Tag Archives: Aston villa

Wanted a mauling, but don’t lose sight of fact it’s job done

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In times of desperation you will accept anything positive. Let me tell you friends, yesterday’s three points most certainly fall within that category.

Effectively dumped out of two competitions within a week, it was imperative that The Arsenal didn’t effectively hammer another nail into the Champions League coffin by slipping up against what I can only describe as a young and bang average Aston Villa team. So much so that when the Aston Villa team was displayed on the scoreboard at kick off, there were two players I’ve never even heard of. Now, I’m not one that has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Premier League footballers, but I’m quite confident I could name a decent starting eleven of all of the Premier League teams. So to see some of the names on the Villa team sheet yesterday that I’ve never even know existed, it tells you quite a lot about the youthfulness and lack of squad depth in our opponents. And therefore by proxy, the expectation that we really should be tearing them a new one.

Unfortunately for a simple gooner for myself, that quite simply translates into a result that should in all fairness, be a foregone conclusion. Villa are struggling in the league and look like they could be going down. That they were within six or seven minutes of a draw at The Emirates tells you more about the limitations of our squad than it does of the ability of Lambert’s side.

It all started so well. Attacking intent from Arsenal in the first fifteen minutes was swiftly rewarded with a neat Cazorla finish. We looked like we were up for it at first and the players looked like they wanted to lay down a marker, taking out their aggression on a clearly vulnerable Villa team.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case with this Arsenal team, capitalising on the fragility of opponents is a commodity that is found in short supply at The Emirates these days. We went in 1-0 up at the break, but if we’re all honest to ourselves, we hardly laid down a confidence marker. Thankfully, Lambert’s Villa didn’t fancy seeing if this Arsenal team could be ‘got at’ and the first half ended with little trouble from the fluorescent green/yellow opponents.

The halftime pints were sunk with much debate over the reaction the team would give in the second half, and such was the joking nature of the modern day Arsenal fan, we spent most of the fifteen minute interlude thankful that we were ahead for a change.

I expected a better reaction from the players in the second half, and to be fair, at first it looked as though they were going to give it to us, with some neat build up play at times. But as is par for the course with this Arsenal side, the final end product was often found wanting, with an overriding desire to square the ball rather than ‘have a go’. So it was with no surprise that Villa equalised with their only real attack of the second half on around the 70 minute mark. As expected, it came from an Arsenal corner and as Weimann bore down on goal, we all knew what was coming. Szczseny hardly covered himself with glory with a limp wristed flap at the ball, but we all know Arsenal have it in their locker to fall apart at any moment, so it wasn’t any real surprise that we conceded.

Today’s blog has been rather negative up until this point; perhaps indicative of the nerves and worries I have of our ability to finish in the Champions League spots. But I, as I’m sure many of you need to remind ourselves of, need to appreciate the fact that three points were the requirement today and three points is exactly what the team delivered. So perhaps I need to cut them a little stack. Football has so many variables in it that it is impossible to assume that ‘a+b=c’ I.e. three points in this instance, against a team that will probably go down, means that it should be a walk in the park. So I need to remind myself that providing the team gets the results, the methodology behind it is largely irrelevant. You don’t get extra marks for showing your workings.

So today’s blog should be tinged with more happiness about it. Indeed, the happiness did come in the shape of a neat Cazorla finish with just a few minutes remaining on the clock. You have to say it was no more than the team deserved and thankfully it means we can look to the West Ham v Spuds game in the knowledge that we have at least done what is needed from our perspective. Let’s hope that Yossi can get himself on to the field and provide us with yet more happiness by spearheading a victory for the irons to mean the gap is closed to just one point ahead of next weeks crunch NLD.

Before I sign off, some positive and negative individual performances to talk of. Firstly, the negative, lets get that out of the way. I thought Diaby was generally woeful yesterday and his injury, whilst of no surprise to any of us, was the icing on a pretty horrible cake if I’m honest. I also think Giroud failed to really show his true capabilities and I hope that was just a one off game as we head into a crucial period of the season. However, some real positives were the excellent performance (yet again) of Jenkinson, and I thought Cazorla also did well, cropping up with two vital goals.

