Week #2 Roundup: Ratings from Stoke game and opinions!!!

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Another week gone and another game without any of the Gunners on score sheet. Voices are getting louder that we were a one man team and selling RVP has made us toothless in front of the goal. New recruits didn’t get a prolonged Pre-Season with first team due to Euros resultant fatigue; hence we can’t blame them for misfiring, atleast not today. But I seriously hope that we get a DM and a Striker like Klaas-Jan Huntelaar into our ranks, as it’ll be a fitting statement to RVP. On top of it, we can get Huntelaar within our transfer budget and wages. And he is world class and a rival to RVP in his national team. What else do we need to show our intent!!! Why I am saying this because we weren’t able to shoot on the target, leave alone scoring. On target shots were only 2!!!

Hence, blame should definitely be ‘Bestowed’ upon our new Pires in the making Gervinho aka ‘Le Forehead’! I think Sherlock would have never said what he did in ‘The Adventure of Blue Carbuncle’ if he had met our Gervinho; the quote was

[Watson - “how did you deduce that this man was intellectual?” Sherlock - “It is a question of cubic capacity,” said he; “a man with so large a brain must have something in it.”!!!]

Now tell me if Gervinho had something in it, won’t he utilize in decision making? And if he had it he won’t be making comments about being next Pires and getting badmouthed from people like me!!! He has brilliant dribbling skills, but that doesn’t mean that you keep on running to the Goal line for a perfect cut back when there are other players waiting for a cross, also that doesn’t mean that you will wait for eternity to pass the ball to a colleague when a opportunity of counter attack presents itself. He has really pissed me off, and I hope he can prove me wrong and become a player we all want him to be.

Rest of old players actually played their part, hence no bad mouthing them. Diaby was a little out of pace, but that is understandable if you were out for a good 2 years because of some stupid tackle, then you play a team like Stoke a bit carefully. Still he made some good tackles to stop Stokes run of play.

Now time for Ratings:

Mannone: 6.5

He didn’t have much to do, but he did well whenever he was called upon the duties. I think the people, who doubted him and were skeptical about him being on the pitch in Britannia Stadium, would atleast trust him whenever his next opportunity arises.

Vermaelen: 8

He had everything covered, and was a top top performer yesterday. He has started taking more responsibility after becoming captain, and he ushered his troops well.

Mertesacker: 7

He was given responsibility of handling Crouch, and he did well on most of the occasions. He worked on off side trap last week, and as a result we looked more comfortable at the back.

Jenkinson: 8

Another brilliant game by Sagna’s deputy. He has really matured from last season and now he is really coming to the top of his game. Still there are atleast 3 years before he becomes a regular, but signs are here for everybody to see that he is going to be one of the best full back in the country if not the world! He was good going forward, defending the stoke wingers run and also helping out the Centre backs whenever required.

Gibbs: 7

He was there and there about, though his decision making in Stokes’ penalty box left something to be desired. But his defending was good. He can definitely needs to improve some aspects of his game, as he is going to be regular this season.

Diaby: 6

After a brilliant last week, we saw Diaby a bit intimidated by the rugby opposition. It is understandable and I hope he brings his A Game back next week against Liverpool. Also, I would like him to shoot when he has the opportunity!!!

Arteta: 8.5

He was the star of the show. He was after every Stoke player and was fighting fire with fire. And it was nice to see that it was Stoke players who were complaining as they didn’t know what hit them. His experience and his motivation to play for the club is extraordinary! How I hope we could have landed him earlier!

Podolski: 6

Had a few decent chances, but screwed them whenever he got them. He needs to score and score fast, if Arsenal has to be anywhere close to CL spot.

Gervinho: 3

Enough said already!

Cazorla: 6.5

It’s good he can dribble. It’s good that he can create chances, but like all other forwards, he also needs to shoot and on target for a change! I don’t think he has been bought because of dribbling skills or shooting over the bar, but to score the goals! Anyways we have Ramsey to do the latter part of it!

Giroud: 6

He needs to Shoot!!! Decision making is also another thing that he needs to improve upon! Hope he learns soon that EPL is way different that Ligue 1.

Ox: 6.5

He came at a time when we needed goals and shot on target, but he was also not able to spark any fire spare one of two moments on by line!

Walcott: 2

Now he should be given a strikers role and atleast 500,000 per week pay check!!!

Ramsey: 0

If I say anything, it would be an insult to Footballers in general!!!

So here we go. Hope next week is better than this.

