Arsenal traveled north to face a Sunderland club that has seen a resurgence since installing
Martin O'Neil as their manager and it took a two late goal by impact substitutes to come away with
the three points. Keep reading for all the glorious heart-stopping action.
Arsene Wenger chose to start the same squad that demolished Blackburn last week with the
exception of Francis Coquelin as Bacary Sagna was drafted in for his 2nd start since his broken
leg.
Yep, Sunderland are the best team in the league over the last bunch of games. Read Martin's
preview for proof.
Kick-off is 3pm London time, 10am New York, 7am Vancouver, and sometime last night in New
Zealand. As usual, I'll be here half-an-hour beforehand to provide accompanying drivel and
conjecture.
Sunderland
Position 8th, 9-6-9 (33 points, +9 goal differential)
Home Record: 5-4-3, +8 goal differential
Recent Form: WLWWW
Last Meeting: Arsenal 2 Sunderland 1 (October 17, 2011)
Crucial match .
Some players want to leave, Arsenal will be going places this summer, the English NT is filled
with jerks... your usual cup of Arse here at the Offside
We start today's blog with a subject Arsenal fans are always delighted to hear about: player
departures. Park Chu-Young has indicated that if keeps getting ignored for play action, he might
leave in the summer.
If there's one thing I've learned from the Occupy Wall Street movement, it's that all the
protests in the world (bin bags, black scarves, etc) mean nothing in the face of the capitalist
juggernaut.
Yesterday Arsene Wenger went on record saying that rather than buying Eden Hazard for 30 million
pounds/euros (depending on which story you read), he had to show a fifteen to twenty million pound
profit.
Not DEEENCH at all:
Frimpong is out for the season after rupturing his ACL in his right knee while at Wolves on
loan. He did the same thing to his left knee two summers ago and was out for over half a
year:
What's the opposite of #DEEENCH?
I haven't seen any video, but everything points to Frimpong getting Frimponged.
When I woke up bleary-eyed and desperate of coffee this morning my first thought was "Why do I
wake up so early for the impending doom that is Arsenal?" I turned my TV on and was greeted by the
image of Arsene Wenger walking onto the pitch and a great view of the skyline above the Emirates
Stadium, leading me to think, "At least it looks beautiful out there.
Blackburn
Position 18th, 4-6-13 (18 points, -14 goal differential)
Away Record: 1-6-4, -6 goal differential
Recent Form: WLWDL
Last Meeting: Blackburn 4 Arsenal 3 (September 17, 2011)
Back in league action tomorrow as we square off against mighty Blackburn (hey, lately, any team
playing against us looks pretty mighty).
Sigh.
First of all, the Arsenal Offside would like to place its thoughts to the victims from today's
awful turn of events in Egypt. A truly disheartening experience. Some things are bigger than
football, and this was definitely one of them.
Typical Arsenal. A few days after a great comeback victory, a victory that had the potential to
help turn our season around and put us on the right track (granted, it was a poor Villa side), we
draw against an insipid Bolton side that is currently languishing around the relegation zone.
In three short hours we face a stiff test. No, Bolton aren't that good. But for this is a test
for Wenger and the boys.
We've lost three games in a row in the league for the first time since 2007. We should have
drawn all three, and we could have won any of them. We're in 6th spot in the league, six points
behind Chelsea and have a worse defensive record than West Brom.
Cometh the hour, cometh the comeback- for once.
Finally, a win for Arsenal! The matter by which it came was joyful, and may just have put us out
of our recent funk. In a match where Arsenal dominated in terms of possession and chances created,
Aston Villa, with a first-team lineup, crawled to a 2-0 lead at half time.
Aston Villa
Position 11th, 6-9-7 (27 points, -3 goal differential)
Away Record: 3-6-2, -1 goal differential
Recent Form: DWLDW
Last Meeting: Aston Villa 1 Arsenal 2 (December 21, 2011)
Back in action tomorrow (remember when we used to play matches on Saturday) as we square off
against Aston Villa in the FA Cup 4th round match.
There were rumors yesterday on twitter suggesting Jack Wilshere had suffered an injury setback.
Many (read: All) were hoping they were like every other rumor regarding Arsenal during a transfer
rumor that never actually happen, but this one has been proven to be true.
During Wenger's press conference the news revealed the happy news:
He has had a little setback that is under investigation at the moment so I cannot give you how
long he will be out for.
Every person has a talent. Some have a talent with numbers; others are incredibly handy and can
build whatever their hearts desire. Some people are intellectually gifted, while others are
incredible athletes and invariably, the ones we love the most. It's easy to see why too, for an
athlete's allure is a visual treat that invokes a sense of wonderment and a slight tinge of
jealousy by the spectator.
Surprised? No. Disappointed? Of course.
Watching that match was painful, and I'm sure most of you caught the match. I will describe the
match in laconic detail, in order to spare us the pain:
First Half: We were dire. Really, really dire. We couldn't get out of own half
for most of the half, as United, who weren't so hot themselves, probed for an opener.
