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!

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.