Until next time Gooners, lets Up the Arse!

Week #1 Roundup: Ratings from Sunderland game and opinions!!!

First of all I would like to thank all the people who are reading this and I am highly grateful for all the support I have been receiving. Thanks. And those who are first tie reader, please get in touch with me via my Twitter Handle @OnTheGunPoint and I would love to have a spirited discussion on anything that is ARSENAL.

Coming back, week #1 is nearly over (Chelshit Vs Reading still reaming for this week). It was kind of tough week for us Gooners, not only did we see Déjà vu from last year, we were also held to draw by Sunderland. Only thing which worked in our favour was that Le Boss had the foresight this time around to buy quality players to bolster the squad. You might suggest that those players didn’t do much and we could have won if Giroud has taken his chance etc etc, but I think we ought to give them some time to prove. Remember Kos the boss from 2 seasons ago? He got red card in his first game and season opener against Liverpool! And today he is not only a crowd favourite, but also one of the best players on the rooster. Poldi, Giroud will definitely score, we just have to be patient with them. Cazorla did play well and created few chances for us. The only thing missing was end product in our game (which should not be something unusual for us Gooners, right?), but that will come in due course of time, believe you me.

Players Rating from my point of view are as follows:

Szczesny: 8

He did well whenever he was called upon. Had a brilliant save when Mert was caught napping during the initial phase of the game.

Vermaelen: 8

He was at the core of things from the start and handled his troops very well. What I saw was he was curbing his indicts of going forward. This could have been because he was afraid that Mert won’t be able to handle the counter attack or because of added pressure of captaincy!

Mertesacker:  6.5

He is still adjusting to the English game, and should play more in League Cup and FA cup to come to terms with the pace of EPL and also the playing style of his teammates.

Jenkinson: 8.5

I never expected him to be so good defensively and doing his job so well in absence of Sagna! He was good in going forward too, but his crossing left something to be desired.

Gibbs: 7.5

He was not bad, but his link up play with Gervinho needs to become better for us to be a threat from the flank.

Diaby: 8

On his comeback he showed why Wenger shows so much faith in him. He was playing the box to box role very nicely and some of his through passes were immaculate. He was also good in physical side and if he continues this kind of display, Boss would have a dilemma in his hand of whom to choose. A lucky situation to have I must say. A new signing indeed Boss!

Arteta: 7

He was the lynchpin of our midfield last season and hence the expectations from him this season are even higher. I think because we lacked in defensive midfield department, hence he took the added responsibility to break the attacks and could not create the web for goal scoring opportunities. Also, he being new to DM role, he was found wanting few times.

Gervinho: 6.5

Dribbling skills are awesome, though he does lack the final product and on few occasions he does overkill in trying to be too meticulous. Still there is a long way to go for him to be a creator and scorer.

Walcott: 6

Now I know why he wants to be the highest paid player in Arsenal team. So that he can play below standard most of the time! I would love to see the back of him when we have talented players like Miyachi and Ox on the sidelines! If we want a runner as a winger, we always have Mo Farah who would love to join us!

Cazorla: 7.5

He was creative and for once I saw an Arsenal player shooting from outside the box frequently! Previously we always had to find that perfect pass to score, but with this new addition, I am sure we will be more lethal from outside the box as well with the presence of Cazorla and Arteta who loves to shoot from outside. This would also give us an added advantage over oppositions, as they have to be prepared for multi dimensional play from us! He will settle very soon by the looks of it, only thing is he needs to improve is in understanding of the movements of the players.

Podolski: 6

He did OK, but the expectations from him were too high after “You Know Who’s” exit. Looked like he lacked match fitness and he needs to improve on the finishing front i.e. if he continues to play as the lone striker.

Giroud: 5

That was a sitter he missed an was not involved much in the small amount of time he got on the field.

Arshavin: 4

Same old story, no defensive play and no offensive play either. With a heavy heart I have to say that “The Russian’” would be better off playing with championship teams in league cup than in PL.

Ramsey: 1

He should learn how to shoot, when to shoot and where to shoot! He has frustrated me so much over past one year that it becomes impossible to sympathize with him. And after making a mistake his grin is what irritates me even more! Last year on 3rd week of August his statement was “I am ready to fill in the void left by Cesc”! Really? Looks like he needs to work like a dog to reach half of the standard that Cesc was mate!

