Mar 26, 2012
Today, Arsenal won 3-0 against Aston Villa at the Emirates. It was our seventh Premier League
win in a row and that gives us a three-point advantage over the Spuds, who could only draw with
Chelsea at Stamford Bridge earlier in the day. It was also the first time since 1997 that the
Gunners had two English goal scorers in the same game.
Will need to step up tonight
What a wonderful night of football yesterday was, if only for the one game which mattered.
Nicklas Bendtner did us no favour as he squandered an early chance to put his team ahead but
Sunderland won it right at the death to beat Roberto Mancini's Manchester City.
Can you imagine running against someone twice your age Alex?
Here we go again. Champions League football is back (yeah, it was back yesterday but those were
not my team) tonight. A meeting against AC Milan is one to drool over. 7 times champions of Europe,
a real giant of world football. It's a glamorous tie and this is what we're in this competition
for.
The one thing you must know about Alex Song is that he loves acting out
"If Incredible Hulk Were Drunk..." scenarios in front of the camera.
Rolling on the grass and breakdancing is all part of Song's training routine, as evident during
Arsenal's session yesterday.
Three games to go in this extraordinary season.
Three games to secure third place and a guarantee of Champions League football next year (not to
mention the increased likelihood of retaining the services of a certain Dutchman who finds the net
at moments of his own choosing).
Or three games to slip to fourth, maybe even fifth and re-ignite the poisonous debate about the
future of our club and its most successful modern manager.
It's often cast as the sporting equivalent of the descent to Hades where brutality reigns for
what seems an eternity and only heroes emerge unscathed and Arsenal prepared as if they were
entering the Britannia Stadium as such. But just as Stoke City had a gameplan to stop Arsenal based
on exaggerated muscularity, so did The Gunners to show their technical superiority.
The results are in and Arsenal fans have unsurprisingly chosen skipper Robin van Persie as the
club's Player of the Season in a poll sponsored by EA Sports. Alex Song, Tomas Rosicky,
Laurent Koscienly, and Mikel Arteta round off the list of top five players chosen by the Gunners'
faithful.
A real 3 pointer today, what with Spurs and Liverpool dropping points at home.
We all know that Swansea are a very difficult side to beat at the Liberty Stadium, in fact only
MU have won there this season. The Swans have conceded just 4 goals at home (compared to AFC's 6)
and have drawn half their home games (5/10) Spurs gained a very squeaky point a couple of weeks
ago and Swansea will go into the game full of confidence.
Written by Double98
Robin van Persie, the balon d'or snubbed, true king of world football, has been reeling in the
plaudits for his exceptional scoring feats in 2011. By eclipsing Thierry Henry's mark of 34 goals
in a calendar year, and particularly by playing in a less competitive and more transitional team,
he has booked himself a seat in the waiting room of the Pantheon of Arsenal Greats.
Fine margins
February and all we've collected from 2012 is a solitary point in the league. Unfortunately for
a club the size of Arsenal and the ambitions that we harbour, that is not good enough. 7th is where
we are right now in terms of the league standings and hopes of staying with the top pack and
clinching that vital Champions League position is not mathematically out of grab.
What a game in store for us this afternoon. As was said earlier this week a barometer game. A
resurgent Sunderland looking to continue their very surprising run against an Arsenal team
confident as a result of last week's big win.
And yet, in my opinion both appear to be skating on thin ice.
Those who regularly read my pre-matches may have noticed a softening in approach over recent
months; this is due to the Jonah effect. Every time I slagged off a team they took points from us.
However, if nothing else, this season has persuaded me that my "lucky" habits have no effect on
Arsenal's performance, I have used lucky socks, lucky shirts, lucky cakes, lucky beer, lucky wine,
lucky scarves, lucky routes, lucky sweets, and you know what nothing works.
Come on!!!
First game after the massive thrashing we gave our version of the"noisy neighbours". I should
think that some of the euphoria and boost should still be there with the squad going into the trip
to Anfield. A part of it will no doubt be diluted by half the squad going away for what can only be
deemed as a silly time to have international matches.
Robin van Persie scored either side of the interval to help Arsenal come from behind and win 2-1
at Anfield to bring an end to Liverpool's unbeaten record at home this season.
