Until Chelsea scored their first goal against Arsenal yesterday, the match was even. 0-0 looked to be the half-time scoreline. Neither team had really threatened. Chelsea had a move that saw Sagna successfully launch a last ditch tackle on Anelka who was bearing down on goal. Meanwhile, Arsenal had a Nasri shot well saved by Cech.

Arsenal were more pressing (as home teams should be) and had the majority of the ball. Chelsea looked solid and organized in defense with midfield players coming back to defend at all times.

The match looked like a stalemate until the 41st minute when John Terry received the ball in the Arsenal half. Denilson tracked him, stood off and allowed Terry to make defense splitting pass to Ashley Cole who was unmarked. Terry’s pass went between Arshavin and Sagna. Both players were marking thin air. Perhaps Sagna was trying to play offside. But he never raised his arm to indicate that he was.

Cole played a low ball in between Gallas and Vermaelen, for Drogba to side volley home. It was a great finish and a very well worked goal by Chelsea. However, Drogba was free. No-one was tight on him. Gallas and Vermaelen were marking thin air. From a defensive point of view, the goal was embarrassing.

Denilson is the first defender. His job is to pressure. He stood off John Terry. Arshavin was in no man’s land. He’s not covering Denilson or marking Cole. Sagna is marking nothing. If Denilson tackles Terry, Chelsea are fucked. Instead, Arsenal get fucked.

1-0 to Chelsea – the team with best defensive record in the Premiership. Straight away this fact enters my mind and with it a realization that Arsenal have an uphill task ahead. No way back. Not against the defense Chelsea has. Then two minutes later Chelsea get their second goal.

Vermaelen own goal.

What a joke this goal was. Ashley Cole swings in another low cross. Gallas misses it. The ball then hits the knee of an unsighted Vermaelen and spins into the top right hand corner. Almunia is nowhere. This time Nasri allows Cole to cross after being caught ball watching when Anelka was being harassed by Song.

Game over.

The difference between Arsenal and Chelsea is:

Anelka/Drogba verses Eduardo or Vela.

To compete against defenders like John Terry you need strength, muscle and height. Carlton Cole or Bendtner are the types of players you need, not an off form Eduardo. Instead, Arsenal’s attack looked small, young and fragile.

Defense.

Every Arsenal cross was easily eaten up by Chelsea. I lost count of the number of hopeless, floated balls into Chelsea’s penalty area for our tiny forwards. Why didn’t we send in some low crosses, just like Ashley Cole did? Arsenal’s defense is obviously using zonal marking but not with great success. Nasri and Arshavin know how to attack but defending is obviously their weak spot.

Question remarks remain over certain Arsenal players.

Almunia is not commanding of his area. The second Chelsea goal showed this. Where was the communication between him and Vermaelen? When he comes to catch a cross he leaves my heart in my mouth. Lehmann didn’t!

Eduardo is off form. Play him against Manchester City on Wednesday night and see if he can change his fortune, because right now he’s below the standards that Arsenal fans are used to from him.

Walcott. You wank over playing for England so much that you fuck your body up in the Euro Under 21 Championships in late June. You then break down in pre-season, come back two months later and then get injured again. What the fuck have you done for Arsenal? I’ll tell you what – two runs against Liverpool at Anfield. The first was two years ago in the Champions League. You ran the whole length of the field and set up that lanky cunt Adebayor. We then lost 4-2. Then last season you did the same thing and set up Arshavin, yet we only drew 4-4. That is piss fucking poor. When Fergie realized that David Belion was all pace and nothing else, he got rid of him. What do you get? A new five year contract. Walcunt needs to step up to the plate.

On a plus note, I thought Traore played well. None of the goals came from his side.

Keep it Arsenal

That just about sums up my Sunday. Thank God my three-year old, Lucien, all decked out in his full home kit to watch Arsenal with his dad, doesn’t yet realize that football is game in which you either win or lose, or he’d have been in tears. Sunday was beyond frustrating. I told myself to wait at least 24 hours before writing on the match, but real-life beckons and so I must do it now.

Arseblog’s assessment this morning is a bit harsh but basically spot-on. However, for personal reasons, when it comes to Arsenal, I always try to remain positive. The disallowed goal was certainly a turning point, as Wenger has said. If that goal is given, we have a completely different match in which Arsenal would have regained the momentum right after the break. The weather, the injuries, Andre Marriner… everything seemed to conspire against us. Our luck with officials’ decisions and injuries in the last couple of years makes me think that we used up all our luck during the Invincible season and the unbeaten run.

The first thirty-five minutes were as satisfying as possible without grabbing the lead. Arsenal controlled the match, continually pushed Chelsea behind the ball to defend, and reduced Chelsea to playing almost entirely on the counterattack. One moment of William Gallas flat-footedness, and Drogba efficiency, deflated the entire atmosphere. The second goal, an unfortunate own goal, just a few minutes later, had an even more devastating effect.

Yet, the side came out of the interval determined to fight back and get something from the match. As the second half began, we once again pushed Chelsea onto their back-foot, doing almost enough to get the goal. When the second goal was disallowed, the weight of the entire day fell on the entire side’s shoulders and getting the possibility of getting something from the match looked more and more remote with each passing second.

I know Arseblogger says about our injuries: “That is irrelevant. We were the ones who had to cope with some of our important players being out and we couldn’t do it.” But I would say that in the entire league, the only striker who has even been close to matching, and arguably has been more valuable than, Drogba is van Persie. Just by the very nature of football, I wonder if it is realistic to lambast a side missing such a key player, and more, losing to the strongest team in the league, possibly the world, at the moment, at full-strength.

We now find ourselves 11 points back, with a game-in-hand. Assuming we win the game-in-hand, which is Bolton at home, we are 8 points back at the beginning of December. I would have thought that it is not an insurmountable lead by any means since we have in the past come back from bigger deficits far further on in the season. However, without van Persie, with Eduardo struggling to look even a shell of his former self, and Carlos Vela needing games to even be in a position to attempt to fill van Persie’s role, it does look highly unlikely.

Had Vela gotten more games last season rather than languishing on the bench besides for some stunning Carling Cup performances and a few late-season league cameos, he would have been in a far better position at the moment. Still, he looks the better option at taking van Persie’s place than Eduardo, who is struggling to regain the form he had upon his initial return from injury 11 months ago. His confidence is obviously low and that is not good for any striker.

All in all, the van Persie injury will either see Vela and/or Eduardo step up their game in the coming months or Wenger may be forced to go back in for Chamakh in January. As for the defense, I don’t see there’s much to do there. Back in September, Arsene spoke about the fact that he was considering giving Gallas a new contract at the end of the season. But I fear it may be time to let the man walk and use the money the club didn’t spend this summer to find a proper CB partner for Vermaelen next summer. Of course, our defensive issues are not wholly down to the centerbacks, but the issue has to be addressed in some way. Arsene might also consider finding a more Song-type player to alongside the Cameroonian in the midfield rather than the likes of Denilson and Diaby to increase the club’s steel.

Arsène might feel that the 3-0 scoreline was an unfair reflection of the game, but I would have to disagree. He has a point, but Chelsea are a better side than us. Any Arsenal fan who tries to argue different is missing the point on how the league is won. Chelsea play efficient football, they do what they have to do to win, we on the other hand play very attractive football but that does not necessarily win a trophy.

The match started brightly for us, we have a few chances in the opening 30 minutes of the game but they were again not converted. We kept Chelsea mostly in their own half and things were looking good. But again domination of a Chelsea team did not reap rewards and we found ourselves 2-0 down at half time.

The second half again showed a bright start by Arsenal, we had a goal ruled out, of which more later, but again the ruthless edge Chelsea had came to the fore and we could not convert any of our chances. A late free kick saw Chelsea run out 3-0 winners. 57000 Arsenal fans left the stadium pretty dejected.

The referee, as was the case with a lot of Premier League games this weekend, had a huge influence on proceedings. Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty in the first half by all accounts due to the Sagna challenge in the box, Mikel was booked on his fifth challenge but Traore on his first – why?, our goal “had nothing wrong with it” according to someone watching at home who isn’t an Arsenal fan, and the challenge on Vela was a foul in our outside of the box I don’t know. Mistakes do get made, to err is human, but at least be consistent with the decisions you do have the opportunity to make. Do not book one player for his first challenge when you have just let a player away with his third foul. Had our goal been allowed the game would have taken a different turn, I am not saying we would have come back for a draw but things would have played out differently for the second half.

Eduardo had a poor game, he didn’t even have an attempt at a few of the chances he was presented with. Nasri was pretty invisible, when his number was held up for the substitution I actually thought to myself “is he still on the park?” given the absence in play. I am not sure why Song came off, we can assume injury, but Walcott was ok in patches but again had no end product (I have a blog about him, which is a positive one, for some point in the next week or so).

My title of this post says this Arsenal side will not win a league title, and I stand by that. We are definitely the second or third best team in the country, there is no question on that. But we are behind Chelsea, no question. We do not have a ruthless streak to kill teams off, we can only play one way and if that stops working the players look lost. There aren’t really any poor players who can be singled out as it being their fault, and nor is it entirely Arsène’s doing, but he has a large part to play, but this team lacks something. There are key elements missing to this side which will prevent us from winning a league title.

