Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Matchday
The Gunners started off the new season with a 1-0 home victory over newly promoted West Brom. They dominated the game, with just a couple of chances for the visitors, but were unable to kill the match off after debutant Samir Nasri gave them the lead inside 5 minutes.
Brought in from Olympique de Marseille, the 21 year old Nasri was undoubtedly the star of today's season opener. Many of Arsenal's attacks during the game, and especially in the second half, came down the left with Nasri and Clichy combining nicely to cause West Brom some worry. Denilson also put in a polished performance, manning the central midfield in the absence of the injured Cesc Fabregas.
The team still looks a bit rusty despite the pre-season tournaments. Djourou's lapse of concentration almost cost the team, but he got back and made a goal-line clearance. Adebayor had at least a couple of great chances to open his Premier League account but he wasn't able to capitalise on them. Emmanuel Eboue hasn't gained any in the patience department since last season. He took some wild shots at goal, and either didn't get any power behind his shots, or was completely off-target. Gallas's long range effort came much closer, and Van Persie (on for Bendtner) almost pulled off a beauty, but it wasn't to be.
But as Wenger and Adebayor said in the run up to the game, it's about winning, not just being easy on the eye. By those standards, Arsenal is off to the start they wanted.
Transfer News
Justing Hoyte completed his move to Middlesborough for an 'undisclosed' fee. Word is that it's around the 3 million pound mark, for a 4 year term. He joins fellow ex-Gunner Aliadiere, who is at the moment causing some panic in the Spuds' back four.
Apart from Nasri, Arsenal have brought in Amaury Bischoff, 21, from Werder Bremen. The Portugese midfielder is yet to recover from his groin surgery. It was a bit strange for Wenger to bring him in injured, but perhaps he had him scouted before the injury took place.
The 16 year old Welsh prodigy, Aaron Ramsey, was signed from Cardiff as well. While this doesn't necessarily translate into another regular first-team option, we can take some joy in that he was hotly pursued by the Mancs but "chose" Arsenal.
Wenger says he's definitely bringing in a new player before the transfer window closes. Let's hope he isn't kidding around because we've lost a lot of experienced players already - Jens Lehmann, Gilberto Silva, Alex Pleb and Mathieu Flamoney. Rumours are that it's Inler from Udinese, but I'd rather not join the conjecture until it actually happens.
Brought in from Olympique de Marseille, the 21 year old Nasri was undoubtedly the star of today's season opener. Many of Arsenal's attacks during the game, and especially in the second half, came down the left with Nasri and Clichy combining nicely to cause West Brom some worry. Denilson also put in a polished performance, manning the central midfield in the absence of the injured Cesc Fabregas.
The team still looks a bit rusty despite the pre-season tournaments. Djourou's lapse of concentration almost cost the team, but he got back and made a goal-line clearance. Adebayor had at least a couple of great chances to open his Premier League account but he wasn't able to capitalise on them. Emmanuel Eboue hasn't gained any in the patience department since last season. He took some wild shots at goal, and either didn't get any power behind his shots, or was completely off-target. Gallas's long range effort came much closer, and Van Persie (on for Bendtner) almost pulled off a beauty, but it wasn't to be.
But as Wenger and Adebayor said in the run up to the game, it's about winning, not just being easy on the eye. By those standards, Arsenal is off to the start they wanted.
Transfer News
Justing Hoyte completed his move to Middlesborough for an 'undisclosed' fee. Word is that it's around the 3 million pound mark, for a 4 year term. He joins fellow ex-Gunner Aliadiere, who is at the moment causing some panic in the Spuds' back four.
Apart from Nasri, Arsenal have brought in Amaury Bischoff, 21, from Werder Bremen. The Portugese midfielder is yet to recover from his groin surgery. It was a bit strange for Wenger to bring him in injured, but perhaps he had him scouted before the injury took place.
The 16 year old Welsh prodigy, Aaron Ramsey, was signed from Cardiff as well. While this doesn't necessarily translate into another regular first-team option, we can take some joy in that he was hotly pursued by the Mancs but "chose" Arsenal.
Wenger says he's definitely bringing in a new player before the transfer window closes. Let's hope he isn't kidding around because we've lost a lot of experienced players already - Jens Lehmann, Gilberto Silva, Alex Pleb and Mathieu Flamoney. Rumours are that it's Inler from Udinese, but I'd rather not join the conjecture until it actually happens.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Arsenal 2 - 0 Reading
Finally, a win! It's only been our second in nine Premier League games, but if you can get over the fact that we're going to end the season empty-handed, then it still feels pretty good. The crowd wasn't really into it for the first quarter of the game and the players looked like they hadn't really shaken off the Red Devil blues. But around the 20 minute mark, they moved into a different gear and were suddenly all over Reading. There were a number of chances before Adebayor used some lovely control on a Toure cross and coolly finished for the opener. There were plenty of chances for the home team after that, and even ol' Gilby had something like 3 shots on goal, converting the first with a neatly calculated angle off Bikey's head.