Do comment below if you are not confirming to my ratings or drop me a tweet at @OnTheGunPoint.Would love to hear from you lot :)

On transfer front, I definitely know for sure that Nuri Sahin and M’vila might or might not come to Arseanl. I am the new ITK in football world, what say aye? Moving ahead Song had some nice words to say on twitter about Le Boss and Arsenal, but in press he seems to have blasted a senior official. Don’t tell anybody, but I know he is Ivan!!! Let’s see what how this window ends.

At the end of it, we are ahead of ManUre, Spuds and Liverfool by 1 point (And RVP didn’t score, yeaaaah), behind 2 points of Chelshit and ManShitty. So not a very bad start if you come to think of it. We’ll definitely bounce back and win our next match against Stoke Ruby FC!

Until next time, Up The Arse!

Time to show Joey Bartender what we are made of….. QPR vs Arsenal…

Weekend is back, and so is football. On the back of such stupendous form, we expect nothing else from Gunners than a win. Players seem to be upbeat and full of confidence. There is a buzz around the stadium to compliment that.

I was the first one to comment upon our miserable form in January. (Read here). I had strong words to say about nearly all the players who were under performing, including Walcott, Rosicky, and Ramsey etc. Out of the list only Rosicky and to a certain extent Walcott has up their game. And that has led to our resurgence in the league. Walcott, because of the competition he is facing from Ox for his position in Arsenal and possibly in English team too. Lil Mozart needed a good run in the team and wanted a new deal too and hence came his resurgence. Ramsey has still to show that why he is so highly regarded by one and all, and why he thinks he is an ideal replacement for Cesc. Hopefully that day will be tomorrow against QPR. Be more clinical in finishing Rambo is my advice.

Now we all remember Joey Barton, don’t we? The guy who in very first game of this season won the best actor award for falling on ground dramatically. The same guy who made sure Gervinho gets a suspension. Still it doesn’t ring a bell? Well the same guy who said Newcastle has no ambition and wants to move where he can challenge for Europe place and currently his ambitious team is been fighting to stay in top flight. Yeah I know it’s easy to forget him as he has been nothing but into oblivion on pitch. His team is nearly in dumps and it would give me immense pleasure to see QPR relegated. Not only because I don’t like Barton and his stupid tweets, but also because the attitude of mostly all the players and coach is the same.

Traore is there too, the same guy who left our club as he was not getting enough chances. He is the same guy who was seen laughing and making merry with ManU boys in his last game for us where we lost so badly and no player had the audacity to laugh or even pose a smile. And to tell you all, it was a game where he showed no zeal to actually play well. He was pathetic as his transfer was already done before the ManU game. That was his level of unprofessionalism. I would love to see him compete with Walcott and Sagna and make mistakes which will cost QPR dearly. 

Then there are other thick heads too like the Mark Hughes, Zamora etc who would try their best to disrupt the rhythm and be more physical against us. But after another two footed lunge from Cisse, it’s clear they have no fire power in final third. They need to dig deep to stay up, but it would be difficult to nearly impossible to stop this Arsenal team in their tracks. The best they can hope for is to grind out a draw. Joey Barton would be a key here and I hope that all of his antics won’t have any effect on our players.

I don’t think boss would like to tamper the winning team combo, as if it aint broke then don’t fix it!!! So the team is going to be the same with Ramsey warming the bench and Kos coming back after his dubiously wrong sleeping position kept him out of Villa game. Wonder what was that all about... :D

My scoreline prediction is very simple QPR 0 - 3 Arsenal. RVP with a brace (we have not seen him score for past two games, can you believe that?) and another goal coming from Gervinho after he beats Barton with his dribbling skills and Barton falls flat on his face aka TERRYfic fall (Revenge indeed!) 

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Till next time. Lets Up The Arse!!!!

Weekly Roundup: This is what champions are made of and Chamakh’s truth finally revealed!!!

First things first, a video for all of you who missed watching our 125th Year celebrations!!! Enjoy and Happy 125th B'day!!!

Now what happened after that was for all of us too see. Agreed we were not very clinical in front of goal, agreed we were letting too much of space to Everton and agreed that we could have won the game during first half itself. But if everything is going well you can judge the character of a team! This is the same team which was ridiculed at the start of the season. We have now shown to the world that we can win big, we can win easy and also win ugly!!!

Everybody is saying the occasion took over us and overawed our play (for those morons who don’t know what occasion I am talking about should not be reading this blog at all!!!)!!! I don’t agree to it, we had lost 2 drawn 1 and won 1 of our last 4 matches, hence there was pressure on us. We were ugly no doubt about it, but haven’t we seen ”Man’s breast are united” winning the same way throughout last season and clinching the trophy as well!!! Their fans were chanting ”FUMU” throughout those matches!!! Well we can do that and too in a better way which only Gunners can… Anyways our club is not in financial debt and is far better than theirs!!!

