Ok, so I ended up watching the match in some Soho bar, dressed as the mad hatter. My report will be strictly note form today, exactly as I saw the match. Apologies for the lack of craft, this is totally blackberry!

Notes:

Scored more goals than we’ve scored before, but conceded the most in our Premier League history.

Rambo starts the game ahead of Song because Wenger wants to give him a run out. Geoff predicted correctly!

Wolves make the first chance of the game with a looping kevin doyle header. Gibbs cleared off the line.

Ebanks Blake gets a header off from a corner that fizzed past Almunia’s near post.

Wolves were playing a high line which Van the man nearly exploited.

Eduardo had a shout for a penalty turned down. What a joke, it was a nailed on one. Match of the day of course didn’t show that one.

Wolves continued to exploit us aerially. They had a game plan, and it was doing well. Diaby took a few minutes out to allow us to gain composure… I hoped! Song took his place, then I realised it wasn’t a a cunning Diaby plan. This team amendment would hopefully allow Rambo the chance to get forward.

Arsenal picked up a free kick after Eduardo was cynically shoved over. RVP fizzed in the free kick…it missed everyone and went in off Zubar. I jumped up, saw Eduardo waving his finger…assumed it was disallowed, thankfully it was just an admittance that the goal wasn’t his. Arsenal were undeservedly ahead.

Arsenal started to dominate.

Song broke up play in the middle, laid it off to Rambo whose pace allowed him to beat his man, he then  passed to Eduardo who with one touch, chipped Hennesey in stunning fashion, well maybe a tiny deflection.

Sagna won the ball in his own half and gave it to Cesc, who then passed it back to Sagna, who elegantly chipped the ball to Van persie, who stunned the ball to Cesc, who buried it inside Henneseys near post. Fab-ulous stuff. Sagna loves an assist lately, eh?

The second half started slowly. I did wonder to myself why Rambo didn’t start ahead of Diaby? Song was reassuring in the middle, cleaning up like Ashley Cole in a room full of ugly hair dressers. Aaron Ramsey was a touch unpredictable in the first half, but going forward he looked every bit the player we’d hoped for.

Gibbs was booked for a challenge he tried to pull out of…  …harsh in my opinion.

Arshavin scored our fourth after he buried the punch out back into the net from twenty yards out, super, super strike.

Arsenal dominated the rest of the game until the 89th minute when I said to my friend,

‘This is when we concede’

Sure enough, we gave away a needless corner, Vermaelen lost his marker and Wolves nabbed their consolation goal. I had a disagreement with a few of the grovers about late goals. My view is if you concede enough of them, it becomes a mental issue. I think its apparent we have a problem now, it doesn’t bode well for the big games does it? 4 late goals in 5 games, very upsetting from a perfectionist point of view.

Conclusion.

Superb play at times after a shaky start, who cares though, we are second, and if today is a draw, we can go top by beating the chavs, so after much soul searching, I asked the postmeister Geoff for his opinion on the ideal result, and we both agreed a draw would suit, a nil, nil one, followed by 4 sendings off for violent conduct.

Have a super Sunday and let’s hope for the perfect result to finish off a great weekend.

So the boss says Manuel is back to his best, that sounds to me like to manager is happy with his keeper and that’s a worry, if we had a Seaman in goal I could understand that comment but we don’t, so if he’s content, get used to it people, he won’t be looking for another.

Ok, word on the street is, that young Craig Eastmond travels today, perhaps Wenger is looking at his replacement options for the ACN, I would like to see if this kid can have another good game, blooding him against Wolves could be an inspired moved, if he does, good luck Craig.

News that we’re after Ozil sounds like complete bollocks to me, as the article says he is a replacement for Cesc, well as Cesc is going nowhere, that makes it a non story, and anyway, we have Ramsey and of course, Fran Merida, which brings me onto todays question.

You could say that losing Wiltord and Edu on free’s was a little careless, and that losing Flamini for zip was a bit daft, but to lose Fran Merida for nothing at the end of the season would be staggering. I’m sure we wouldn’t have allowed his contract to wind down, especially as we spent all summer getting the rest of the team on long term contracts, Gazidas is way too smart, isn’t he?

Carlo Ancellotti sees us as his main threat this season, nice little compliment that, and high time we were talked about as potential champions again, today is a good test, but anything less than a win would be a major disappointment, so let’s hope we go at them as if they were some foreign team.