All in all, it was yet more of the same from Arsenal as they frustrated us at times, but ultimately they did the job, and we can ask no more than that.

Roll on the spuds. Lets all hope we see the best from the team then.

Finally, just a quick signing off from me. I’m heading off to Thailand for two weeks and so won’t be blogging as I try to sizzle myself in the hope of improving my skin tone. I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Ben and maybe Steve (oaf12), and lets hope that by the time I’m next spilling my thoughts onto the virtual blog page, it’s to the sound of an Arsenal team having beaten our rivals and marching towards a top four finish.

Until then.

C

The fear of mediocrity at Arsenal

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With two days behind us since the Bayern defeat and two days stretching out in front of us until Villa visit the Emirates, I’m in a reflective mood today. Reflecting on what we currently have with this Arsenal squad and what might become of the team come the end of the year.

We’re effectively out of all competitions. We have serious question marks over the ability of a number of players. Many of us have issues with the structure of how the club is run and the apparent ignorance of the owner to take any kind of lead in driving the club ‘Forward’. Heh, ‘Forward’ is looking like some kind of twisted irony right now, because we haven’t moved anywhere but sideways at best for some time now. Some blame the manager, but I believe the issues are much more than skin deep at the club, so much so that it’s impossible for me to accept that he is the sole root cause of our current issues.

You must know by now that I have long held a belief that Stan Kroenke is sticking around until the club can renegotiate its commercial deals and he can pull out of the club with a vastly inflated share price in just over a year and a half or so. You must also know by now that I see the ageing ‘board’ as nothing more than an old boys club; content to sit in the directors box and enjoy the trimmings but incapable of driving the club towards where it’s potential truly lies. So to say that this is all the fault of Arsene I think is to miss the point. He is to blame for many misgivings, but he shouldn’t be shouldering the blame for all of the problems.

Yesterday, as I was on my way back from work, I started to try and picture a ‘worse case’ scenario for the end of the season. Perhaps it’s endemic of how our season has declined – hope wise – that I automatically started to think of the worst possible outcome for the club rather than the best. But by doing it, I build a quite low foundation of expectation and so as D-REEM said, things can only get better. Anyway, I was trying to picture what would be the worst thing that could happen to Arsenal this season, and what would that mean for next season and for the club. I came up with this:
- defeat to the Spuds
- an inability to catch them on points by the end of the season and a fifth/sixth place finish
- Arsene announces that it’s the end and he doesn’t feel he can perform at the highest level for Arsenal.

Now, that all sounds a bit depressing, I grant you, but is it the worst thing that can happen to a football club? Have we ever not been in the Champions League? Obviously the answer to both of these questions is ‘no’, so given that we’ve had it worse than our current plight, why is everybody so frustrated? Why is there the in-fighting amongst gooners?

I think for me it is a few things. Firstly, we see examples of other once dominant English teams that are now languishing in the middle of the table. Liverpool are the most obvious example, but Aston Villa were a side that only five or so era ago were challenging us for fourth. So fans like me look at those two teams and worry about what will become of Arsenal should we not qualify for the Champions League and all of the wealth that it brings. I think that is where most of this fear of not being in the Champions League comes from. The fear that I have with this current owner and board are that despite all of the educated guessing in terms of cash reserves from educated people within supporters groups like the AST, the board have effectively padlocked the cash to cover the fact that we may not be in the Champions League. That cash then gets used to ‘top up’ the wages of the existing squad and ensure that we don’t feel the strain of not having the Champions League cash.

There are people that will counter my fear above with the retort that ‘we don’t spend the cash anyway, so what difference does it make?’ and I can certainly see that point, but without the cash and without further investment in the playing staff it looks even more unlikely that we’ll be able to get back to the top table of not just English, but European football. The fear is that a succession of failures will put us in the position Liverpool are in, where their squad is so average apart from one or two ageing players, that they effectively have to start again and again. And I firmly believe that with this board and owner that is a very realistic future. I know the addition Premier League TV money comes in at the end of the season, but it comes in for every team, so it doesn’t give us any kind of additional footballing advantage when it comes to buying the best players. Which is another fear. We may not buy the best players and pay top dollar at the moment, but with no lure of Champions League football I fear that it is yet another excuse as to why we don’t go in for players. The club has enough excuses at the moment, we don’t need them to throw another one on the fire to see how hot it burns.

