Hleb was our playmaker. Hleb was our attacking midfielder. Hleb was our striker. Then he was hacked by Carew and had to be replaced. This was the turning point of the game. Hleb’s pass completion was 98%, that is simply outstanding. When he went off our attacks fell apart, we resorted to long balls and losing possession. Hleb was instrumental to us last night at Villa Park and Villa new this, MON would have said to his team at half time, ‘Listen guys, Alexander has ran rings around us and every time they attack it’s through him. Whenever he attacks stay close to him’. The Villa players took this as ‘play rough on him’ and Carew hacked him down. But it didn’t matter because we still won.
Had we lost or even drew because of that challenge then Wenger would have let the press know about it. But I hold nothing against Villa, they are turning into a good solid team; they have skillful players on the wings, good players in the middle and a good target man i.e. the makings of a good team. So we faced problems last night, major ones. We had a team that like to cross, use pacey wingers and a target man in the middle, all 3 of which are attributes that Arsenal don’t like. We coped well but only just got 3 points, this is what champions are made of. On a number of occasions Young outmaneouvred Sagna and Bacari had to foul him, luckily we didn’t have Senderos on the pitch because Senderos+set pieces= disaster.
So another game passes and another unbeaten game in the league, it’s starting to look good, isn’t it? December makes or breaks seasons and this year it’s no different. Adebayor scored and his confidence seems to have found itself in good stead ahead of a tough Newcastle trip in midweek. Newcastle are poor but Sam will turn them into a good side, I’m certain of it. They need patience and commitment from players. St James’ Park will be bustling with 50,000 lunatics eager to see their team start winning, so the game will be tough. Fabregas is 50% to play, Hleb is 50% to play and Newcastle will be 100% ready to play us and save their season.
If Fabregas doesn’t play it should not matter much, why? Because Flamini done Fabregas’ job well last night. Wenger put out Flamini and Diarra in the middle but knew two defensive midfielders together would not complement each other well so said to Flamini, ‘Matt, Cesc is injured so you’re job is to be our main passer in midfield. I rely on you to link up attack to defense and support our striker like Fabregas does’. Flamini then looked at Arsene and said ‘Monsieur Wenger, your wish is my command’. Flamini done well last night. He assisted our attack and left Diarra to do the main defensive work. It worked well but would have worked better with Gilberto. Diarra was sloppy and casual in the second half, we pride ourselves on fast, quick touching football but Diarra was still in Chelsea mindset and controlled the ball for too long. Gilberto would have been slicker and quicker on the ball but in the end it didn’t matter.
We face Burnley in the F.A cup, it’s a good run out for our kids. They are a good team who should have been promoted years ago but let their chance slip and now find it hard to get to the play off finals. So will our fate be solved in December? Will a good December give the title to us? Yes. I think so. I’ve said from the start of the season we will win it this year, and every week proves me right.
The Sun hate us and today they wrote that ‘Wenger was to blame for Arsenal’s poor display after being cocky enough to field a changed 11 from their convincing win against Wigan on Saturday. They only have themselves to blame for not sailing through their group in 1st place’. Then he went on to write about how Ronaldo was a ‘blistering player with the ability to be the best in the world in 2 years time’. The moral of the story is The Sun write a lot of bullshit.
Wenger was not arrogant and cocky, fact is, Wenger trusts his players because he is a manager that has faith in his team. If Wenger didn’t have faith in his team he wouldn’t have played our youngsters in the Carling Cup final last season, he wouldn’t have played our youngsters this season and he would have bought experience in the summer. He didn’t and the wanker who writes for The Sun is obviously jealous of our great run this season, therefore decided to take it out on Wenger. After all, Fergie spent £17m on Hargreaves who let’s face it has been shite for United so far.
Let’s move on; Arsenal were outclassed last night. Arsenal went to Sevilla and played for a draw because we were happy to get a point and coast through the group in top place. Arsenal could have won, but we needed our best team out. We may be able to win the league with youngsters but we cannot win the European Cup with youngsters because experience counts in Europe. Last night proved it. Last night we would have beaten any premier league team because our youngsters have had premier league experience, however we still need to mature in Europe. At least Wenger realised this now rather than later on in the stages where it would have turned out more fatal.