I watched ‘The Damned United’ last night, boy that took me back to what a real tackle was! If you haven’t seen it, get it, it’s so well acted it ought to get an Oscar, it takes you to the day when football really was a mans game, and when I see teams now roughing us up, it makes me laugh, watch this film and you’ll know what roughing up is!

Have a great day Grovers, it’s in our hands and today the Arsenal will close the gap, and don’t forget, we’ll score more than they do, and that’s all that’s needed!

So we will go second if we beat Wolves, albeit for one day, either way it will be good for us, if the Chavs win we go second, if the Mancs win we close the gap to 2 points and have a game in hand, but I guess a draw will be the best result because we can then go past the Chavs when we beat the at THOF. I think anyway!

The good news is the players are beginning to believe it and that means that they will be looking at the table as much as we are.

I think we should have Rosicky back as well as Nasri, so what does that mean in terms of the team, Eboue will go, that’s for sure, but after Diaby’s performance do we want him dropped?

Interesting times ahead, I ‘m not getting into the Marmite players but I would prefer he started to look at Song’s position as he will be the one going to the ACN’s and to throw someone in at the deep end will be taking a chance, unless he sees Ramsey in that role.

The time do do that is when we play teams like Wolves, and that game is coming up, but then we have to win these games so the other argument is don’t screw around, don’t fix it if it’s not broken.

I’m guessing we will play Almunia, so we are still vulnerable at the back, it’s funny that we, the media and all the other blogs see the keeper as a weak point, but the management doesn’t.

We’ll just have to score more than they do I guess!

Only one more day to go and that’s it for 10 days, so make the most of it! Maybe by then we’ll have Theo back and a few more options, now although I really rate both Theo and Rosicky, I think we need to buy at least one replacement, as those two really are crocks and I don’t think that situation will ever change.

Maybe we should look at the training methods, but I’m not sure that would affect those two, they are both very fragile.

It’s funny how some players never seem to get injured isn’t it??? Say no more!

A word for all our players that fancy going to Italy, I’ve watched a few games this season and I watched last nights game which featured Fulham against Roma. The whole ground had somewhere in the region of 16 fans in it, imagine playing in empty stadiums? Even Goodison was packed last night and they lost 7 nil on aggregate, says a lot about England doesn’t it.

Have a great day Grovers, tomorrow it gets interesting.

Confidence breeds confidence. It’s as simple as that really. Arsenal kicked off their mini revival against Liverpool, continued it by spanking our pathetic neighbours down the road and tonight, we continued our march with a resounding win over a team in shop window mode.

Arsenal Starting 11

Spanish Waiter
Eboue
Gibbs
The Verminator
Big Willy
Song
Diaby
Fab4
AA23
Nasri
RvP

For me, the only surprise was to see Eboue in there. Why I was surprised, I don’t know… he’s like athletes foot, just as you think you’ve rid yourself… there it is, flaking up your sock again.

Many were calling for Diaby to be castigated to a far away Island, indeed, many people I was sharing a viewing spot with. My thoughts were if he were to be dropped, he might not come back from it. I almost feel like Diaby needs to be played until he comes good or is replaced by one of the fit again established players.

Dropping him at this stage would be harsh. Like dumping a girl after she’s dropped 4 dress sizes for you. We’ve come so far… if I’m prepared to do it for Song, I”ll be damned if I’m not prepared to stick to my guns with Diaby.

HE WILL BE GOOD!

So, the game kicked off and within 2minutes, Diaby had fluffed a pass and Eboue had gone on one of his classic runs that end in him falling over.

Give me a red shirt, a £30k a week contract and a ball and I can do that for you all day long Arsene… I can even throw in a dive for good measure, and I promise I’ll keep the same sordid secret Eboue keeps for you.

For Diaby though, things began to look up. His passing was measured, he tracked back to make a few important interceptions and he looked stronger/more balanced than he had in the last few games.

Our first chance came when the ref blew up for a back pass. A bit of a weird decision, but what the heck! Robin blasted it into the legs of the static wall. The way AZ were playing, you felt that wouldn’t be the last chance of the game.

Why I made the last comment is a bit beyond me, we could have been playing Chelsea and it wouldn’t have been the last chance of the game… I digress.

After watching the partnership between Eboue and Songs invisible friend develop with a few excellent balls, the time arrived.

