The Short Fuse

Arsenal 7 - 1 Blackburn Rovers, match report: ka-floom

2012-02-04T15:17:15Z

1 - 0 Robin van Persie 2'
1 - 1 Morten Gamst Pedersen 30'
2 - 1 Robin van Persie 38'
3 - 1 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 40'
Gael Givet, Red Card 43'
4 - 1 Mikel Arteta, 50'
5 - 1 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 53'
6 - 1 Robin van Persie 62'
7 - 1 Thierry Henry 93'

Arsenal came into the match today under a lot of pressure to win in order to stay within touching distance of fourth place. They would not disappoint, always dominant, even after a Pedersen free kick would equalize for Blackburn on a half hour in a familiar scenario for the Gunners. Robin van Persie would score a hat trick, Thierry Henry scored his first league goal for the club since 2007, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had a pair for his first two Premier League goals in his career.

Yeah; it was a pretty good day. Come with us after the jump for how the action went down.

It wouldn't take long for Arsenal to strike. 90 seconds in, Francis Coquelin's cross came back to him, he waited, played Walcott through, and the man without a footballing brain slotted a wonderful pass across Paul Robinson behind the Rovers defense which Robin van Persie tapped home.

1-0 after 90 seconds.

Blackburn would try to break down the right, but Per Mertesacker was able to clear. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came storming back up the pitch, but tried to do it all himself, and his shot was well wide. Arsenal had the match by the throat, and kept coming. Chamberlain shot a low cross in front of goal, but nobody was home at the far post to tap in on ten minutes. Blackburn did try to come back into the match, of course. Laurent Koscielny was left stranded in teh corner, and his desperate clearance fell right to Blackburn in a desperate position. Anthony Modeste tried to get onto the end of the through ball, but caught Wojciech Szczesny on the knee instead. Everyone was allright, though.

The pace of the game had slowed, but Arsenal were influencing things for the most part. Tomas Rosicky had a shot blocked on 21 minutes. Chamberlain was giving Rovers some issues, won a corner, and from that eventually Rosicky got another chance, which he flashed a yard wide from 20. Another corner, though, and then another, which Mertesacker nearly headed into the path of Koscielny, but it went just over the bar.

Stephen Nzonzi picked up a yellow for a late tackle on Rosicky. The game trundled on until the 31st minute, when Koscielny tangled with Modeste and seemed to pull him down. A yellow for Koscielny, and a free kick to Blackburn from 20 yards.

Morten Gamst Pedersen made no mistake. Szczesny got a hand to it, but he couldn't keep it out. Blackburn's first shot of the match was in, and it was 1-1 with 32 minutes gone.

It was a great free kick. It was completely against the run of play. It seemed all too familiar.

Tomas Rosicky went hard through Jason Lowe, and unfortunately, the fullback's ankle got hit hard, and he had to be replaced by Bradley Orr. Paul Robinson lofted the free kick in, but Nzonzi was offside.

It wouldn't take long for Arsenal to find their feet again. Alex Song played a wonderful ball through for Walcott, and he got to the byline, cut back, and van Persie plopped it in, no problem.

2-1.

Soon to be 3-1. Robin van Persie squeezed a through ball between the legs of the Blackburn defense, and Chamberlain ran onto it, rounded Robinson, and slotted home, a lovely finish for his first Premier League goal. Arsenal were now back in control on 41 minutes, although with Blackburn, one never knows.

Rovers would make it harder on themselves, though. A minute later, Gael Givet went in with both feet, studs up, on van Persie, and there was no hesitation: red card. Blackburn would play the next 47 minutes plus with ten.

From a short corner, Mikel Arteta spotted Vermaelen at the far post, but his volley hit the outside of the post. Arsenal were really up for it now as injury time wore on. 3-1 was the score at halftime, Blackburn down to ten.

The teams came back on for the second half. Bradley Orr had a pop from 20, but Szczesny caught easily. Even down to ten men, Rovers were always dangerous from set pieces, although Robinson's lofted free kick was headed away by Mertesacker on 49 minutes no problem.

Arsenal won a corner on 52 minutes, and it was half-cleared, but Mikel Arteta stepped up and crushed it home off of Orr. 4-1 to the Arsenal, which happens when one shoots.

It wouldn't take long to get 5-1, either. Theo Walcott was released up the right by a lovely long pass from Rosicky, and the wing slowly came infield, then across the Rovers defense, still going, before he slotted a short through ball for Chamberlain, who buried it inside the post for his second of the game and second of his Arsenal career. It was very much Arsenal now, goal difference slowly being remedied.

