I Don’t Know What To Say!

Greetings fellow Gooners!

Next up, the visit of Bolton Wanderers to our fine home and whilst Bolton have provided some nasty moments for us over the years, including a 2-1 reversal at the Reebok at the end of last season for some reason I am not expecting that this year. Seriously, I have a strange and, if I am totally honest, slightly uncomfortable sense that things are about to go right for us.

Realistically speaking, this is yet another game that we really should be winning. There aren’t many clubs in the Premier League that can claim a worse start to the season than us, 3 to be exact, and Bolton are one of them, sporting a defence (including Cahill for those who simply defy logic by claiming that signing him would have made all the difference to this dismal start to our season) that has leaked only one goal less than our own.

For this reason, it promises to be a game with goals in it, to say the least, although I am secretly just praying for a clean sheet! (not so secret now eh!? -ed)

In terms of the line-up, we are missing Benayoun with a side strain, Djourou with a hamstring that will, with any luck, keep him out for a while yet and obviously Jack, TV5 and Diaby are still out. We will have the luxury of welcoming back Aaron Ramsey, Tomas Rosicky and Bacary Sagna, the latter of which provides most relief for my money after another generally poor defensive performance from Jenkinson against Shrewsbury on Tuesday.

In truth, I am not sure that Wenger rested Santos on Tuesday expecting anything other than him starting against Bolton but after the performance of Gibbs against Shrewsbury it would be hard and possibly even harsh to leave him out for this one. When a player, especially one in our defensive unit, hits form even for one game, it would seem sensible to keep playing him. All of that said there is no telling what Wenger will do in this respect!

I think that Walcott will still get the nod over Oxlade-Chamberlain. Again, it would again seem that whilst Walcott is struggling for form and The Ox did such a good job in the Carling Cup match then the latter should get another run out, but I think that Wenger is planning a slow easing-in process for him. There is always the possibility that Arshavin will get the left berth and Gervinho the right, but I have a sneaking feeling that the little Russian may finally get dropped for his run, Swansea aside, of poor performances.

I don’t expect any surprises in any other positions and so the line-up will probably look something like this:

And I think that is a team capable of doing the job.

Interestingly, this very same fixture last season saw us comfortably win 4-1 in the end, although when Bolton equalised just before half-time a wave of worry (the Arsenal version of the Mexican Wave!) went through most Gooners! Thankfully, goals from Koscielny (in THEIR net!), Chamakh, Song and even Vela proved to be more than enough on the day. Oh, and as if to prove how perfectly he would fit in at the club, Cahill, probably undeservedly, got himself a red card after ploughing through the back of Chamakh almost immediately after the Moroccan had scored the goal to put us 2-1 up!

As for this year, as I secretly said earlier, I would settle for a clean sheet (I am sure that the players and management could be forgiven for thinking that is as much the target as actually scoring at the other end) and, for that reason I am going for a 2-0 win with us managing to finish the game with all 11 players on the park!

Yep, 2-0, that’ll do nicely!

A Lucky Escape

Joey Barton has been running his mouth off and the Twitter servers into the ground again with his latest claims that he was actually involved in transfer talks with us and went as far as to say that he would have signed had it not been for the incident with Gervinho which saw our man sent off, probably for not throwing a good enough punch to knock thelittle gobshite out! Firstly speaking to BBC Sport he had this to say:

“If I hadn’t played against Arsenal on the first day, I may have signed for them. There were a couple of conversations [with Wenger] but that’s different to actually signing.

“The Gervinho incident happened and there’s nothing I can do about it now. If it happened again, I’d like to think I’d deal with it differently.

“Things happen for a reason and there’s a lesson to be learned from it. Right now, we sit above Arsenal in the table – hopefully that’s the case in May.”

So many things to discuss here I am not even sure where to start so I will simply plump for “If it happened again, I’d like to think I’d deal with it differently.” HAHAHAHAHA! The odds that Joey Barton will EVER learn a lesson in self-control are so phenomenally remote that I think that they would be better than “Right now, we sit above Arsenal in the table – hopefully that’s the case in May.” actually coming true!

Anyway, in typical fashion Peter Hill-Wood chose to comment on this to the Daily Star:

“It’s not something the board heard about and if it was a serious proposition I certainly would have expected us to [have heard about it].”