I felt we would miss van Persie, but not massively. I think I am now wrong in that, in the two league games he has been absent we have not scored a goal, take into account how free scoring we were when he was fit and that makes stark reading. Yes he was not playing every game, yes he did not score or assist every goal but he gave something massive to the team that we now clearly miss. Bendtner may prove to be a great replacement and he cannot be back soon enough, but if that does not work then we need to buy in January.

I also saw a massive lack of pressing from the midfield yesterday, we just stood off Chelsea. Song is good but still learning, Cesc does not play a pressing role and Denilson is off his form at this time. We need someone with the grit and determination of Vermaelen in midfield. That will help us nullify the threat of teams like Chelsea.

11 points is a big gap, but win our game in hand and it’s 8 which is not uncatchable but it is still a massive task. We are not out of the title race by any means and could still have a massive part to play in it, but our current squad and the current way we play is not entirely suited to the Premier League. Against European opposition is a different story, avoid the English teams and we can go far in the Champions League but meet Chelsea and things will not look so rosy.

All is not lost in the world of Arsenal, but defeat yesterday showed that this team, as good as it is has some short comings that need addressing if we are to go on to greater things.

It seems as though derby season is upon us; there have been quite a few this weekend and next weekend the most anticipated match in Roma’s season (and the greatest derby in Italy) gets underway. But, before we can start our countdown to a good Biancocelesti thrashing, we have to deal with all the derbies (and mundane regular matches) going down this weekend. Shall we?

Football:

Somebody get this guy a Red shirt.

Liverpool 2-0 Everton (The Merseyside Derby) – Well, the Scousers went head to head today as strugglers Everton took on strugglers Liverpool. It was a battle of the underachievers, with both Rafa Benitez and David Moyes’ sides badly needing the points and morale boost that come from a derby win. In a season when both sides have fared so poorly both in league and European competitions, it comes as no surprise that today’s match was decided not by a particularly heroic individual effort but by a particularly atrocious performance. A pair of grievous mistakes from Everton defender Joseph Yobo gifted the Reds a 2-0 victory, much to the dismay of the Toffeemakers’ fans at Goodison Park. Yobo put the visitors ahead in the 12th minute, putting his foot out and tipping a long-range effort from Javier Mascherano (which was veering well wide of the net, I might add) past Tim Howard and into the back of his own goal. It was a typically scrappy derby match, and Russian wiz Diniyar Bilyaletdinov nearly leveled the score 6 minutes later in the beginning of what was a very back-and-forth first half. Everton found the back of the net twice and were twice disallowed, but the home support were buoyed by their side’s performance and were left singing at the half despite the score remaining 1-0. However, they wouldn’t be singing at fulltime – their side failed to equalize in the second half with Pepe Reina denying the Blues over and over again, seemingly through sheer determination and a bit of luck. When it finally occurred on 81′, the second error from Joseph Yobo would all but put the game out of Everton’s reach. The Nigerian whiffed on an aerial clearance, leading to a shot from Albert Riera before Dirk Kuyt buried the rebound to make it 2-0. Ten minutes later, it was the away support who were singing as another Merseyside derby came to pass.

Manchester Utd 4-1 Portsmouth – Ah, our first non-derby match of the weekend. Still though, there is a bit of history here – the last time Avram Grant came up against Sir Alex Ferguson on the touchline was in the 2008 Champions League final, with Chelsea just one slip away from being crowned Champions of Europe. Despite being runners up in that competition and in the EPL, Grant was sacked as Chelsea manager, left to ponder what could have been. Yesterday he made his (unofficial) return to coaching, this time as manager of strugglers Portsmouth, who are looking to turn their fortunes around after going through 3 owners and 2 managers already this year. Fergie himself had to watch the match from the stands, as he is currently serving a touchline ban – luckily the match was quite a spectacle, abundant with soft penalties and controversy. On 25′ the visitors were awarded a somewhat questionable penalty which Wayne Rooney buried from the spot. The Fratton Park crowd could not complain too much, though, as 6 minutes later their side was awarded an even more inexplicable penalty which Kevin Prince Boateng was able to convert – apparently awarded for some rather run-of-the-mill shirt tugging by Nemanja Vidic. The teams went into the half level, but it would not take United much longer to find their stride. Within the first 8′ minutes of the second period Wayne Rooney would complete his hattrick with a low shot on 48′ and a second penalty on 53′. Ryan Giggs would top it all off on 87′ with the 100th Premiership goal of his career, making it 4-1 United and ensuring that Avram Grant will have Fergie-related nightmares for a while yet.

Tottenham 1-1 Aston Villa – It’s always difficult to come down after an incredible high. No, I’m not referring to my own struggles with substance abuse (fictional, I assure you), but rather the 9-1 victory which the Spurs were able to achieve over Wigan Athletic last weekend. Instead of repeating that incredible feat, the Lilywhites were held to an unremarkable draw at Villa Park. Gabriel Agbonlahor gave the home side an early lead on 10′, but Michael Dawson was able to level for Tottenham late in the match to earn his side a point and lift them to 3rd place in the English Premier League. Not an overly impressive performance from Harry Redknapp’s side, but they did just enough to keep themselves in the Premiership race.

Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal (The London Derby) – Realistically, there are more intense traditional rivalries in London town; historically Chelsea and Arsenal have been less concerned with each other than their other London neighbours. However, the rise of Chelsea into the big four of Premiership football means that in recent years these two sides have been forced into competition with one another at the top of the table and as a direct result their rivalry has become much more intense. Today’s London derby turned out to be an absolute rout from the Blues, who have been in tip-top form all season under Carlo Ancelotti, decimating Arsene Wenger’s depleted side who have been just shy of top form of late. It was another episode of the Didier Drogba show at the Emirates, with the big Ivorian grabbing the brace to all but destroy the Gunners and keep his fantastic record against Wenger’s side alive – Drogba has found the net in each of the last 9 matches played against Arsenal. Drogba opened the scoring on 41′, firing from close range into the top of Almunia’s net after some impeccable service from Ashley Cole. Just 4 minutes later Cole would again play the role of provider, but this time it was Arsenal man Thomas Vermaelen who turned the ball into his own net – giving the home side plenty to think about as they retired for the halftime interval. Just after the break Arsenal should have made it 2-1 when Andrei Arshavin blasted a rebound past Petr Cech and into the Blues’ net, but the goal was disallowed for an alleged foul on the Czech keeper by Gunners man Eduardo. Despite some dangerous efforts, Chelsea dominated play for much of the second half; their persistence paid off on 86′ when (guess who?) Didier Drogba struck again from a free kick just outside the area, blasting past the wall and away from Manuel Almunia into the back of the net. Ultimately, Ancelotti’s side would cruise to a relatively easy win, taking advantage of a depleted and demoralized Arsenal side to further their dominance atop the Premiership table. Chelsea have now recorded wins this season against all of their fellow big four sides – a positive omen if there ever was one.

Manchester City 1-1 Hull City – Oh, and City drew their 7th straight game after Shaun Wright-Phillips’ opener was cancelled out by a late penalty converted by Jimmy Bullard.

Calcio:

Inter 1-0 Fiorentina – Oh, Inter. I am growing to hate you so. In a game when Jose Mourinho’s side played poorly and were well-met by an organized outing from Cesare Prandelli’s men, it would be a penalty kick which separated the two sides in the end and allowed i Nerazzurri to go 8 points clear atop the Serie A table. It’s so typical of this side to underachieve thoroughly and then get by on the skin of their teeth that I shouldn’t be surprised, but yet I am disappointed each time a more deserving team outplays them and ultimately falls, especially due to this sort of misfortune. I’m not saying that the penalty wasn’t there, but had it not been for Gianluca Comotto’s hotheadedness, or had Alberto Gilardino buried his one-on-one chance against Julio Cesar instead of hitting the post just moments earlier, then Inter surely would have dropped points on the evening. In the end, Diego Milito’s penalty made the difference in a match full of could’ve-beens for La Viola that was perhaps ultimately a shouldn’t-have-been for La Beneamata.

Genoa 3-0 Sampdoria (il Derbi della Lanterna) – The Genovese derby, or il Derbi della Lanterna, as it is known, always produces some fireworks. This year’s was no different, as i Grifoni demolished i Blucerchiati in a game that had as many goals as it did red cards. Omar Milanetto opened the scoring for Genoa on 10′ with a spot kick after Reto Ziegler executed a clumsy tackle in the box. Genoa’s Giuseppe Biava was sent off for handling the ball as he fell to the ground, Sampdoria’s Marco Rossi received two yellows, and his teammate Fabrizio Cacciatore received a straight red late in the match. Meanwhile, Genoa’s Marco Rossi (yes, there are two of them) scored on 53′ and Raffaele Palladino capped off the victory with a spot kick on 75′. An eventful and exciting derby, and also a hard-fought one, which I’m sure an inspection of Antonio Cassano’s shins would tell you. They really don’t like that guy, eh? I bet Lippi calls up the whole team come June.

