PLAYA RATINGS

ALMUNIA
No real saves. One decent punch. I’ve suddenly realised he no longer makes me nervy (touch wood mind).7

SAGNA
Kept Damien Duff pretty quiet and bombed forward in both halves.7

GALLAS
Controlled the defence well and by hook or by crook, we seem not to be conceding goals (Spurs game excluded).7

SENDEROS
One dodgy moment where he needlessly gave the ball away, but on the whole his form is much improved and it’s three clean sheets in three for Big Phil/7

CLICHY
The usual stuff. The guy is unbelievably focused.7.5

FLAMINI
Two massive moments that won us the game. And did the usual snapping too.8.5

CESC
A welcome goal to end the over-hyped drought and involved in the two others too. Not yet back to his very best, but getting there.7.5

HLEB
Struggled to get involved early on and booked. But got better and better and by the end was slinging the ball around at typically outrageous angles.7

DIABY
Flits in and out of games, but when he was in, much of it was good. Looking stronger and stronger on the ball.7

EDUARDO
Nothing too special, but scampered around, caused a bit of trouble and looks increasingly comfortable in the team.6.5

ADEBAYOR
His usual combative self. Missed one volley but made amends a couple of teams later.7

SUB: BENDTNER
Let his football do the talking. Flicked on in the build-up to the second and laid off to Cesc for the third. Good work.7

SUB: GILBERTO
Slotted in fairly comfortably.6.5

SUB: THEO
Another of those nights for the work experience kid. He’ll get there.6

Arsenal 3 Newcastle United 0
From Goodplaya watching in the pub

TO my eyes this was a nervy night not settled properly until Cesc Fabregas added a marginally offside third.

To most other people this was probably a routine win that was never in doubt.

What is not in question is the star of the show was Matthieu Flamini. Released by a combination of Hleb and then Cesc, the sight of him rampaging down the right wing was welcome in itself.

What followed was delightful. He could have slung in a cross and then bemoaned the lack of strikers in the box. But instead he waited, waited and then released a peach for Adebayor to head in.

Until then we had looked decent but clear cut chances had been few. Given hurried one clearance out for a corner and Adebayor volleyed over, but the Geordies had done a decent job of containing us.

Despite some diligent work from Diaby, too much was going through the middle of the pitch. Hleb’s failure to get into the game epitomised our struggle.

Newcastle were decent going forward, if prone to wondering offside. And for 15 minutes after the break an equaliser looked possible. We were not doing a whole lot wrong - they just seemed to come out determined to avoid a repeat of Saturday’s second half surrender.

Bendtner replaced the busy Eduardo. We didn’t have to wait long to see if he and Adebayor could work together. The Dane flicked for his partner and when the ball was forced out to the byline, Diaby kept it in, fed Cesc and he gave it to Flamini.

Thirty yards out, he took a touch and pinged one across goal. As it left his boot I consciously remember thinking “hello”. And it flew like a bullet past Given.

We had been playing well enough. But sometimes you need a moment of sheer brilliance to make the difference. When Matthieu Flamini is providing said inspiration, it’s a good sign.

Still, I’d rate the assist marginally above the goal. Both were a sign of just how far he has come.

Tellingly, the ball had been worked out wide for both goals. It’s a point I’ve made before and I imagine I’ll make again.

A third followed when a slightly offside Bendtner played in Cesc. His instinctive, shanked left footed finish was so reminiscent of Eduardo that I thought it was the striker - until I remembered that was unlikely given he was no longer on the pitch. It also ends the Spaniard’s slightly over hyped goal ‘drought’.

This was a good performance. Not outstanding, but in the Fulham game and two matches against the Georides we have shown a decided and timely return to form. Newcastle had their moments, but they were predominately the product of good play rather than sloppy defending, which was another good sign.

Particularly pleasing were good performances from Diaby and Senderos. Both needed to find some form. Both have.

I can’t add a lot more because I wasn’t there and couldn’t observe the little things you notice being at the match. After a recent splurge on tickets and with a visit to Manchester to see my sister and catch Saturday’s game planned, I didn’t make a huge effort to get tickets for this game.

Instead it was the pub, where the sofa was comfortable, the beer decent, the screen big, the commentary in English and the Thai food excellent. I’d gladly advertise the name, but I suspect they’d rather I didn’t.

HE may have been on the brink of leaving Arsenal at the time, but it seemed impossible to believe Burnley at Turf Moor would be the last we would see of Jens.

I pondered how a man so mad could finish his Arsenal career in such mundane fashion.

Even against Newcastle, things seemed far too routine for this to be the last we saw of the lunatic.