Gallas found himself in nose bleed territory, he played it safe and laid it off to Cesc, who jinked inside his man, held off the challenge then slid the ball tamely but accurately past the keeper at the near post. He walked away and politely said, ‘fuck you’ to the AZ full back.

It didn’t take long for the second one to arrive. Arshavin picked up the ball centrally, laid the ball into Nasri who cleverly wrong footed his man with stylish jink of the shoulder, powered past two defenders and buried his shot low and hard past the Argentinian Mick Hucknell. Nasri ran off towards the crowd, presumably his celebration was him metaphorically dusting off the cobwebs of the last few months. Super goal, artistic celebration.

Half time came and Tony Adams was enlightening us with his wisdom. He said something that upset me though.

‘I applauded Arsene on his new 4-3-3, he corrected me though, he said he was playing a 4-1-4-1.’

For gods sake Arsene, it’s 4-4-2, 3-5-1, 4-5-1 or a 4-3-3… don’t start over complicating things and geeking it up, stick with tradition.

The second half kicked off and the fans were hoping for more goals and the Arsenal didn’t disappoint. Arshavin picked the ball up again, ran with it and perfectly timed his through ball to Cesc. He looked up and instead of bending it into the far corner in a ‘Thierry Pires’ kind of way, he hit it into the top corner near side. A masterful goal from the ridiculously productive Spaniard. No ‘fuck you very much’ this time, just a big thumbs up to the fans.

Gibbs who was playing well went close with a driven shot that just went wide.

Eduardo who had replaced Robin earlier on started the move for the 4th with a delightful back heel to Arshavin. The Russian ran forward, cut back and played Diaby in, the Frenchman took a touch and fired it back past the hairy Argentinian for his first goal of the night.

Superb, now all we needed was a clean sheet.

That would be too easy though.

In the dying minutes, Kieron Gibbs was out muscled on the half way line, Lens was played through, Eboue couldn’t get across quick enough to stop him getting a shot in that went into the bottom corner. Technically, Eboue did everything right… he didn’t dive in and he pushed his player out wide. Gibbs was guilty of naivety and Almunia was guilty of not being on his toes.

A bit of a disappointing end to the night, but who cares… we could be Liverpool or Barcelona!

Qualified and we barely broke sweat.

Player Ratings:

Almunia: Pulled of a particularly spectacular save from a powerful 8 yard half volley in the second half. He did well with some tough crosses, but I felt he let himself down with the goal. 6.5

Eboue: Please don’t tell me he played well tonight because I won’t hear it. He was garbage. I counted at least 7 stray passes and one ‘gallopandcrash’. Average right back, superb dressing room clown. 5

Gibbs: In the main he did pretty well. I thought he was caught out of position a few times and strength is clearly an issue. It’s early doors for him and he must learn quickly. 6

Gallas: Just the one assist and in the main, an impeccable game. It was his header that should have been a penalty, which could have prevented the last goal happening. I’m marking him down half a point for not getting the decision. 8

Vermaelen: Top game from everyone’s favourite Belgian. Hard in the challenge, exciting going forward and strong as an ox. 8

Song: Truly the invisible wall tonight. Did everything that was asked of him. A very professional performance. 7

Arshavin: Superb from our dynamic Russian. There seem to be a lot of fans out there keen to underplay how good he is and that is a shame. Trying to down play his brilliance to justify the poor performances of the weaker players is a very boring argument. You don’t drop Arshavin for the same reason we never dropped Bergkamp of Thierry… genius. 3 assists and very strong performance for my favourite person under 5ft7. 8.5

Cesc: Again, suffers the same fate as Arshavin… the reason people don’t jump on Cesc’s back is because even when he is playing badly, he’ll pop up with an assist or a goal. Tonight he was superb, pulling strings like grade 8 Cello player and scoring goals like he has a reputation for finishing. If Cesc continues this form, it would be hard to argue that he could be classed among the top 3 midfielders in the world. 9

Diaby: I said he should be dropped after the Spurs game, and at the time, I meant it. There was not excuse for that performance, but in the week I softened my view. He is adapting to a new position which I personally believe is affecting his strengths (Not in a kryptonite way…). There are no excuses for some of the idiotic things he does on the pitch, but tonight he looked much better. I’m a big believer in his ability to become a top player for us and tonight he demonstrated glimpses of what he can do for us. He made some key interceptions, held off some strong challenges and came out with the ball and scored a classy goal. I’m giving that half point I took off Gallas, to Diaby… kind of like a gold star for effort. 7.5

