Arsenal finally put a win in the home games column matching the scoreline of their last home win against Blackburn. In the end, it looked like a routine victory that Arsenal were getting in the first half of the season but given how the past few weeks have been, it was a much needed win.
The game started off slowly but somewhere around the 25th minute mark or so, Arsenal’s play noticeably moved up a few gears. Theo raced on with purpose and it appeared that a goal was in the offering. The now familiar corner routine between Cesc and Van Persie provided a genuine chance in the 29th minute. After Cesc stopped Van Persie’s corner pass, Van Persie provided an intelligent piece of improvisation as he carried the ball past the oncoming Reading player and passed back to Cesc who in turn floated a teasing ball into the penalty box only for Song to fail to connect properly. But a goal did come a minute or so later when Adebayor beautifully controlled a long through ball and coolly picked his spot to make it 1-0.
A confident Arsenal marched on and in the 38th minute the most unlikely Arsenal player got his name on the score-sheet, albeit with the aid of Bikey deflection. Gilberto’s shot from the edge of the penalty box took a visible deflection and went in just past the outstretched reaches of Hahnemann to make it 2-0. A few minutes later it was almost three as a beautiful flowing exchange of passes between Van Persie and Ade led to a Van Persie shot being saved by Hahnemann. And then almost a minute later, Toure found himself in the penalty box and his shot required a smart save from Hahnemann whose job was made harder as Van Persie was still lying on the ground in front of the Reading keeper. Arsenal finished the half on a strong note on as a mazy Hleb dribble in the penalty box led to the chance ending with another Gilberto shot from the edge of the box. The time however his tame shot was gathered easily by Hahnemann, who like the rest of the Reading players must have been glad to hear the half-time whistle.
Hahnemann was once again involved early on in the second half when he raced well out of his goal and Theo could have lobbed the ball over him but the chance was not taken. A flashpoint occurred in the 59th minute when the Reading captain Murty went down clutching his face. Camera replays showed that Hleb tussled with Murty and might have reached out but it is unclear whether he actually hit Murty in the face or just the chest. Toure went off with a groin injury around the same time that Murty was down and was replaced by Eboue. As Reading offered nothing in terms of offensive play, a nasty development in the second half involved Van Persie getting targeted for kicks on more than one occasion with Bikey and Cisse doing their parts to kick the Dutchman down.
Another Theo run was ended with him being brought down on the edge of the box around the 70th minute mark. From the resulting free kick, Van Persie once again provided a reminder of his immense talent as his beautiful free-kick hit the cross bar and bounced on the wrong side of the goal line. A few minutes later, Theo curled his shot onto almost the same exact spot on the Reading crossbar as Van Persie’s shot. Bendtner and Denilson made their appearances replacing Ade and Hleb around the 75th minute mark. 2 minutes later, Lehmann was called into action for the first time in the game and he duly palmed the danger away. Theo and Arsenal still kept plugging away and around the 82nd mark Arsenal almost made it 3 when Eboue laid the ball off to Cesc who controlled curled shot went past the Reading keeper but was cleared off the line. An incorrect offside call prevented Arsenal from netting a third in the 85th minute mark. Still it was great to see Arsenal going forward in search of a third goal, which never arrived. In the end, a deserved win and 3 points.
Some final words: Theo played quite well throughout the day and it is great to see him improving with each game. His balance was quite good as he had to stop, turn and dash past players on a few occasions. Van Persie is still one of the best players in this Arsenal squad and he displayed enough examples today of his skills. Also, Van Persie’s temperament has improved quite a bit compared to a few years ago and he now calmly appears to handle kicks aimed at him. How he can stay fit is another matter altogether.
Line-ups:
Arsenal: Lehmann, Gallas, Toure, Clichy, Gilberto, Hleb, Cesc, Song, Walcott, Adebayor, Van Persie
Reading: Hahnemann, Murty, Ingimarsson, Rosenior, Sonko, Bikey, Harper, Convey, Cisse , Kebe, Kitson
61 Responses to “Arsenal 2-0 Reading”
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April 19th, 2008 at 8:19 am
What a poor first touch from Ade! right Mazza?
April 19th, 2008 at 8:35 am
2-0 at half time. Two points to make.
If you don’t buy a ticket, you don’t win the lottery. If you don’t shoot at goal, you don’t score a goal. Thanks Gilberto.