57 minutes in, Junior Hoilett made a good run that Thomas Vermaelen stopped, but at the expense of giving away a foul and hurting his hip. Hopefully it won't prove to be serious. The free kick, this time, Pedersen couldn't deliver anywhere but into the wall. Arsenal came up the other end, Chamberlain doing wonderful work again, patiently waiting to loft a cross to the far post which Arteta blasted over on the volley in an ambitious moment.

61 minutes in, it was only going to get worse for Blackburn. Tomas Rosicky swung it out to Chamberlain, who put it across to Coquelin on the right wing. One move to beat the fullback later, Coquelin slid a low hard cross in to van Persie, who first-timed it very well with his right past Robinson.

6-1. Blackburn weren't even really trying anymore, the will to live having been sapped with Givet's dismissal.

Theo Walcott wanted some, but he volleyed over from a corner. Chamberlain took one touch too heavily and a chance disappeared on 67 minutes.

Thierry Henry came on for Chamberlain, who went off to rousing cheers, of course. Bacary Sagna replaced Laurent Koscielny, which seemed odd, but hey. Four minutes later, Yossi Benayoun replaced Alex Song, Wenger apparently content to leave on van Persie (clearly because he hasn't played enough Football Manager).

Not that Henry wasn't up for it--he lacks pace at this point, but he still almost glided into the penalty area on 77 minutes. It was all Arsenal. They were trying to tee up Henry, basically, at this point. Vermaelen picked up a yellow for no reason at all.

Late on, 92 minutes in, a van Persie cross fell to Benayoun, whose shot was well struck, but right at Paul Robinson.

However.

In the last minute, Thierry Henry escaped. He couldn't totally break away, but laying it off for van Persie, he carried on, and there was only one result--van Persie slid it back to Henry in the box, and it was 7-1, Henry's first league goal for Arsenal in five years, and the last kick of the match.

It was about as perfect a day at the Emirates as one could hope for, and the perfect way for Arsenal to get back on track. Goal difference massively helped, three points, pressure on Chelsea for tomorrow, who face Manchester United.

Arsenal vs. Blackburn Rovers: match thread

2012-02-04T12:49:37Z

Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers
The John Jensen Mercantile Trophy
KO: Saturday, 4 February, 2012 at 8:00 AM ET
Emirates Stadium, Landaan Borough of Islington, Norf London Is Ours
TV: ESPN2, ESPN3.com

Arsenal. Blackburn. Feel free to comment on all the action below. No links to illegal streams, please, in the comments.

Here are the lineups:

Aresnal: Szczesny, Coquelin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Song, Arteta, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, Van Persie.r

(Walcott maybe needs a break; Ramsey finally gets one, as Rosicky starts).

(Also: oxoxoxoxoxox)

Subs: Fabianski, Sagna, Ramsey, Benayoun, Arshavin, Henry, Park.

Blackburn: Robinson, Dann, Givet, Olsson, Lowe, Nzonzi, Petrovic, Pedersen, Hoilett, Modeste, Dunn.

UP THE GUNNERS

Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers: Match Preview

2012-02-03T15:47:17Z

Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers
The John Jensen Mercantile Trophy
KO: Saturday, 4 February, 2012 at 8:00 AM ET
Emirates Stadium, Landaan Borough of Islington, Norf London Is Ours
TV: ESPN2, ESPN3.com

Arsene Wenger said on Wednesday evening that every league game is a cup final from now on, and he couldn't have been more right. On Saturday afternoon, Arsenal can end their 7 year trophy drought by winning the inaugural John Jensen Mercantile Trophy if they beat Blackburn Rovers. Given Arsenal's recent record, both in league play and Cup finals, though, a victory will be no sure thing.

Blackburn, of course, beat Arsenal 4-3, in a game that brought back the worst memories of losing in Lancashire 8-2. They were lucky to beat Arsenal, with Yakubu scoring an offside goal, and Alex Song and Laurent Koscielny scoring uncharacteristic own goals. Yakubu is suspended for Rovers, so to replace him, Blackburn will likely play Scottish striker David Goodwillie (no laughing in the back!). For a relegation threatened side, they don't play bad football, and with Ruben Rochina and Mauro Formica, along with Junior Hoillet, they have the potential to cause Arsenal problems on the counter attack. Goodwillie, though, isn't as good as Yakubu, and that'll be a major plus for Arsenal (To emphasise that, Blackburn had 26 shots Wednesday, and scored 0 goals). Blackburn are also a threat at set pieces, as outlined by the two they scored against us in September. Without Chris Samba, though, who seems to have been dropped, they lose a major force in attacking set pieces and in defending.