RvP: A good game from a player some are calling ‘Henkamp’. He stretched AZ with his clever runs and he went close on a number of occasions. My favourite aspect of Robin Van Persie’s persona is his undoubted passion for the cause… Mr Arsenal through and through. As a fan, I connect with him in the same way I connected with Theirry, Paddy and Freddie. It’s great having players like that on your side and it’s great they are playing well and receiving the deserved credit. Arsene believes he is amongst the top 5 strikers in the world, what do you think? 7.5

Nasri: A very good return to action from a player we’re all expecting big things from this year. His passing was good, his ability to create space for others was still there and his eye for goal was demonstrated to all. This year I will be mostly looking for him to show up in every game, to score more goals and to man up and stop taking time off for girly injuries. 8

Conclusion:

A top performance from a team on fire. We need to learn to maintain a lead till the end. The rate we are going, it is going to start to become a mental block. You could once again see that we started to panic towards the end, that’s no good going into the 90th minute of a semi final 1-0 up.

Attacking wise we’re looking superb and it was great to see Rosicky, Nasri and Eduardo come through the game unscathed.

If I were a Wolves fan, I’d be worried… very worried.

Err, happy Bonfire night?!

See you in the comments!

So in this politically correct world in which we live, where people get banned from Arsenal for singing the wrong song or standing up, I hope the hell that Arsenal extend that attitude to train robbers, especially one that was involved in the death of an innocent man whilst stealing his money.

Ronnie Biggs who never once said he was sorry, conned his way out of prison by faking dying and now feels well enough to want to go to an Arsenal match, Arsenal you banned me once and I didn’t rob a train, you banned Bin Laden, so I hope you ban him.

Ronnie, if you do get in, you’d better not sit near me, I think you are nothing more than a dirt bag who spent his life not working, paying no tax and fathering a kid just to get out of being extradited back to serve your sentence, and now you get 24 hour care on the NHS estimated to cost the tax payer £40k a year and £96 a week pension backdated to when you got released, all that and you didn’t pay a single penny in, you low life bum.

And that’s 50% more than I would get if I lost my job and I have worked my whole life paying in to the system.

Arsenal if you let him in, I’ll be giving my season tickets back and I’ll tell the world why.

I know we tend to sanctify scumbags and villains in this country, I hope like hell this bloke doesn’t get afforded the same privilege.

You are not a cheeky chappie, you sure as hell aren’t Robin Hood and you’re not welcome at our football club, Arsenal, say something!

Gael Clichy’s injury will open the door for Keiron Gibbs, so Gael, get well soon, and Keiron, seize the moment and show us tonight what you can do for England instead of the twit that plays for Chelsea.

I expect nothing more than a resounding victory, win this game boys, and do it convincingly so we can go into the weekend with our tails up.

I promised you Grovers that I wouldn’t predict a score so I won’t, but remember what we did to Blackburn? Expect a similar score.

According to the press we are after Servet Cetin, he is a tough tackling centre back from Turkey, I wouldn’t read too much into that story, solid bloke though.

Anyway Grovers, enjoy this evening, because I can’t see us having many games as easy as this one, expect some kids, but expect a tonking, we are in Europe and we mean to qualify…Tonight!

Enough on hi.

So why does he not just take over the club, this is painful and what benefit did this board get from all it’s posturing and getting rid of David Dein, the bloke that brought him in, in the first place. What a shambles, now we get to be run by a cheerleader. Now I think it’s all over and we’ll have to see what he intends to do next. Why he just didn’t make it 30% it’s typical of the way this board operates, what next, 29.8%?

They are like children. Get on with it for goodness sake.

This was what Arsenal just sent me.

‘On 2nd November 2009, Arsenal Holdings plc (the “Company”) received notification that on 2nd November 2009 Stan Kroenke, a director of the Company, acquired 427 ordinary shares of £1.00 each in the Company at a price of £8,500 per share.Taking into account such acquisition, Stan Kroenke has a beneficial interest in, and controls voting rights over 18,394 ordinary shares in the Company, representing 29.6% of the Company’s issued ordinary shares’

Onto footballing matters and I never thought I’d say it, but I agree with jug ears. Gary Lineker has said, if he were an Arsenal fan he would be pleased with the team this season, he said we were wonderful on the eye and clearly still developing, even though we might need to add a Patrick Vieira-type figure in central midfield and a goalkeeper if we want to overhaul the mancs and the chavs. I have to agree with that, without naming names of course, but maybe one name I should name is that of Vieira, maybe we can buy him in the window as cover for the absentees and as a father figure to the youngsters like Coquelin and Eastmond.