Our corner taking has improved but now we need two people to take them!!! Still not scoring from them. Song and Ade missed free headers. 10 corners and counting.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:40 am
we are leading 2-0 and u r still complaining!!!!! R u a fan or critic/pundit?
April 19th, 2008 at 8:48 am
I think this first half performance will give young Flamini food for thought, as well as he has played this season it appears he is not indispensable.
Good performance from the team all round worthy of the 2-0 scoreline. Gilberto appears to be back to his best regardless of the goal he has looked good (the last two games also). RVP has been the most impressive in my opinion, Ade and Toure have also been impressive. Toure actually looks like a RB, he finally seems to habe settled in the role and is attacking well, yet to see him cross in the air, that is what we have been lacking throughout this season, like to see if Toure can do it now he appears to be on form in that position.
WOW it’s quiet on here, Maybe the Americans are all asleep, cannot be bothered to get up and watch such a meaningless clash? How about the Asian brethren were you at?
April 19th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Oh hi Nipuna! LOL
April 19th, 2008 at 8:51 am
NoI we are no all asleep, its just that the negativity on this site atimes can be pretty depressing
April 19th, 2008 at 8:51 am
not*
April 19th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Americans are awake! Just intently listening to the game on BBC.
April 19th, 2008 at 9:37 am
To anyone out there, how is Song playing?
April 19th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Song played really well and looked good goin forward, if Flamini leaves, I believe he can do a good job as a DM
April 19th, 2008 at 9:46 am
The deluge of goals expected in the second half just did not come. The profligate finishing continues. Ade, RvP, Walcott, Cesc and GIlberto were all guilty.
It was good to see Walcott play the full 90 minutes (first time?). Lots of potential, but still needs a lot of polishing. Would like to see a full 90 for Bendtner. Important to see if we can trust our next season on Ade + RvP + Bendtner + Walcott.
Clichy had too many of his “dribble out of defence” moments. Boy, he needs to cut that out. Once even Song tried to do the same with near fatal consequence.
April 19th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Song was decent. It’s too early to say much but I feel he will be better suited for CDM.
April 19th, 2008 at 9:55 am
To keep it short:
Best players
Song , Theo, RVP, Fabregas
Worst players
Only 1 chance created by Reading – defensive mess with Song playing a back pass , Clichy too close and Gallas standing off the shooter. Overall very decent and a nice change.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Since RVP’s return he has looked very good in all aspects of his game except for shooting, which is normally his forte. Once that returns, I am sure it will, his goals will start to come again. Currently he is the only Arsenal player with the ability to create goals from 1/4 chances.
To Live_dont_exist, the confusion in defense with Song, Gallas and Clichey is probably due to their getting accustomed to playing together as a unit. This always takes time. One of our problems this year was the continual changes due to injury and experimentation which never allowed us to maintain cohesiveness.
Important is that we won and did not concede a goal.
Any news on the extent of Toure’s injury?
April 19th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Clarification on Post14: In addition, Walcott also has the potential to create goals on his own.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:24 am
“NoI we are no all asleep, its just that the negativity on this site atimes can be pretty depressing”
Exactly canny.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:36 am
No, we’re checking our moles and leads for next year.
I have Henry coming back for a cut price, and Amauri coming in to partner him up front.
Arsene can’t take the chance with the current strikers, as it takes them 8 good chances to convert one goal!!!
But seriously…
A good win, bothersome that we created many many chances and only could score two… but we didn’t concede any, so … good day… right?
Cesc & Theo… I thought were excellent.
And it looks like Gilberto can still play decent football, all he needs is a decent run of games in the team.
A win. A clean sheet. All good.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Well, you can bet your bottom dollar that if todays’ game was in any way important that Ade would messed up the control. I can’t remember Arsenal scoring a goal like that all season at the Emirates(apart from Derby) so that tells you the problem is 80% pyschological with this batch.
Last game of the season for the Hlebster today. At least he went out with a bang…on Graeme Murty’s face. Nice slap round the chops.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Missed the first half..but rushed back from work to catch the start of the second half …
Good game overall without looking too spectacular. Walcott was excellent…..if he keeps up this rate of improvement he’s going to be an excellent player for us next season. Shebby Singh ..one of the football analysts here at ESPN Asia ..was so impressed with Walcott that he said that Walcott would be the Cristiano Ronaldo for us next season…haha….complete overreaction….but just goes to show that Walcott could probably be a important player in attack for us next season.