But what of Arsene? Would it be the worst thing in the world if he left the club? Personally, I’m getting to the stage where I wonder whether it would be best for all involved. Get a fresh perspective in and give Arsene the break he probably needs. But again, my fear is that if we continue to spiral downwards in terms of the squad and our league position, that we have to start looking at managers that are at the Roy Hodgson and Brendan Rodgers level. Somebody even asked me yesterday if I’d consider Roberto Martinez as the next Arsenal manager. ROBERTO MARTINEZ. Let me allow that to sink in for you for a minute…..

Quite often I don’t really know which direction my blogs are going to go when I write them. I just have thoughts about Arsenal and want to get them down on proverbial paper so I can reflect and review later on, and I suspect this blog has sort of moved into that realm, but to try and bring this back into some form of structure I’ll go back over my general thoughts in some form of summation:

I don’t fear Arsenal not being in the Champions League.

I don’t fear Arsenal without Arsene (although as little as three years ago that was certainly not the case – it shows how much we have declined) any more either.

What I do fear is that with this current board and management that we will descend into the bowls of mediocrity in the English game and find it very difficult to recover. I really hope we’re not seeing the start of that.

Until tomorrow people.

Aston Villa review: Textbook

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Does John Motson get the BBC1 gig for Arsenal because it’s the closest to his house and the BBC therefore have to pay less for his entourage?

I only ask because the last couple of times I’ve been to see our beloved Arsenal boys, on every occasion, he’s commentated. It doesn’t help that I can’t stand his senile ramblings either.

Anyway, on to yesterday’s game. And what a lovely game it was. In fact, if you were to be given a choice on how a game at the Emirates should play out, this would be pretty much bang on. Within reason, obviously. I mean, we can’t win every game 7-0, so if you were to pick an ideal ‘realistic’ scoreline, 3-0 at home would pretty much be it. It was textbook stuff from an Arsenal team in full flow at the moment.

Before the game began I blogged about underestimating yesterday’s opponents, despite their league form and couple of key injuries. Thankfully, the confidence of this Arsenal team, perhaps coupled with the awareness of what can happen to you if you don’t bring your ‘A game’ to the table (see United at Old Trafford, Blackburn at Ewood Park and Swansea at the Liberty as prime examples), helped to spur this team on to a four point game between us and the Spuds, as well as an eight point gap over Chelski too. It also heralded the longest winning streak we have been on since 2007.

From the first minute the team were up for this. Buoyed by the excellent form and confidence we are in at the moment, the players fizzed the ball across the surface with consummate ease. As I remarked to my colleague after ten minutes: “It’s the positivity and confidence of the Invincibles”. Yes, I know this team are a far cry from that great Wenger side, but you could feel the confidence oozing from the players. From front to back, every player was up for this and every player performed.

The one thing I worried about was whether Aston Villa would sit ten behind the ball and play for the draw, with Arsenal being frustrated and unable to capitalise on a resilient defence. Thankfully my fears were allayed within 15 minutes. Kieran Gibbs the unlikely scorer, he sauntered his way into the left hand side of the box from a Gervhino pass, knocking the ball beyond a Shay Given that I thought could have done better. No matter though, we all would have taken that and just ten minutes later Theo Walcott had doubled the lad and made us all feel that little bit comfortable. Alex Song has been much maligned by some of his passing abilities by yours truly this season, but once again, he has laced my face with egg by providing yet another assist. It was his delightful ball over the top that set up the young Englishman and, with a deft first touch and a fabulous second, he had the ball in the net.

Halftime came and we were comfortable, keeping Aston Villa at arms length. Van Persie had a great effort spectacularly headed over by Warnock, and Arteta forced an acrobatic save from Given just before the half time beers were to be supped.

At half time I mused with my footballing companion (the Chief Execs son) that we had been impressive, but the first five to ten minutes of the second half would determine how the game would pan out. Start the second as we started the first and we should be able to wrap up the game. Look slightly lackadaisical and we could concede, making for a nail biting finish.