On a day when injured captain Steven Gerrard started things off brightly for the home side by
lifting the recently won Carling Cup trophy, an inspired Reds side brilliantly rode the momentum in
the opening stages.
He scores when he wants
It was reminiscent of our last win at Anfield. We played poorly and we still come out on top.
It's the kind of performance that pundits drool over when Manchester United wins this type of
matches. The ability to beat the odds and find that winner despite not being on top of their
game.
Smash and grab, against the run of play, undeserved, call it what you want, Robin van Persie's
two superbly taken goals gave us a very important win at Anfield and with it three extremely
precious points.
Buoyed by the glorious fight back last week against spuds I sat myself in front
of the telly ready for the match with a greater confidence in my heart than had been the case in
more recent weeks.
Firstly, *boilk*
Secondly, there was a bloke in the bar we were in last night who looked exactly like the villain
from every film ever but most especially like the other bloke from the Karate Kid who kicked his
legs that time. He was tall and overly blond with his shirt open too much and he laughed
exaggeratedly.
Smash and grab, against the run of play, undeserved, call it what you want, Robin van Persie's
two superbly taken goals gave us a very important win at Anfield and with it three extremely
precious points.
Buoyed by the glorious fight back last week against spuds I sat myself in front
of the telly ready for the match with a greater confidence in my heart than had been the case in
more recent weeks.
One of my favourite things about football is the extent to which it constantly confounds finite
conclusions. We're all guilty of it to varying degrees. Just four weeks ago I used this space to
contemplate the upsides of Europa League participation. 6 consecutive league wins later and we find
ourselves favourites for third and ahead of Sp*rs – who were effectively 13 points ahead with a
2-0 lead over us just over three weeks ago.
Having endured the first 60 minutes of the Chavs' vs. Spuds' collective attempt to discover the
best cure for insomnia, I was extremely pleased to find a half-decent stream to watch the mighty
Red & White take on the Villains. I expected AV to put in a performance, partly based on their half
decent effort during our last encounter with them in January (FA-cup), and partly on the fact that
they have nothing really to play for anymore, which makes these sorts of games a bit of a bonus for
them.
The Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger declared himself very satisfied about the fact that the Gunners
finally managed to put some points between themselves and Tottenham as they now find themselves 3
points in front of their biggest rivals Tottenham and 8 points ahead of Chelsea. "I felt it was a
very dynamic, fluent performance in [.
If, as the orange and black banner draped against the North Stand is correct, and Robin van
Persie does score "when he wants", it was evidently his day off as he left it to the others to get
the goals. On the face of it, perhaps it was a good thing as it showed Arsenal are not so reliant
on Robin van Persie and Arsène Wenger indicated as much, although he would have wanted van Persie
to continue his goalscoring form and thus kept him on until the end.
Having endured the first 60 minutes of the Chavs' vs. Spuds' collective attempt to discover the
best cure for insomnia, I was extremely pleased to find a half-decent stream to watch the mighty
Red & White take on the Villains. I expected AV to put in a performance, partly based on their half
decent effort during our last encounter with them in January (FA-cup), and partly on the fact that
they have nothing really to play for anymore, which makes these sorts of games a bit of a bonus for
them.
Ahead of their clash against Queens Park Rangers tonight, Arsenal's
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been practising his crucial Charlie Chaplin
side-jumps. And it seems that the 'Alexes' have been the life of the
party for the Gunners lately you may remember that Alex Song was the clown of
last week's training session!
Tough assignment writing about QPR. Why? Because I have a real soft spot for Rangers, but and
this is such a huge but, there is hardly a bigger but in the Western World - not even J-Lo has a
but this big. You know what I am referring to .... yes ..... two of the most unpleasant men ever to
grace a football field, Mark Hughes and Joey Barton.
Tough assignment writing about QPR. Why? Because I have a real soft spot for Rangers, but and
this is such a huge but, there is hardly a bigger but in the Western World - not even J-Lo has a
but this big. You know what I am referring to .... yes ..... two of the most unpleasant men ever to
grace a football field, Mark Hughes and Joey Barton.