Song looked very composed..and attacked the high balls nicely….a few more games in succession and I think he could provide tough competition for Toure. I was glad to see Eboue back at RB after Toure got injured…..somehow don’t like the idea of Toure playing there.
Don’t know what got into Hleb with that slap on Murty….if the FA review that…then it’s a 3 game ban …. if they do award the ban..hope it’s done with this season….don’t want him missing any games at the beginning of next season (if he stays that is..and i hope he does)
Denilson looked good too for the short time he was on the field…..and that’s why I’m not too worried if Flamini leaves….even though he has been excellent this season we do have enough cover for him at CM
April 19th, 2008 at 11:33 am
@ 18: yeah, i kinda remember him scoring a couple of winners and “take the lead” goals this season.
but ofcourse hleb failed to control a bread and butter ball in the final minute of the liverpool game … but he is completely immune from criticism from you.
ALL the blame lies with the mighty, useless, disgusting and terrible oaf who has scored 27 goals this season.
the bastard even managed to have a better goals to shots ratio than ronaldo but he is definitely to blame for our all our woes NOT in anyway midfielders who dont shoot.
April 19th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Congratulations on getting the match report up so quickly. Really, good work!
Today’s match was solid against a side that really needed a win. Going down 2-0 before the half left Reading shattered. It could’ve been much worse for them.
Nice to see a three point result headed into the final matches.
April 19th, 2008 at 11:43 am
At last a routine home win. What a relief.
Although, in typical style we almost let in a goal in the second half after failing to convert a string of chances. It was nice fluid stuff with lots of good things to look forward to next season. VanP will be major (barring injury) as he gets full fit. Direct freekicks are suddenly a potential source of goals again.
Theo is definitely on his way.
And GIlberto is the only Arsenal player who improves by shaving off his hair.
Song was fair, but like Sendy, you can’t really tell when the opposition is so feeble.
Still, mustn’t grumble. Only positive vibes on this site from now on.
April 19th, 2008 at 11:47 am
“the bastard even managed to have a better goals to shots ratio than ronaldo but he is definitely to blame for our all our woes NOT in anyway midfielders who dont shoot.”
I think your being too harsh Fred. I wouldn’t call him a bastard and I wouldn’t say he is definately to blame for our woes. The midfielders could be a bit more direct although his lack of vision definately hinders their ability to make an impact goal-scoring wise.
April 19th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
“The profligate finishing continues”
Ade has 27 goals on 120 shots or 4.44 shots per goal.
Ronaldo has 38 goals on 230 shots or 6 shots per goal.
Arsenal have scored 66 goals in the EPL this season now, 6 behind the league leaders.
“profligate” indeed.
I really don’t understand why you bother watching…
April 19th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Goal scoring is not our problem. We have created tons of chances and scored a decent percentage. Could it be better? Yes. Should it be better? Yes….but ….
Our problem is goals conceded. 29 goals is the highest of the top 4 teams. That is equivalent to a mid table team.
So if we don’t get a solid CB in the summer, we’ll see the same situation next year….And you know that AW always sacrifices defense in favor of pretty, attacking football…
April 19th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
@ 23: and it didnt seem to hinder anybody till the end of the season.
whether u like it is hleb’s brain that hinders him from getting more than 2 goals in a season – NOT ADEBAYOR. hleb has a grand total equivalent to walcott.
but ofcourse lets blame adebayor for our woes. even if ade scores 40 goals you still wont like him.
i wonder what u would have said if it was adebayor that smacked that reading player in the face like that. or if it was adebayor that failed to control a ball right in front of goal in the 94th minute against liverpool.
April 19th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Easy to say someone has lack of vision, but not so easy to say how how that statement applies to Ade. Please Mazza give us an explanation of how Ade is deserving that label.
If you want to put it down to the odd delayed pass that misses an opportunity then please name the player that doesn’t do that. In fact Hleb can be just as guilty of lack of vision. Sometimes he chooses to pass to players who are obviously not going to get anywhere because they are surrounded by a host of defenders. Hleb shows lack of vision when he fails to shoot when it is obvious that is the best option.