And then the balls dropped. United. Away.

Unlike Burnley and Newcastle, United will stand on his toes at corners. Could be interesting.

Newcastle tonight and Hleb, Sagna and Eduardo should all start, with Diaby the obvious candidate to replace Rosicky on the left. When he finds form the Frenchman is excellent and on Saturday we saw glimpses of what he is capable of for the first time in quite a while.

A win would be great. You sense we are entering a very important phase of the season.

Finally, there is a piece on the Online Gooner about the singing of anti-semitic songs at Spurs last week.

I was there and did not hear them. But friends say they still hear them occasionally.

I’m well aware that by highlighting the issue on this blog I am largely preaching to the converted. But if you have any bonehead mates, who need telling, tell them. And tell them to stop the racist chants every time a Korean player gets the ball.

It’s not funny. And anyway, you’re probably directly insulting many of those sitting around you.

PLAYA RATINGS

JENS
Despite the Geordie pressure he never had a save to make. Handling was perfectly fine.7

HOYTE
Troubled early on by Duff and did not get a hell of a lot of support from Walcott. But from what I could see (which was not a lot admittedly) kept Duff far quieter after the break.7

GALLAS
Strangely let one cross go early on when he should have cleared for a corner. But made amends with great tackle and really held the defence together when Newcastle threatened. Is truly leading the team now.7.5

SENDEROS
No ifs, no buts: he played very well. Kept Owen quiet and looked very composed, as well as being assured in the tackle. Let’s hope his rustiness is over.7.5

CLICHY
Brilliant as ever, particularly as we bombed forward after the break. Defending is just utterly immaculate - witness one awkward crossfield ball that he didn’t just cut out but actually managed to head straight to Flamini.8

FLAMINI
No longer on a rich vein of form. It’s gone beyond that. He’s now just a much better player. Snapped in like mad at times. Great tackling.7.5

CESC
Not immaculate, but look back and you will see he was at the forefront of some of our best moments. Delightful ball for the opener..7

ROSICKY
Injured very early. NA

WALCOTT
Very weak early on. But in the second half there were glimpses of what he can do. A couple of neat runs and final balls that while not perfect, were at least along the right lines.6.5

DIABY
At times really got into his stride in the first half. As my brother pointed out, he benefited from the presence of Clichy. Who wouldn’t?7

ADEBAYOR
At his usual, awkward best. Two great finishes and almost got the hat-trick.8.5

SUB: EDUARDO
Might have gone across the keeper with one early chance but then hit the post and for one of the first times looked really comfortable as a member of the first team.7

SUB: GILBERTO
Slotted in neatly enough despite one ballon d’hopital for Clichy.6.5

SUB: HLEB
Set-up the second and offered a fresh threat when he came on. Should be rested for Tuesday now.7

Arsenal 3 Newcastle 0
From Goodplaya next to the singing section

THERE are places where a stonking home cup win against weakish opposition sparks thoughts of souvenir DVDs, nights out at Chinawhite and talk of a footballing revolution.

But at the Emirates it was a return to business as usual thank you very much.

And there is little more warming than a win to bounce back from defeat. The second half was soothing, reassuring and most pleasing of all, as one commentator put it, Arsenal appeared “angry”.

A collector’s item: Gael Clichy displays a lack of focus. (Admittedly more my fault than his).

The return to normality, which also marked a return to form up the good end, was also an apt reminder that this is not a season built on one off glory nights. Thus far it is the wonderful story of expectations utterly confounded and players excelling beyond what we ever thought possible.

Put simply, we showed character by the bucketloads. Nervy and shot of confidence early on, our spirit saw a second half show as impressive as anything we have seen for a while.

That’s not to say the first half was bad. Newcastle came out, had a real go and might have led. Of course, one can quibble with the defending, but a couple of times they put together genuinely decent moves.

At the other end we were not so bad either. There was a Cesc run onto a long Clichy ball that almost ended with a goal and there were shots too from Diaby, the Clich and Eduardo.

After early scares (the immaculate Clichy heading off the line, a good block from Gallas after he had strangely left the initial cross and a good chance for Owen), we slowly felt our way back into the game. With every little thing that worked you sensed the confidence levels upping a little.

Flamini was snapping, Adebayor ghosting and for the first time in yonks Diaby was really making his mark on the game. If you think about it, the fact he is young, French, leggy and black is absolutely no reason for the likes of me to constantly compare him to Patrick Vieira.

The captain

And yet in full flow the similarities are stunning. Oh for consistency from that young man.

