looks rattled.
horrible feeling to be 1 nil up 2-1 down
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Ade has been utterly ineffective!
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:51 pm
will be quite happy when drogba goes to italy spain or wherever
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:54 pm
absolute crap. they bottled it big time. defended like clowns from start to finish.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Turns out Gallas is not much better than Senderos against Drogba.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
now that’s the definition of BOTTLE! Life goes on!
Kiss the crest!
Gooner 4 life!
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
actually, it was just Toure who really fucked up. every SINGLE TIME the ball was in the air, his brain froze. he plays like a complete idiot when the ball is not on the ground - what an amateur.
anyhoo. so we gotta roll all our dice in the CL then. and scrap for second place.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
And there goes the title. It really leaves a bitter taste in the mouth to be in first for practically the whole way and then slip to third. Guess we better join Liverpool and focus on Europe.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:01 pm
agree with Fred… it was Toure who actually messed up big time!
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
pretty low feeling
I didn’t see Adebayor get a lot of decent service and support.
RvP shows touches but obviously badly needs games
Hleb is Hleb
Eboue is a liability and you know with such certainty that what he does won’t end in anything useful. Once he’s in the danger area he is blunt.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
MICROCOSM of the ENTIRE SEASON today.
2/3 of the way thru the season, we were top of the league, and looked liked Champions.
2/3 of the way thru the match today, we are up 1-0, and looked like we would beat Chelsea on the road.
WE CHOKED the league.
WE CHOKED today.
The league is over… we’ll likely get 3rd place.
Horrible defending on both goals… and we blew today’s match as well.
Adebayor and RVP did ZERO all match… we were lucky to get the goal.
We will end up where we belong… 3rd place… as we are not as good as United, who got it done again today… and Chelsea are about even with us, but they get it done and grind out wins, where we can not.
We are a year or 2 away from reaching our potential.
It was a good run this year… but we aren’t Champions.
Let’s hope we make a good run at the CL title… though I doubt we’d be United or Chelsea head to head.
Sad day.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Guys, it was Gallas who missed the header on the first goal (though Drogba was offside) and it was again Gallas who gave Anelka the free header IN the area which lead to the second goal. Toure’s weakness in the air is well known but the general feeling that Gallas is better got quite brutally exposed today.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Sinking feeling right now. But will the team play better now that the pressure is off?
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:11 pm
And now if we somehow manage to sack up and beat United, it will only help Chelsea! Ugh! But it was a lot of fun getting here, there will be better days.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Well, I’d rather see Chelski win it that United. I can’t fucking stand anything about them. Anytime I hear their name mentioned or see someone wearing their shirt it makes me cringe and I want to throw up.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:13 pm
@105 - I’m wondering the same thing. It would be nice to win the games we should win from here on out. A lot of championship teams are born from disappointment and a strong finish this year could keep the boys optimistic.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
What hurts me the most is that the team’s bad patch started against a team like Birmingham. Despite the Eduardo injury in that game, the team had come back to lead 2-1 with two neat goals from Walcott. With each week, I kept hoping the result would not be considered as a turning point, even though it looked like it.
The title hunt has been slowly fading away, week by week. Like a slow burn. Just the manner of the last 5 league games has been the most disappointing aspect of the recent form. Arsenal had enough chances in the last few games to get a win, but for whatever reason, the team couldn’t get it.
too choked right now. Gutted. Will take a few days before I can recover.
F*******************************************ck. 2003, sort of. Hate giving up the title in this manner.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:22 pm
there’s just no way i’d like either ManUSA or Chel$ki to win the title. In fact, i’d rather liverpool won it.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Forget Europe - the team has gone to pot. They’re tired, they know they’re not good enough and they’ve given up. They’re just kids, and they’re playing like kids - when the pressure is on you find out what’s what.
1 win in 9, that Milan win doesn’t look so impressive now, bunch of old farts we beat.