With Arsenal, the team should be more of the same. Arsene Wenger has shown a reluctance to rotate this season, preferring instead to run players like Aaron Ramsey into the ground. After his terrible performance, and effectively terrible last 6 weeks, one would expect Theo Walcott to be dropped, for either Yossi Benayoun or Andrey Arshavin. The latter, though, hasn't played since being booed on against Manchester United, despite Arsene Wenger's insistence that the fans reaction doesn't come into his decisions. Maybe that's right, but given that he didn't come on against Bolton when Arsenal needed a goal, and had a sub left, and given that he can't be any worse creatively than Walcott, and likely could be better due to the fact that he can make an attacking pass, it seems surprising that he didn't come on. Maybe he'll start against Blackburn, but he probably won't. Arshavin is no great shakes defensively, but neither is Walcott; it's hard to believe that Arshavin would collect the ball in his own corner and then try to beat 3 Bolton players by running through the middle. Yossi Benayoun would be a fine choice to start, giving Arsenal technical quality in wide areas, but he has only two starts in the Premier League this season, and hasn't been seen since playing in an unfamiliar role in the midfield against Swansea. As with Arshavin, he'd add more to Arsenal's attack than Walcott would at the moment. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain picked up a knock, but was featured in the pictures of the players training.

Tomas Rosicky could start against Blackburn, given that he came on for Ramsey at the end of the Bolton match, perhaps an admittance from Arsene Wenger that Ramsey is tired. Of course, Wenger also rather ludicrously called Rosicky one of "4 strikers" he had on at the end of the match, so that probably means Ramsey will again start. Given that Arsenal have 13 or 14 games in the next two months and that Aaron Ramsey has played the joint most games of all Arsenal outfield players, it seems odd that he isn't being rested now that Mikel Arteta is back from injury. Alex Song could also do with a rest, having had more pressure than most in recent weeks, and Francis Coquelin is available to play in the midfield again. But with this being the final of the prestigious John Jensen Mercantile trophy, Song will likely start again. With no new fullbacks having returned, the back 4 should stay the same.

Arsenal will be up against a team that'll likely look to clog the middle. Because of this, it's important that Arsenal score early and open the game up, and also use the width that Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott/Arshavin and Sagna will provide. Aaron Ramsey hasn't been as penetrative as late, which is why Tomas Rosicky should start. Blackburn do have quick wingers, and that'll be a threat for Arsenal's fullbacks, but with Sagna back, that threat will be slightly lessened.

Lineup: Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen; Song, Ramsey, Arteta; Walcott, van Persie, Oxlade-Chamberlain

Subs: Fabianski, Coquelin, Arshavin, Benayoun, Rosicky, Park, Henry

Writer's desired lineup: Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen; Coquelin, Rosicky, Arteta; Oxlade-Chamberlain, van Persie, Benayoun
Subs: Fabianski, Song, Walcott, Arshavin, Ramsey, Park, Henry

Prediction [ed. note: from Ted]: Arsenal score early from an unlikely source, Laurent Koscielny storming up from the back to lash home a shot from 20 yards. The match stagnates at 1-0 until late, when Chris Samba scores on a corner, Szczesny stranded behind him, unable to move him out of the way. The match seems set up to finish at 1-1, but then, in a Deus Ex Machina moment never before seen in football, Abou Diaby slowly floats down to the pitch from the roof above the clock end. Steve Kean, in a moment of desperation, releases a thicket basilisk, but Diaby rolls a d20 and successfully saves vs. petrification, takes one touch, lays it off to Henry, whose return ball the Frenchman gleefully taps home. 2-1 to the Arsenal; everything's coming up Abou.

*The John Jensen Mercantile Trophy: Every game is a Cup final, according to Arsene Wenger. So, I've made this a cup final. And shall be doing it for every single league game hereafter. John Jensen played for Arsenal and coached for Blackburn, hence the connection.

Arsenal Fans Plan Rubbish Bin Liner Protest

2012-02-02T23:07:14Z

Arsenal Fans Plan Rubbish Bin Liner Protest

Yep. Arsenal fans want to put garbage bags on seats left unoccupied by falling attendances due to the teams recent struggles.
Look, we get it. The team hasn't been very good. But bin liners? Really? Can you guys get anymore pathetic? At best, you'll look silly. At worst, you'll have your ticket confiscated. And, really, this type of protest is utterly ineffectual.

God is still God

2012-02-02T21:29:01Z

God is still God

He still got it.

Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Arsenal: More Dropped Points

2012-02-01T23:10:10Z

Arsenal were unable to gain points on Chelsea and have now dropped 13 out of their last 18 points, falling back into 7th place behind Newcastle and Liverpool, neither of whom have been very good recently. Oh, and Arsenal drew with Bolton, who had conceded 25 goals in 11 games at home, winning 2 and drawing 1. Well done to all concerned!

It could've been so different, too. Arsenal started the first half like a team that had comeback against Aston Villa from 2 goals down, playing with a high tempo, passing the ball confidently and getting in behind a Bolton defence that was holding an extremely high line. Aaron Ramsey and Robin van Persie, however, were unable to take advantage, and then, most shockingly, Theo Walcott fluffed a 1 on 1 opportunity, shooting straight at Adam Bogdan after being played in by a wonderful Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain through ball. However, buoyed by Arsenal's profligacy, Bolton came into the game. David N'Gog got behind Koscielny and shot at Szczesny, who parried. N'Gog then got played in again by David Wheater's header, and, after taking the ball down, fired just wide of the post. At this point, around the end of the first half, Arsenal began to tire, and became less dynamic with the ball. It looked as though they were closing out a match, rather than trying to win one. As Bolton pushed forward, Arsenal began to lose attacking width on the left; Vermaelen had been making good runs in the first 30 minutes, but afterwards, didn't, as Chris Eagles became more involved.

Those hoping for a second half revival were to be disappointed. For 20 minutes, Arsenal did little before Bacary Sagna (FULLBACK!) drove down the right and crossed for Robin van Persie, who's deft touch hit the post. Then, Arsene Wenger made his customary 68th minute substitution, bringing off Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Thierry Henry. It was, however, a questionable move. Oxlade-Chamberlain had had a solid match, making the pass of the match for Walcott and winning all 4 of his dribbles. Theo Walcott, on the other hand was atrocious; his passing was terrible, he was too weak on the ball, he missed his 1 on 1 chance and he was also poor in his decisions, trying to outrun the entire Bolton team from his corner, and predictably, losing the ball just outside of Arsenal's penalty area. Furthermore, bringing on Henry was the wrong decision. Henry never played on the left hand side, but instead, moved to the middle, joining van Persie. He was, though, static in his movement, off the pace and also attracted long balls. Arsenal needed more creativity, not another number forward, and it is odd that neither Yossi Benayoun nor even Andrey Arshavin were brought on to provide that creativity. With Henry staying in the middle, Thomas Vermaelen was the only Arsenal player on the left, and Bolton, through Eagles and then Tuncay, attacked Vermaelen.

Arsenal still had one chance left, made through pure brilliance from Robin van Persie. He twisted and turned, and then floated a delicious chip over Adam Bogdan. The shot, though, hit the post, and eventually the rebound came to Theo Walcott, who, from 3 yards out, shanked wide. It may have been a hard chance, but it was one that a player who believes they should get £85,000/week should score.

Bolton could've won the game in the dying minutes. A Kevin Davies flick for Mark Davies set him in, and the midfielder was brought down by Szczesny, who did get a touch of the ball. If Chris Foy had given the penalty, though, Arsenal couldn't of had any complaints.

Ultimately, Arsenal were let down by a lack of creativity. Bringing on Henry killed the wide play, while Aaron Ramsey, once again, looked tired. Tomas Rosicky couldn't do much in his 10 minutes, and Alex Song also looked tired. A fresher, and more confident, Bolton side were able to press Arsenal in the midfield, and the combination of taking Oxlade-Chamberlain off and Walcott's poor quality denied Arsenal the pace to stretch Bolton. The gap between Arsenal and Chelsea remains 5 points, but at some point, Chelsea will stop dropping points. Arsene Wenger has said that every game is now a "cup final", which, with 15 games left, hints of desperation. It also hints at even less rotation, which will only provide similarly poor performances.

via tf-chalkboards.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com

Arsenal's passing was quicker and at a higher tempo in the first 35 minutes, and thus, they were able to get in behind Bolton's pressure. After 35 minutes, though, they dropped and lacked that creativity, with all 3 midfielders off the pace due to tiredness and return from injury. Bolton's pressure forced Arsenal to go wide, where the lack of quality from Walcott really hurt Arsenal's attacking ability.

Some stats fun:

Goals/shot percentage

Robin van Persie: 18.3% (i.e. 18.3% of all shots are goals--15% is league ratio, so 18% is really good)
Theo Walcott: 5.5%
Aaron Ramsey: 2.3%

Finally, to end tonight, I quote Goonerholic's fantastic piece, which you should all read.