Who to bring in as a keeper? I’m not sure he’ll bring in anyone, though Alan Smith did say on Saturday that he thought Wenger would buy a keeper. I miss that Paddy grit, imagine him and Gallas in the same team with Vermaelen, it would be like going back to the days of the famous back four, fist pumping and shouting at the team to go that extra mile, I would love it.

There are certain couples that shouldn’t really have kids, but true to form one was born yesterday and given a proper council house name, poor kid, imagine what growing up in that family will be like, he’ll think that ‘eeeeeerrr’ is a real word.

I watched the Jay Emmanuel Thomas goal for Blackpool on Saturday and what a cracker, I like this kid, although he seems to play further forward, he does remind me of Vieira, I wonder if we could convert him, I remember we bought Djourou in as  a defensive midfielder so we do seem to have options there, I know Djourou is injured but maybe if we don’t bring Paddy back we should experiment. One thing is for sure, we will need someone come January and if our players get injured out there, we will need cover all the way through the season.

So our options are Coquelin, Eastmond, PADDY, Thomas, Nasri, Djourou (if not still injured) Senderos, Denilson, Diaby. I think they are options, then again he may well go out and surprise us by buying someone, someone ready and good like the chavs did with Essien, anyone for Mascerano? (I know a number of you think he’s shit, but I like him)

No one ever bought Veloso did they, maybe he’s not worth it, but it has gone quiet and we haven’t signed a Portuguese player since Luis Boa Morte, who I just found out lives in the next street to me. (Don’t say Bitchslap because he was a mixture and we didn’t sign him)

Tomorrow we play Alkmaar at home, and I believe he will rest players, I expect to see Nasri back in the midfield alongside Cesc and I suspect Eboue. (Didn’t say I wanted him note) I wonder if he’ll promote young Sanchez Watt now that Bendtner is a long termer, I think it’s anybody’s guess with Rosicky and though I adore him, I think it’s time to say goodbye, we can’t go through another season of this, yes it is like a new signing, but he comes back, gets match fit and then gets injured again, it’s time to bring in a world class replacement and not a kid, and if we do go the way of a kid, let’s bring in someone like Eden Hazard, someone with pace and trickery.

Anyway lots to look forward to and for once, the international break is coming at the right time, we may have Theo and Rosicky back for the chav game, and imagine our Carling cup team with Theo, Rosicky, Nasri and Robin in it, ha, ha, that would be the end of shitty, and given the away fans we’d be allowed for the game, it would be like a home tie!

Have a great day Grovers, tomorrow we qualify.

P.S. Pedro has tickets for tomorrow in le exchange! Mail in if you’re interested!

Robin Van Persie, fast turning into that player we all hoped he would, has asked the boss if he can play against Man Shitty in the quarter final of the Carling cup, Le Grove says yes please.

The Carling Cup, often referred to as the worthless cup is no longer second rate, how can it be? All the teams left in it are now EPL clubs, so the only difference between that and the FA Cup is the name. All the clubs left will be trying to win it, and will no doubt be playing with their first choice 11’s, I hope we do the same, to beat the northern chavs will go a long way to showing them who the daddy really is, so please Arsene, give us your best team.

Giving the woeful spuds a good pasting also established what a complete jerk Redknapp really is, to say they were as good as us, and that all our goals were useless is like saying Megan Fox has big ears and your wife’s sister is better looking. She may be better looking than your wife, but she’s not better than Megan Fox, so Harry, get real!

The Cesc Fabregas goal was so good I think it will win goal of the season, commiting suicide if we won 1 nil would be funny, but 3 nil, you’re having a laugh!

Onto a subject that will never be agreed on here on Le grove, our Marmite players. Song, Diaby, Eboue and Denilson are players that you either rate, or you don’t, there is no middle ground with us Grovers, the thing is, Arsene Wenger will continue to play them, and no amount of us debating their worth will ever change that, I suggest we leave it at that, we spend more time debating their worth than we do talking about the Arsenal, and it makes no difference, he will play them, so I suggest we stop arguing amongst ourselves and move on.

We should spend the rest of the season talking up our team and having a good debate at the end, or at least until the window opens and then see if Wenger gets his cheque book out in those areas.