Ade’s assist to Bendtner against Villa did not show lack of vision. His run to score today told Toure where to play the ball. His two intuitive and improvised back heels if you want to call them such in two of the Liverpool games did not show a lack of vision.
You accuse Ade of having a poor first touch but that is a fallacy this season, he has scored some spectacular goals i.e Spuds away, many of those were scored because of a fantastic first touch, the goal today being an example.
The truth is Mazza your criticism of Ade is not based on truth but bias. I think Fred exposes it very well @18.
April 19th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
even gilberto is a far greater goalscoring threat than our allegedly “world-class” attacking mid…
April 19th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Well, you can bet your bottom dollar that if todays’ game was in any way important that Ade would messed up the control.
Yeah, big games like both legs of the Champions League against Liverpool, or the game at the San Siro, or the away match to Man U…
In the big games, Ade almost always scores. Do you even watch the games and players you’re commenting on?
Oh wait, you expect a hat trick every match, anything less and he’s shiat…
April 19th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Or are you Tottenham in disguise?
April 19th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Every player has a good first touch, but the great players or players who play for Arsenal should have that great touch under pressure. This is where Ade fails time and time again.
If Toure had gave Adebayor that ball against a team like United at the Emirates, Ade would have overrun it and ran into the keeper and done one of those big grins.
Hleb does what he does, sets up chances with wonderful VISIONARY balls like the one that put Fabregas through today. Adebayor, bar the odd spectacular goal, converts chances that any half decent striker would put away in their sleep.
One player is being coveted by Inter Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid while the other was linked to those clubs until they realised how shoddy his all round game was when his goals dried up.
Remember, these clubs are after Hleb even though he doesn’t appeal to ignorant football fan who bases everything on statistics. He does all the pointless insignificant subtleties that go nowhere. I guess teams like Milan and Barca are looking for a player to who does essentially nothing with no end product or someone who is ineffective.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I love being called ignorant by a guy who insists on saying patently untrue things like “Adebayor doesn’t score in big games.”
Dude, you’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
@ 31: Ade fails under pressure?
And what do you call Hleb’s failure to control that ball in the last minute of the Liverpool game?? What do you call his refusal to shoot in ANY big game whatsoever – even though he starts most of those games as the second striker.
Ade doesnt make pretensions to being a great player. He was poor last season, twice as good this season. No evidence he wont be even better next season.
Drogba at this age was going on loan from one french division two team to another.
Every player can be linked to anybody….so talk all you might. Even the likes of Bentley had Madrid courting him LOOOOOOOL.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Timmy@32 you summed it up so eloquently; Mazza “you’re entitled your own opinion, but not your own facts” LOL!!!
By the way no one really doubts Hlebs ability, I think he is a great player that is underachieving, I think he can do a lot better on occasion. I would rather him in our team than not. However I would not be surprised if he goes in the summer, he has been kicked a lot his season and after Eduardo’s injury I wouldn’t blame him for chickening out.
However I used Hleb as an example to prove your undoubted bias against Ade as opposed to your unconditional praise for Hleb.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
This is off a guardian 2003 article just before we beat inter 5-1 at the san siro….
“”Now, with Zaccheroni in charge, Recoba has no more excuses. At 27, and injury-free, he has the necessary backing and the big stage on which to do great things, to live up to the potential the whole of Italy saw in him on his arrival six years ago. The question is whether he will make the leap to consistency that true greatness demands or whether he will remain for the rest of his career in the ranks of the only fleetingly brilliant almost-greats. Will he become a regular challenger for European footballer of the year – the way Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Luís Figo, Beckham and Ronaldo have – or will he remain like David Ginola, the perfect example of a player who had all the attributes but lacked the mental edge to make it really big.”"
This is exactly how I see Hleb.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Slightly off topic …but the media was up to its usual tactics of trying to trick players into giving some explosive statements. Today it was Fabrega’s turn..where he apparently said that …he ‘hopes’ his future with Arsenal in response to a question on his future. Not surprisingly the media jumped onto that..and soon we had headlines that ..Cesc was not too sure of staying..and Wenger had another problem on his hands.
But nice to see the club reacting swiftly and putting an end to such stupid speculation before it got out of hand
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=news&article=490481&cpid=703&title=Fabregas+-+My+future+belongs+to+Arsenal
@Timmy….. Classic statement about opinions and facts ..haha ..still LOL
April 19th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
All good strikers have one thing in common and that’s the ability to be in the right place at the right time. Whether they are tall or short, fat or skinny, slow or fast, if they do not put themselves in a position to receive the ball in a scoring position, they will never score goals.