This week the most improved player was Theo Walcott. Yes I have been very critical of him and yes I ridiculed everybody who said he is a great player, blah, blah!!! But he showed that he can defend too!!! Providing good cover to Djourou on couple of occasions and was applauded by our fans too. Now we know the value of competition. Rising star Ox had made him improve upon his game. He knew his place is under threat and that made him work extra hard. Point to be noted here is Boss’ comment on Ox from December 2nd press conference:

“Defending is not his preferred side but unfortunately at the top level today you have Messi doing it, Rooney, Ronaldo, Van Persie - so why should he not do it?”

This means that if Walcott improves his defending then Ox won’t be able to replace him easily!!! Hence we saw Walcott running from one end of the pitch to another. Not that I am complaining, I liked the way he defended, as it showed his zeal to stay in the team.

Song oh Song, oh my unsung hero! He was trending on twitter after a long long time I guess!!! I have always said that he is one player who has grabbed his opportunities with both hands and Abu Diaby’s injuries have helped him too. But any day he can walk into my world 11 (Only players who are still playing in Europe). I know I am biased and my team would atleast have 5-6 current and ex arsenal players!!! Vermaelen, Sagna, Song, Cesc, Wilshere and RVP are definitely in it. These are the players who can walk into any team and make them proud!!! 

Good News!!! We won our match and Spuds lost their match!!! Hurray!!! Now I am eagerly awaiting ManC and Chelsea’s match. I want either ManC to win or atleast get a draw out of this match. Why you ask? It’s because Chelsea’s loss is our gain. We can maintain our 4th Position if Chelsea has to lose or if they get a draw out of it, then we would be 5th but equal on points!!! Only thing which i am afraid is that ManC will go 12 points clear of us if Chelsea loses and 10 points if match is a Draw. Remember I still have hopes of Title!!!

Anyways that’s something we can look in future. Currently we have other pressing issues in hand. After Frimpong, Coquelin and Fabianski making statements about leaving in January either on loan or permanently, we have another addition in that group; Chamakh. Now he is not getting playing time because of RVP is playing like a God. Also he is not very quick like Walcott and Gervinho, and can’t play on flanks too. Hence he won’t be playing lot of games in PL. I do pity him, because when he came to Arsenal, he was like a storm. In his first match against Liverpool last year, he made that important challenge on Reina and made him concede a own goal. That helped us in getting a Draw out of that match. Notable was how Koscielny was also Red Carded in that match and we were down to 10 men in dying stages of that match. After that when RVP was out nursing his seasonal quota of injuries (Fingers crossed and it never ever happens again), he handled the responsibilities of leading the attack very well and scored 11 goals in that period. After that he was injured and RVP returned. End of story!!!

Well he has said that he won’t be looking out in January but will discuss his options in June. A possible move to Bordeaux is a high possibility. And I feel for that guy. I really do!! He is a great talent, only thing lacking in his game is his confidence.

Anyways what has to happen would happen. I don’t want any player from this current crop to leave except Arshavin and Fabianski (because of their form), Diaby and Gibbs (Because they have spend more on medical bills then they have actually played for us). This is only from first team and I am in no mood right now to get into Steve Bould’s business.

Hope you liked what I have to say, if yes then share it on your Facebook and Twitter!!! You can also follow me on Twitter for regular updates on my blogs and Arsenal.

Until next time. Hail Gunners!!!

Pre Match Review - Arsenal Vs Everton - Manchester Sloppy, London Happy!!!

So after a wonderful Champions League Week, we are gunning for a win against Everton. CL week was wonderful because of many reasons:

Firstly, Arsenal lost and our second fringe players now know why they are not getting first team starts regularly. Likes of Frimpong, Coquelin, Manone, and Fabianski were crying foul on less number of chances given to them this season. Amongst the group, Frimpong was the only one who was positive in his statements where as Fabianski and Coquelin have already shared that they want to leave in January if they don’t get enough starts. I guess with a dismal performance like that of Wednesday would make them realize that they will never play in a big club if they don’t improve. And if they only want to play football, then they can be sold off to lower league clubs, where they might turn out to be very very talented!!! I still have a soft corner for Manone, and I feel that if given opportunities, then he will show that he is better than Szczesny. I feel he is better and his howler can be excused for the fact that this was the first time since 2009 he was playing in first team and that too in Champions League, which can make anyone nervous!!! I would also like to add here that the way Fabianski faked his injury to get out of onslaught was quite dramatic!!! He just needed an excuse and he got it!!! He now should definitely keep mum and try to work on his goalkeeping skills, if he wants to play regularly for either Arsenal or Poland!!! On the senior player front Arshavin was awful again, so were Squillaci and Djourou and to an extent Benayoun and Vermaelen were found at fault too. Only saving grace was the performance of Oxlade-Chamberlain. He is a live wire and because of him we can now see that Walcott has also started working harder on the pitch to make sure his by default starting position doesn’t come under threat!!!

The only worrying thing which came out of that insignificant game was that my favorite player Santos was injured. I still feel that Santos and Vermaelen should have been given a rest too.

Secondly I loved to see Manchester United out of Champions league. Men Vs Boys, Grand daddies Vs Baby sitters or whatever shit they say, I just loved the way how they crumbled!!! Oppositions to ManU now have to learn how to cross ball in ManU box and make sure the cross falls behind David de Gea. This will give opposition an easy opportunity for a tap in, because their goalkeeper is shit!!! He is good as a shot stopper, but not in other aspect of goal keeping and crosses are his weaknesses.

Thirdly and most importantly, Manchester City is out!!! I didn’t know that Nasri joined ManC to get laurels in Europa League. And I would like to add that “Nasri!!! You are a Cunt!!!” Enough said I guess!!!

Now coming on to the game against Everton. It’s going to be an emotional ride for Arteta, as this would be the first time he would be playing his old club which he love. Also this would be a good test of our bench!!! Now we’ll show the world that we can play and win without a full back (Tongue in cheek remark, ofcourse!!!).

The biggest news is this that Alumina is back in reckoning and would be on bench against Everton!!! This will definitely instill confidence in the team!!! :D… Now coming to some serious stuff; Team from my side would be somewhat like this Szczesny, Vermaelen, Squillaci, Koscielny, Djourou, Song, Ramsey, Arteta, Walcott, Gervinho and RVP. Subs would be Almunia, Miquel, Frimpong, Coquelin, Benayoun, Diaby and Chamakh.

As far as score line goes, seeing Squillaci in our back four, I would go with 3-1 wherein RVP and Arteta will score the goals for arsenal and Cahill will be on score sheet for Everton. I think his goal drought will come to  end against Arsenal and anyways we always are very generous to out of form teams and out of form players!!!

Boss' pre match conference is here for all to see!!!

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Till next time. Hail Gunners. #COYG.

Pre Match Review: Wigan Vs Arsenal – Lets go and get a win!!!

So after the midweek carling cup, proper cup and proper football is back with Arsenal travelling to ‘DW Stadium’. Wigan is the same team who put a nail in the coffin as far as Steve Bruce is concerned. Going to ‘Stadium of Light’ and winning when they were down and out is not a mean feat (8 games without a win, out of which 7 were defeats)!!!

Boss as always was very respectful towards opposition and I think we should not be complacent and get the job done. They don’t posses huge names of highly gifted players, but they do have some good performers. Al Habsi is hell of a keeper. He has pretty good reflexes and has good decision making skills in the box too. If he brings his A game on, we might be seeing another Fulham kind of match, where we were shooting and shooting on the goal, but there was someone to block our chances. Ben Watson, Di Santo, Diame etc are good players, and on their day can trouble us. Indecently we have never beaten WIgan under Roberto Martinez at DW!!! Hence this game becomes that much more important, as currently we need a win, and win big!!!  We do have tendency to make these smaller teams feel good by letting them come from behind more often than not. We make a meal of the game and try to have it too!!! No hiccups are welcomes this time around though.

On the team news, we have Mr. Diaby aka boon to medical science, back to where he belongs, medical centre!!! Which I think was made to order by him. Anyways, good news is there is no other casualty. Playing a completely changed team against Manchester City most certainly did help our cause. So we have RVP who has scored one more goal than whole of Wigan Team. We have Verminator, who wants to give an empathetic performance after Fulham game. We have Djourou and Koscielny, who wants to stake a claim on first team spot (and their recent performances are saying nothing less). We also have the giant, Per, who wants to prove he is not as bad at forwards are making him look!!! We have Theo, who would like to prove that comparisons with Ox are meaningless and he is still the man. We have Gervinho, who would definitely like to add goals and finishing touches to his play, and make sure he doesn’t become next Chamakh!!! We also have ever so reliable Song and Arteta pairing in middle of the park (Not the player :D). What we don’t have is Jack in place of Ramsey!!!