Not to be outdone, Barton then “Twatted”, oops, sorry, “Tweeted”:

“am not going to be drawn on PHW’s comments, he obviously needs to open a dialogue channel with Wenger, Pat Rice and Steve Rowley…..”

Followed by:

“…i feel i made the right move for me, am very happy at QPR and wish Arsenal the best of luck. Everything happens for a reason I believe”

Yes, soothsayer Barton, all things DO happen for a reason. One must assume that the reason this happened is because you are nothing more than a loutish thug and I did not hear one single fan of our great club mention anything remotely like “Ooh, Joey Barton. That’s a good idea. Cracking all-round midfielder that is. Right out of the Wengerball textbook!”

Of course, this has sparked a side debate amongst Gooners as to whether or not Barton actually WAS on Wenger’s radar and the board simply didn’t know about it. The general take appears to be that the “AKN” brigade are incredibly now claiming that Wenger is handling all transfer business and, in true dictatorial fashion, doesn’t even require board approval to approach or even sign players!

Well done Gooners. It is such a joy to see us split so directly in two over all things Wenger! Seriously, I there anybody out there who actually feels like I do, give the man a chance to fix this and gel this new-look side and, if he doesn’t, he obviously has to go. In reality there is no obvious replacement, there is no point in booting him out of the door after completing the new signings that all sides of the debate were crying out for and the chances of Arsenal getting rid of the most successful manager in our history are pretty slim anyway.

Divided & Conquered

I had the “pleasure” of a conversation in the comments yesterday with “ken” who I am certain has in the past spent an inordinate amount of time bleating about us needing experience and not winning anything with kids, then decided to bleat that Arteta is too old and Benayoun hasn’t played enough football lately to be a worthwhile signing. Yes, I know I shouldn’t bother replying to somebody who clearly isn’t actually WATCHING Arsenal games and thus actually seeing Mighty Mik or Yossi actually play for us, but he actually went on to actually claim that Arsene Wenger is actually to blame for Monaco being relegated last season due to his failed youth project there…In 1987-1994!

Seriously folks, is there ANTYHING that Wenger can do to get a break from this rubbish?

Look, the reality is simple; Arsene Wenger didn’t become a bad manager overnight, he just found himself looking for a more financially prudent manner of building teams than before. The fact that he was very involved in the reasons for that financial change in climate at the club, the Emirates Stadium, can of course be thrown at his doorstep as hard as any stroppy adolescent can manage, but sailing off into the nether regions of fantasy with claims like this simply aren’t going to help anybody.

To clarify, I am not an “AKB” nor am I an “AKN”. I am a fan of Arsenal Football Club. I have been a fan of this fine club since I was 7 years old, some 32 years ago now, and I will continue to be long after Wenger has shuffled up the stairs or out of the doors of Highbury House. In all of those years I have never seen anybody involved with the club, including Dennis Bergkamp, change our playing style, our success rate, the standing of the club or the feeling of pride that we had for so many years when replying “Arsenal” to the question “Who do you support?”

For those reasons alone I believe that the manager deserves his shot at getting this right. I do not believe that he will deserve any more chances should this season finish without a trophy once more, but I have a feeling that he will turn this around and that this team, with the returns of Vermaelen and Jack still to come, has the potential to play some great football whilst being a more hardworking version than Wengerball 3.

Only time will tell, but I am pretty certain that screaming until one of your lungs lands on the rug in front of you is not going to see any changes to the current structure at the club and, equally, abusing the players or other Arsenal fans is probably not going to convince either to do their jobs properly.

It is simple really; why not just support the team and give them the chance to succeed. If they fail, then we can start the protesting and the screeching but until then there is literally NOTHING to be gained by spraying gallons of vitriol into the faces of those that feel the same disappointment, pain and concerns as you do when we lose, draw or don’t sign Joey Barton!

Catch my drift?!

The Manager Still Believes

Incredibly in my opinion, there are some Arsenal fans claiming that Wenger has become so arrogant and impassive that he simply doesn’t care that we find ourselves 17^th in the Premier League table and even that the problems that we have are “plain to see” and he is simply too stubborn and blind to fix them. I would think that anybody with anything other than a stone for a heart could see that the manager has looked a ghost of himself of late such is the pressure that he is, for the first time in his 14 years at the club, surely feeling. That said, I think that his recent press statements were partly designed to demonstrate that is not the case as well as trying to buoy the team a little ahead of Saturday’s game.