Few people have wanted to write about our losses this season there have been too many sadly and
yesterday was no exception. Watching the game on a good stream it was difficult to draw any
positives from a lacklustre performance that was more reminiscent of the dark days in January than
the recent exciting football we have witnessed.
Few people have wanted to write about our losses this season there have been too many sadly and
yesterday was no exception. Watching the game on a good stream it was difficult to draw any
positives from a lacklustre performance that was more reminiscent of the dark days in January than
the recent exciting football we have witnessed.
Much has been made of Thomas Vermaelen's performance against QPR on Saturday and I'm quite sure
he'd be the first to admit it was not his finest hour. Not for the first time this season he's
slipped at a crucial moment, resulting in an opposition goal, so perhaps he ought to be considering
a change of footwear (blades v traditional studs, for example).
We're very much in the home straight now. The yellow tape is well in sight on the
horizon and we know exactly what we have to do. Pretty much the opposite of what we did at Loftus
Road on Saturday to be precise. I sensed we wouldn't win, largely owing to the law of averages.
We'd juiced lady luck's teat ever so slightly during the winning run and life being what it is, all
sparks burn out in the end.
Written by TotalArsenal
Today, Arsenal had a chance to make a statement of where it stands in the current hierarchy of
English football. This was not just a game we needed to win to keep us in contention for a top-four
finish – no, this was also a game in which we needed to demonstrate to ourselves again how good
we really are.
This doesn't appear to be new, but it's too excellent to be missed out on.
Actually, it might be a bit late. While Citroen has a wonderful idea of mixing football with
ballet to sell a car isn't that the ideal? this is probably several years too late. This commercial
needed to happen six or seven years ago, with Patrick Vieira, Jens Lehmann, Freddie Ljunberg (this
one, not CKFreddie) and of course, Pascal Cygan in the role of trainees.
Written by TotalArsenal
Today, Arsenal had a chance to make a statement of where it stands in the current hierarchy of
English football. This was not just a game we needed to win to keep us in contention for a top-four
finish – no, this was also a game in which we needed to demonstrate to ourselves again how good
we really are.
Balotelli gets away with it! by KJ Some shocking news has filtered its way onto twitter. Mario
Balotelli will not receive any retrospective action after his horrific tackle on Alex Song during
the 1-0 win against Man City at the Emirates. According to the FA, an official saw the incident and
decided it was not [.
Mind The Gap
Follow Me On,Twitter
The Spuds seem to be choking which is what they are most famous for. It was expected, I love how
harry twitcher and the rest of those media hyped spud monkeys have been brought back to earth.
Arsenal have the opportunity to tighten the grip on third place, A win tomorrow will see us go
five points clear of Spurs and Newcastle, and 7 clear of Chelsea.
Morning all, a blog in two parts this morning, starting with:
WOLVES
In terms of team news there will be changes at the back. Kieran Gibbs groin is feeling the
strain of 9 consecutive games and will be replaced by Andre Santos. Laurent Koscielny's suspension
means Johan Djourou comes back into the centre of the defence, while there are some doubts over
Bacary Sagna, whose virtues the manager is keen to extol.
DLLLLLL
No, I haven't just mashed my forehead onto my keyboard, the above letters are the recent record
of tonight's opponents Wolves since they sacked Mick McCarthy. Drew one, lost six, a run of matches
that sees them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League with a measly 22 points, six away from
nearest relegation battlers Wigan.
Sunday's antics at Emirates Stadium threw perennial trouble maker Mario Balotelli back into the
headlines after a red card against Arsenal. Donning a t-shirt reading "YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE" to
reveal if he found the net, Balotelli's intentions are clear. He feels it is all about him. Who
else would expose the message "WHY ALWAYS ME?
It's been a week to get the pulses racing. If the deserved late win against Mercenary City was a
night out at a strip club with John Bonham and Shane McGowan, Wednesday's win against Wolves had
the air of soothing satisfaction of a night in with a bottle of Blue Nun, pizza, ice cream and a
rom-com.
DLLLLLL
No, I haven't just mashed my forehead onto my keyboard, the above letters are the recent record
of tonight's opponents Wolves since they sacked Mick McCarthy. Drew one, lost six, a run of matches
that sees them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League with a measly 22 points, six away from
nearest relegation battlers Wigan.