Thankfully the same words must have been spoken by Le Boss. We pressed, attacked every ball, pushed for a third and, whilst it didn’t come until injury time, deserved the goal that out play deserved. The excellent Mikel Arteta getting on the scoresheet once again.

We now find ourselves with eight points separating us and fifth. There are eight games to go and 24 points to play for, so we should by no means be resting on our laurels, but it is pleasing to be in this position given the situation even as early as the beginning of this year.

A few final words for some of the in form players at the club. Rosicky looks transformed. Once again he was excellent, winning tackles, dictating play, driving us forward and getting the cheers of the fans. So too was Theo Walcott. Consistency in his game has long been a key question aimed at him, but he is beginning to exhibit it at this crucial time in the season. I for one couldn’t be happier about that, and where at the beginning of the year many would have questioned his place on the plane in Euro2012, if he continues this form, many will question if he’s not one of the first one the team sheet come that first game in June. Such was the impressive display yesterday, I think I could go through the whole team (Arteta played well too) and single out some stellar performances, but this blog might turn into War and Peace. So I’ll leave it there for now.

The important thing is that the three points were secured, the momentum maintained, and the Rees go marching on.

Until tomorrow gooners. Have a good Sunday.

The Ginger Scottish troll out to spoil the party

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Happy Friday to you all. Tis a lovely spring day and if you are anything like me you are still buzzing from a gritty victory against Everton, looking forward to a trip to a hopefully sun-kissed Emirates for a match up against the Villains of Birmingham. With our form as it is at the moment there are many fans looking to this game as a possibility to at least put more distance between at least one of our nearest rivals.

But I come with words of caution to all gooners and the players themselves: beware the ginger haired Scotsman baring fruits of three-pointy succulentness. To assume that this game is a foregone conclusion – that way defeat lies. It was in a suburban greater London hamlet that that the same ginger troll lurked in his dugout of despair just over a year ago, lying in wait for a fresh-faced Arsenal team, merrily going about their business wanting to bring footballing treats to their fans, when he struck at the jugular with the aid of his poisonous dwarf henchmen Bowyer and Ferguson to kill off Arsenal’s trophy ambition. And like a slow-release poison, the after effects of last year’s Carling Cup defeat was followed by slow suffocation in the league, FA Cup and Champions League until nothing was left from the mental reserves of the team.

Alex McCleish’s Aston Villa will set themselves out to frustrate us tomorrow. They will look to try and catch us on the counter attack with the pace of Agbonlohor and deal another stinging mental blow to our current momentum. Later on today I’m sure we will hear the boss echo these very sentiments, albeit perhaps in not such a metaphorically laced analogy, but I’m sure we will hear words of caution that the work is far from done this season. He will stress the ‘one game at a time’ approach and will urge the utmost professionalism and respect for the opposition. Underestimating a fellow premier league opponent is a perilous tightrope to walk, especially one as unpredictable as Villa. At times they have looked good, at times abysmal, so we don’t know what side will come out from the red tarpaulin come 3pm. Let’s hope it’s one that is served up with a warm dose of smack down.

We’ve already managed two victories against Aston Villa this season, with the second coming in the FA Cup off the back of a couple of appalling results in the league and an awful dirt half of football where we saw our team look all but out of the competition at half time. The positives on that occasion was the spirit and resolve that the team showed that day and if the same effort and application of that second half is shown again tomorrow then we will have no problems in our quest for three points.

Whilst Le Boss with rightly want to guard against complacency, not rule out any of our opponents and stress the number of games and points left to play for this season (which is right), the fans do not afford themselves the same perspective. In today’s instant access, social media fuelled, ‘dish-it-and-take-it’ footballing society, pity, perspective and understated contentness are no ally. So what we will see this weekend will be a demand from the Arsenal fans that we rip apart the body of the proverbial troll and his new henchmen and gorge on the innards of them before ploughing forward in our pursuit of the hallowed Champions League gingerbread house.

Tomorrow will see one of two things – a tense and frustrating afternoon trying to break down a stubborn resistance (possibly catching us on the counter attack), or a mauling of the kind another ‘Kean’ Scotsman received when he tried to block the path of our boys and declare: “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”. Let us hope the same fate befalls our opponent tomorrow.

Have a good one guys.