When asked about our current form, our league position and our chances of winning the league title, he had this to say:

“Of course I am worried, it is absolutely not realistic not to be worried when you have a team like Manchester United in front of you.

“But the only thing we can do is focus on our performances, win our games and hope they will drop some points at somestage.

“What is important for us is to give absolutely everything to do it (win the title), but at the moment it is too early to speak about that.

“Let’s come back to a better distance with the top teams before we speak about that. If the team gets momentum, we can be very strong.”

I think it is safe to say that all makes a lot of sense. In fact I would be surprised if the likes of Mancini and Villas-Boa aren’t thinking the majority of that too. Let’s just hope that the players are listening!

So, 2000 or so words later, it turns out I DID know what to say!

And on that note I shall away and buy myself a new keyboard because the fecking “w” on this one needs a sledgehammer to get it so much as out of bed these days! Must be all those times I use it to access www.wonderfulworldofwengerwebsite.com!

Come on you Clean Sheet Seeking Gooonnnneeeerrrssss!

My Horse, My Ox, My Ass, My Anything

Time To Tame The Shrews

Greetings fellow Gooners!

Yes! Something to get excited about again! One of the few positives about this part of the season is that, given how badly things are going for us recently, the games are coming thick and fast we giving us the chance to turn things around a little. I know, it’s only the Carling Cup 3^rd round and we are playing a Shrewsbury Town side that, whilst they will be buoyed by our recent dismal run of results and their own recent run of 6 wins in 7 matches in all competitions, we really, REALLY should be beating.

Another good thing about this period is we get a chance to see some of the next generation playing as well as some of those already staking a claim for a place in the first team and Arsene Wenger has confirmed this will still be the case, despite the quandary we find ourselves in:

“I will be faithful to our policy but I will try to find a good mixture between youth and experience.”

“I had my team in my head before the Blackburn game and it will remain exactly the same.”

“We will have Frimpong, Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ryo, and maybe one or two more. There is an also opportunity to see Park for the first time.”

“Chamakh will also feature. You will also see Jenkinson start in his position. We will try to find a mixture between youth and experience.”

“You will see the likes of Ryo and Oxlade-Chamberlain. You should be excited about Oxlade-Chamberlain because he is a great talent. My target is to develop him so he confirms the expectation I have for him.”

I have to say that I AM excited to see the Ox get a run out but equally excited to see Ryo as, from the games I saw him play in Holland last year, he also looks a really special player. Wenger made some interesting remarks regarding the differences between Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott saying:

“Walcott is a bit more a striker and Oxlade-Chamberlain is more a midfielder. I believe that Oxlade-Chamberlain could be a central midfielder one day and Walcott a central striker one day. That shows the difference between the two players.”

Although it does beg the question as to why on earth we are still seeing the generally dismal Chamakh come on from the bench to play centre forward and NOT seeing Theo get a run in that position. Everybody and his mother seem to think that Walcott is wasted on the wing and would be better off getting a run of games up front and, at 22 years old and 5 years at the club, isn’t it about time he got that chance?

In terms of some of the other new signings, Arteta will more than likely be rested although I expect to see Santos get another game in a bid to improve his match fitness and Yossi Benayoun begin the match in a bid to add an old head to the midfield. Whilst Wenger confirmed that Park Ju Young will probably get a debut, I think that Chamakh will start the game with Wenger hoping that a decent game on the back of scoring against Blackburn may be just what he needs to get himself a bit of much needed confidence back.

The other “Pole between the Poles”, Fabianski, will probably also get a game. Let’s hope he plays a blinder, if needed, to keep Szczesny on his toes. A central defensive partnership of Ignasi Miquel and Johan Djourou would give the former some game time and the latter, hopefully, also some desperately needed confidence. Given that the only other choice is Squillaci

Don’t misunderstand me, I simply don’t believe that Djourou is the answer to our defensive problems any more, even coming from the bench and only when absolutely necessary, but it appears that he is the current third choice and, even when TV5 returns, he will still be our fourth choice. With our injury record I believe it is safe to say he will probably get some games this season. Completing the defence we can expect to see the right back slot filled by Carl Jenkinson, yet another player in need of a confidence boost given the game he had against Manchester United.