Cagliari 2-0 Juventus – La Vecchia Signora ha perso contro… gli Isolani? Cagliari managed to pull one (better yet, two) over on their visitors at the Stadio San’Elia today, snatching all three points from a rather toothless Old Lady. I think I’ve waited long enough to say this – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has certainly been a huge flop at AC Milan this season, but realistically, what has Diego done for Juventus’ offense lately? I’ll tell you what he did today: not enough. Their confidence shattered by a midweek loss to Bordeaux, Juventus fell about play clumsily and were victimized by a sharp and determined performance from the Sardinians. The home side opened the scoring on 30′ when Nenê unleashed  35-yard screamer that blasted into Buffon’s top corner. Juventus struggled to respond, and with their own Brazilian Diego firing well-wide before the half, went into the break with a much-deserved 1-0 deficit. After the interval, Amauri thought he had grabbed a quick equalizer for his side, but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside, leaving Cagliari keeper Federico Marchetti more than happy to pick the ball out of the back of the net. Cagliari also had fair claim to a spot kick after Martin Cácares handled the ball in the area, but the referee adjudged it ball-to-hand and play continued. A late goal would come to pass, but it would not be the strike that Juventus needed: substitute Alessandro Matri turned Fabio Cannavaro absolutely inside-out before slotting past Gigi Buffon in the 89th minute. Both Diego and substitute Alessandro Del Piero would miss absolute sitters for the visitors in added time and Juventus were forced to swallow their second humbling defeat in 5 days, dropping to 8 points behind league-leaders Inter.

Vucigol had me praising the heavens with his 44th-minute header.

AS Roma 2-1 Atalanta – An ugly, nervy, but ultimately deserved away win. I couldn’t be happier. Though dominations at the Stadio Olimpico like the one last weekend over Bari are a joy to watch, they are expected – those are the games that we will always win, because the magic of the Olimpico rarely fails us. However, it is matches like today’s at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri D’Italia that are must-wins for i Giallorossi, because they are the ones where we so often lose our nerve and drop points against teams we would easily beat at home. It’s not called an advantage for nothing, you know. Luckily, Roma was able to pull out a comeback win against gli Orobici today after Fabio Ceravolo gave the home side the lead on 13′. Roma looked decidedly lackluster for huge spells during the first half, but were able to grab a set-piece goal just before the half as Mirko Vučinić nodded home a corner from David Pizarro on 44′. Simone Perrotta was able to give his side the lead 20 minutes later, ghosting into the box unnoticed to head home a cross from Vučinić. After gaining the lead, i Lupi simply fought to maintain it. The substitutions of Jérémy Ménez for Rodrigo Taddei and Roberto Acquafresca for Cristiano Doni changed the entire complexion of the game; suddenly Roma were on the backheel and fighting only to maintain their lead while the home side heaped on piles of offensive pressure. For the most part Roma held up nicely under the waves of attack; Riise almost scored an own-goal on 85′ but instead cleared the ball nicely, while Atalanta had a legitimate appeal for a penalty on Juan two minutes later which was happily waved off. Finally the fulltime whistle blew and Roma were able to take a much-needed 3 points home to Trigoria. We’ve finally cracked the top 10! Rejoice ironically – but only for a second. We have il Derbi della Capitale to think about.

Udinese 2-0 Livorno – The other Bianconeri were able to achieve a much better result this weekend than Juventus. A cracker of a free kick from Antonio Di Natale opened the scoring on 29′, bringing his total for the season to a round 10. 7 minutes later, Antonio Floro Flores doubled his side’s money, heading home after a build-up that was again largely the work of Di Natale. The one-two punch was more than enough to subdue the Tuscan visitors at the Stadio Friuli and le Zebrette ran away with the 2-goal win. I almost feel bad for Sersi Cosmi, fervent Romanista that he is, until I remember that it was his cursed side which sent us on the downward spiral earlier this season from which we are just now recovering (ie, getting Totti back). But then again, Udinese was a part of that spiral too… Aw, to hell with the both of them.

The Hunter finally found his gun!

AC Milan 2-0 Catania - AC Milan were given a golden opportunity to leapfrog Juventus in the standings this weekend, with i Bianconeri dropping points at Cagliari and i Rossoneri overcame Catania in Sicily to make the most of that chance. Leonardo’s side were held to a goalless draw by the Rossazzurri for 93 minutes, but Milan ‘flop’ Klaas-Jan Huntelaar finally made good on his promise to score an added time brace and catapult his side into second place. First the Dutchman sent a low strike in after some lovely control by Filippo Inzaghi, and then only seconds later after the restart he struck again, chipping Andújar beautifully to make it 2-0 for Milan. Well, the Hunter certainly took his time, but it seems that he has finally found his form for his new side – and his timing couldn’t have been better.

Futbol:

Ibra done good.

Barcelona 1-0 Real Madrid (El Clásico)- Well, it might be called El Clásico, but there was nothing ‘classic’ about Spain’s biggest derby this evening. Barcelona and Real Madrid played out a scrappy game in which neither truly came into their stride or were able to showcase their own particular brand of football. Despite injury concerns, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were all able to feature in the game, but the big Swede would be the only one to make his mark on the match. The Camp Nou was buzzing with energy as 98,000 of los Culés welcomed their most hated rivals to their home ground. Madrid, however, were not daunted, and were the first to impress, with Xabi Alonso and Kaká putting in perhaps their most impressive performances in the shirt of Los Blancos to date. Cristiano Ronaldo played for a solid hour, but was clearly not at full fitness and unable to terrorize the Barcelona backline as he might have wished. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi caused all sorts of trouble but was ultimately kept fairly quiet by Real Madrid’s defense, who put in a surprisingly solid performance. It was the combination of the substitute Ibrahimovic and Dani Alves which would prove deadly, as the diminutive right-back put in an inch-perfect cross which Ibracadabra struck home with authority to put the home side ahead on 55′. However, that would be the only goal of the match, and besides red cards for both Sergi Busquets (63′) and Lassana Diarra (90′), there was not much other action to speak of. In fact, in light of the last Clásico, in which Barca drubbed Madrid 6-2, tonight’s match was a bit of a dud.

Sevilla 2-2 Málaga (Andalusian Derby) – Sevilla’s closest (and fiercest) rivals are Real Betis, against whom they contest the Derby of Seville. However, with Real Betis currently languishing in Segunda División, Sevilla’s closest rivals in the interestingly-named Autonomous Community of Andalucía are perhaps their neighbours in Málaga, who are currently languishing at the bottom of the Primera División. So, we have the Andalusian Derby; and while the rivalry might not be as intense as El Clásico, I personally found the game itself to be much more entertaining. At the Estadio Sánchez Pizjuán Sevilla were looking to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat in midweek to Romanian side Unirea Urziceni, but they certainly did not get off to a good start. Although in a bizarre incident Málaga substitute Albert Luque was shown the red card from the bench, it was still the visitors who took the early lead. Fernando opened up the scoring for the visitors on 22′, and Duda made it 2-0 just before the half after being set up by Fernando. It seemed as though Málaga were headed towards all three points, but a spectacular second-half performance from Luis Fabiano ensured that the spoils were shared in Seville this weekend. The Brazilian struck first on 58′, heading home past Gustavo Munúa, and then on 72′ struck again, smashing the ball into the lower corner of the net to bring his side level. Both sides fought hard for an equalizer, and Sevilla came closest right at the death with a point-blank header from Fernando Navarro that Munúa probably saved by accident. In the end, each team would come away with a single point in a 2-2 draw that was anything but uneventful.

Fußball:

Bayern München 3-0 Hannover 96 – Well, it seems that die Roten have finally regained their lost form, overcoming midtable side Hannover 96 with ease in a match that featured goals from two of their most talented young stars. Thomas Müller tapped in from close range on 19′ to open the scoring, but Bayern looked shaky at times and were not convincing in their possession of the ball. Constant Djakpa caused all sorts of trouble for Phillip Lahm up the flank, and drew a good save from Hans-Jörg Butt, but was unable to affect the scoreline before the stroke of halftime. Ivica Olic made sure that the visitors got off to a good start in the second half, rising at the far post to meet a Danijel Pranjic cross with his head and double Bayern’s lead. For the rest of the half the home side did everything they could do to reduce Bayern’s lead, but to no avail – it would ultimately be Mario Gomez who would get the last laugh, beating the offside trap on 90′ and slotting home to make it 3-0 for his side. This victory sees Bayern rise to 4th in the Bundesliga standings, while Hannover 96 sit at 12th.

Someone control this guy!

Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 VfB Stuttgart – Leverkusen exit this weekend sitting three point clear atop the Bundesliga table, and it can largely be contributed to one man: Stefan Kießling. The 25-year old striker has been absolutely on fire for his club of late and bagged a hattrick this weekend at the Bayarena to cement his place atop the German scoring charts as well. Kießling struck on 22′, 59′ and 87′, while Eren Derdiyok added a goal of his own on 38′ to complete a 4-0 drubbing of a lacklustre Stuttgart side.

Werder Bremen 2-2 VfL Wolfsburg – Edin Dzeko’s double was not enough for the reigning Bundesliga champions to grab all three points away at the Weserstadion. Each time the young Bosnian scored to give his side the lead, the home side were quick to equalize, and ultimately the two squads cancelled one another out and had to settle for a point apiece. Hugo Almeida and Per Mertesacker were on hand to restore parity for their side, with the latter scoring at the very death in the 91st minute of stoppage time. The sharing of points means that Werder Bremen now sit at 2nd place in the Bundesliga standings, while Wolfsburg remain 8th.

]]> http://arsenalheart.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/response-time/ Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:19:58 +0000 aeroberg http://arsenalheart.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/response-time/

Hopefully the bump above his eye won't deter him from doing this again

As anaesthetics wear off, I find myself getting more and more pump up for tonight’s big game. Chelsea arrives at Ashburton to seek to extend their lead at the top of the table to 11 points. After last weekend’s disaster against Sunderland, this is really a must win match for us. More than 10 points will be a gap to big even at this stage of the league campaign.