It was a half that was good in patches and less so in others. But it was happily even and open and the thousands of Geordies in fine voice up the other end made for an atmosphere a little different to a normal Saturday 3pm league game.

We cranked it up a notch after the break. Cesc found space and slipped it in for Eduardo. When his curling shot thumped the base of the post and Adebayor reacted initially slightly sluggishly to the rebound, I cursed it as one of those days. But he somehow recovered, swivelled and thwacked one in with his left peg.

Relief all round. We continued to press and were a couple of great blocks away from a second. The Geordies were fairly useless up front - always offside and when Owen did once get free on the right, his cross was so abhorrent it deserved at least a PG rating.

I should at this point issue an unqualified, public statement: Big Phil Senderos played very well. No ifs, no buts, no anything.

When the second failed to come, subs materialised. As has been the case almost always this season, Arsene made the right subs. No doubt he will delighted to hear he has my approval.

Gilberto replaced Diaby who had had a decidedly decent game all in all, though not the best he has ever had. And Hleb came on for Theo, whose first half performance was decidedly ‘work experience’.

But with the team, he had improved in the second half and there were a couple of very welcome fastest kid in the playground forays down the right.

The second was a lazy, leggy run and finish from Adebayor, who benefited from a crafty little body check by Eduardo. If you were ever going to hit a teammate (which I would not recommend), doing it on this form is surely the moment. The fans are certainly very much with him.

Word is both men have been fined. You imagine Ade will learn his lesson. As for Bendtner, whatever the rights and wrongs of this situation, he has a reputation he would be best shedding.

The relief after the second was palpable and the atmosphere suddenly became rather good. I tell you, it’s great watching this team when they play well. The last ten or so minutes were a sing song punctuated by an own goal from a former United player. Joyful. Let’s hope for more of the same tomorrow night.

Which brings us, in no logical order whatsoever, onto Tottenham. And one specific question to the Match of the Day panel:

Why, when you get so indignant over a foreigner exaggerating his fall to the ground, do you consider a red card for a player who deliberately prevented a goal scoring opportunity harsh? Why is Michael Dawson not being condemned as a cheat?

A FEW quick thoughts post Spurs and pre Newcastle.

One reader emailed to say how disappointed she was to see so many fans leave White Hart Lane early on Tuesday.

TV pictures were misleading here. Sure, a few people left after the third and fourth goals. But the vast majority of supporters were there til long after 80 minutes.

Those who left a little before the end can hardly be blamed - blending into the crowd as you leave the away exit at WHL can be easier said than done.

I started reading and then gave up reading one internet piece questioning Willam Gallas’ captaincy at WHL. Utter tosh. He had a bad game, but there was nothing wrong with his attitude, he was first on the scene to calm Bendtner and Adebayor, was still desperately trying for a goal long after the game was gone and came over to properly applaud the fans at the end.

Talking of Bendtner and Adebayor, the latter needs to ensure his apology is proper because whatever his grievances, Adebayor’s behaviour was unacceptable.

And Bendtner needs to not sulk and do what he can to shed his reputation as a troublemaker. It’s always debatable whether team spirit breeds success or success breeds team spirit, but either way we’ve had a measure of both this season and should not throw them away.

Looking ahead to Newcastle, injuries and Africans mean the team will inevitably be a mix of first team and fringe players. Were I to take a punt, I’d go for Jens, Clichy, Senderos, Hoyte and either Gallas or Sagna. Then Flamini, Diaby, Rosicky, Eduardo, Adebayor and possibly Bendtner, with Eduardo on the wing.

Alternatively, Adebayor may be kept on the bench, with a front pair of Bendtner and Eduardo, Diaby left, Rosicky right and Gilberto coming in to partner Flamini (which is not a particularly appealing midfield).

You always worry with Arsenal that we’re a couple of defeats away from a crisis, but I really think now is not the time to panic. We were dented by Tuesday, but it needn’t be anything worse if we can get back on track against the Geordies.

Finally for today, you can catch me this morning on the Arsecast over on Arseblog. We talk about Spurs and Newcastle and I’m generally fairly sarcy about the former.

And very finally for today, please don’t click on stupid links on Newsnow that promise you sensational transfer news. It depresses the likes of me. Unless they are newspapers, who have dedicated full-time correspondents paid to get stories, the site will very likely know nothing at all.

Of course, there are blogs (this included) out there who through either scouring foreign press coverage or through contacts of their own will occasionally bring you genuinely new news. They are not the ones who shout: “Arsenal sign three week old new Pele” and such like.

And one final thing: question marks. Trust me on this, if a headline is a question the answer 95% of the time is ‘no’. Otherwise it would not be a question. Rant over.