The midfield will probably include a central partnership of Emmanuel Frimpong and Francis Coquelin, very much providing a screen for the defence, whilst creativity will probably be left to Benayoun, with Rosicky probably still out.

So, the line up should look something like this:

There is the possibility that Gibbs may start in the left-back role depending on how much match fitness Santos is or is not still lacking and, considering that he would be playing alongside two centre backs who we probably won’t spend too much time with this season, the benefits of playing him if he isn’t lacking match fitness are not immediately obvious. Aside from that, I think that Arsene has given us enough information for there to be few surprises.

As for Shrewsbury, we certainly cannot afford to be complacent. Currently on a decent run in League 2, they have 5 wins 2 draws and 2 losses in their 9 games so far. One thing that could go in our favour is that they have only scored 13 goals thus far and so, with a little luck, if the central midfield partnership does its job properly, our defence shouldn’t be over-occupied, something which, on recent form, would be a huge relief to all concerned. The last thing the players or the fans need is another game of cat and mouse such as Saturday with two teams trading scoring blows as, should heads start to drop, the Shrewsbury players may well get the scent of a giant-killing and then anything could happen!

Having already beaten Derby County, currently 4^th placed in the Championship, 3-2 away in the first round and Swansea 3-1 at home in the second round. Admittedly they played a Swansea side that only featured 3 of the 11 involved against us in our recent Premier League fixture, I don’t think that will make the slightest difference to the Shrews and we underestimate them and, possibly more importantly, overestimate ourselves at our peril.

In terms of a prediction, well, there are trainee minesweepers with safer tasks right now, but I am going to go all out and look forward to a slightly nervy to begin but turning out fine in the end 3-0.

Giving Them The Treatment

There may be a little light appearing at the end of the tunnel regarding the current injury list. Whilst Jack still has 4 weeks left before the protective boot can be removed and a proper test of that ankle can give us some real idea of how he is progressing, it seems that Thomas Vermaelen and Abou Diaby should be fit to return after the international break, putting them in line for selection for the home game against Sunderland on the 16^th October. It is a shame that TV5 will probably miss the away game against the Spuds, but I quite like the idea of him being fresh for the return of Bendtner! Tomas Rosicky will face a late fitness test on his knee and I couldn’t care less whether Squillaci never plays for us again so I won’t even bother discussing his “return”!

On The Defensive

Wenger also called for a little more patience regarding the new look defence saying:

“I believe there is a little question of time and timing.”

“Andre Santos and Per Mertesacker are new, but they were not especially guilty on the goals. But maybe as a unit we need more time to work.”

“A lack of concentration, a lack of communication, a lack of coordination and individual urgency [is behind the goals we have conceded]”

“I believe as well when you score an own goal, you have to look at yourself. It’s never, never, never, never, never completely out of reach, or very rarely. Out of 100 own goals there are maybe 5 or 6 where you have no chance at all, all the rest you have to look at yourself.”

Whilst I can only agree wholeheartedly with all of that, there are still questions surrounding the decision to leave the new signings until the last minute thus leaving us in the bind of bedding players in during the season and not beforehand. I understand that the guarantee of Champions League football had to have helped with the Santos signing, the fact that neither Mertesacker nor Arteta were playing for clubs in the Champions League anyway and Benayoun did not look like playing at all at Chelsea, it cannot be used as a be all and end all excuse for the obvious failings in our summer transfer dealings.

All Over The Park

Arsene had some interesting words regarding Park Ju Young’s role for the team:

“Park is good in every area. He is good in the air, good technically, he is mobile and that’s why he is an adaptable striker who can play up front behind the striker. That’s why we went for him. What I like with him is that he is very mobile and that’s the basis of our game.”

This may well confirm my theory that he was signed for a floating role in the style of God. This of course would lead to a reversion to the 4-4-2 which I, along with many others, am desperate to see.

That’s The Spirit

Arsene also commented on the travelling support although I cannot help but suspect that there is also “hint of hinting” in the direction of the boo-boys at The Grove:

“Again on Saturday in Blackburn there were thousands of Arsenal fans and they were fantastic.”

“We need to be united and I am very grateful for their attitude on Saturday. They were absolutely fantastic.”

“The team has a good spirit, a good mentality, a good attitude and that will come out longer term. We have had a bad start but I believe we can bounce back and be very strong this season.”

Whilst I agree with the sentiment and further agree that they are the current benchmark to try and emulate, I am not totally sure that we should actually be United!