I know I am the world’s worst on this subject so I am suggesting we call time on it, let’s all laugh at the shit team in the Hertfordshire slums instead.

We play AK Alkmaar on Wednesday and a win will see us into the knock out stages, if we then beat one other in our group, I think we should finish top of the pile, then we can experiment, I know other results also come in to the equation, but I don’t think I’m far away with that assumption.

I also believe he will want to finish the year still competing in all the competitions, and we won’t do that if we don’t bring out the big guns at the Eastlands.

Beating the southern chavs in a few weeks will close the gap even further, and Saturday showed we have added patience, defending and how to close a game out in one go, well done the lads, more of the same this week please.

Have a good’un today Grovers, and send all those happy texts to all those silly spuds that think they have a stronger bench than us, ha, ha, ha!

Sorry for the slightly crass headline. It feels right though. Robbie Keane spouted off about how they didn’t fear us, how man for man they are equal to us and how their bench is stronger.

What a joker…

I met my brother outside Kings Cross McDonald’s after he’d drank 13 bottles of beer, I had a lot of catching up to do but there is no doubt his dutch courage rubbed off on me. By the time we’d arrived at the stadium, I was feeling pretty confident.

The game kicked off to a wave of sound, Arsenal fans were pumped which was unusual because we’re not normally loud and even more unusual because early kick offs are notoriously quiet.

The wall of sound didn’t seem to rub off on the Arsenal players. Arsenal in the first half were pretty woeful. Our passing was shambolic, the decision making was appalling and we struggled to hold our shape and play the football we’ve come to expect as standard.

Diaby was awful, truly terrible… I don’t think I have a good word to say about him from the first half. He was holding onto the ball too long, making unbelievably bad passes and his strength on the ball was like watching a 4 year old shoulder barge a WWF wrestler. When Nasri returns to the team, Diaby can have no complaints. His stint in the first team, has in the main, been a failure.

Song was very shaky. Again, his passing was off key and he was making sloppy errors on and off the ball. I think Geoff is right, he does have a Senderos moment in him almost every game. He did grow with the half, that was encouraging.

Even Cesc was having trouble. His game was all over the place!

It wasn’t all bad… despite not being on our game, we were still carving out chances. The first 40 minutes were a great example of playing badly and still threatening. Something that didn’t happen last season.

Our defending was also very good. Almunia had a few iffy crosses to deal with, but overall, he did pretty well. Vermaelen and Gallas were doing a very good job of disrupting the Crouch affect, deciding if they couldn’t beat him in the air, they’d put him off with physical hustle and make sure they always won the second header.

Cesc nearly broke the dead lock, but his passed shot was kept out with a tidy Gomes save. Robin also went very close but was again rebuffed by the hands of Gomes. Nik B picked up an injury and we were nearly exposed by his inability to run when Spurs flew past him unchallenged. Wenger was losing the plot on the sidelines! Eduardo entered the field of play and if I’m fair, it was the type of decision that was needed regardless off Niks injury.

It didn’t take long for Arsenal to chalk a number on the score board. Sagna, who was distributing the ball like he was trying to ruin his opta stats, whipped a dangerous ball into the box… Robin bundled into the box and slotted it tamely under Gomes. 1-0 up… what a sweet moment.

Just as we were all hugging out, we looked up, Robin dispossessed Keane (I think) from the centre kick, laid it off to Cesc who waltzed past 4 players and banged it past Gomes with Thierry like composure!

‘Did that just happen? Yeaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!’

2-0 up, we were in dream land. The talk at half time was about whether it was too early to start sending reprisal texts to our friends of ‘yid army’ descent?

The second half started and a different Arsenal emerged. Crisp passing football replaced the first half’s lack lustre laboured performance. Things just clicked, Spurs looked buried and we began to pick away at them…

It didn’t take long for us to grab our third. Eduardo laid the ball out wide to Sagna, got crunched in the process… Sagna stopped, looked round, the ref waved play on… Sagna fizzed a ball into the box, Gomes spilled, Robin slotted home. 2 goals for Robin, 2 assists for Sagna and certain victory for the Gooners.

If I’m honest, we could have had 6. Spurs were truly garbage, they had nothing in the locker bar the long ball. Top 4? They’ll be lucky to break into the top 8 this season. It was pretty funny to see Bassong go off towards the end, another injury to a defender.