Arsenal: from frustration to salvation

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Morning fellow gooners,

Whilst I am not old enough to remember that Jimmy Greaves was a footballer (a plus given the teams he played for I think) I am old enough to remember his days as a pundit with Ian St John and his legendary catch phrase: it’s a funny old game.

When it comes to the FA cup it certainly seems to become more apt a sentence and for Arsenal it was the case yesterday. Because lets face it, if you look at our form going into this game, you have to say that describing the sport as ‘funny’ would not be one of the adjectives you would look for.

To use another footballing cliché, the game was also that “of two halves”, with the first half resulting in the team roundly booed off at half time for the second time in two weeks, followed by a redemption of the players within about 15 second half minutes.

The first half actually started quite brightly, like the United game. We had plenty of possession, we looked in control and we also tested Shay Given in the Villa goal a couple of times, the most notable being a stinging shot by Thomas Vermaelen after a free kick from about 30 yards out. The return of some key players (albeit on the bench) also made the atmosphere feel a little more upbeat than previous weeks, with Arteta, Henry and Sagna back on the bench, plus the once again composed Coquelin in at right back. After Djourou’s horrow show last week, this was good news all round. The Ox also started in his second game in a row.

So whilst the half ticked away we settled into our usual passing routine, but with one vital ingredient missing – final third cutting edge. Aaron Ramsey was not always at his best in the first half and Theo was once again disappointingly quiet, only once or twice getting the opportunity to stretch his legs, with one shot poorly off target. RvP was also quiet in the first half, as Villa did a good job of stifling the Dutchman and cutting off our attacking creativity by defending deep and asking a confidence shorn attack to try to break them down. They were here for a draw with the hope of a counter attack to see if they could snatch a win.

They got what they wanted. Twice. For the first opportunity it was once again a ball swung in from our left, from a corner this week as opposed to open play, that led to the first goal. As the ball was floated to the back post, no Arsenal defenders dealt with it and Richard Dunne raised above everyone else to nod the ball home. The second goal, in an almost identical time slot as last week’s Valencia finish, came as the half time whistle was about to blow. From an Arsenal corner the ball broke, and as Darren Bent was sent racing through you feared the worse. The first shot was well saved by Fabianski, but Bent reacted the quickest and gave the Arsenal team a mountain to climb by slotting the ball home.

Cue half time. Cue the boos. Cue the Twitter outrage. I have to say I was angry that we had once again seemed to gift another result to a team that, let’s not forget, we abject at best against Spurs late last year. Whilst I am not a fully fledged member of the ‘Wenger Out’ club, I was starting to think that his time could be running out if we suffered another defeat and went out of the FA Cup.

But we come back to the old cliché and we still have a half to play. Whilst the fans were despondently tucking in to their overpriced beef and onion pies and ready salted Pringles, the team were in quiet contemplation, determined not to be beaten. So when the second half started we immediately saw a different Arsenal. Ramsey, Van Persie, Walcott all suddenly started to see more of the ball and were also become more direct, with a purpose and a mission to eradicate any recent memories of failure. If the game was to be salvaged it would take an early goal and we were to be rewarded with just that. A ball inside the box from a driving Oxlade-Chamberlain run was latched on to from Ramsey who knocked the ball beyond Dunne, who clattered into him. The ball did roll to Given but it was still a foul, so whilst the debate can roll on whether Ramsey was in control of the ball, there is no denying that had it been on any other area of the pitch no questions would have been asked. Robin Van Persie dispatched the penalty and we had about forty minutes (including added time) recover the deficit. We need only have waited another three minutes before we were level. A ball over the right hand side for Theo to run on to was latched on to by the nippy lad, and as he danced around Warnock and played the ball off Given, it fell to Ireland who kicked it against his shoulder. Back to 2-2 and suddenly a win was within our grasp. And it was just four minutes after the restart that the winning goal was found. A brilliantly direct attacking drive into the box by Koscienly found a reversal of roles as Bent went to ground to defend the ball. He missed with one part of his boot and caught Koscienly. The ref pointed to the spot and once again Van Persie sent the keeper the wrong way.

The remaining half an hour petered out with Villa trying to unlock our defence but we stood firm to get our names into the hat. Away to Middlesborough or Sunderland will be our next destination in round five.