There were some other positives during the match which the highlights package wont necessarily cover. Fabregas and Van Persie had an interesting new approach to their corners. RVP took the right and Fab took the left, but at each corner the other would be present for a lay-off. Reading had no idea what was going on, but then again that was throughout the entire match. Van Persie also smacked in a gorgeous curling free kick which was sadly denied by the crossbar and upright. He also came in for some punishment from Reading when they realised that they were out of the game. We're used to it... all the crunching tackles and physical bullying being handed out to some of the more fragile Gunners... but today Hleb decided to take matters into his own hands, giving Murty a sly sock in the jaw when the ref wasn't looking. He had a wicked little chuckle when he slammed a shot (which wouldn't have counted because the whistle had been blown) into the centreback, leaving him in a heap in front of goal. I never realised he had that in his personality, but he'll probably be banned now for a few matches by the FA. Lehmann made some good saves, and looked safe and assured in goal. Theo started, and he had his moments too... just couldn't find that final pass.
But apart from the win, the best thing that happened in this match was that Eboue played at right back today! Hopefully this is a trend that will continue for the rest of his career. Wenger seems to have seen the light... although I still believe we need to get another quality winger, and let Theo play up front.
I'll leave you with the goals now.
There were some other positives during the match which the highlights package wont necessarily cover. Fabregas and Van Persie had an interesting new approach to their corners. RVP took the right and Fab took the left, but at each corner the other would be present for a lay-off. Reading had no idea what was going on, but then again that was throughout the entire match. Van Persie also smacked in a gorgeous curling free kick which was sadly denied by the crossbar and upright. He also came in for some punishment from Reading when they realised that they were out of the game. We're used to it... all the crunching tackles and physical bullying being handed out to some of the more fragile Gunners... but today Hleb decided to take matters into his own hands, giving Murty a sly sock in the jaw when the ref wasn't looking. He had a wicked little chuckle when he slammed a shot (which wouldn't have counted because the whistle had been blown) into the centreback, leaving him in a heap in front of goal. I never realised he had that in his personality, but he'll probably be banned now for a few matches by the FA. Lehmann made some good saves, and looked safe and assured in goal. Theo started, and he had his moments too... just couldn't find that final pass.
But apart from the win, the best thing that happened in this match was that Eboue played at right back today! Hopefully this is a trend that will continue for the rest of his career. Wenger seems to have seen the light... although I still believe we need to get another quality winger, and let Theo play up front.
I'll leave you with the goals now.
Friday, April 18, 2008
I'm not going to comment much on the Arsenal ManU game, because it was never actually the league decider that Wenger made it out to be. He says he felt a dizziness like a boxer getting knocked out, with it completing a week where we exited the Champions League and were put out of the EPL race. But actually we were knocked out the day that Eduardo was taken out and Theo Walcott's first EPL goals were nullifed by a ridiculous defensive error and subsequent penalty decision. It dented the spirit and confidence of the squad.. and really, the squad itself. I know people blame Gallas as well, for behaving the way he did, and also that Wenger is undecided on whether he will retain him as captain next season, but I'm a bit of a Gallas fan. He has a real passion for the club, and he wants us to win, and he shows it. Nothing wrong there. He has come up with crucial goals in big games during the course of the season as well, and I can't help but think that it's the responsibility of being captain that has sparked this passion in him. He's a leader and he owns the team. Nothing to beat Vieira, though.
The Arsenal website has been releasing a lot of articles of late, which is ironic because there really isn't much to talk about now. The Reserves side hammered 5 into the back of the Derby net, but does it really matter? The issue is that we've gone 3 years now without silverware. This year saw the best opportunity we've had to win the league since the Invincibles, and we've fallen short for reasons all too familiar to us Gooners by now
Injuries chipping away at a wafer-thin squad and crucial refereeing decisions going the wrong way. Maybe we can't really do anything about the latter, but at least the squad can be strengthened! We can forgive le boss during this period, because with the stadium costs still being recouped, Wenger hasn't had the money available to him to spend until this January, when there were reports of a 70 million pound warchest at his disposal. Obviously he never expected Eduardo to be put out of action like that, but maybe he could have taken a more conservative approach to Van Persie's and Rosicky's injuries, and spent on some cover for them.