We needed Gallas last night. We needed our commander, our spine, our leader on the pitch. We needed Gallas to be there to help guide our delicate youngsters in the south of Spain. But he was not there and we paid for it. However it doesn’t matter, why? Because Arsenal will finish 2nd and probably face an elite club, but we play best when underdogs. When Arsenal are favourites, we buckle under pressure. When we reached the final against Barca we were underdogs in every match. Juventus were supposed to beat us 3-0, Madrid were supposed to ‘teach us a lesson’ (famously said by Ally McCoist on ITV1 before our match) but they didn’t and everyone was left gobsmacked. That was the year everyone started looking at Wenger as a special manager, something different to any other.
We need to get a big team in the champions league because Arsene is a great motivator. He will tell the players we can win the match and the players will respond to Monsieur Wenger because Wenger is the best coach in the world. Who will we get? I don’t know. Who would I like us to get? Milan. They are an ageing team, they are a team that have been poor this season because their main striker left 2 seasons ago for Chelsea, and ever since, they have lacked power up front. Kaka is class, but one player does not make a team. Flamini can outwit Kaka and deep down Flamini knows it, Flamini wants Kaka because he knows Kaka will be in his pocket when they meet.
Eboue was poor last night but Bendtner was immense. Bendtner can hold the ball up because his physical strength overrides his skill, he is a strong lad. Bendtner is a special player and Wenger knows this, hence why Arsene wants to keep hold of him even though we have 4 other strikers ready to play up front. Will Bendtner take Addy’s place this season? No. Arsene likes Addy but also likes Bendtner. So he faces a dilemma, just like he faced a dilemma when he sold Paddy in 2005 and had to decide whether to buy a replacement or not. In that case he didn’t and we paid the price for 2 years. However, if we bought a replacement we probably wouldn’t have seen a future legend blossom, better known as Fabregas.
To finish this, I came across pictures of our unbeaten record (28 Unbeaten) taken from Arsenal.com. I enjoyed looking at Adebayor celebrating the best goal he’s ever scored and probably will ever score against Spurs at the Lane when we taught them a lesson on how to play football.
It was a good win. But Reading were poor. They were ultra defensive and wanted to score from set pieces, after all, last season they attacked us and lost 4-1. This time round Coppell wanted to defend for a draw or a lucky win. Last season they would have got away with it, but not this season. Why? Because this season Arsenal can beat teams who put a bus in front of their goal, we have learned how to vary our tactics depending on the oppositions tactics. Reading were always going to lose last night from the first minute.
Adebayor had chances, and he hit the post after 3 minutes. Adebayor needs confidence; he needs RVP back. I said this in an earlier article, and I will say it again; Adebayor and RVP are like shampoo and conditioner, one without the other is not as effective.
RVP and Addy have built up an immense understanding together, they know when to move for each other and where to lay the ball off for each other. Now RVP is injured, Adebayor is under pressure and has to work harder as he is the only striker in a 4-5-1. Adebayor is better in a 4-4-2 with Van Persie alongside him attacking. When Robin comes back from injury, Adebayor will score a brace in Robins first game back.
On another note, I got a phone call this morning at 10.30am while I was on the 297 bus heading to Broadway:
Mike: ‘You’ll never guess what’
Me: ‘Suprise me…’
Mike: ‘That stupid idea they called myfootballclub, well they’ve just taken over a conference team’
Me: ‘You being serious?’
Mike: ‘Yeah. Some team called Ebbsfleet apparently, what’s your view on it?’
Me: ‘Read my article I will write on my site in an hour or so, I need read up about it, I’ll catch you later’
This is a ridiculous idea. Let’s not kid ourselves, the only reason a conference team has let a website take over them is because conference teams are financially depressed more than ever at the moment. They need marketing attraction and if that means selling to a website and their names splashed all over the headlines because of it, then be it.
When they ‘vote’ to buy a player then surely the whole world will know which player they are going to buy as all they have to do is check the website and see who’s winning the votes. Thus the team they are buying the player off can just bump the price up. This is one flaw out of hundreds of other flaws in this comical idea.
“Members will have a vote on transfers as well as player selection and all major decisions”
So you appoint a manager but then tell him who he can and can’t have in his team? Now where have I heard of that before? Yes Martin Jol and Mourinho springs to mind.