And on that far too silly note, I bid you farewell my suffering friends!

Until after the game…

Come on you Shrew-Taming Goooonnnneeerrrrssss!

Note To Self…

…never write anything when you are angry!

I took that advice from the great ‘Holic over at Goonerholic and I have tried to keep it in mind. Today, however, is different. Today I AM going to write whilst I am angry because if I didn’t I wouldn’t be writing again for a while!

Afternoon Gooners and welcome to yet another conversation about profligacy in front of goal, bad defending, poor refereeing and players that simply are not consistently good enough to wear the Arsenal shirt.

In real terms the awful mess we just made of that game is fairly meaningless. We are still in the process of gelling a new look side, new tactics, newish formation and even new partnerships. What this team clearly needs more than anything else is time. What they will very shortly find they have least of in the world is that very commodity.

5 games in, 13^th in the table, 14 goals conceded and sitting 8 points and a game in hand off the leaders and confidence is surely at an all-time low. These are troublesome times indeed.

Having started brightly, passing the ball around cleanly and getting a great goal on 10 minutes through Gervinho after a fabulous straight ball by Song that tore the Blackburn defence in two, we then dominated possession, keeping the ball well, Ramsey and Song in particular looking a class apart. Then, as is so often the case, totally against the run of play, we throw away a goal with poor defensive coverage and communication. After a little pinball on the edge of the box, the ball was picked up by the exciting Hoilett who played a fairly simple and even more predictable toe poke through to Yakubu, lurking on the edge of the box. A simple early touch by him and the pace on the ball took it wide of Szczesny and inside the far post.

A great finish by a seasoned pro, but in truth, he should never have been allowed anywhere near the goal. When Hoilett picked up the ball The Yak was between Koscielny and Mertesacker both left to right and front to back. Mertesacker had his back to him and was also the closest defender to Hoilett so obviously he stood his ground so as to close the space. Kos, who had actually shown some of that same intensity we saw against Dortmund until now, facing Yakubu signalled his awareness of the danger by pointing at him and obviously gesturing to the eyes n the back of Mertesacker’s head that he should follow the run. I have to say that I am unsure of what Kos was planning to occupy himself with had the big German engaged his psychic powers, managed to turn 180 degrees and make up the yard that Yakubu already had on him at that point as there was literally no other Blackburn player even close to the play.

In short, the combination of his decision to pass all responsibility to a player in a weaker position than him and a simple pass played to the only player Kos really needed to concern himself with was enough to give Yakubu an extra yard, presenting him with the opportunity to coolly slot the ball home. 25 minutes gone and it’s 1-1.

The next 15 minutes provided a couple of heart in mouth moments most notably when Samba got in at the back post and above Koscielny, to reach a corner that the defence should never have allowed to travel that far. In truth, had he not tried to head the ball whilst almost falling over backwards to get to it, his colleague (apologies, I forget who!) a yard behind him would surely have scored.

So, riding our luck as usual, a delightful pass from the very impressive Sagna found Ramsey in acres of space heading into the penalty area. Without so much as looking up, he cut the ball back to the penalty spot and Arteta arrived to score his first goal with a side-footed effort into the roof of the net against the same team against whom he scored his last goal for Everton.

2-1 and we could all be forgiven for thinking that normal service had been resumed and that the gelling process was well and truly underway given the remarkable understanding shown between Ramsey and his new team mate.

But that was just it, wasn’t it. Normal service indeed WAS resumed.

Enjoying almost total possession of the ball once again and creating good chances, Van Persie found himself on the end of a lovely chip over the defence from Arteta.Had it not been for the quick reactions of the seemingly always in form against Arsenal Paul Robinson, he would have found himself with a great goal scoring opportunity. Robinson got to the ball just in time to collect and shut down the danger.

Gervinho shot when a pass to the open Van Persie would have been a much better option, he also over hit a reasonably straightforward cross field pass to Arshavin when we were 3 against 2 on the counterattack and Kos found himself with a decent opportunity in space in the penalty area but his control let him down.

So, half-time, 2-1 and things were looking quite good for us on the whole as well as for my 3-1 prediction, although Kos was continuing to do a good job of making the entire defence look sloppy.