So it's time now to look towards the summer transfer window, and once again a highly rated player has made known his desire to join the Arsenal -- David Villa. The classy Spanish identifies with Arsenal's touch play and has said that he would choose Arsenal over any other Premier League team. Wenger, though, has immediately crushed all our hopes with his usual "younger players need room to grow" excuse. Agreed, it worked with Adebayor, who was a revelation in the first half of the season, but Wenger has to realise that Arsenal is not a school. It's a club. That needs trophies. It's not going to be possible to compete with squads with the size and quality of Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester United with a 11 players and a bunch of kids. He has to invest in a few really good players, not just 1 (like he said last week) or 2 (the latest amendment).
I hope the change from 1 to 2 is not because Flamini will have to be repaced. The Flam has little more than a week to decide whether he wants to stay a Gunner next season. Cesc has been trying his best to convince him to stay, but is it enough? If his priority is money, there is no way Arsene can keep him with the current salary caps at the club.
In other news, Palermo striker Amauri has been linked with Arsenal. He's been valued by his own club at about 25 million and Arsenal are reported to be "willing to pay" 4 million. I found this quite amusing. Do they actually expect to make signings by publicly insulting the club and the player? Forget it anyway, this one's not coming to Arsenal.
Ben Arfa, however, just might make his way to the Emirates. The talented Lyonnais has been in Wenger's sights for some time, and his development from an individualistic player into a team man has increased his chances of success at Arsenal. Of course, Wenger would have to pay around 10 million for a teenager, and he really isn't used to making signings like that.
Now tomorrow is the game against Reading, and how I hope that Eboue is moved out of the right midfield position! With Vela coming back (hopefully) next season, Eboue should be used as backup RB to Sagna, if he is still in the team. Lehmann is back in goal, and personally, I have more confidence in him than Almunia. Almunia is an alright backup goalie, somewhere along the lines of Hilario, but where's our Cech (and Cudicini)? Hopefully Theo will start, Adebayor will look to catch up with Torres in the goals chart, and Hleb will actually shoot and not scuff the shot.
The Arsenal website has been releasing a lot of articles of late, which is ironic because there really isn't much to talk about now. The Reserves side hammered 5 into the back of the Derby net, but does it really matter? The issue is that we've gone 3 years now without silverware. This year saw the best opportunity we've had to win the league since the Invincibles, and we've fallen short for reasons all too familiar to us Gooners by now
Injuries chipping away at a wafer-thin squad and crucial refereeing decisions going the wrong way. Maybe we can't really do anything about the latter, but at least the squad can be strengthened! We can forgive le boss during this period, because with the stadium costs still being recouped, Wenger hasn't had the money available to him to spend until this January, when there were reports of a 70 million pound warchest at his disposal. Obviously he never expected Eduardo to be put out of action like that, but maybe he could have taken a more conservative approach to Van Persie's and Rosicky's injuries, and spent on some cover for them.
So it's time now to look towards the summer transfer window, and once again a highly rated player has made known his desire to join the Arsenal -- David Villa. The classy Spanish identifies with Arsenal's touch play and has said that he would choose Arsenal over any other Premier League team. Wenger, though, has immediately crushed all our hopes with his usual "younger players need room to grow" excuse. Agreed, it worked with Adebayor, who was a revelation in the first half of the season, but Wenger has to realise that Arsenal is not a school. It's a club. That needs trophies. It's not going to be possible to compete with squads with the size and quality of Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester United with a 11 players and a bunch of kids. He has to invest in a few really good players, not just 1 (like he said last week) or 2 (the latest amendment).
I hope the change from 1 to 2 is not because Flamini will have to be repaced. The Flam has little more than a week to decide whether he wants to stay a Gunner next season. Cesc has been trying his best to convince him to stay, but is it enough? If his priority is money, there is no way Arsene can keep him with the current salary caps at the club.
In other news, Palermo striker Amauri has been linked with Arsenal. He's been valued by his own club at about 25 million and Arsenal are reported to be "willing to pay" 4 million. I found this quite amusing. Do they actually expect to make signings by publicly insulting the club and the player? Forget it anyway, this one's not coming to Arsenal.
Ben Arfa, however, just might make his way to the Emirates. The talented Lyonnais has been in Wenger's sights for some time, and his development from an individualistic player into a team man has increased his chances of success at Arsenal. Of course, Wenger would have to pay around 10 million for a teenager, and he really isn't used to making signings like that.
Now tomorrow is the game against Reading, and how I hope that Eboue is moved out of the right midfield position! With Vela coming back (hopefully) next season, Eboue should be used as backup RB to Sagna, if he is still in the team. Lehmann is back in goal, and personally, I have more confidence in him than Almunia. Almunia is an alright backup goalie, somewhere along the lines of Hilario, but where's our Cech (and Cudicini)? Hopefully Theo will start, Adebayor will look to catch up with Torres in the goals chart, and Hleb will actually shoot and not scuff the shot.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Yeah, today's posts are rather late to cover the two games that I missed, and honestly, didn't get to watch live: Arsenal vs Manchester United, which ended 2-1 to the Red Devils, and the third and final test between India and South Africa which India won in 3 days, in swift and stunning fashion.