This is what separates the top strikers from the many gifted and talented ones who lack the vision and the awareness. Obviously Ade has this ability. For him to have gotten so many chances only indicates his striking awareness and ability to read the game.
Yes, he is the unfinished article, yes he needs to improve his touch and balance, but if anyone had told me he would score 20+ goals after his performance last season I would have laughed in their face. He has shown tremendous improvement this season over last and if he continues that trend we just may have a world beater on our hands.
Torres and Van Nistelroy are the only 2 players to score over 20 goals in their first season, Ade has done it in his second. Combine that with the fact that Torres although being young and Van Nistelroy were basically seasoned strikers when they arrived while Ade was, and still is, in learning mode.
Give the lad a break and let’s congratulate him for being very instrumental in allowing us to be competitive and providing us a good run for the Trophy when no one including myself thought we would do so.
Hleib is brilliant and probably the most talented player on our team. However, until his talent results in “real” output, goals and assists he is just that, a promising talent. Unless we find a winger or wingers or another goal scoring midfielder outside of Fab his time at Arsenal will be limited. Even if he did not score that much but provided massive assists as “THE” attacking midfielder he would be a big asset, however, his 7 assists compared to Fabs 17 from a deeper position pales in comparison.
In the final analysis, right or wrong, we are judged based on our results and not our potential.
April 19th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
All the players have good qualities and bad qualities. Yes, Hleb is a pass first central MF (midfielder). Yes, even I yell “SHOOT G-D IT!! But you have to understand his role in the system. Wenger has time and again praised him for being pass first, and no doubt teaches that in practice with Hleb.
What I’m really getting at is that Football is a team sport. Individual performances can be helpful, but only within the context of the system. And in this system, Wenger thinks Hleb is doing his job. So, getting down on him for not playing the way WE think he ought to play is pretty pointless.
Loved the free kick from RvP by the way, next weekend (if he stays healthy) I bet that same kick will go in.
Overall it looks to me like the team picked itself up pretty admirably after the last two weeks. Sure, it’s Reading… at home. But still, I’m proud of them for keeping a clean sheet (with a makeshift back 4) and for putting up two really good goals. Sure, there could have been more goals, but clearly that end of the pitch had a smaller than regulation goal.
Anyway, if you like reading what I have to say, stop by the blog.
http://7amkickoff.wordpress.com
I write every day, just about Arsenal. Well, Arsenal and stuff but mostly Arsenal.
April 19th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Adebayor has been put in great position to score goals.
The last THIRD of the season, he was POOR at converting those chances.
You can say whatever you want… but THAT IS FACT.
He had many big chances in our horrendous run in… and he didn’t convert many, thats for damned sure.
He has POOR touch. Again, thats fact… you don’t have to like it.
He’s had a good goal total. So has Cesc from midfield.
Are you going to tell me Cesc didn’t revert to his awful shooting the last half of the season? or … just say, hey… he scored “X” goals.
WHEN IT COUNTED… in the stretch run in… Ade, Cesc… everyone… dissapeared in the clutch.
When the chips are down, and the game is on the line… I certainly don’t want the ball falling to Adebayor with the chance.
The midfield didn’t score shite… we’ve never replaced Pires. Rosicky was probably supposed to factor in there, but he’s injured too much.
RVP was supposed to factor in up front, but he’s injured too much.
Neither can be relied on to play a full season.
Hleb works very well with Cesc, he’s a creator… he’s not a scorer. You can have that in your squad, if you have legitimate snipers. We don’t. We have some good young talent, who choked down the stretch when it counted.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
stag, it is called a slump u retard.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
during the so called “clutch” between 1999 to 2001, the likes of pires, vieira, ljunberg and especially henry slumped in form on several occasions. even in 2003 they still managed to cock up as well. and we had only ONE challenger in those days.
adebayor is still about 2 or 3 years from his peak and he is no henry……yet am pretty sure henry missed a bazillion chances in all those failed seasons.
henry missed so many he even came out and said himself that he was not a proper goal poacher and the club needed a “fox in the box”. wenger got jeffers.
give these guys a break and stop talking rubbish.