The second half begins and one had to wonder what had gone on in the dressing rooms at half-time that had created such differing responses from both teams. 3 minutes in and the frankly hopeless Arshavin almost played Yakubu in with a suicide pass across the front of the penalty area, saved by the quick thinking of Mertesacker who intercepted and cleared. A minute later and Arshavin was involved again. Incredibly running half the length of the pitch to track back, he threw out a leg at Rovers midfielder Lowe on the right hand side of the penalty area who willingly accepted the opportunity to pick up a free kick in a dangerous area.

What followed can only be described as a mixture of a laughably static defence and a fairly large slice of bad luck. Rochina flipped the ball into the six yard box with almost no pace on it and no obvious intention of reaching anyone in particular when all 5ft 11” of Gael Givet rose above the flatfooted 6ft 1“ Koscielny and his flick-on from the near post found a line of 6 unchallenged Arsenal players doing impersonations of statues as the ball dropped to the only one that did move! Unfortunately for the otherwise decent Song, his involuntary reaction was enough for his left thigh to nudge the ball into the bottom corner of the net. 50 minutes gone and we were all square again. 2-2.

Now, people will of course claim that this was a result of zonal and not man to man marking and use it as a reason to start screaming for Wenger’s head again. The truth of the matter is, the zonal marking actually did its job perfectly. Not a Blackburn player anywhere near the ball and a queue of Arsenal players with all the time in the world to hoof it clear, not forgetting that Kos should never have allowed to Givet have gotten the flick-on. But this is a rough time to be an Arsenal player and the general lack of confidence seems to put the fear of Dennis into almost everybody in a red shirt whenever the ball enters the penalty area.

54 minutes gone and disaster of a different kind strikes. Sagna, who got a knock in the first half, had to go off, to be replaced at right back by Djourou. I can only assume that Djourou made the bench ahead of Jenkinson because of his (in)ability to play both right back and centre half. Anyway, his introduction caused the defence to go from carrying one clown to carrying two! Caught out of position, Djourou left space for Hoilett to get in behind the defence, lovingly played onside by the yet again flat-footed Koscielny, but thankfully the “Pole between the Poles” was more than a match for his rasping shot and his outstretched hand was just enough to turn the ball away. Szczesny had a good game overall apart from one moment where he chose to go walkabout in the box for a ball he was never going to get to, but on that occasion his defence returned some of his recent favours and dug him out of it.

Djourou found himself again out of position and allowed Hoilett to get past him again. A fairly cynical but altogether necessary shirt tug later and the referee was asking for the correct spelling of his name. A fully deserved yellow card.

On 59 minutes another set piece and a never rains but it pours refereeing decision saw Yakubu, marginally offside, with a simple tap-in from 4 yards out. For the record, Kos was the man tugging on Yakubu’s shirt as he ran out of the six yard box in an attempt to spring the offside trap. Had Santos a step further forward Yakubu’s would have been clearly offside and given the linesman, who had a perfectly clear view, no choice but to raise his flag. In the end, neither of these things happened and the goal was allowed to stand regardless of the furious protestations of Mertesacker. 2-3 and the ghost of season’s past was clearly in attendance once again.

5 minutes later and Van Persie found himself on the end of the pass from Gervinho that he should have received in the first half but a combination of the tight angle Paul Robinson saw the keeper cover his angles well and beat the ball out. A minute later and the back to normal after playing well against Swansea Arshavin was replaced by Walcott who almost immediately threatened down the right hand side, drawing a cynical foul from Scott Dann who rightly received a yellow card for his troubles. In all honestly, that and a decent cross or two was about all Theo managed in half an hour of football, if you don’t count the fastest player at the club’s inability to actually run at defenders or his stunning ability to simply run into dead ends. I have to say, when Arshavin came off I was surprised that we didn’t switch to a 4-4-2 with Arteta moving out to the left, Gervinho staying out on the right and Ramsey and Song filling the central midfield positions thus giving Theo the chance to get into a central role.With Van Persie finding lots of time on the ball about 30 yards from goal for much of the game having somebody with lightning pace to play the ball up to would have made a lot of sense. Yet again we wonder if Wenger simply enjoys putting goal scorers on the wings and all but eliminating their chances of scoring.