South Africa started well enough, winning an important toss on a pitch that Graeme Smith thought had started crumbling before the first ball had been bowled. The openers did their job, but Harbhajan and India fought back to restrict them to 265. On the second day, Ganguly and Laxman played a couple of gems to help India to around 280/9, but the game was still evenly balanced with South Africa releasing press statements that they would be quite happy to concede a lead in the range of 20-30 runs. Though what followed on the final day could not have been predicted by anyone, Sourav almost did - he said that he hoped Sreesanth and Ishant create some magic the next day - and that was exactly what they did. They edged, poked and occasionally clobbered their way to a mischievous 46-run partnership, with Sreesanth ending on 29. It totally took the steam out of the Safs, and Dhoni had a little surprise for their openers when they walked out to bat for the last time in the series... Harbhajan with the new ball! It didn't exactly pay instant dividends, but it eliminated any initial loose balls, and forced the Safs to work to erase the lead. Circumspect batting and brilliant flight bowling from Sehwag took out the big guns, and Bhajji and Ishant completed the job with finesse and efficiency, leaving India with a friendly target of 62. With even Jaffer scoring at a strike rate of over 90, you could see India's intent to finish it quickly, and it was all over all too soon for Smith & Co.
With the win, India retained their no.2 position in the ICC Test Rankings behind Australia. Harbhajan picked up the Man of the Series award, though Dale Steyn couldn't have been far behind.
One thing that I was happy about was seeing Ishant Sharma deliver some beauties in his comeback match. India has had so many promising fast bowlers just fade away after injury, and I really don't want us to lose this one. Six and a half feet tall, and probably still growing, the kid had the talent to bowl in the high 140s in Australia and make Ponting look like an amateur.
Incidentally, I believe this is the first time that 2 successive tests have ended inside 3 days, and credit to the groundsman, Harbhajan, and Gary Kirsten for sticking up for India's right to prepare near-dustbowls to protect their home record. The green wicket in the 2nd test would only have made sense if India had a fully fit, full strength pace attack.. But the best bowlers were sidelined and we chose to play unfit bowlers instead of people like Praveen Kumar. Anyway, that series is done with, and it's time to turn our attention to the IPL.
It'll be interesting to see international superstars playing in the same XI as untried youngsters, as well as teammates now having to compete against each other.
South Africa started well enough, winning an important toss on a pitch that Graeme Smith thought had started crumbling before the first ball had been bowled. The openers did their job, but Harbhajan and India fought back to restrict them to 265. On the second day, Ganguly and Laxman played a couple of gems to help India to around 280/9, but the game was still evenly balanced with South Africa releasing press statements that they would be quite happy to concede a lead in the range of 20-30 runs. Though what followed on the final day could not have been predicted by anyone, Sourav almost did - he said that he hoped Sreesanth and Ishant create some magic the next day - and that was exactly what they did. They edged, poked and occasionally clobbered their way to a mischievous 46-run partnership, with Sreesanth ending on 29. It totally took the steam out of the Safs, and Dhoni had a little surprise for their openers when they walked out to bat for the last time in the series... Harbhajan with the new ball! It didn't exactly pay instant dividends, but it eliminated any initial loose balls, and forced the Safs to work to erase the lead. Circumspect batting and brilliant flight bowling from Sehwag took out the big guns, and Bhajji and Ishant completed the job with finesse and efficiency, leaving India with a friendly target of 62. With even Jaffer scoring at a strike rate of over 90, you could see India's intent to finish it quickly, and it was all over all too soon for Smith & Co.
With the win, India retained their no.2 position in the ICC Test Rankings behind Australia. Harbhajan picked up the Man of the Series award, though Dale Steyn couldn't have been far behind.
One thing that I was happy about was seeing Ishant Sharma deliver some beauties in his comeback match. India has had so many promising fast bowlers just fade away after injury, and I really don't want us to lose this one. Six and a half feet tall, and probably still growing, the kid had the talent to bowl in the high 140s in Australia and make Ponting look like an amateur.
Incidentally, I believe this is the first time that 2 successive tests have ended inside 3 days, and credit to the groundsman, Harbhajan, and Gary Kirsten for sticking up for India's right to prepare near-dustbowls to protect their home record. The green wicket in the 2nd test would only have made sense if India had a fully fit, full strength pace attack.. But the best bowlers were sidelined and we chose to play unfit bowlers instead of people like Praveen Kumar. Anyway, that series is done with, and it's time to turn our attention to the IPL.
It'll be interesting to see international superstars playing in the same XI as untried youngsters, as well as teammates now having to compete against each other.
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