Back to reality, Wenger has come out and said he ‘might’ buy a player in January. So it didn’t suprise me to see the idiots writing in the papers or even on forums debate on who the player is. Wenger’s words were:
“I don’t think I will get anybody in but if I get one opportunity in one area then I will not neglect it.”
Wenger will not buy anyone, he said it himself. All he said was that if a world class player came at a cheap price, he will take a look. Which is stating the obvious. Wenger will sell in January, he will sell Jens. He will not buy. I can put my house on it. Why disrupt the team by bringing in further competition? Midfield is packed. When Robin comes back our attacking options will be packed. We have Djourou out on loan who has been performing excellently at Birmingham so our defense is not an issue. That leaves the keeper. But Wenger likes Almunia and already has the next Cech, Fabianski, ready to take over from Almunia.
Thus, January will come and go without many major changes. Jens will be sold, but as I said, this is not a major change. Why? Because Almunia is keeping him out of the first team at the moment therefore Jens’ status at Arsenal is irrelevant. It’s harsh I know, but the truth hurts.
I used to be a big fan of Carragher. He used to make mesmerising tackles, throw himself on the line and be the master at making inch perfect tackles. Now he isn’t. He pulls back and tugs on players because his pace and tackling has deteriorated. He does not know what to do, therefore in an act of severe desperation he man handles the opposition. And 90% of the time he gets away with it. Refs turn a blind eye to it because Liverpool and Carragher’s reputation is seen as clean; he isn’t classed as a diver, as a cheat or as a dirty player. He is loved by the media and plays for a team loved by the media due to it’s history. Thus refs are more lenient to him. They won’t admit it but we all know they are.
How long can Jamie keep bringing players down without getting penalised for it? Not sure. But Liverpool are dead lucky Jamie was not penalised twice against Everton 2 weeks ago. And even more recently last week.
Tonight, Arsenal played Slavia Prague. We drew 0-0. This is a good result. Arsenal went to Prague without 4 key players, two of which were rested. To leave the country without 4 key, experienced players has a massive psychological effect on players, it leaves them feeling drained and makes them think, ‘Can we win this game?… Is our team going to be good enough?… Have we got enough experience on the pitch?’. It makes players ask these sorts of questions, and when players question the team, there is a problem. Luckily there was no problem tonight.
This is a young team. But I find myself saying that every week. Therefore, this is a younger team than usual, and to be saying that when our average age is already around 23, it very worrying. But we are winning so I won’t worry at the moment. Bendtner still hasn’t matured, Denilson in the middle is vulnerable and Walcott is inconsistent. Prague deserved to win but an excellent display from Almunia saved our blushes. We should have lost tonight, but we haven’t. Therefore we have improved. Last year we would have lost because we didn’t know how to grind out results. Now we do. Now we can score in the 93rd minute against Man Utd. Now we can go to Prague and grind out a 0-0 with a very, very young team.
We play Reading on Monday. Reading aren’t as good as they were last year. But they will stay up. Reading are a good team, they are not individuals. Steve Coppell knows they have to work as a team so before their first game of the season, he gathered them in the dressing room and said to the players, ‘Listen, we have 11 players on the pitch. Some are better than others, some are not. We cannot rely on 1 player. All 11 players must play together.’ The Reading players looked at each other in amazement and said to each other, ‘He’s right you know, we must play as a team’. That’s what they are doing. Reading at this stage have exactly the same amount of points they had last season. However it doesn’t seem like it because Steve Sidwell has left and the Reading stadium is half empty this season compared to last season.
Will we win? Maybe. We have a good chance. Hypothetically, we should. Realistically, Reading will be fired up for it. Wenger needs to pick his team carefully, he needs to make sure we keep our momentum going. After all, a famous person once stated the obvious by saying, ‘Once the ball stops rolling, it come to a standstill’. This obvious statement reveals much more than we see at first instance; once we lose, our momentum is lost. Once momentum is broken, we shall see whether Arsenal are truly the ’special’ team everyone is making us out to be.