Just before I sign off, a quick word on the booing and the situation. Yes you should always get behind the team, and yes booing doesn’t really achieve anything. But the booing is really the only way that fans can announce their displeasure. And lets face it, had we have lost this then there would not be many fans saying that Wenger knows what he is doing. Football is a game of fine margins and yesterday’s two halves reflected that. As I’ve said all along, I’m willing to see how far we go until the end of the season before I judge whether I think Wenger has had his time at the club, but until then, we need to stick together and see how far we can get.

Have a good day all.

Villa preview – Would you swap a trophy for a CL place?

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Morning all,

Today is FA Cup day for Arsenal fans. I remember the days when these used to be magical. You’d wait for it for a long time and then you’d count down the days when it would happen. Nowadays it is seen more as a ‘nice to have’ rather than a ‘have to have’. I’m not going to go into a long debate about how the importance of being in the Champions League has meant that the FA Cup has lost a lot of its impact, but if you ask any Arsenal fan whether they would take fourth place and a shot at the Champions League next year or fifth place and the FA Cup trophy in the cabinet, you might find the majority of gooners telling you they’ll take that better league position. I have to say I am also in that camp as well. Don’t get me wrong, I am desperate for us to win a trophy (not least to shut the media up), but I would put more hopes on us keeping our better, and best, players if we are in Champions League. It also means we are more likely to attract the top talent from around Europe. Some people have been talking about Eden Hazard or Mario Gotze signing for us recently; do you really think they will come on board if Champions League qualification is not in the offing?

So whilst the FA Cup provides a welcome distraction from our recent league woes, let’s not try to get too carried away with a cup run whilst the bread and butter for the club – the Champions League qualification spot – still remains quite a way away from us.

Anyway, enough of this mopeyness (is that even a word? [Shift+F7......'Add to Dictionary']….yes, it is a word), let’s talk about the game today, as we entertain the Midlanders Aston Villa. It’s fair to say that I have come to expect us to play Premier League teams at this stage in the competition (remember when we used to get teams like Farnborough and Oxford United?) so when our name was drawn out of the hat a few weeks back I was just happy that it came out on the ‘home’ side of the draw table. Aston Villa will by no means be an easy game today and they will see a cup run as a real opportunity to salvage what has been an average at best season for them. I listened to the game at White Hart Lane when McCleish basically bent over and asked ‘Arry’s team to “go gentle”, but I don’t think we’ll see the same negative anti-football tactics today. They know that they can’t just play for a draw and will be wanting to at least get a draw to try to win the tie on their own turf with their fans behind them.

The last team the two teams met we came away with a very narrow 2-1 victory with the little Israeli Yossi Benayoun nodding in what proved to be a very useful three points. Especially when you think how our form has been since 2012 started. It was the last away game we won and I hope that the team can remember that far back into December to dig out some confidence today, because a fourth defeat and out of the FA Cup would really have the media on Arsene’s back. Let’s also not forget the pathetic performance against Villa at home last season, where a punch-drunk Arsenal side, at the end of a disappointing season, fell to a Villa side that had only just managed to claw itself out of the relegation zone. So Villa will feel that they have the knowledge of how to beat Arsenal on our home turf and will be hopeful that they can get something out of the game.

Their team injury news isn’t as bad as ours when you look at the Physio Room injury table, but with the news that Agbonlohor is back it means defensively we’ll certainly have our work cut out for us. Heskey and Ireland will both face fitness tests but by the looks of things they will probably pay some part, so I think we’ll see a strong Villa side today.

Our problems are well documented, but with Vermaelen back and the rumours of Sagna perhaps even starting, I am filled with a little bit of hope that we can get something from the game today. Djourou was all kinds of awful against United and if Agbonlohor has a good game it will be by isolating himself against the cumbersome Swiss.

We’ll hopefully be welcoming Henry and Arteta back to the squad and the Spaniard’s return is most welcome. I wrote a blog piece a week or so ago about how I underestimated his importance and so I can’t stress enough how pleasing it will be to see him step out onto the field today. He marshalls the midfield, dictates the play and is a central focus for the ball to be played through. When Song wins the ball in our half, the first person he looks for is Arteta and his presence means Ramsey can push forward and support Van Persie. The return to the squad of Henry as an impact sub is great, but Arteta’s role is what could be a big factor in the result today.