There’s a whole host of injury problems besetting Arsenal at the moment. Today it was confirmed that RVP will be out for another 5 months. Further checks upon his return to the club showed that there is a need for surgery to be done and that leaves him back in training starting only in April which effectively ends the season for him. Kieran Gibbs finally gets his metatarsal done and will be out for 3 months. William Gallas has a big bump on his eye but should otherwise be alright for this game, an after-effect of his accidental clash with Andrey Arshavin’s very very hard head. Of the others, only Denilson has returned since the last Premier League match. With that I think the lineup will resemble something like this;

Almunia

Sagna—Gallas—Vermaelen—Eboue

Denilson—Song—Fabregas

Nasri—Eduardo—Rosicky

The return of Denilson now offers us the solidarity in midfield, something we pretty much missed at Sunderland last weekend and also since the injury to Abou Diaby. Him and Song will be absolutely vital today to contain the midfield of Chelsea who can now count on a returning Lampard and also Ballack to drive them. These latter 2 will be the ones to watch from the opposite side of the pitch can can do us harm. Set-piece will also be a worry with the kind of height that Chelsea possesses these days, which is also the reason I think why Wenger will plump for Rosicky instead of a much much shorter Arshavin.

The left back position is a worry as I fully expect Ancelotti to put the nippy Joe Cole there. While the Englishmen is not one of the world’s great but he can create a little bit of magic of his own that can really hurt us. With both Clichy and Gibbs now injured and Traore looking out of sorts last weekend, it will be far too dangerous to allow Silvestre to take his place opposite of Cole. Eboue’s pace will be a far better choice as it allows him the chance to recover should Cole gets past him in the first place.

While I’m still not entirely assured with Eduardo playing the RVP role, I think he will still get the call today and another shot at a permanent place. I doubt he will get any change out of Terry or Carvalho today. Vela did well on Tuesday and could be call upon to do the job if required. However, the way that we could get through will not depend on Eduardo or Vela being central, but rather the versatility of the front trio in interchanging positions and supporting one another. Without the physical robustness of a natural center-forward, will need to work in tandem in a much closer proximity than expecting knock-on from headers.

So far, we’ve won everything at home this season. Ashburton Grove is fast becoming a fortress for Arsenal, the way Highbury once was for us. Long may that continue after today.

Come on you Gunners!!!!

Where else do you start?

All we’ve heard this week is about that bloody handball, how hard done by Ireland are and that Henry is the anti-christ. Anyone else bored?

Sure, it was handball and yes it was ridiculous that they got away with it, but demanding a replay? Don’t be absurd. For starters, that’s a dangerous avenue of thinking that could open up so many doors that FIFA and the FA wouldn’t want to deal with. It’s similar to that Eduardo incident against Celtic, are we going to have replays for every game decided by a contentious goal? Forget a 39th game, we’d be playing a 75th before Christmas.

Then you get those saying that Henry should be banned for the entirety of the World Cup. Further hysterical lunacy. For starters, if he’d been caught then it would have been a yellow card at most – probably not even that. It wouldn’t even be worthy of a single game’s ban, let alone an entire tournament.

It has confused me how all the vitriol has been aimed at Henry rather than the incompetent buffoon linesman however. As difficult as it may be for me to defend a Frenchman, Henry made a reflex movement and benefited from it. The linesmen and referees are there to ensure this doesn’t happen and they failed in their duty. I’m aware it’s a hard job, but it was hardly a conspicuous action and the linesman on the far side had a grand view of the whole thing. He’s the scapegoat if you insist in having one.

Not that Henry’s helped the situation at all. He’s acting all high and mighty for having the good grace to admit the handball (about as useful as Drogba admitting he dives) and saying that he’d accept the replay if it was ordered, despite being entirely aware it was never ever going to reach fruition and knowing full well that he’d have no choice but to play if it did.

The bottom line is that this is football and the least deserving usually benefit at the most inopportune time. By all accounts, most of Ireland was decked out in Argentina shirts following the infamous ‘Hand of God’, so sympathy is a little short in my heart bhoys.

And why? Note the question again. It doesn’t ask who you want to start, but who should start. The sentiments of the heart cannot overrule the reasons of the mind.

When one door is closed, another is opened. RVP’s injury gave one of Eduardo, Vela and maybe even Walcott for now to stake a claim. That is now well established. Eduardo and Vela have started one game each so far. We could say neither of them have heard the phrase ‘Carpe Diem’, otherwise I would not feel the need to make this issue of who starts vs Chelsea an issue to debate.

After the Sunderland game, I found myself defending Eduardo wherever I could. People seem to forget that our Croatian has had setback after setback since that fateful afternoon in Birmingham. Did he deserve criticism, as much as that for one off game?

Perhaps retrospectively you might revise that view. He is the most natural instinctive finisher we have. Look through the goals he has scored and you can see the quickness of thought when he is presented with chances.

Look through more Eduardo footage and you will see that the Croatian has been part of the “lucky” Arsenal goals – the goal he scored off his knee vs Liege in Belgium, the Wolves own goal, the tap in vs Everton and the deflected goal vs Wigan. All of those happened so far in this season. Right man, right place, right?

Add to that the dribble attribute which can take out a couple of players in an instant and the intuitive flicks that draw in our other players.

Eduardo will start because he has experience. This is largely true considering the Croatian is the older professional, but how much of that experience gained is recent? I can’t be sure on this but Vela has arguably had more minutes on the pitch if you include the loan spell since 2007.

Vela started on Wednesday against Liege and from what I saw he impressed me. He was skillful, direct and although his finishing left a lot to be desired the positive was that he was in the box.

I was equally if not more impressed when shortly after losing the ball, he chased back and won the ball back. Meek Vela? As if. Did we underestimate his physical attributes? There is always a player like that who surprises you with his unperceived strength. You’ll find them everywhere, maybe even in your local 5-a-side games.

If those moments from the Liege match didn’t convince you, I’m sure there is more Vela footage out there that shows his strength on the ball, ability to hold off defenders and link up play. And you can hardly forget the stunning finishing in those goals against Sheffield United and Wigan. If he can do that at 20, what he could do when he is older and wisder is frightening. Let us focus on the present, however.

Eduardo or Vela?

That is the question.

Both can’t start. That would be a luxury for this game. Neither have had many substitute appearances and neither have sufficiently impressed in those appearances. Of the two, Eduardo would make a better sub.

Would that send the right message to Eduardo, especially after he had no involvement against Liege? Do you drop Vela after his fairly impressive performance vs Liege?

Tough questions. Tough answers. Tough decisions. Lucky we don’t have to make it. But we sure can discuss them.

Que mania essa a nossa de achar sempre que a vida é controlável, planejável, até paupável? Eu, sobretudo, que organizo a minha mesa, que no início do mês vejo as contas a pagar e quanto vai sobrar, que planejo o que meu filho fará no fim de semana e quantas horas devo dormir por noite, percebi essa semana, como um tapa forte na cara, que a vida não é tão planejável e controlável como eu insisto em fazer que ela seja.

Consegui enxergar, assustada confesso, que ela tem seus rumos próprios, seus ciclos e acontecimentos naturais. E que eles vão ocorrer, independente dos meus planos, desejos ou calculadoras.

Na noite de terça-feira, me alonguei um pouquinho mais na faculdade, apesar do cansaço, e parei no carrinho de hot dog do Seu Antonio, tiozinho querido que faz um prensado dos bons. Antes de fazer o pedido, falei com meu Presente no celular e perguntei se ele já tinha comido. Como o bonitão estava faminto, me esperando voltar, engatei um papo gostoso com o tio, enquanto aguardava os três dogs pra viagem, embaixo de uma garoa que insistia em cair naquela noite.

Atipicamente, por forças do destino, da natureza ou de qualquer outra entidade bem superior a mim, fiquei um pouco mais na faculdade. Eu, que uso qualquer pretexto para vazar mais que rápido de lá, naquele dia me permiti bons minutos de papo com seu Antonio.

Dirigi pela marginal como sempre – no limite máximo da pista, que é 90 Km/hora – e nesse horário e naquele sentido – Zona Norte para Zona Oeste – ela é bem livre. Adoro esse momento, pois é ali que testo meus dotes de pilota. Fiz o caminho habitual, o chão estava molhado e a noite úmida. Eu, faminta e apertada para fazer xixi, pisando profundo no acelerador.

Duas esquinas antes da minha rua, os carros foram parando, mesmo com o farol verde. Meu instinto de motorista apressadinha já estava falando alto, mas notei que alguma coisa ocorria, porque os carros começaram a fazer o balão ali na rua Guaipá e a voltarem. Eu, não entendendo nada, pois não via polícia, nem bombeiro, nem CET, apenas os frentistas do posto de gasolina fazendo sinais insistentes para que os carros não passassem por ali. Ué, teria de fazer o que todos estavam fazendo. Quando eu chego até a esquina para fazer o balão é que sou assaltada por um dos maiores medos que eu lembro de ter sentido na vida.

Ali, na esquina, sem os carros na minha frente, vi bolas de fogo e fumaça no ceu, que vinham do quarteirão onde fica meu prédio!