What I don’t understand is that when we have our thinnest squad in fifteen years, and we have a buyers market, and we have players in the squad no longer trusted to be anywhere near the competitive matches, we have broken full-backs who may well come back in the coming weeks and break again, we have one bloody goalscorer in the club who is a Shawcrossing away from missing games, we haven’t spent SOME of the transfer fund on strengthening obvious areas of weakness.

Bolton vs. Arsenal match thread

2012-02-01T19:26:37Z

Bolton Wanderers vs. Arsenal not wanderers
English Premier League Round 23
Kickoff: 3 PM EST, Wednesday, February 1
Reebok Stadium, Horwich, Bolton, UK, Urf
Televisual coverage: Fox Soccer Channel
Form: Bolton DLWWW | Arsenal LWLLW
SBN Bolton Perspective: Lion of Vienna Suite

Ryodinho won't play, but we'll watch anyway. Speaking of which, here are some lineups for your eyes.

ARS: Szczesny; Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Sagna; Song, Arteta, Ramsey; Oxlade-Chamberlain, van Persie, Walcott

subs: Fabianski, Rosicky, Park, Henry, Arshavin, Benayoun, Coquelin

BOL: Bogdan, Steinsson, Knight, Wheater, Ricketts, Eagles, Muamba, Reo-Coker, M Davies, Petrov, Ngog

subs: Jaaskelainen, Tuncay, K Davies, Klasnic, Pratley, Boyata, Riley

While you're waiting, maybe you might like to check out the match preview that Ted posted last night. Seriously though, do that if you haven't yet. Lion of Vienna Suite has one as well, if you care to see how the other half feels about the match. Otherwise, feel free to start the conversation in The Love Below. Or the comments below, depending on whether you feel like actually calling things what they are, rather than shoehorning in references to decade-old rap albums. Keep it nice, at least until the match starts.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

Bolton Wanderers vs. Arsenal: match preview

2012-01-31T23:24:38Z

Arsenal kick off against Bolton up in the cold, grey Northwest tomorrow, and appear to be catching the Wanderers at a not-great time, as Bolton have risen from the grave to mash Macclesfield, lash Liverpool, and swat Swansea City in their most recent three matches. Hopefully they don't decide to, uh...arse Arsenal in their fourth.

Join me after the jump, and we'll see what sense we can make of all this.

Bolton ran out in a 4-5-1 formation against Liverpool when they beat them 3-1 last week, and they will probably do similar tomorrow in an effort to negate Arsenal's 4-2-3-1. Against the Reds, David N'Gog started at CF with Mark Davies playing behind him. Martin Petrov and Chris Eagles flanked Fabrice Muamba and Nigel Reo-Coker. Kevin Davies, Arsenal Killer, came off of the bench late, but it's easy to see him perhaps starting against a club he loves to beat up on tomorrow.

Arsenal, for their part, are getting some pieces back in place. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain probably needs a rest, so Andrei Arshavin could start on the left (or maybe even Yossi Benayoun--imagine!). Tomas Rosicky looked really good against Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Sunday, so much so that putting him in front of an Alex Song-Mikel Arteta double pivot and giving Aaron Ramsey a little rest seems possible. Ramsey has played a ton lately, and his form is maybe suffering a little bit because of it, although he did look much better in the second half vs. Villa when he started pushing further forward in the opposition half, looking to run onto passes.

At the back, one will probably see the Vermaelen-Koscielny-Mertesacker-Sagna backline that finished things off at the Emirates. One doubts that Francis Coquelin will see more time at right back after Gabby Agbonlahor gave him trouble, but that's okay, since it's not his position, anyway. Bolton's wingers, Petrov and Eagles, are no slouches (Eagles, in particular, gave Liverpool all they could handle last week), so Arsenal's full backs will have to be on top of their game. This would involve, say, not leaving Arshavin to deal with attacking wing play all by his lonesome while drifting ever closer to the goal, for instance.

Yeah. That would be nice.

Thierry Henry could also feature, especially if Wenger is looking to rest Robin van Persie as much as possible, which might not be imprudent with another match in three days' time, followed closely by a match against Sunderland and a trip to Milan. Wenger will look to use Henry while Arsenal have him, so he could start either on the left or in place of van Persie. The former seems more likely, since van Persie's vacation should have afforded him a lot of rest.

Chelsea dropped two points today in their match against Swansea, so a win tomorrow could see Arsenal pull within three points. Let's make this happen, if it please the team.

Match prediction: Arsenal win 121-104 after a wonderful bit of pegging by late sub Yossi Benayoun and a hand with two sevens, two eights, and a nine allow them to overtake a frustrated Kevin Davies, who's holding a pair and a 15 for four, and there ain't no more. ARSENAL WIN.