On 68 minutes the almost inevitable happened. Blackburn, defending a corner (and defending it well I might add) cleared the ball to first half substitute Olssen on the right wing. Djourou came across and, with the Rovers defender on the touchline, 50 yards from goal and with little support  threw himself into a totally unnecessary sliding tackle, missing by some margin and allowing the full back to continue his run. Reaching the by-line and with two attackers in great positions, Olssen took the only possible option, ramming it across the face of goal for Koscielny to complete his perfect day and turn the ball into his own net. 4-2 and Rovers had a goal more than they had managed shots on target in the entire game!

For the record, Olssen was booked for his celebrations and, a few minutes later, after literally throwing himself to the ground with Aaron Ramsey almost a full yard away and the referee with a clear view, was lucky to get a free kick for the “foul” rather than the yellow card that the smirking little git should have received.

5 minutes and a lot of sloppy passing after the goal a header from Van Persie had Robinson scrambling to put the ball over the bar although it was never really in any doubt that he would get to it. A minute later and Chamakh, on as a substitute for Song, drew a fine save from Robinson although the whistle had correctly been blown for a push on a Blackburn defender.

Another five minutes of inconsistency in possession saw Arteta whip in a great cross for Van Persie who again saw his effort saved by Robinson. Before the next goal there was still time for Djourou to reach the ball down the right hand channel with a ridiculous amount of space and time only to slice his cross into the crowd halfway between the goal and the corner flag. Seriously, if this guy is EVER going to be good enough for the Arsenal, we are going to have to be relegated first. Hopeless.

Anyway, I promised another goal and another goal we got. An absolutely inch-perfect cross from Van Persie on the found Chamakh in between to Blackburn defenders but he still managed to get above them both and place a header into the back of the net to get himself on the score sheet for the first time since November 2010.

Cue 10 minutes of all-out madness! Constant waves of attack were launched at the Blackburn penalty area resulting in Chamakh returning a cross from Walcott back across the six yard box only to find nobody there to tap it in, Mertesacker, now basically playing as a third centre forward, almost fulfilling my prediction of scoring today, heading an excellent cross from Santos over the bar when he really should have at least hit the target and Chamakh managing to miss a far easier header than the one for his goal after a cross in from the left corner of the penalty area by Walcott saw put his free header well wide of the target.

Theo was also denied a fairly decent late penalty claim. Well, I say decent. If Robinson coming flying out of his goal and sliding into Theo without even getting close to touching the ball isn’t as clear a penalty as you will see this week anywhere in football, I would be stunned.

The final whistle came after 95 minutes to end the mayhem and Arsenal found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-2 loss. The “fans” will be getting their knives out again, the back pages will think that the circus is back in town and the sports news channels will be harping on about our inability to perform simple defensive duties, our inability to convert good chances and our inability to hold onto a lead.

In all seriousness, I believe that we were a combination of let down by a combination of bad luck, a little bad refereeing, some horrible football by three players in particular, Kos and Djourou at the back and Arshavin nowhere in particular as usual but I also think that the problems for which we can take responsibility can and should be corrected over the next few weeks.

They better be or Wenger may find himself looking for work BEFORE Steve Kean.

Don’t Worry, It’s Only Blackburn Rovers!

Greetings fellow Gooners!

Just a quick one today due to:

a) My being phenomenally late due to some other commitments that the world forgot to warn me about until I had 40 minutes to get there including getting ready and travelling for 30 minutes and;

b) There isn’t a great deal to say that hasn’t been said a thousand and one times and thus that we don’t already know!

Today we play Blackburn Rovers in yet another no-win situation. What could be a potential banana skin for us is exactly that, win lose or draw.

You see, if we win, well, that is exactly how it should be and no special credit will be received. We are the mighty Arsenal FC and they are lowly Blackburn, bottom of the Premier League and in a general state of turmoil. Add to that the fact that their fans are planning a protest prior to kick-off, running an online petition and generally baying for the blood of their manager and of course we should run them out of their own ground.

Or maybe we will get a draw. Yes, that should get the boo-boys out of their prams! Obviously a draw at Ewood Park would not be the end of the world, let alone the end of any title aspirations the players and staff may still be harbouring, but it would not be the win that we should so obviously be getting.

Of course, there is another possibility. That unspeakable chance that we come away with nothing thus requiring the thrusting of Wenger out of the back window of the coach home to be left for dead somewhere on the M6 due to the obvious failure of his new look side (some 2 weeks old), his transfer policy of buying experienced players (some 2 weeks old), his obvious delight at selling 3 of our most prized assets after training and nurturing them almost from his own teat and, last but not least, the fact that he obviously hasn’t been able to manage the team since David Dein left.