Arsenal have changed. Before this season, Man Utd scoring in the 82nd minute would have seen them win the match. This season it’s different. This is down to Wenger motivating the team. In the past couple of years when the opposition took the lead, Arsenal would not be able to fight back. The classic example is Barcelona, we had 8 whole minutes to turn the game around but we did not. Todays team and tactics would have scored an equaliser against Barcelona in May 2005. We have changed our tactics thus when teams take the lead like Man Utd done so today, we can attack them through a number of ways.
Wenger is motivating players to perform even when we are losing. We are coming from behind and scoring goals. We still need Adebayor to be more consistent, however it takes time. Arsene has a special bond with the team, he is like a father figure to the players; he picks out the players he wants from an early age and nurtures them. Arsenal used to put their heads down when we went a goal down, fans used to shout ‘NOT AGAIN’ when the opposition scored, but now it’s changed. We can score, we can come back and we can play until the 90th minute knowing we are still in the game. Man Utd have played like this for years under Fergie, of course the perfect example being Fulham away last season when they were shit for 80 minutes, then Ronaldo pops up and wins the game for them. An even better example is 99′ Camp Nou where they won the game against Munich in the last 2 minutes.
Arsenal are only starting to do this. But the positive is that at least we are doing it. We have got two games against two top teams in two weeks. It’s good. It’s very good. Utd were lucky to get 2 goals today, they take 85% of their chances while we take 65% of our chances. It ended up feeling like a victory as we went a goal behind twice. Rooney was quite good, but not good enough. Evra was diabolical and Fergie was worried he was going to get sent off. In fact, if Evra hacked Toure the way he done so (just minutes after he took Hleb out to get his first booking) in the second half he would have got sent off with a second yellow. However, it was early in the game and Howard Webb didn’t take the challenge seriously.
Fergie preferred Giggs to Nani today, this was the correct decision. Giggs against Arsenal always performs well; his pace and experience gives him an upperhand over our team. He has been around for donkeys years and knows the big games inside out. Man Utd were nowhere to be seen in the first half, however once again Almunia was beaten at his near post. This is not a dig at Almunia, I’m a big fan of his. However, in the Champions League final he was beaten twice at his near post, and once again he was today. When the opposition cross the ball/run from the wings, Almunia is always caught flat footed and falls to the floor after the ball is in the net. This is ridiculous. If I was Wenger, I’d take him aside and work on Almunia’s sharpness to respond to bottom corner shots. Almunia has improved since his first year at Arsenal, but there is plenty of room for improving.
Where we good today? Very. This was the first Arsenal-Man Utd clash that made me excited after years, why? Because the passion was lost. When Vieira, Keane, Henry and RVN left, there was nothing there. Now we are back on form it means something to us. I went to The Gunners pub on Blackstock Road, it was excellent. The atmosphere was superb, we were singing songs and telling Ferguson to ‘FECK OFF!’ at every opportunity.
Clichy kept Ronaldo quiet throughout the game, Fabregas was good, Eboue was eccentric and Hleb was skillful. I was listening to FiveLive before the game and the presentor said he was talking to John Barnes last season and asked John who was the best player in the league. John replied with ‘Alexander Hleb’. This was last season. Therefore, this makes him the best player in the league by a mile at the moment as he’s improved immensely. I’m not debating whether John Barnes is correct, but it shows Hleb is attracting worthy praise.
Fact is, Arsenal are 24 games unbeaten in all competitions, beating our previous record. The signs are looking good and it looks like we are back on form. This will be a special team and we all know it.
Tonight, Calzaghe will fight Kessler. I was watching SSN and it all kicked off between Enzo and Kesslers trainer at the weigh in, Calzaghe got up close to Kessler and ran his mouth, Kesslers trainer didn’t like that and got in the way. Enzo was pissed off that Kessler weighed over the limit so let Kesslers trainer know about it. Kessler was twice as ripped as Joe, it was impressive. However, Calzaghe will win tonight. Calzaghe cannot lose. He will never lose. Joe is like a machine, something boxing has never seen before. He throws 1000 punches in a fight, and anyone who throws that amount of punches will win any fight. I predict Calzaghe to win but it will go 12 rounds. Calzaghe is the perfect fighter. However he does not have the final power punch to knock out his opponents (like Jeff Lacy’s right or Foremans right hook). Therefore I lied. Calzaghe is not the perfect fighter, he is the near perfect fighter. We’ll leave it at that.
