Or should I saw Wolves 3-Arsenal 2? We come away with 3 points on a scoreline which flatters us
a little bit, on the back of 2 early Wolves own goals which put us up 2-0, a vantage point from
which we never looked back.
Wolves strategy was pretty obvious, and wasn't a bad one as far as these things go.
Aaron Ramsey has been rewarded for his superb Carling Cup performance against Liverpool — by
being handed a start against Wolves this evening. Gunners striker Eduardo is also given a chance
upfront alongside the in-form Robin van Persie, while Kieran Gibbs continues at left back due to
Gael Clichy's stress fracture. Click to continue reading...
Are you concerned about the possible future takeover of Arsenal from majority shareholder Stan
Kroenke? Do you have questions that you want to be answered? Gooner Talk have planned an exclusive
Q & A session with Colorado Rapids blogger Nick Thomas, who not only has the latest info on the
American side, but possesses a wealth of [. Click to continue reading...
Away to the midlands tomorrow to face Wolves at the Molineaux. Wolves are a solid side I picked
them to stay up this season, and I actually hope they do.
The 4-1 thumping of Alkmaar in midweek was an immensely satisfying affair, a triumph of
footballing philosophy over the defensive nous of coaches such as Ronald Koeman, and yet another
demonstration that this Arsenal team is serious about combining footballing beauty with tangible
success.
But prior the the match, there was a definite sense of relaxation amongst the fans, as if the
game really didn't matter, so assured was our progress regardless of the result.
It's now or never for Arsenal Football Club. Â Stan Kroenke has been mopping up small
shareholdings over the last couple of weeks to raise his share in the club to 29.8%. He is a
fraction below the mandatory bid figure of 29.9%.
It was rumoured that he bought 100 shares from Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood; this is the
same man who famously said, "We do not need his sort at this club.
There's not much else to say other than that that was a sublime performance by Arsenal. The
trophy draught is frustrating, but honestly, when Arsenal plays like they did last night,
dominating another club through sheer skill, technique, and teamwork, it just reminds me how lucky
I am to root for Arsenal.
Literally, Nope, not drink induced, although that's how it feels. I have an inner ear infection
which basically means I can't move without falling over. Under Doctors orders I'm confined to bed
to keep my head as still as possible which in itself is causing problems as my neck stiffens up and
threatens to bring on a full blown migraine.
Apologies all, I've been moving house today and cannot get near to doing a full preview of
tonight's game, which starts in a matter of minutes. Suffice to say that a win is actually quite
important given Chelsea's qualification last night (we play Chelsea after matchday 5, and they can
concentrate entirely on that one), and I think we'll get it, 2-0.
It was just announced that Cesc Fabregas edged out Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba as the PFA
Player of the Month for the month of October.
Ultimately, of course, such awards are pretty meaningless, and Cesc would probably be the first
to say so. But it is nice that his superb play all month was recognized, as he was consistently
pulling the strings for a club which was undefeated on the month.
Well, just as my preview for the first match against AZ announced a monthlong injury to Theo
Walcott, I'm afraid I've got more bad injury news to report here.
Gael Clichy reportedly has a stress fracture in his back, and will be out for about a month. Two
weeks of that month will be the international break, but he will, at the very least, miss league
fixtures against Wolves and Chelsea and Champions League matches against AZ and Standard.
That could not have gone much better. We may have answered some questions today. For one thing,
of our previous 6 wins, they have all been over bottom half of the table clubs. We just beat a club
sitting 4th in the table, and we did so convincingly. It was also great, given our recent struggles
holding onto leads, to see Arsenal finish off a game instead of sitting on the lead, we grew
stronger and more dominant as the game went along.
With Almunia frozen out, and Mannone beginning to show understandable signs of being a little
out of his depth in the first team at this early stage of his career, the stage seemed set for
Fabianski to return to the fray against Spurs this afternoon, especially after a decent showing
against Liverpool in midweek.
Just several random things going on today, none of which really deserve their own post, so I
figured I would just dump them in here together.
First, Lukasz Fabianski, who many were predicting would become Arsenal's # 1 goalkeeper when he
returned to health, hurt his thigh in last night's Carling Cup fixture and will be out until after
the international break in November.
Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1 to go through to the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup. And look:
sure, it wasn't Liverpool's first team, either; we were playing at home; and it wasn't like this
was a purely youth team Senderos, Silvestre, and Eduardo can all rightfully be called veterans, and
Bendtner, Fabianski, and Nasri are all young but have a lot of first-team experience.
Arsenal face Liverpool tonight in the Carling Cup, a competition that Wenger has religiously
used to give reserves, youth players and first team squad players a run-out. Â We have had some
success over the years, reaching one final and three semi-finals, so the policy has its merits. Â I
would like Wenger to take the competition a little more seriously and start to use more experienced
players the closer got to the final.
I remember when top clubs began blooding youngsters and squad players en masses in the League
Cup it had always been a competition for a little rotation, but the criticism ran wild when the
likes of us and United played entirely different teams from the one that ran out at the
weekend.
These days, it is noticeable how different the media message is.
In whose hands is the future of Arsenal? Â This is the question we have all been asking. Â
Almunia was the number one, but a mystery "chest" infection which has taken a long time to clear up
ahs given the third choice keeper Mannone a chance, Fabianski is back from injury and should
feature tonight against Liverpool.
by JAMES CURTIS Imagine breakfast in the Wenger household and you might hear Mrs Arsene snapping
at her husband's indecision whether or not to play his Young Guns against Liverpool tonight: "Oh
for heavens sake, let the kids play why wont you," she trumps.
It's a point well made, as for Arsenal fans the more exciting prospect of Carling Cup football
is the chance of seeing the talented youth in a real pressure setting.
Carling Cup tomorrow, with a home matchup against Liverpool.
As I've said previously, I feel a little conflicted about the competition. Do I want to win?
Yes, of course. But I have mixed feelings about how we treat the competition. Because, to be clear,
Arsene Wenger does not really care about winning the Carling Cup.
West Ham 2 (Cole 74, Diamanti 80) Arsenal 2 (Van Persie 16, Gallas 37) (Premiership)
Perhaps we can excuse the players for thinking the game was won at half time. I certainly did.
West Ham were toothless, gutless, and quite frankly, hopeless in the opening 45 minutes.
Patrick Vieira returns to the Emirates Stadium this weekend — as a mural on the side of the
arena! The former Gunners skipper, who currently plays for Inter Milan, will be depicted on a mural
with legends Eddie Lewis, Lee Dixon and Joe Mercer, as Arsenal continue their 'Arsenalisation'
process of the stadium. Click to continue reading...
Oof. This one stings. Remember when I said that the midweek draw against AZ would be a good
thing because it would teach players a lesson about taking other teams seriously and finishing off
games? I guess now it's fair to say that the team did not learn either of those lessons. We had
this game in hand, and then we let up, got sloppy, and dropped 2 points as a consequence.
It's gearing up to be a very interesting Sunday afternoon of football, with Liverpool and United
meeting before we take a trip east to face West Ham, opponents we haven't exactly thrived against
in recent years. In fact, some of the games have become infamous, the 1-0 defeat that saw Wenger
and Pardew nearly come to blows, and a 3-2 reverse where Sol Campbell jumped ship at half time.
Less than a month ago, we approached a Premiership game away at Fulham with the goalkeeping
position in disarray. Almunia had been struck down for over a week with a chest infection, and with
Fabianski also out with a long term injury, young Mannone had been thrown into a Champions League
game in Liege.