In fact, let’s get to the truth of the matter;We all know that Dein was not just responsible for buying and selling players and running the entire executive branch of the club but he also took all of the training sessions, picked the team, wrote the match programme, read out the announcements on match day, played centre-forward in a Thierry Henry disguise, cooked all of the players meals and even washed their kits and cleaned their boots with his magical winning dust!

Ok, obviously I am being a touch facetious here…We all know that he can’t cook!

But seriously folks, as I pointed out prior to the Dortmund game, we are smack bang in the middle of a run of seriously winnable games against teams that we really should be beating. I hope that tomorrow sees us walk away with a healthy victory and I am plumping for a 3-1 to the Arsenal with Mertesacker getting his name on the scoreboard as well as putting n a cracking performance to quieten a few errant mouths that, after two perfectly decent performances in a row, seem to be suggesting that he is worse than Squillaci!

In terms of the line-up we welcome back Song, Gervinho and Jenkinson from suspension and may just see Ramsey on the bench depending on a late fitness test. Jack and TV5 are obviously still out, as are Diaby, Rosicky, Squillaci and Miyaichi. With the midweek exploits still fresh in the legs, I would expect Arshavin to replace Benayoun and I think that we may get a peek at Santos so as not to confuse Gibbs by him playing two games in a row and possibly even Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as I think that Theo may get a sit down for this one too.

So, the team may well look nothing like this:

Now, I have to say, that looks like a team with goals in it!

In other news:

Cesc claims NOT to have slammed our chances of winning any trophies ever again until the end of time, although anybody reading the comments section of my post on this topic will understand why I still have my doubts, regardless of how much Twittering he gets up to! Truth be told, I was furious yesterday and today I couldn’t really give a rats arse. There the much more important matter of actually winning a game rather than worrying about whether an ex-player thinks we will or not!

Manchester United are the latest club linked with a Middle East buyout, this time it is the Qatari royal family threatening the general wellbeing of football with a reported bid of £1.6bn. I don’t want to get too high up on my horse over this as, so far, it is appears to be rumour and counter-rumour. Not only that, but I cannot help but wonder how the likes of Chelsea, United and Citeh get a “Sugar Daddy” whilst we get the “Gingerbread Man”!

Wenger claims that his experiment with a zonal marking systemfor corners is working so far but nothing concrete has been decided regarding whether or not it is here to stay. Time will tell on that one, but, whilst we haven’t actually conceded from a corner yet this season, our goals conceded record so far leaves a lot to be desired to say the least and so one assumes that the experiment needs to show fruit in other areas too and fast if it to stand a chance. Personally I think that man to man marking at set pieces is too easy to break down for the attacking side unless you have very mobile defenders and so I hope that the lads get past the teething troubles as quickly as possible to give this new system a real chance.

Yossi Benayoun claims that his loan move was not the last minute shock that it appeared to be and that we were finalising the details about a week beforehand. All well and good, but it does beg the obvious question: If we knew we were signing him so long beforehand, how on earth did we end up taking him without a medical?!

Nicklas Bendtner is currently doing the media rounds with his latest Arsenal “revelation”. He claims he won’t be back unless he gets assurances of regular football from the club. First things first, we own you sunbeam and you will come back if we tell you too and you won’t if we don’t want you. Secondly, I hope that you keep your original promise of never coming back and good riddance too. Thirdly, shut your trap for two fecking minutes and give your arse a chance, would you! You might have been played desperately out of position, never really given a fighting chance to prove yourself and even been horribly misquoted over the whole “best player in the world” debacle (I hate to say it, but I saw the original of that interview and another subsequent interview and that “claim” was taken so out of context it was actually a disgrace to journalism, twice!) but has it never occurred to you that the fact that you spend more time talking about playing football than actually playing it might be riddled with all the clues you need?!?!

Still not convinced Nick? Well, try your own words for size:

“I have rented a good house and am probably going to spend most of my time there, as I did in London, and then spend time with my family when I am not playing football, so it’s going to be okay.”

Anybody else starting to think that he has literally zero friends in the entire world?!

And on that note, all that remains to be said is:

Come on you experienced Blackburn Rovers whipping Gooonnnneeerrrsssss!

 

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