I have stopped writing anything about RVP, as whatever I write would diminish in comparison to his enormous form and talent.

So as far as team for the match goes: Szcz, Santos, Mert, Verm, Kos, Song, Ramsey, Arteta, Gervinho, Theo and RVP. Bench: Fabianski, DJourou, Frimpong, Arshavin, Rosicky, Benayoun and Chamakh. Prediction from my side is Wigan 0 and Arsenal 4 with RVP and Gervinho with a brace, as I want Gerv to score and get a confidence boost!!! This would definitely help us in long term!!!

Nothing has worked to get you guys on twitter as yet; hence I have devised a new strategy….. PLEASE JOIN ME, CLICK HERE!!! :D:D:D…. Hope this helps.

Till next time. COYG!!!!

Post Match Review: Arsenal Vs Manchester City – Gutted, but no complaints!!!

I was not expecting a win from this game. But the way team played was terrific. They showed real character and zeal. Everyone was working their hearts out. Nobody had a real bad day except Fabianski! Now he would know why he cant be Arsenal’s number 1 or Poland’s!!! His decision making is real bad, and he is not very good at one on one either!!! Anyways, we now have one competition less to worry about and energy can be spend into PL 4^th position finish!!!

We played with a second fringe team, and nobody in that team showed any intimidation towards the occasion or the team we were playing against. Kos, Miquel were the starts of back four with exceptional piece of tackling and wining aerial duels. Squilaci had an okay game and so did Djourou. They stuck to their task and didn’t make any mistake which would stand out. Frimpong was like glue to Nasri in first half and to Aguero in second (A dench performance indeed). Coq tried his level best and his performance was okay. Park was not very influential, but came very close to scoring. His first touch has to improve and he might become a player we expect him to be. Benayoun with Captain’s armband was running the midfield like a maniac. He was showing his creativity and authority and I think getting a start and Captain’s armband really made him work. Chamakh still has to instill confidence in his game. He sometimes tend to lose his concentration and doesn’t close in to the defenders. He had a late chance to win the game, but it was not meant to be! Maybe he keeping unwell had to do with his performance too. Anyways I want him to stay and hence would want him to join Yoga classes :D!!!! I have saved the best for the last and he is Alex Ox, he was everything we want Theo to be!!! He was not intimidated by Zabaletta and kept coming onto City’s defence, which comprised of Toure, Savic, Zabaletta and Onhua. And troubling that defence is not a mean feat by any chance!!! Icing on the cake would have been, if he could have scored! Gervinho came and did the same things he has been doing, running into defence and lacking the final pass. Verminator and Arshavin didn’t get any chance to showcase their performance, but Verm did win some good headers and tackles.

The best part was booing of Nasri from our Fans!!! It didn’t let him settle in and he was pathetic in his play. And the way Frimpong tweeted about him when he left Arsenal with “Pffffff” the same way he didn't let him breathe on the field!!!

Only one mistake was made by us in the game, when we lost the ball from set piece and some wonderful work done by the trio of Dzeko, Aguero and Johnson to score the only goal of the match!!!

Well next up is Wigan, and I am hoping that this wonderful performance from reserve first team will make our first team players work more hard and keep positive results coming in!!!

So till next time. Keep the heads high and remember that future is in good hands!!! Hail Gunners!!!

P.S.- I am half sleepy, hence maybe there might be some spelling errors. So live with them!!! :D

Pre Match Review: Arsenal Vs Manchester City - Rich boys are in town!!!

So today we have Carling cup match with the world's richest club. There is lot of speculation about the teams for both the clubs, and it would be interesting to see who plays. I think Man City can play 4 different teams for all four competitions they are in!!! Still Mancini (aka Richie Rich) is cribbing for 2 games in 3 days!!! He still has player like Kolo Toure, Dzeko, Johnson, Zabaleta, Savic, and Hargreaves etc who didn’t start in their draw against Liverpool!!! Hence I don’t think he has any reason to crib. One player I would definitely miss is Balotelli. I would have liked him to play and pull some of his world famous antics and get booed by our fans!!!