Arsenal missed a whole host of chances in the second half. Eduardo, through on goal, with only Gomes to beat, managed to slot wide. Who’d have thunk it? Diaby went close with a shot back across goal, Gallas and Arshavin also spurned opportunities. As the game wore on, what was important for me was the clean sheet. Almunia was tested on a number of occasions, notably from a stinging David Bentley freekick, to which he pulled off a spectacular tipped save.

The ref blew up for full time, Arsenal recorded a very important win and continued the title push.

So a few things that need to be mentioned. Arsene Wenger needs to be commended for putting out a half decent team in midweek. Sequences are very important in football, an unneccessary loss against Liverpool cold have seen a different outcome today. Look what happened to Liverpool, 3-1 losers to Bolton. I also thought Arsenal paid more respect to the way Spurs played than usual. We dealt with the aerial threat much better than normal… understanding the way the opposition play is key to nullifying their  strengths, we did that today. I was also impressed with the way we came out in the second half and that we managed to come out of the first half with a lead.

Oh, and a final mention to the fans, who were magnificent!

Ratings:

Almunia: I wasn’t sure whether  reintroducing a keeper low on confidence, to a North London Derby, was a good idea. If he’d dropped a clanger today, Wenger could have found himself with a real dilemma. My worries didn’t come to fruition, he was top draw after a shaky start, making some very tidy saves, especially in the second half. 7.5

Sagna: His passing in the first half was abysmal. Like I said earlier, it was like his was in a competition with Diaby to make the most incomplete passes in a game! That didn’t stop him setting up two Robin Van Persie goals and it didn’t affect his defending which got better with the game. 7

Gallas: Took it in turns with Vermaellen to rough up Crouch and dealt particularly well with Keane. 8

Vermaellen: Took most of the aerial ball challenges and did superbly considering Crouch is officially the new face of Big Green Giant sweet corn. A top effort, a yellow card and a growing affection developing among the gooner faithful. I think I love him… 8.5

Clichy: I tidy game from our tenacious left back. He got forward to great effect today, at one point finding himself alone heading toward goal, but not having the confidence to unleash a Nigel Winterburn rasper! 7

Song: Started the first half like a right lemon. His passing was terrible and he was making alsorts of silly mistakes. The whole midfield was guilty of this, but as the game grew, so did he… by the time the second half began, he had found his game and started to play with a lot more confidence. In the end, he turned in a good performance. 7

Diaby: A very poor showing from our Frenchman of said potential. His passing was erratic, his ball retention was poor and he was messing up all over the pitch. Someone get this man a space on the bench, because he is playing terribly. 4

Cesc: Started in very un-Cesc like fashion, spraying passes around Gilberto on a bad day and failing to get a grip on the game. He did manage to get on the score sheet with a superb powered run through the heard of the Spurs defence, driving home the second. That gave him the confidence to kick on in the second half when he started playing his game. 7

Arshavin: Spent most of the first 40 on his arse, but he was our only real threat. He played much better in the second half, sitting incredibly deep for the type of player he is. He knows how to pick out a pass and his deft flicks leave the opposition baffled at times. 7

Robin: I hope those who stated our Dutchman wasn’t good enough for a central role have put that humble pie in the oven and upped the gas mark. The boy wonder is on fire lately, finishing well and adapting to that central role like most of us knew he would. I think that’s 7 goals so far this year! I can’t fail to be happy about that… what a top player! 8

Nik B: Was having a bit of a shocker if I’m fair… hopefully he’s not out for too long. 5

Subs:

Eduardo: Had a tidy game out wide, guilty of a couple of very easy missed chances. 6

Eboue: The coach loves sticking this guy on. He came on to little effect, but at least he got a run out. 6

Rambo: 3 minutes isn’t really enough to get a hold of the game. Lost his head a little when Bassong fell down injured next to him during a run… he should have powered on, concentrated and laid off the right pass. He froze a little and we missed out on our 4th. 6

So, is it time to talk about challenging this year? Lets wait until the cold weather lands, then I’ll start talking! This time last year, I think it was snowing… are we finally feeling the benefits of global warming? I hope so! Bring on the November tan!

See you in the comments!

So I got a broken wrist in 7 places, 11 broken ribs and a collapsed lung on July 29th, one hour after the Athletico Madrid match, where Arshavin scored two cracking late goals, I drove my buggy back to my villa and fell out in my excitement. One flail chest injury later and my golf career looked in trouble.