Demorei dois dias a escrever esse post, porque não queria lembrar da sensação que foi ver aquilo. Eu não tinha certeza de onde vinha aquele fogo, mas tinha certeza que era grande, que vinha do mesmo espaço onde estava a minha fortuna: Eduardo dormia em sua caminha e Fabio estava em nosso apartamento me esperando.

Naquele momento, que não deve ter passado de alguns minutos, fiz o balão ao mesmo tempo em que encontrava meu celular na bolsa, liguei para Fabio, que não atendeu o telefone. Na ausência de seu alô do outro lado da linha, meu coração disparou ainda mais. Brotou dentro de mim um desespero que há muito tempo ou até nunca eu tenha sentido, de não saber o que ocorria com aqueles que são a principal razão da minha vida.

Não tive dúvidas: parei o carro no meio da rua e desci, descalça, para ir andando até lá e ver o que ocorria, já que a essa altura minha rua já estava interditada. Os segundos que separaram o alô do Fabio da minha segunda ligação e meus passos no meio da rua molhada, me faziam sentir apenas uma coisa: estou em uma situação, na qual não tenho controle algum sobre ela.

Felizmente, Fabio atendeu o telefone e me disse que o fogo vinha da indústria de produtos de higiene e limpeza em frente ao nosso prédio. Eu não tinha outra certeza a não ser que ele tirasse Eduardo dali e que todos estivéssemos juntos. Graças a uma outra rua que ainda não tinha sido interditada eu cheguei na garagem do meu prédio, já sentindo o forte calor que vinha do galpão totalmente em chamas à nossa frente.

E minha agonia cessou instantaneamente, como quando se joga água para apagar o fogo. Com o carro ainda funcionando, minha fortuna estava à salvo. Apenas com a roupa do corpo, Eduardo apenas de meias, sonolento, saímos dali. Só voltaríamos madrugada adentro, quando as chamas já estavam controladas, mas ainda os 24 carros de bombeiros trabalhavam na escuridão da queda de energia até o sol da manhã.

Não houve feridos, felizmente, mas as perdas materiais foram grandes. Na mesma madrugada, porém, meu egoísmo comemorava aliviado que minha família estava a salvo, sob a minha visão. E assim a vida continuou. Hoje, dois dias depois e todos os jornais inundados pelo incêndio na Vila Leopoldina, Zona Oeste de São Paulo, tudo está normal na Avenida Mofarrej. Exceto, porém, o meu coração, que percebeu o quão perecível a vida é e que ela pode mudar a qualquer momento, a qualquer instante, independente de nosso controle.

The superstitious side of me wants to think that it’s the white shorts that cost us three points on Saturday. I don’t really know how the decision to wear white shorts came about, considering that we’ve worn blue shorts with our blue kits, but it struck me as odd about ten minutes into the match. I wondered what the point of it was. Is it because Sunderland wear dark shorts? It reminded me of that ghastly kit Liverpool wore when Robbie Keane scored a goal against us last year.

The logical side of me thinks that we never got out of first gear and it was a tremendously disappointing performance. Yes, Chelsea did what they were supposed to do. They also had Wolves at home, and they now have Gael Kukata claiming that the Premier League seems easier than the Reserves. We went to the Stadium of Light against a team ready to prove themselves, directly after the international break.

Other than the shot on goal by Rosicky, the one-two between Song and Eduardo, and the blatant penalty on Vela that was turned down, we didn’t do very much. Ramsey for all his plaudits has yet to deliver a definitive Arsenal performance. For a creative player, I don’t know how many assists or key chances he’s created for Arsenal. Eduardo’s movement was subpar and his finishing has been far from clinical lately, but he’s finding his way back into things. You know it’s bad when Alex Song was the primary playmaker during the second half, a product of Cana harassing Cesc the entire game.

We were sluggish though, and we never got out of first gear.

As my fellow colleague said, champions win games like this. With points dropped against West Ham and this result against Sunderland, our momentum has been stopped dead in the tracks.

That’s why the game against Liege is of great importance.

We need to reassert our dominant self on weaker opposition. If we win tomorrow, we’ll be guaranteed the top slot in the group and be able to field the reserves in the last Champions League group game.

But more importantly, it’ll build some real momentum heading into the weekend. Chelsea awaits. We must deliver.

E plictisitor, plictisitor de moarte, fiind deci cazul s-o luam din loc. A fost concluzia lui Roy Keane despre reactia unei intregi Irlande, mai putin a sa, of course, la hentul lui Henry, parere exprimata la nici doua zile dupa jocul de la Paris.

Sunt perfect de-acord cu Keane c-ar fi timpul sa scriem si de-altceva. Dar, intr-o ultima radiografiere a tonelor de hartie consumate in Albion pe marginea meciului intre vecinii de peste Canalul Manecii si Marea Irlandei, m-am izbit de editorialul unuia dintre cele mai reputate peneluri din Regatul Unit, al carui comentariu m-a facut sa pricem ca, in ciuda deceniilor petrecute de la distanta ori de la fata locului cu ochii pe fotbalul insular, nu deprinsesem o piatra de temelie a etosului jocului inventatorilor sai.

Intr-o stranie coincidenta in privinta nationalitatii eroilor fazei aduse in discutie de jurnalist, se intampla cu doar 9 zile inaintea henturilor de pe Stade de France ca un mulatru atacant francez sa obtina un penalty nemeritat, plonjand in careu ca in bazin, in preajma unui mijlocas irlandez ce se lansase intr-o deposedare prin alunecare, fara insa a-l fi atins. Faza s-a derulat in ultimul joc al etapei dinaintea meciurilor intertari, mai exact Liverpool – Birmingham City, intr-o luni seara.

David Ngog a patruns pe flancul stang, a cazut neobstructionat in careu, arbitrul a acordat penalty iar irlandezul Lee Carsley s-a facut foc si para pe francez si oficial. Acest incident, si nu mult discutatul dublu hent de la Paris, a fost subiectul randurilor ce mi-au dezvaluit un fapt esential despre crezul iubitorilor de fotbal din Regat.

Am aflat astfel ca, la conferinta de presa dinaintea recentei partide Liverpool – Manchester City, un alt 2-2, ca si cu City din Birmingham, Rafael Benitez s-ar fi exprimat ca plonjonul lui Ngog s-a constituit intr-o mai mica ofensa la adresa fotbalului decat un tackling periculos. La care, atragandu-i-se atentia ca auditoriul englez are o perceptie inversata in aceasta privinta, spanionul a solicitat presarilor sa incerce furnizarea unei ordini mai umane a prioritatilor.

E posibil ca, influentat de numarul accidentatilor din lot in cursul acestei toamne, incluzand piese cheie ca Gerrard si Torres, antrenorul Benitez sa fi incercat diminuarea oprobiului iscat la adresa oportunismului tanarului sau atacant prin a-i aseza plonjonul in lumina unor “rele” pe care le considera mai mari, exemplificand tacklingurile ce pun in pericol ori chiar accidenteaza adversari.

Benitez nu si-a gasit insa cu acest punct de vedere aliati intre ziaristi. Dintre care, editorialistul a dezvaluit consensul sincer al breslei ca, amintind de-un plonjon similar din vara al lui Eduardo, in jocul Arsenal – Celtic, gestul brazilianului-croat a fost mai grav decat incidentul in care ii era rupt piciorul, intr-un tackling considerat accidental, comis acum 20 de luni, coincidenta, de un fundas de la… Birmingham City, Martin Taylor. Faultul de maidan din preajma centrului terenului, in primele minute ale acelei partide, e probabil inca intiparit pe retina multor telespectatori, cu tibia lui Eduardo franta ca o grisina si cu Wenger explodand imediat dupa fluierul final, cum ca Taylor ar trebui suspendat pe viata din fotbal. Sentinta pe care si-a renegat-o in aceeasi seara.

Ei bine, dintotdeauna am admirat fair-playul britanic si, mai mult, am detestat copios trucurile de tot felul ale fotbalului in general de sorginte latina, contrast care m-a determinat cu si mai mare usurinta sa simpatizez abordarea insularilor. Dar n-am intuit ca britanicilor le repugna intr-asemenea masura teatralitatea ori micile farse ale jocului latin incat sa imbratiseze ca pe un mai mic rau o incercare de deposedare generand oase rupte. In fiecare zi invatam cate ceva si abia acum am priceput ordinea lucrurilor, pe un subiect de principiu mai mult decat important in privinta fotbalului insular.

Benitez, dupa 6 ani in Albion, de o parte a faliei, iar presarii de cealalta, cand vine vorba de merele stricate ale fotbalului. Plonjonul in speranta unui penalty ori tacklingul primejdios. Falia e probabil extinsa in aceasta privinta, existand in general intre jocul din Marea Britanie si cel continental ori macar latin.

Iar pentru a-si fortifica argumentul, comentatorul a exemplificat atacul lui Guthrie, in primavara inca in elita cu Newcastle, care a sprintat la tinta, scotandu-l din joc pe Fagan, de la Hull City, dar nu pentru restul partidei, ci pe cateva luni de zile, considerand ca faultul sau, desi in mod evident premeditat, ar atrage mai putine critici decat plonjonul teatral al lui Ngog.