Boss has said that he too would be giving rest to some key players. And we all know who he meant!!! So RVP would be missing the match for sure. Players who will get a chance either in starting lineup or on bench are Chamakh, Park, Benayoun, Rosicky, Yennaris, Arshavin, Miquel, Squillaci, Frimpong, Coquelin, Diaby, Alex, Fabianski. I would say that this is not a bad playing lineup by any means!!! It has experience and youth and desperate players to prove their point and mettle to Boss and club and fans. 

Boss was vocal about how a class player like Benayoun has not got enough opportunities to play, so he would definitely be playing and adding experience and creativity to our midfield. And vocal was 'The Russian' about how not playing for so long affected his game against Fulham!!! Now I understand there is match practice which is required, but didn’t he play against Greece for Russia two weeks back? Wasn’t he coming on as sub for quite some time? So I would ask him to stop making excuses and give his all in today's game!!! I think Park would start from the bench and we would be playing 4-5-1, as Boss usually doesn’t change his system of play to accommodate a player!!! Park has to get accustomed to English style of play, but having not played a single minute in EPL till now is a bit disappointing. Same is the case with Chamakh, who has to prove that he still got it!!! Coquelin will get a chance to prove that he is better than Frimpong and Frimpong will get a chance to be #Dench!!!

Now coming to controversies, we all know Nasri might get a chance to play in today's match and Boss has requested the fans to control their emotions. Boss has always been respectful towards former players and has asked fans to do the same. But as we know Clichy, Toure left without much ado, we saw the antics of Adebayor and we read the comments from Nasri about the fans and club!!! I can understand him leaving for double the money (As I would also leave my job if somebody is ready to double my pay!!! :D), but what I don’t understand is that why you have to bad mouth the club and its fans!!! You were an unknown quantity, this club and fans made you what you are today, some respect is always warranted. If you don’t have respect for the people who made you what you are today, then you are not a man in my eyes!!! And hence I despise him!!! So I would request everyone to boo him as loud as possible!!!

Hopefully we will come out on tops. Players have to show that they should get more chances in first team with a good performance. And if they do that against City, then nothing like it!!! Amen to that.

Follow me on twitter (click here) for updates on out club and what other fans and bloggers are saying.

Till next time. COYG!!!

Post Match Blog: Arsenal Vs Fulham – A tale of two goals!!!

Well I am disappointed. No doubt about it! Still many things to take away from this game, but on that later. First I would like to dissect the game! Fulham came with a game plan and succeeded in that. They tried to slow the tempo of the game from start, so that Arsenal doesn’t set into a rhythm of passing the ball. Most of the teams come to Emirates with a mind set of catching us on break and playing long balls, but Fulham did just opposite, they tried to beat us at our game. They packed the midfield and closed down the ball very efficiently.

Arteta gave his all and I have no complaints from him. Ramsey has to improve his game! I know that English commentators praise him a lot (Actually they do it for every player from UK!!!), but if you keep on skying the ball, make awful runs then however good others say you are, you won’t impress me! Why Arshavin was not taken off at half time or at 60 minute mark is a question mark! He is not the player we can now afford to play in first team! He is low on confidence and doesn’t make any damn effort to improve his game! Robin tried his best, but it was just not his day! Theo (aka Usain Bolt junior) had a good game, still I expect better out of him! Song was ok in his duties. Verminotor was at fault when he tried to clear the ball with his left foot, because from the angle he was trying, it would always take the ball towards the goal and any miscue would get in! And voila, it happened. I didn’t expect him to make such a trivial error! He redeemed himself though with the goal, but still after the match there was clear disappointment written on his face. And I am sure, he would rectify his mistake and come out on tops in our next games!(I thought of uploading the goals video, but I love Verm too much and can’t see him scoring an own goal again and again!!!) Santos played well for his style, and you already know I like him lot. Had couple of good shorts on the goal, which were blocked and his positioning was good. Gervinho still looks unfinished product, because his finishing needs a lot of work. He comes into such fantastic positions, he dribbles past players like anything, but finishing is not there. Chamakh came in late and didn't have much time to have a telling impact on the game. I think he should get more games!

Coming to positives from the game, best was to see Djourou play out of his skin at RB and he did it with ease! If he continues to show such display, then we won’t be missing Sagna till he returns. He was one player who did his duties to the fullest be it defending or attacking, he was there! Another positive was to see Diaby back and adding a new dimension to our game. But the best part was the character shown by the team as a whole. We tried, tried and tried and in the end got one point out of the game. Previous years Arsenal didn’t show that kind of attitude and I am happy to see that!!! I think playing three matches in 8 days took toll on our players as they looked a little off beat from start. People might say that RVP didn’t score and hence Arsenal didn’t win, but in my next Blog you would read why Arsenal is not a one man team!!! Follow me on twitter to be updated on that!!!