April 19th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
The slump coincided with the team losing two starting strikers and thus being forced to play Ade up front by himself, FACT.
Teams were able to focus their defense solely on Ade, which lead to a dip in scoring, OPINION.
Now that a first team striker is paired with him he’s scoring again, FACT.
He has scored in each of his last three games and 4 of the last 5, FACT.
Which would indicate that after a good rest and paired with a second striker, Adebayor is much more effective, OPINION.
He exhibited damn fine touch today and over the last three games, OPINION.
You think he has poor touch, that’s your OPINION.
During the slump in form, the defense doubled the season average for goals allowed, this can in no way be attributed to Adebayor, FACT.
In Henry’s last season with Arsenal he required over 10 shots per goal, in the season prior? just under 5 shots per goal, in the season before that? over 5 shots per goal, FACT.
I think Ade’s return on service is pretty fucking good, OPINION.
*sigh*
April 19th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Still, Ade’s feet turn to jelly against tight defences and his oafish presence is not befitting of the style of football Wenger is trying to create. Until he scores that type of goal against a United he will never be top draw, IMO. He can’t keep relying on five yard tap ins and balls flying off his forearm.
April 19th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
so those outrageous volleys he has made this season and the numerous headers dont count?
April 19th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
and on the flip side u can also say that hleb will never be top draw until he can attempt at least ONE shot against united. tada!
we played liverpool 4 times, man u 3 times, chelsea 2 times and spurs 4 times. hleb played a part in ALL of these games. he did NOT have ONE shot on in ANY of the 13 games!
ade has scored 8 in these games. hleb hasnt had a shot on in any of these games.
compare and contrast.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
A slump.
One Third of the season.
No you jackass, its called, not being good enough to do the business in the clutch.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Yes.
What you THINK about Adebayor is in FACT, OPINION!!!
Some folks think he’s Mr.Wonderful.
OK.
Cool.
I think he sucked in the clutch… and has poor touch.
Doesn’t matter really, its all down to what Wenger thinks.
With RVP being as fragile as glass, Eduardo out until the Winter and unsure if he’ll ever be back to 100%… that leaves us with Bendtner and Ade to count on.
Yes.
Thats good enought for… 3rd of 4th? Ain’t winning shite with that tandem.
That is, if they don’t break out into a fist fight on the pitch.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
@ stag: No, its called a SLUMP…..all immature teams will go through that from time to time.
everybody here realized this team was young and probably not going to win and we probably needed a season more.
YOU, idiot…thought we were utterly useless without henry and will finish no better than 8th.
Now get out of here, retard.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
PS: and no, nobody here has called adebayor “mr. wonderful”……dumbass.
April 19th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
and if all these players suck that much then what will you call the arsenal teams of those 3 barren years between 1999 and 2002. they used to come up woefully second best in a TWO horse race – where Man U never had to break sweat.
those teams included legends like henry, bergkamp, pires and ljunberg too! by your reasoning they ALL sucked in the “clutch” as well.
it took the worst SLUMP at arsenal since 1994 to stop this team. yes, the team is immature and they could probably use some more winning character in there……..BUT i wonder which team will have not lost momentum after watching one of their major players get his leg hacked off cleanly like that and then losing the 2 points at the end.
football has always been a thin-margin game…….something as little as dudek dancing around could put off seasoned EXPERIENCED deadball strikers like pirlo into missing the goal completely……imagine what witnessing eduardo`s injury can do to a set of players in their first ever title chase. u could see the look of horror in fabregas, hleb and all the other players faces.
imagine if that same scenario had happened at Man U instead with ronaldo or rooney as the victim and with all the other players watching……will Man U still have won the league this season…..answer HELL NO.
so enough with your NONSENSE “clutch” stories.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Stag133, everyone is entitled to an opinion and if your opinion is that Ade sucks in the clutch, so be it. However, please do not ignore the facts as presented which say otherwise.
Ade has scored in the clutch, he has scored against all our top competitors, he has scored some magnificent goals as he did againt Spurs, his goal to shot ratio is better than Ronaldo, his goal per minute on pitch ratio is only just behind Ronaldo (the best player in the world) and Torres, Actim, the foremost sporting statistical combine, has him rated as third best in the EPL, and his lack of goals started when he had to be the sole front man are facts and very difficult to ignore.