In terms of the team itself, I think we could pretty much pick it as the same team that lined up against United. The Ox’s stellar display should guarantee his inclusion in the first 11 today at the expense of the ineffective and downright ‘can’t be arsed’ness of Arshavin. Walcott knows he needs to do more but knowing and doing are two very different things. That being said I still see him starting so we’ll look to him to show his pace and get in behind the defence. The only question that will be raised is at right back. If Sagna is not ready then I’d be tempted to go with Yennaris again.

In terms of the result I think it will depend on what Arsenal team shows up. If we get the team that played the first half against United it will be a tough game. However, if we get the same team that played the second half then I think we stand a chance of getting the win and putting us into the hat for the next round (which we’ll know who we could play before kick off).

Whatever has happened in the past it is the past. Today is a new game and a new opportunity to deliver what the fans want – a win.

Until tomorrow.

Early present from the Villans

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Good morrow noble gooner compatriots,

Yesterday’s early Christmas gift was from Arsenal football club in the shape of a hard fought three points against a hard working Aston Villa side determined to show that the abomination of a performance against Villa at the weekend was not a true reflection of their efforts.

The side that lined up against Villa had one change that surprised most of us I think – certainly the bloggers of the world – as Coquelin came in at right back for the injured Djourou sitting alongside Kos, Mert and the Verminator. The rest of the team continued from the weekend.

Unfortunately, once again I was unable to watch the game in its entirety, travelling northbound for Christmas festivities, which also means the opportunity to watch the game ‘as live’ on Arsenal Player is available to me and so I have to do with Alan ‘coloured players’ Hansen and co. on Match of The Day as the basis of today’s blog post. Before I do talk about the Arsenal though there are a couple of things I want to point out.

Firstly, Alan Hansen, in the current climate of well publicised issues addressing racism in football, should surely be a lot more careful about what he says on terrestrial television in front of millions of people. The fact that Lee Dixon even looked at Gary Lineker after the second comment from Hansen shows that they are all well aware of what the boundaries are. It was out of order and I think he should be reprimanded.

Moving on to my second point – how the hell were Arsenal fourth on Match of the Day? QPR vs Sunderland was in at number three. Now, many people will think that because the game finished in dramatic style with a goal at the end, that it justifies it’s spot at number three, after the two top sides. But the fact that I was in the car listening to the radio and barely heard the game from the commentary team, who kept referring to the Arsenal game and saying how it was exciting It was, I thought to myself that it would surely be one of the first games? Obviously not.

Anyway, to the game itself, and by the looks of it we controlled the first half without too much penetration before Theo Walcott got the wrong side of Kieren Clark inside the Villa box only for the Irishman to tug him back. It was a clear pen and RvP duly dispatched. 1-0 up on 17 minutes and so it was that way at HT.

The lead for the second half would only be for ten minutes, as Villa scored the 20,000th Premier League goal with a lot of help from Arsenal. A loose Verminator headed pass to Mertesacker was flicked over his head by Albrighton, who finished smoothly to equalise. Shoddy stuff from a usually icey-cool Vermaelen.

Thankfully it wasn’t going to spoil my evening as the little Israeli, Yossi Benayoun, scored from a set piece corner with three minutes to go. He isn’t exactly the BFG but it was a good header at a great time to win the match.

I think I’m right in saying that it was our first penalty of the season and when you couple that with the fact we also scored from a corner, the two goals that won us the game were very ‘un-Arsenal’ like. But no matter. We now have two home games in which I think more rotation will take place and hopefully we start to see some players stepping up wanting to show they can still do it against, with all due respect to them, teams that are very beatable.

So overall there will be gooners worldwide happy with this result, safe in the knowledge the turkey will taste all the better on Christmas day.

Later all, have a good one.

Villa preview: no time to rotate

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Morning all,

Isn’t the festive period just great when it comes to football? No sooner have you finished licking the last of your wounds from a previous defeat, you get to look forward to another game with which to banish the heartache of three points dropped. So it is then, that The Arsenal are once again in action, against Aston Villa at Villa Park.