Now the first team players will get a rest against Manchester City in Carling Cup quarterfinal. As we don’t want to burden them with too many matches in short span of time!!! Hopefully our second fringe team will win against Manchester City. Amen to that! I’ll close on that lovely thought!!!

Till next time. Hail gunners.

Pre Match Blog: Arsenal Vs Fulham

After a satisfying win in CL, where we qualified for knockout stages 12^th Successive time, we are back to EPL. Now lets get back to business!!!

In his press conference boss said:

“Having secured qualification in the Champions League we can focus more. That's what we want to demonstrate now. We need to show that we can go from one competition to the other and keep the same focus.”

This indeed would be the focused game, as top four finish is a priority. We can’t afford to lose our concentration or momentum. Our home form has been good this season and we have to build upon that and icing on the cake is that Fulham has never won at Arsenal!!! But on the hind side, they are the only side to take points away from ManC this season. They have players like Zamora, Dempsey, Johnson who can cause problems to our back four. Fulham didn’t have a mid week Europa clash, hence would be a fresher unit! We on the other hand can’t look tired and take things easily.

Now we all know that RVP is an important part of this campaign and has scored 38 of Arsenal’s goals in all competitions. So he would be playing. Song has been impeccable for some time now, hence he is important and should play. On rest of the teams, I think we would be going with the same team that played Norwich over weekend and Dortmund in mid week. One or two changes might be in wings and central defense.

From my point of view team would be Szcz, SANTOS, Verm, Mert, Djourou, Ramsey, Arteta, Arshavin, Gervinho and RVP with substitutes as Fabianski, Kos, Frimpong, Diaby, Theo, Chamakh and Benayoun.

Score line? I would take anything except 2-1, which has been our favorite for some time now!!! I think score would be 3-1, with two goals from RVP and one from Gerv, for Fulham I think Zamora will be the man!

Todays game with Fulham is dedicated to ‘Save the Children’ organization, our global charity partner. A noble step to help the future of the world, Children!

On this wonderful thought I would sign off, do follow me on twitter for regular updates on my blogs and Arsenal.

Till next time. COYG!!!

Post Match Blog – Arsenal Vs Dortmund

And so we won. The team was not what I had predicted, nor was the score line and scorers. But who cares, we won!!!

On the onset it was clear that Jurgen Klopp had a plan for stopping RVP. As he had told in his press conference, he really stopped any delivery to RVP. Dortmund was pressing hard and not allowing our midfield to pass the ball fluently. For first 30 minutes or so, Dortmund was on top and looked like threatening our Goal more than once. Somehow we managed to keep them on bay. And then came song's challenge on Gotze to our relief! If that was not enough then Vermaelen's trailing leg did damage to Bender and he was stretchered off! This was i think beginning of the end for Dortmund, as their two most influential players were off the field.

Don't know what boss said to the players during break, but it did the trick! RVP scored from Walcott's cross! Looked like Arteta rubbed off on Song, as he started playing really well. He was a bit sloppy in first half, but redeemed himself superbly in second half! The dribble past three players was stupendous and RVP scored again!!! Players knew that RVP would be covered and service would be denied to him by Dortmund defense, hence he started interchanging positions with Walcott, Gervinho and even Ramsey. This strategy worked well, as RVP was left nearly unmarked for both the goals!!!

As far as player performance goes, I think Gervinho still needs to improve upon his first touch and finishing! Santos was exciting as ever, Kos did the job well, Mert was okay, and Verm was outstanding in mitigating few errors from Santos (but he was exciting anyhow!). Arteta played really well. I think playing in Champions League brings out the best in him!! We would have kept a clean sheet, but for Djourou, who was trying to be too clever near the final third in dying stages!!!

All in all, a satisfying victory. A victory which will instill even more belief in our squad. A victory which has taken us to qualification. A victory which will give RVP a much needed rest in next round. A victory which made haters cry out loud that Arsenal is one man army (Seriously, I don't give a damn!!!) A victory where three players involved in scoring have few months left on their contract (To this I do give a Damn!!!)!!!

Victory was even sweeter because Chelsea lost to Leverkusen. It made Mata think 'Did I join the right club?'. And because after Tuesday there is a ripe possibility that we'll see a Manchester Derby in Europa League Final!!! Amen to that!!!

Till next time. Hail Gunners!!!