April 20th, 2008 at 3:57 am
Stag, I think it’s unfair that u made it sound like when ppl criticse Adebyoar, their points are FACT. While ppl who supported Adebayor, their points are OPINION.
The only FACT I know is – he has scored 27 goals in all competitions this season. I know this is fact, cos it’s in the record book.
back in the summer when i predicted him to score 15 goals in ALL competitions, that sound like a tall order. Not too many agreed with me, and if i have to be honest, I wasn’t sure myself neither. as i watched football long enough knowing that he’s not a natural finisher.
Now his goal tally amost doubled the number i suggested, and let’s face it – without his goals, we probably would never had lunched a title challenge this season at the first place.
no one suggested he’s as good as Henry, Henry was probably the greatest player in the English game, players like Henry, Ronaldo are those who only comes along once a decade.
everybody knows Adebayor got his limit, yet despite a poor first touch, an average shooting skill, he still got 27 goals this season, the guy worked very hard for it and deserved our support rather than criticism.
occassion critism is just, but there’s no need to knock him down so regularly. particular even after he scored. tha’ts pretty ridaculous. instead of looking at the goals he scored, some of the folks here chosen to nitpicking every single miss he made. this way, of cos he’s always a crap players, doesn’t matter he score 10 or 40 goals.
April 20th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Stag I am quite surprised to read all that ignorant stuff @ 39. I thought Mazza was the Lone Ranger on the anti-Ade thread, maybe I’ll call you Tonto. I am also surprised you have followed Mazza’s line that the team “bottled” it, or as you put it “choked”. We had a bad run of form coinciding with the Eduardo injury.
Man U failed to beat Boro and Blackburn did they choke or bottle it? I doubt if their fans would use those terms in reference to their team. Choked and bottled it are terms you use against the opposition they are unquantifiable, quite vague terms that can never really be substantiated.
Did Hleb choke or bottle it when he mis-controlled that match winning opportunity against ‘Pool Mazza? No, might have been a little anxious IMO. but you would not use such derogatory terms in reference to your hero, why because you appreciate him for what he does right and you respect him. Yet it appears you have little respect for your football team, however I think you just enjoy the attention that your controversial statements will generate.
Stag you will find that the statement “that he had many big chances in our horrendous run in… and he didn’t convert many” is fallacy. Look over the videos again he did have not “many”, “big” during the horrendous run in, he missed a few that he should have put away but had a few half chances that he didn’t convert either. Ade is not more guilty of missing chances than anyone else. Even Eduardo as clinical as he is missed a virtual sitter against Barnsley, that’s life. Oh yeah and the poor first touch he supposedly has is way overstated, if you complained about his distribution I would agree that he has been woeful at times, but maybe if you gave us somes instances of Ades poor first touch (recently) and then those instances were say…. 30% in contrast to good first touches, then I would concede that maybe you have really have been watching Ade closely and not just blindly following the lead of the Lone Ranger.
I think TimmyT, Carib Kid, Andez and Fred have put you to right on this one. The are FACTS in favour of Ade than against, him.
April 20th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Arthur, I said if that was against a Man United Ade would have most likely made a mess of the control because of his inability to remain composed in pressure situations. I am 100 % convinced of that. If you want to generate controversy out of that then go ahead.
I think your getting first touches confused with shots or goal scoring chances. I mean in general play when someone pings the ball to Ade the ball bounces of his shin and we have to start from scratch again. I just don’t think people realise the detrimental effect he has on our passing game. It will take some people longer than others to grasp this, while others will just keeping going about goals scored etc, which is completely beside the point.
It wasn’t a bad run of form either. We choked it, plain and simple. Even Wenger has admitted as much. It’s a bit of a coincidence we start playing exhibition football against Reading when the season is over don’t you think?
April 20th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Yes. You are right Arthur… my opinion is just opinion, yours is fact.
We didn’t choke. We just gave games and points away in the last 1/3rd of the season, including leading in the 2nd half against ManU and Chelsea, and ahead on away goals with less than 10 minutes left against Liverpool in the CL.
Thats not choking… thats… bad luck? bad refs?
Adebayor. Yes. as I stated … the goal total is impressive, so is Cesc’s from midfield. How’d they do in the run in?
I guess my TV must be screwy… because I saw them NOT SCORE in key situations … and the goals dry up in that last 1/3rd of the season.
I guess that didn’t happen.