Aici consider ca este o fortare a notei, o exagerare, ori  – din contra – tocmai dovada absoluta a spiritului de lupta al bulldogului britanic, “fibra” esentiala a jocului in insula. Jos palaria daca determinarea respectivilor jucatori, oricat de amenintator ar parea tacklingul, ar rezulta intr-o deposedare curata prin alunecare, mingea si nu adversarul. Insa in cazul in care atacurile s-au lasat, in cazurile amintite, cu fracturi si multe luni prin sali de recuperare si pe tusa, imi cer iertare, dar n-ar putea avea mai multa trecere in fata incercarii unui Ngog de a obtine pe nedrept penalty.

In motricitatea lui Ngog nu s-a deslusit ca ar cauta penaltyul cu lumanarea, doar “saniuta” lui Carsley determinandu-l sa incerce in ultima clipa marea cu sarea, pe cand acel hei-rup al lui Guthrie, lansat la rupere, a fost cu premeditare. Acestea au fost exemplele alese de ziarist pentru a-si reliefa punctul de vedere, creand implicit o falie intre perceptia sa si probabil nu doar a lui Benitez, ci a destulor exponenti ai fotbalului non-insular.

Articolul mi-a pus in alta lumina marja acceptabilitatii deposedarii in fotbalul insular, placandu-mi mult tacklingurile desavarsite dar gasindu-le uneori mai mult decat la limita chiar si pe cele ale lui Paul Scholes, altfel deloc un jucator “murdar”.  

Mai jos, faultul asupra lui Eduardo si plonjonul sau contra lui Celtic, unii presari considerand a doua infractiune ca fiind mai grava. Va las pe Dumneavoastra sa decideti. Gusturile nu se discuta.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qryjPi4KEek

E pe ritmuri sud-americane. Si zau ca mi s-ar face inima cat un purice, sa-mi mai sara cineva la picioare, dupa atacul de mai sus. Dar de-aceea nu-s fotbalist si scrijelesc in lumea virtuala.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL5G6eAsfgY  

There’s really no sense in dwelling on this match. Sunderland is a solid side this season that drew at United and beat Liverpool. Almost our entire side had been away from the club for two weeks on plane trips and playing in meaningless matches. “But the international breaks didn’t affect Chelsea or United or Spurs,” you will say. And I would say that you are right, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t affect us. There are no excuses for losing the match but there are reasons.

Apparently, Arsenal’s title hopes are once again dashed, according to many. As of right now, this is just one disappointing result. It’s not the end of the season. But it does raise some serious questions. Was this performance indicative of how the team will perform without van Persie? That is the big question.

I tend to lean towards thinking not, but I am an one of those optimists when it comes to the Arsenal. I can’t see the side all of a sudden going from scoring 3 or 4 goals per match to struggling to score simply because van Persie has been removed from the equation and especially with Cesc, Arshavin, Eduardo, Rosicky, Nasri, etc… still on the pitch. It was a nasty day against an insurgent club on the Saturday following yet another two-week/two-match international break. Of course, despite those conditions, we still need to be able to get results.

Despite falling 8 points behind Chelsea (5 if we win our game in hand), we did control most of the game even if Sunderland did work harder against us in midfield than almost any other side we’ve played all season. Sunderland’s goal came off of a fluke bounce, though the bounce came after we failed to deal with a set piece, yet again. Aaron Ramsey failed to replicate his international form and Traore didn’t look altogether solid at left-back.

Another bright spot for me was the introduction of Carlos Vela. Arsenal looked more dangerous after he came on and if Eduardo cannot get it together, I now feel the Boss would not hesitate to use Vela more than he has in the past, having said openly that Vela is the reason Adebayor could be sold and not replaced. The return of Theo Walcott was another bright spot on an otherwise dismal Saturday afternoon.

Arsenal have shown themselves capable of picking themselves up from disappointing performances and getting back on track quickly. Following the Manchester defeats, we put together a 13-match unbeaten run which included 6 wins out of 7 in the Premier League. We have dealt with adversity well this season and we will now need to do it again.

In other news, Stan Kroenke has bought ten more shares and is now a mere 62 away from being obligated to launch a takeover bid. In other interesting news, Man City drew their sixth consecutive match and have won just one in their last eight, keeping only one clean sheet in that time, a nil-nil draw at Birmingham. Kolo Toure seems to have caught whatever disease it is that Adebayor has that keeps making him talk about Arsenal, saying:

I had problems with certain players at Arsenal, especially one, whose name I will not say because I don’t want to feed the controversy. I didn’t have much time on the pitch last year because I think there’s a player who got the manager believing that he and I had no understanding on the field. That did surprise me hugely.

I have never looked to put a spoke in anyone’s wheel at all. I have never wanted to be captain. My wish was to finish my career at Arsenal, but there are always banana-skins.

Don’t want to feed “the” controversy? That hasn’t been a controversy for anyone but Kolo since last season. It’s amazing how both he and Adebayor are living in the past, seemingly with Arsenal constantly on their minds. No wonder they can’t win matches or keep clean sheets. I don’t think that Arsene Wenger needed William Gallas to tell him that there was no understanding between him and Gallas, or “he-who-shall-not-be-named.” Every Arsenal fan has “believed” that for years. There WAS no understanding.

Anyway, seeing as how I don’t want to dwell on our first lackluster match in a while and we have a fairly unimportant CL fixture standing between us and Chelsea, I’ll have to leave it there, for now.

After 2 weeks wait our team failed us, what went wrong?  I don’t really know, a slight attitude problem I would guess. We need more desire to win.  We need to believe..

If we still need to find a scapegoat  we cannot for a change point the finger at our favourite villains Diaby, Eboue or Bendtner.
If we were the darling buds of  the media we could blame it on our massive injury list.. But only Liverpool have top players out.. Instead we are just bottlers in their eyes.

I think the finger of blame should go to, well at least to some extent to Mr Wenger OBE, it wasn’t fair on Eduardo to be leading a line with Nasri and Rosicky as his strike partners. Now I love all three of these players but to expect them to lead the line was asking too much.
All three are still trying to recover their pre injury form.

Also with Dudu he is not a traditional no 9 type striker and to have him up top on his own is never his natural position, as I said when he was starting to comeback from his leg break, don’t expect too much from him, he wasn’t a world beater before the injury, but we made him up to be the greatest player on earth because we all wanted him to make a full recovery, but perhaps he became better than he really was in our eyes. Or could the media reaction to his definate penalty against Celtic affected him? He was shaping up okay until then..  I would have liked to have seen AA start even if he was a bit tired, just to take some of the scoring burden away from Dudu’s shoulders.

The other disappointment for me was Aaron Ramsey, we all saw the highlights of him playing for Wales against Scotland last week, he ran the game, but we never see him do the same for Arsenal, wouldn’t it be easier to fit into Arsenal’s sleek system rather than the longer ball way of Wales?  Is it that the Premiership is of a far higher level than the international scene or is he overwhelmed by playing next to such quality players?.. Who knows..

One thing is for sure we cannot keep losing games like this.. This is a squad of players that come around every four or five years and we have to make the most of it before they start an exodus one by one, leaving us to rebuild again like we had to when Hleb and Flamini left a few years ago.

But in fairness we were in such control in the first 30 minutes we should have put a chance or two away, the best one going to Eduardo but the ball was too far underneath him and he could not get a clean strike on the bit. But as usual we allowed the opposition to gain confidence and Sunderland were a half decent side in the second half.
Have we heard that before?

Almunia.. 6.. Never had much to do in reality, perhaps he could have come for the corner that lead to the goal, but I doubt if he would have got to it as it was curling away.

Sagna.. 7.. Was our main attacking threat from the flanks, I just wish he would cut inside now and again and do a give and go, his crossing is too predictable.

Gallas 7.5 Our best defender yesterday and he also has the winning mentality, it’s a pity some of our attackers don’t have the same desire.

Vermaelen 6.. A pretty average performance from him for a change, at fault for the goal. He lost a header to Darren Bent then failed to recover when the ball came back in the box.

Traore. 6.5 .. Without knowing it I think he may of put in a transfer request yesterday (Saturday) he isn’t as good as either Clichy or Gibbs so he is probably third in the pecking order unless either of the other two go. He wasn’t terrible (better than Silvestre) but he made some terrible cross field passes in front of our penalty area.

Song.. 7.5.. Played pretty well, The ref didn’t like his style of defending unless the boot was on the other foot and a Sunderland player did the same thing.  Done well not to be booked..

Fabregas.. 7.. Tried to play the captains role but frustratingly started to settle for long-range shots at goal…

Nasri.. 6.5 Tidy, but never really got into the game. He should have been fresh as a daisy after a rest, and with a few matches behind him, looked a little lethargic.

Rosicky.. 6.5.. Same as Nasri.. Never really got into the game as well as he can.

Ramsey. 6.. Forgot he was playing in some parts of the game, it was obvious he was going to be the one coming off first.

Eduardo.. 6. As I said earlier, I don’t think the role suits him leading the line as the sole striker.

Subs..

Arshavin 6.5.. Never really looked too interested after he got dumped on his arse a couple of times, surely it isn’t too cold for him..

Walcott.. 6.5.. Looked lively, but just went through the motions, did a very good ball across the six yard box that no one latched on to.

Vela. 6.. Didn’t really look any different from Eduardo, left footed and a bit lightweight. Sky never managed to show a replay of the penalty shout mmmm.

So all in all a bit of a piss off, I just  hope normal service will be resumed next week.