There were many positives to take from defeat on Sunday. With a team depleted of full backs and still missing the enigmatic Jack Wilshere, Arsenal managed to go toe-to-toe with the footballing mercenaries from Moneychester City. Yes, we came away with a defeat that halted our good run of form and yes, we lost another player to injury in the shape of the Swissman Djourou, but we took heart from the effort of the players. The hope now is that this effort can be matched against Villa tonight which would surely lead to a more positive outcome from a trip up north.

The last time we faced back-to-back meaningful games was after the victory at home to Dortmund where we were unable to break down a steady but toothless Fulham side. After that game many spoke of how the players looked tired after giving their all to secure Champions League top spot and to an extent I can understand it. However tonight we simply must put Aston Villa to the sword. Fatigue cannot be levelled at the players after 15 league games and if we want to finish in the top four we need to build the consistency that our rivals are starting to show. Recent weeks have seen us build the momentum and I am hopeful that the performance against City will have kept the teams spirits higher despite the defeat. I’ve always said we are a confidence team and I hope ours has not been broken following Sunday. We need intensity and a crisp passing game to outshine those Villans.

I want to pick up on the fatigue issue I mentioned as well. I think it says a lot about the state of the squad that we have that we are seeing some of the key players in this fabled ‘red zone’ that we have heard mentioned – where players are fatigued and so liable to pick up injuries – and I think it makes an obvious case for some serious squad improvement in January and then the summer. If Le Boss cannot trust players like Arshavin and Chamakh anymore, both of whom played, and scored against Villa last year, then adequate players need to be bought in their place to be tested. Perhaps these players are already in the squad in the place of The Ox and Benayoun? Perhaps we need to get some players in January? Perhaps some of the younger players need to be given their shot at a starting role? Either way, the club cannot afford to be trying to play players like Chamakh and Shava back into form. If they are not cutting the mustard then they need to be cut. End of.

I mentioned the squad and the need for reinforcements purely because this is the time of year where sometimes you almost need two elevens to call on. Both of which need to be capable of winning games and not just making up the numbers. The manager rotated over Christmas last year and came a cropper against Wigan and we can’t afford the same this year – we’re in a more precarious position than we’ve ever been before in terms of the Champions League positions.

If the manager decides to rotate, then I have to believe it will be against Wolves and QPR in the comfort of our own home rather than the hostile away ground in the Midlands. Although Villa are not exactly the same side of four years ago, they still offer quite a threat and with their home fans behind them you’d expect them to be up for it. So I expect the team to line up exactly the same as Sunday minus Djourou for Miquel. We heard yesterday that Gibbs has had ‘another setback’ and so won’t be available. I’ve heard that phrase ‘another setback’ too many times when it refers to Arsenal. Why is it no other teams speak of having ‘another setback’ with their injuries? Another story and another rant for another day methinks.

Villa themselves have their own problems, with James Collins and Darren Bent giving them their injury problems. Bent was the thorn in the side at the Emirates last season and his absence tonight will be most welcome to gunners everywhere. They do have Agbonlohor back but I still fancy our chances to get something. Villa were poor against Liverpool – partially down to their two most attacking and creative players missing in bent and Agbonlohor, but I can’t believe they will be that poor again so don’t expect an easy game gooners. Whilst our boys might be suffering from fatigue, the saving grace is that all Premier League teams are in the same boat at this time of the year. Villa played on Sunday too and so effectively the playing field has been levelled in that regard.

As always, I don’t fancy us to keep a clean sheet – even if the defence has started to get a bit more scroogey with their conceding of goals of late – so I’m going to go for a thriller of a 3-2 victory, in similar style to last year’s 4-2 win. I have a funny feeling we’ll look shaky at the start and could possibly even concede the first, so at 25-1 for a 3-2 victory you can put a cheeky pound on it and hope for a bit of beer money over the festive season.

Today we’ll also find out if the Wolves game is being postponed for the following day. Without wanting to infuriate any gooners out there, I hope it does get postponed. Boxing Day games for me have always been a bit of a pain in the arse after a day of food and drinking on Christmas Day, so to have a rest before starting up again on the beers at the ground would be ok with me!

If you’re going to the game tonight – enjoy, sing up, and pray for three points!

Until tomorrow.