Yup. We’re just about set going forward too… don’t need anything.
We have Ade. What else do we need?
DISSENTING OPINION… it makes the world go round.
Stop getting your panties in a twirl and deal with it.
April 20th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
[...] There could have been more goals too, Song had a gilt-edged chance and just nodded wide of the net, Cesc had what seemed like a dozen chances (in reality it was just 3), van Persie hit the woodwork on a superb free kick, and even Theo got into the act by having a shot saved by the crossbar. Oh well, shit happens and getting down about the “profligate” shooting when the team wins 2-0 just makes you seem …. [...]
April 20th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
LOL. Andez, Carib, Arthur, Timmy………..no matter what point you make these two still come up with the same exact statement they made before never actually responding to any point you have made in the intervening time.
They: Ade is shit. Doesnt do anything against the big boys.
We: Ade has scored 8 in 13 matches against the top 4 this season…and 27 in total for a NON-main striker.
They: Ade is shit and it is his fault our passing game is fucked up.
They: The team choked.
We: Would any other team – even those more mature and experienced than ours have survived the Eduardo and dropping 2 points at Birmingham incident??? We would definitely have maintained momentum if the Bham game had gone on “normally”.
They: No we choked and the players are really not good. We choked.
LOOOOL.
There is NEVER a direct response to any point made.
April 20th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Yeah you’re point Fred@57. Despite all the FACTS/STATS presented by TimmyT, Carib, yourself and Andez they totally ignore it. I also notice they will never come with any concrete facts of their own or even instances to back up their claims.
Mazza I find reallyfunny, I mean you really make me laugh. How many times will Fred point out to you that “Ade has scored 8 in 13 matches against the top 4 this season” not to mention a well taken winner at OT last season and bucket loads against our fiercest rivals every season yet Mazza you still say Ade cannot score under pressure, weird! But you know what really makes me laugh is when you right stuff like this; “I just don’t think people realise the detrimental effect he has on our passing game. It will take some people longer than others to grasp this” LOL!! how ironic.
Mazza another thing I notice about your posts is you rarely if ever back up anything you say with facts or good examples or you sat stuff that unquantifiable, e.g he lacks vision. Now you claim he messes up our passing game how do you figure that out. I have not heard any pundit or fan claim that Ade messes up our passing game except you and I suppose Tonto will back you up eventually.
Oh yeah Stag, when I referred to FACTS I was referring to the points/stats that Fred, Timmy and others brought up, i.e 27 goals, 8 in 13 against the big four, goal to shots ratio etc. So stop trying to avoid the issue and divert attention, the FACTS are in Ade’s favour. The whole team has faultered since Eduardos injury not just Ade or Cesc. I didn’t expect Ade to go all season without a bad patch and I certainly didn’t expect Cesc to be banging them in all season.
As I said before the use of the term choked can not be substantiated it is a derogatory term that implies that my team has no guts and are fearful wimps. I cannot accept your opinion as fact. I put losing those leads to poor defending collectively and the odd individual mistake.
Oh and I never once suggested you should not have your dissenting opinion, however misinformed or plain ignorant it is, but please note when you show your ignorance in public more than likely it will be challenged and eventually exposed for the ignorance it is. By the way where I come from men don’t wear panties, do you?
April 20th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Well, the players must have magically forgotten Eduardo for both Milan games.
April 20th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
If Milan had a fit strike force of say Ronaldo and Inzaghi they probably would have exposed our backline.
Besides in a slump, you still win one or two games in the stretch. The record is never 0-0-10.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:33 am
I thought everyone played well on Saturday. It’s refreshing to see my man van Persie doing what he does. Even though he didn’t score, his dynamic presence makes us so much more dangerous.
Fabregas was fantastic. In fact, he was almost perfect. I think seeing his teamates doing their thing against opponents encourages him to do so as well.
I really like the way Wenger has brought Walcott along this season. Even though many wanted to see Theo in the United game, it was right to start with Eboue as Evra would have owned him and that may have set back his confidence.
Gilberto has played well the past few games. It will be up to him if he leaves as he still has another year on his contract. With Flamini stalling to sign(can you believe that idiot thinks he’s worth 80k a week) Gilberto could be right back into the team. If RvP, Rosicky, Fab, and Hleb stay fit, we won’t miss Flamini at all. Big Gil is still an Invincible.