We looked a bit flat, not sure that the international break caused that but the team did not look as together as it has previously. Having just viewed the highlights on MOTD we cannot argue we didn’t have the chances, early in the game there were a couple there. What cannot be said is Sunderland are a poor team, they are well organised by Steve Bruce and can fully expect to be pushing for a Europa League spot come the end of the season.

There are claims of fatigue affecting players, but in all honesty a league and european campaign could have seen the whole squad play Saturday and Wednesday so I don’t fully buy that. Perhaps the travel has an impact, but we need to see players committed and full of energy from the off until the final whistle.

Arsène dismissed claims we missed van Persie, I have to agree from what I saw, there is quality in our attack to cover for him. Vela, Walcott, Eduardo are all there to take that front place. Perhaps being together over the next few days in training will see the team gel again.

So our third defeat of the season sees Chelsea edge 8 points clear of us. Next Saturday remains as important as it did before yesterday’s games, there cannot be an increase in require or desire to win that game based on what happened at The Stadium of Light. If people are to argue the reverse you have to question their outlook on our team and our league challenge, we have to want to win every game. Had we been 8 points ahead of Chelsea it would still be a must win next weekend. If anyone thinks Chelsea are going into next Sunday thinking it’s ok we have a decent cushion on Arsenal they have clearly been on what Phil Brown is on!

Midweek sees us face Standard Liege at home, our chance to put qualifying for the group stage to bed and get back to winning ways. More on that in the next few days.

The art of a natural striker is immensely undervalued these days isn’t it? “Yeah he is okay, but he does nothing else apart from score”. How would we have love to have that player at the Stadium of Light. We did. He went off just after the 71st minute. Shortly after we went 1-0 down.

Frazier Campbell didn’t know what he did with Bent’s header from Reid’s corner. Unluckily for us, Darren Bent did and he reacted quickest to sneak his shot in. As instinctive a goal as you can get. I don’t think you can teach that.

Sometimes the ‘fox in the box’ is just too quick.

When we snatched a draw from the jaws of victory at West Ham, some Gooners wondered whether Wenger reacted too late in making his substitutions. I don’t think the same could be said here. Walcott was due to make his entrance even before that goal went in, but how many times do you see a substitution just before a corner?

Somehow we were 1-0 down from Sunderland’s only shot on target. And then Walcott and Vela make their sub appearances. Rosicky and Eduardo went off. Wait a minute Eduardo? Yes, he didn’t have a stellar game but neither did Bent.

The effect of Eduardo’s departure was profound. Between the 72nd minute and the end of the game, 12 passes (crosses in some instances) from either flanks went into the centre of the box. None of them found the intended target.

Who was the intended target? Vela? Played on the wing largely. Walcott? Ditto. Fabregas? Even he was crossing them in at times.

At present Vela and Walcott simply don’t know what it means to lead the line and based on what I saw, I don’t think they were instructed to play there either.

What puzzled me was that Nasri who I thought had a relatively quiet game was still on the pitch. Surely he could have made way instead of Eduardo? I am certain if that was the case maybe we would have at least equalized and perhaps even sneaked a win.

Did we need some many central-esque midfielders to begin with? Starting with either Vela or Walcott from the first minute would have given us that extra dimension to our attack that we only saw late in the game. Without them, we looked laboured,  the play focused too much on the centre and it felt almost if we were waiting for Sunderland to make a mistake. The Black Cats knew they were rarely get beaten if the ball went behind their defence.

Sunderland on the either hand, were well-organized. They defended deep and manipulated the space on either flanks, particularly the space between Vermaelen and Traore. If Malbranque was as clinical as his other technical attributes would suggest, we could have been punished severely. Even Sagna was exposed at times and Song had to plug the gaps.

The 13 match unbeaten run came to an end but it had to at some point. This defeat won’t be a “massive setback” as Wenger stated. In the immediate future, this result will only prove to be a sort of ‘collateral damage’ in our season. Like United losing to Burnley, like Chelsea losing to Wigan and Villa. Now and then a jolt like this is needed. I’m looking for a positive response.

After what’s seemed like an age since the last Premier League matches, we return to domestic action after the international break. Plenty to consider this gameweek as four teams play twice and a host of stars are injured. More on that later.

Last time round saw an above average score of 52 for myself but this was still quite far off the high score of 107. I was not helped by Drogba and Rooney predictably doing nothing in the big clash between Chelsea and Man Utd; while I also had 13 points marooned on the bench via Joe Hart and Scott Dann, who I hadn’t thought would do much vs Liverpool.

Our captain choices did well, with Fabregas having another big week while RVP and Adebayor also had fair contributions. If you had gone with the suggested transfer of Clint Dempsey, he would have scored you seven points too.

Gameweek 12 Top Gun (aka Tom Cruise Approves):

Maverick thinks John Terry is a fool, but his fantasy score last week was good.

Yep, John Terry was Gameweek 12’s Top Gun with the now ubiquitous defender’s score of 15 points for winning goal, clean sheet and three bonus points. The number of times this has happened is ridiculous but fair play if you’ve reaped the benefit.

But wait I hear you cry, there was someone else who also scored 15 points last week. Yes dear readers, for the first time this season we had a tie for highest score of the week. John Carew almost double his season’s score with a goal, two assists and three bonus points in Aston Villa’s 5-1 destruction of Bolton. This means Maverick needs some help in approving so what better person to have than his co-pilot Goose:

Goose approves of being involved in such silliness.

It was a struggle bringing him back from the dead, but through the powers of Google search and Photoshop I managed to do it. Maybe next time Iceman will muscle his way in on the show… Elsewhere Gomes saved a penalty to score 14 for Spurs while Wright-Phillips and Fabregas both got 13, the latter getting his fifth straight man of the match award.

On to this week.

Three Captain Choices:

With Torres and Drogba very doubtful and Van Persie and Lampard definitely out, the usual field of captain choices is substantially narrowed. In addition to that Hull, Blackburn, Fulham and Everton all play twice so it might be time for some leftfield thinking in terms of captain this week.

1. Bullard/Hull – Feeling brave? Quite the gamble this one but it could well pay off. Bullard is a good player but has been injured pretty much the whole time he’s been at Hull. He made a belated home debut last week and was the key figure in a win over Stoke scoring an assist and three bonus. Now one whole game isn’t much to go on but with Hull having two games at the KC Stadium, one against lowly West Ham you’d assume he would play a part in anything good Hull may do.

2. Anelka/Chelsea - With Drogba doubtful after Jonny Evans’ kung-fu kick to his ribs, and Fat Frank injured after attempting to sprint in England training, it leaves Nicolas Anelka as the most likely source of points for Chelsea this weekend. They face a home tie against Wolves which is as near to a gimme as you can get. I fully expect a comfortable home win with a goal or two from the Frenchman.

3. Fabregas/Arsenal - Fabregas is fast becoming the new Ronaldo of fantasy football. If in doubt for a captain choice, go with him. Sunderland away is the not the easiest place to go this season, but Arsenal have a good record there in recent years and should have enough to win, even without Robin van Persie.

Gets a Captain's tick.

Three Suggested Transfers In:

1. Eduardo/Arsenal - Now that Van Persie is out for several weeks, joining the already injured Bendtner, the onus falls on Eduardo to lead the line for the leading scorers in the team. He has had a very stop start season so far but has still got two goals and two assists in just over 300 minutes of action, which isn’t bad at all. With full fitness and a new contract in the back of his pocket, he should do well over the next couple of months.

2. Etherington/Stoke – He’s kind of slipped beneath my radar but is one of the form players of the last few weeks. In his last five games he has three assists and two goals as well as a few bonus points. Over the next four weeks, only Arsenal is a game which you would class as tough for Stoke.

3. Alexander/Burnley – His price has gone right up now but as long as Burnley keep getting penalties, he’s still worth it I’d say.

Might be worth a pick.

Three To Avoid:

1. Van Persie/Arsenal - Out for a couple of months in case it wasn’t already clear. Let’s hope he doesn’t rush back from injury like he has done in the past.

2. Benayoun/Liverpool - Has been in great from this season but has tweaked his hamstring. Also, knowing Rafa he’ll probably find a way to drop the Israeli now that Aquilani is approaching full fitness.

3. Bolton players – Bottom of the team stats with just 345 points between them.

Are you taking the mick?!

T.

On Saturday the 14th of November we travelled north to Monterrey to visit Daniel (pronounced dan-yell) and Eduardo (pronounced Eduardo), two lovely Mexicans who lived next door to Anne and Leslie about seven years ago.

"Privatt" Night Club, home of the gainfully employed small people

To cut a long story short, we took an overnight bus from Morelia the night before. We left at 9pm Friday night and arrived around 8am Saturday morning. I took a sleeping pill and it worked wonders, despite grave concerns about the side-effects, none of which came true (including where I wake up with my underwear soiled and my body completely paralysed because I broke my neck by sleeping on it wrong).

To really cut a long story short, we did a few things in the day then went out to a famous Monterrey night club called Privatt.

Daniel, Eduardo, and their clan of exactly 23 friends head out every Saturday night to Privatt. I was told by Cuco, an esteemed member of the Monterrey Clan, that they have come to the same night club every Saturday night for the past 6 or so years. It was that good.

We approached Privatt through a bustle of extraordinarily well dressed young Mexicans. The men were generally clean-cut and stylish, with gleaming gelled hair an fine clothing; the women wore lavish dresses, high heels, acutely refined makeup. Everybody’s eyes and hair were glistening in the light coming out of Privatt. From the outside it looked like the gates of Heaven, if Heaven was run by flamboyantly wealthy Mexicans.