I tell you all this as it happened a few weeks after the Nasri break and yesterday I walked onto the first tee at South Essex Golf Club for a 9 hole match, 2 pars and 2 birdies later I was back, yes back in the land I love, back hitting 300+ yard drives and doing what I love almost as much as Arsenal, playing golf.

So when I see Rosicky on the injury list again, I think what the… They told me I would never play golf again and that because of my ribs, I would not be able to make a full shoulder turn for  a year, because it would take that long for them to close up, and although they haven’t healed up, I can still play golf.

I love Tomas and I love all the Arsenal players, including those I don’t rate, but I think a bit of grit might go a long way boys, if I can do it, you can, so get off your arses and start kicking a ball.

And they get the best medical attention, I got a filthy little shithole I wouldn’t wish on Ade (I would really, I lied about that)

Today we play the spuds at our gaff, today we put Harry to the sword, today we put paid to the over achieving, overpaid pretenders, today we get to laugh out loud at our small town, scruffy, dimwitted neighbours, today we play the team from West Virginia to the tune of Deliverance, their team anthem.

Today we get to see just how good this Arsenal team is, and how far we can go, today we play Tottenpompeyham, today we play a hybrid team bought mostly from a bankrupt team on the south coast by an almost bankrupt team in Hertfordshire. …New stadium my arse!

I think the noise will be special today, and I think the crowd will be in their seats early doors, I’m not sure who’s injured but I hope Nasri starts alongside Cesc, all I need to know is Arshavin is there, I expect something special from him today.

I know I have issues with a few of our team, but today I know they’ll be awesome, today I know they’ll stand up and be counted, if Eboue plays, well I know he’ll just stand up, if Diaby plays, I expect him to slam at least two home, and if Song plays, I expect to see the invisible wall!

Good luck men, show us today why so much is expected, for so many, by so few, Arsenal expect that every man will do his duty!

Ok, poetic license but that’s allowed, I’m in advertising.

I’m posting early today, as it’s an early kick off, that way all the people going get to feel 10 feet tall, like I do today!

Have a great day Grovers, today is halloween and by the stroke of midnight, bent Harry turns into a pumpkin!

I find it quite amusing that he still can’t stop bringing up the story that he was forced out the door at Arsenal, the latest one is Wenger said he wouldn’t get in the starting line up, well that changed from last time when he said we needed the money, now he’s saying that Cesc will leave next and join the other world class stars walking out the Arsenal door. What world class stars, it was you and Kolo wasn’t it?

Anyway, Cesc was quick to come out and say that’s bollocks, he said London’s his home and he has no intention of leaving.

Let me start by saying I’m sorry to anyone in Togo reading this but he must be the only bloke that was shut out of the school gates when he was a kid, he really is thick, I remember when the moron played for us and he talked about the Tigers in Africa, fucking idiot didn’t know Tigers come from Asia.

Well Ade, you aren’t world class, you had one good ‘half’ season, even Flamini had more than that, Kolo was a great player, but that was some time ago and he’s not a patch on Vermaelen, so who exactly have we lost that’s world class? No one, that’s who.

Finally now you’ve started to get offside for shitty, it won’t be long before they turn on you, so if you had half a brain you would stop continually talking about us, and start acting like a City player, stop telling the world you didn’t want to leave or you’ll end up being hated by 6 groups of fans to go with Lomé, Metz, Monaco, Togo, and Arsenal.

I know I said I wouldn’t mention him again, but he does piss me off with his half witted rants.

So it looks like no Rosicky against Spurs tomorrow but I’ll have money Nasri doesn’t get the call over Diaby. I hope like hell I’m wrong, but the smart money is on one of Wenger’s favourites, so Diaby or Eboue will get the nod.

I caused some controversy yesterday when I suggested Eastmond could step up, as at least 4 people disagreed, but you know what? I can’t please everyone, but if they are old enough to play Liverpool, they are old enough to play Spurs. I really rate Coquelin as well so maybe those two will be seen more this season.

Tomorrow is the big one, not big in the scheme of things, but big to shut the spuds the fuck up, every season in memory is going to be the one they break into the top 4, and even a blind squirrel will eventually get an acorn, but not this year Harry, and probably not in your lifetime.

Someone out there needs to explain to me how they spend the money they do and can afford a stadium to rival ours. I heard that Levy publishes a stadium picture every 2 years just to shut the spuds up, perhaps Ade should have played for them, they would be well suited.

Have a great day today Grovers, tomorrow we feast early!