Almunia (7) Allergic to catching the ball, punches when there’s no need to
Sagna (7) Scored a goal at least, but his defending was unusually poor
Toure (3) Complete joke, give him a dunce cap. Love the guy, but can’t defend high balls and panics
Gallas (4) Not much better, looks less and less like a captain with every game
Clichy (5) Terrible, all over the place in the last 20 minutes - didn’t have a clue what he was doing
Eboue (5) Had worse games but total liability, could have easily got sent off - Wenger is nuts playing him in any big game
Flamini (8) Best Arsenal player by far - he’s young too, but has balls
Fabregas (6) Disappeared out of the game in second half, didn’t have the stomach for it
Hleb (4) Pathetic really. I’m turning on him now, sell him, sick of his inconsistency
Adebayor (5) Didn’t get much service, spent most of the match complaining about nothing
Van Persie (6) At least he shoots once in a while, only 60% fit
Overall - Shambolic 90 minutes of panicking
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:29 pm
heartbroken.
the team promised so much for so long this season and to come apart so spectacularly …all i’m left with is a need for therapy
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:35 pm
flamini was our best player today, in attack and in defense. hleb and fabregas both disappeared today..big-time. fab more in the second half, and hleb should have been subbed at 60!
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:37 pm
when the match started someone beside me said that a draw won’t be good for either of them…. coz if they lose they can concentrate on the champions league..
good that it didn’t end up a draw… would have given false satisfaction…
anyways it was exposed today that we are still not good enough…
defense was dominated by drogba… won all the headers… all the balls played in the box…
attacking wise we were decent enough… but not quite there… shoulders dropped…
just hope we play like at milan … and somehow give us reason to still dream of winning the champs league..
footnote : seeing fab play in the premiership and champ league it seems he has only barca 2006 on his mind… looks disinterested in other competitions .. not an excuse , but maybe a silver lining…
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:37 pm
The extremely ironic thing here is that Senderos might actually have been a better bet than Toure.
We absolutely NEED:
- ONE very strong, tall centerback to START. Let Toure sweat a bit.
- TWO attacking midfielders for the wings. And I am not counting Vela. Vela will replace Rosicky.
These THREE vital players will not cost more than 25 million pounds. We HAVE 25 million pounds to spend. So no fooling around.
We do NOT need an overhaul - far from it - because we have shown we have the talent. We just need additions. We just dont have any subs to remove tired, out of form players.
This should be the very last season we rely on Hleb and Rosicknote for inspiration. And the very last we rely on Toure on high balls.
His attempted “clearance” for Drogba’s winner was the most pathetic thing I have seen in weeks.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:38 pm
absolutely gutted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can’t believe we lost but Gallas was like a little boy against Drogba, he got tossed around quite a bit
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Well, very disappointed but not entirely surprised. We are not good enough right now to win this league. We are not deep enough to win this league. In retrospect, I think we lost the league in Birmingham with the trauma of Eduardo’s injury and and the last minute PK and Gallas’ antics. I can’t remember the last time we scored in the first half and put the opponent under pressure.
I thought they were better than us today in every department. Right now it’s about momentum and consistency and we have lots of it in the negative direction.
If, (and that’s BIG if), we beat Liverpool in the CL, we won’t be able to get past Chelsea as they now have the mental edge over us…..barring some incredible miracle
Very disappointed right now….but you have to admit these are kids with kids’ mentality and it will take them some time to mature. Wenger needs to swallow his pride and bring in a couple of top class players. What’s the use of having a successful business operation with a positive bank account if you’re not going to use it? I guess the counter to that argument is that he thought he had Eduardo who is a finisher for these games and he didn’t predict Taylor’s destruction of Eduardo…..
Will wait ’til next season…..
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:42 pm
yeah shocking bit of defending by toure, who has gone a bit downhill since cambell left the club. he needs a big tall centre back next to him, sadly so does gallas. or alteast thats what it looks like from the archair …
think we really need someone who can take on defenders at pace. hleb can take on and beat people when he’s up for it, but he hasnt been for 4 months now. today we had ade against a backtracking terry in a promising situation couple of times and he chose to pass, exactly the kind of situation henry would just have relished and eaten the centre back, we need that! someone to beat his man regularly, you cant pass your way through a chelsea too often..