I was dressed in jeans and a crinkled collared shirt and my eyes glistened too, but mostly because of the side-effects of the sleeping pills, which were finally revealed to me in the form of a headache and a slight case of eye-droop.

The drinks table - before

But the headache and the droop disappeared instantly the moment we were whisked straight past the club lineup, past the burly black-suited bouncers, down the glowing walkway, through the glittering doors, past a midget dressed in the style of a cowboy, and finally into the hot, heaving throng of hundreds of party-goers better dressed than me.

Privatt was pumping like some crazy Mexican pumping machine, full of flashing strobing lights, bottles of Bacardi, projected videos, glistening eyes and jewelry, gleaming hair, and artificial fog, which confirms the feeling of being in Heaven. This was Mexico, Magico Mexico, as Guillermo and Daniel had said, a country where all your dreams can come true, even if you were markedly smaller than everyone else and wearing a cowboy outfit.

As we approached the reserved table, it still had not occurred to me when I saw the second midget that they were not just eccentrically dressed patrons of the club, but actually eccentrically dressed staff, appointed by the club owners to walk around and be, well, eccentrically dressed midgets. I still do not know why it took until the following evening for Leslie to inform me that they were not just out for a good time, but were actually working there. Magico Mexico had me under its spell I suppose.

The drinks table - after

The Bacardi also had me under its spell, along with everyone else.

We had a special booth with a table right over the dance floor, next to the DJs who were busy fiddling and switching amidst the fog and the lurid strobe lights. All Daniel and Eduardo’s friends were crammed into the booth, talking animatedly. It was the same booth they’d been to every night for time immemorial. The table was crammed with glasses, bottles of Bacardi, buckets of ice, empty shots, bowls of cut lime and bottles of soft drink, which a waiter was constantly attending to to ensure both the table and everyone around it remained loaded. This was a party, amigo!

At one point a waiter arrived with a tray of shots, some kind of sugary, salty, apple concoction. And then he set fire to them. The shots burst into flames (see above picture), and I was lucky enough to take a snap just at the right moment. They tasted just like crazy firey sugary salty apple shots should taste.

The music alternated between DJ sets and a live cover band, which was not tacky at all but rather amazing. They played a raucous mix of popular hits, all performed in an upbeat style. I decided after 15 minutes that the bass guitarist looked like Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter movies, if only Draco was 35 years old, Mexican, slightly overweight and stopped brushing his hair. The lead singer was also blonde and with a broadly circuitous chest, which seemed to be a source of much excitement for the men on the dance floor.

It was about 4am when we finally decided to call it quits. The Mexican night life had swallowed us whole, digesting all the energy from our bodies whilst giving us one hell of a ride. It was a deliriously blissful feeling. Outside we picked up some slices of pizza from a street vendor, grabbed one of the shabby dinted green taxis and made our way back to Eduardo’s place to find some much needed rest.

The next morning we were served tacos made with the inner cheeks of a cow, but that’s another story.

Tim

Arsenal have renewed Eduardo’s contract. While the details of the contract remain undisclosed, Manager Arsene Wenger expressed his joy with the deal: “We’re delighted that Eduardo has signed a new long-term contract with us.

“Eduardo is a special player with huge talent and natural goalscoring ability, and we’re all so happy that he has committed his future to Arsenal Football Club.

“We have also seen in his comeback from injury, Eduardo is a human being full of courage, bravery and commitment.

“His full recovery from this injury is a testament to Eduardo’s character. We all look forward to enjoying Eduardo’s performances in an Arsenal shirt for a long time to come.”

The renewal comes amidst rumours of his departure from the club. He is expected to play a more prominant role with the Gunners especially with Robin Van Persie’s injury.

Eduardo said of the deal: “I am very pleased to have signed a new long contract with the club. I’m very happy and I hope to stay at Arsenal for as long as I can.

“This period is good for me now. I feel strong in my body and I feel ready to play 90 minutes every three days if it’s needed.

“I went to Croatia last week and everybody was telling me Arsenal play the best football in Europe at the moment. I agree with that.

“We feel we are strong now this season and we’re all going to give everything to win trophies.”

Picture from arsenal.com

Some news from our club yesterday, I was at work but on each break I managed to catch the running banner on Sky Sports News which seemed mainly to be about us.

Firstly the club announced that Eduardo has signed a new long term deal with the club, as ever there is no official word on how long this deal is. What I also find interesting is that there is very little hint in the press about how long it is either. Perhaps Ivan is being very tight lipped about this, which personally I don’t mind. I suppose that those “Eduardo to Liverpool rumours” weren’t true then! Phew, I was worried there………….

The injury to Kieran Gibbs was confirmed as severe bruising to the bones and soft tissue of his right foot and not broken yesterday. This is good news and we will only see him missing for a few weeks rather than longer term if it had been a break that was feared. My only concern is how the defence will be re-shuffled, Sylvester has been talking about Sunderland being tough – that worries me, not the toughness of the game but the fact Sylvester is talking about our games as if he might be playing.

More on the squad either late tomorrow or early Saturday as we hear about more of our players returning from Injurenational duty.

Two bits of good news were announced yesterday, one is that Kieran Gibbs has not suffered any break to his ankle he just has some bad bruising and won’t be out for long. I don’t expect we will see him at the weekend, but back in time for The Chavs I hope. Silvestre ‘should’ be able to cope against Sunderland on Saturday but The Chavs are a bit of a different story.

The second bit of news is that Eduardo has signed a new long term contract. Let’s hope this means that any injury concerns or mental issues we were all concerned about, are no longer. There is a nice picture of Ivan and Eduardo ‘doing the business’ on afc.com if anyone is interested.

Just how silly must all of those reporters who wrote rather large articles about Eduardo at the weekend feel? They had him leaving us in January for £10M and of all places they reported him to be going was Liverpool! I didn’t really believe it at the time, I doubt anyone really did. Madrid, maybe, but Liverpool…. Nah!!

So two bits of good news indeed, followed by no further injury reports from last nights games, Sagna had a good game and Gallas scored the goal that knocked out the Irish.

And what a goal is was too – what a muck up by the officials in such a big game!! Two offside before Henry ‘controlled’ the ball and then the biggest bit of cheating I have seen since Madonna’s hand.

Thierry Henry should be ashamed of himself this morning. Waking up and coming to terms with the fact that the whole world, apart from the French thinks you’re a cheat. For once, I am glad the great man no longer plays for us! I don’t think I could stand watching Sky Sports report all day on the incident.

He wouldn’t be reported as a French player, a French cheat, no, he would be a cheat who plays for Arsenal.
Anyway, he is a Barça player, and this morning I am very glad about that! Don’t think that admitting it was handball will get you a reprieve though Thierry!!

Sad news for Russia, they won’t be travelling to South Africa next summer, unless it’s to go on holiday, they are out. Selfish of me maybe, but I don’t care. Arshavin will get a rest and we will get the benefit.

That is one of the reason’s, not the main reason of course, that I hope ROI would win last night… I had hoped that Clichy, Sagna, Diaby and Gallas all had a good rest during the summer break. Mind you, I am not sure Gallas will be with us next season.

Cesc came through a whole game unscathed, that’s more good news. He managed to score one in Spain’s 5-1 win and pick up a yellow card on the way, not that I am fussed about that!

Eboue played too last night and he grabbed himself a goal too – watch out Eduardo you have some stiff competition now

So, no new injuries to report and that is the most important thing for Arsenal.

That’s it for a while now, no silly international games, meaningless friendlies or any other ‘country get together’ no, its Premier League, Champions League and Domestic Cup competition right through into the new year now – Hoorah!!

First up is Sunderland away on Saturday, 3pm kick off – a tough game for us I think, but one we will win – just!

I know we have a few injury concerns, but so do Sunderland. No Gordon, Jones or Cattermole. Apart from Bendtner, van Persie and Gibbs, until Arson updates us on those who have trained this week we can’t be sure of who will play or not.

I just hope he plays the strongest eleven available and brings home the three points. Forget The Chavs until it’s time to play them. This game is a must win, we are on a winning run and we don’t want that to change. Don’t rest Song, Gallas or Sagna – play them all and get the points, put the pressure on the teams around us and let them be the ones to crack, not us!

Have a great day all, two days left to wait

Just for peaches, oh and me!

20/11/2009 7:55 AM

Los agregados a la BUAP (SITMA), estan invitando a una platica sobre el tipo de demandas; como son las penales, la civil o la mercantil.

Esto se llevara a cabo en el SUNTUAP que se ubica en la 21 Ote. entre 16 de Sept. y la 2 Sur. , esto en la Ciudad de PUEBLA PUE.. Esta dirección es cerca del parque del Carmen, la cita es el viernes 20 de Nov. a las 17:00 hrs., motivo por el cual no podre estar en la junta general, sin embargo esta se llevara a cabo para que comenten los avances en las demandas y en caso de haber dificultades con las mismas se lo hagan saber al Sr. Martín Mateos.

Las personas que quieran acompañarme nos veremos en esa dirección.

De ultima hora fue suspendida la

platica, desafortunadamente.

************************************

Arsenal striker Eduardo signs a new long-term contract at the club…. From BBC News. Full story

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