PLAYA RATINGS

FABIANSKI
Perhaps at fault for the third but helpless otherwise.6

SAGNA
Linked reasonably with Hleb early on but has put in more solid defensive performances and was slow for the third.5

GALLAS
Turned too easily on occasion but played the captain’s role in separating Adebayor and Bendtner and made sure to applaud the fans at the end.5

HOYTE
Struggled in truth. Given the runaround at times.5

TRAORE
Relied on his speed to get him out of trouble but was given a roasting at times. With little support from Diaby did not get forward enough.5

DENILSON
Injured early on.6

GILBERTO
Not a great game by any means but gave his all and was not as bad as I have seen him.5.5

HLEB
Started very well but then faded in the latter stages of the first half. Often looked the most likely to conjure something.6

DIABY
Useless on the left. Offered little going forward or coming back and just showed no inspiration. Much better when we were moved inside but the game was over by then and so it counts for little to excel against tired, victorious legs.5

WALCOTT
Awful frankly. But still young.4

BENDTNER
OK with the ball but does not get into the box enough and comes short for intricate passing play too often.6

SUB: CESC
Struggled to really settle and though he pulled some strings in the second half, was hardly outstanding.5.5

SUB: ADEBAYOR
Some good hold up play and a top goal but was out of order towards Bendtner. Owes him an apology.5

SUB: EDUARDO
Got into some decent positions and caused a lot more trouble than Diaby did6

Spurs 5 Arsenal 1
From Goodplaya in the middle of the away lower section

ON the way to White Hart Lane a Spurs fan was overheard saying: “Wenger’s bottled it and picked the first teamers.”

Ignoring the insight that gives us into the state of the north London rivalry in 2008, it was true that the team was almost unchanged from the side that won at Fulham.

The only tinkering was Fabianski replacing Almunia in goal.

And Hoyte replacing Senderos and Traore replacing Clichy.

And Denilson replacing Cesc. And Gilberto replacing Flamini.

And Diaby replacing Rosicky. And Walcott replacing Eduardo.

And Bendtner replacing Adebayor.

But other than those eight changes we were indeed at full strength. Spurs welcomed back four players who had been rested ahead of their Carling Cup tie. We were forced to include first teamers because we had run out of reserves.

Sadly, my powers of prediction on this one were almost spookily accurate. Ahead of the first leg I said:

“The second leg in two weeks will be a day off the anniversary of Spurs’ glorious 5-1 win in the return leg - their first win over Chelsea in 27 attempts.
“Even before I figured that out I fancied them to have their day this tie. It’s a hunch.”

Scary, eh?

We had started well. But then when Jenas strode forward there was no Flamini snapping at his heels and no Kolo throwing himself in front of the shot. 1-0 after two minutes.

We were making progress down the right, with Hleb finding space, picking his passes and suggesting we may offer some threat.

Sadly, we also resembled a stroke victim who had all lost all function on the left hand side of our body. Traore’s rawness did for him, Diaby’s lack of focus and application did for him and Theo’s general wretchedness did for him.

Up front we just had absolutely no presence and in a game where there was always going to be goals, it’s no exaggeration to say you can’t really afford that. At the back, we were rocking and even Sagna and Gallas appeared out of sorts.

The way the ball flew off Bendtner’s head and in for the second was nothing to do with bad luck and everything to do with poor defending. The ball should have gone back exactly where it came from.

Cesc, who was OK but no better, had replaced the injured Denilson early on. But if we really wanted to get back into the game Adebayor and Eduardo had to be introduced at half-time. It was hardly as if Walcott and Diaby were not obvious candidates to be withdrawn.

Nothing happened and despite a decent start to the second half, it was three shortly afterwards. Fabianski will be criticised for his reaction to Keane’s shot, but I reckon Sagna and whoever the other defender was must shoulder the blame for him getting in on goal. When the shot came in, it was right down by Fabianski’s feet and to save it required a really awkward adjustment.

The fourth from Lennon followed. Throughout, Eduardo and Adebayor had been warming up but there was still no great rush to introduce them. Arsene did not appear that bothered.

Eventually Adebayor strolled towards the touchline. And around a minute later Arsene thought ‘what the hell’ and chucked on Eduardo too. In truth, they were damage limitation moves.

Adebayor replaced Walcott for reasons that were patently obvious, while Eduardo came on for Traore. It completely messed with our formation, pushing Hoyte to left-back and Gilberto to centre-back.

But more than that Diaby went to central midfield. Yep, you read that right. Abou Diaby was allowed to play in central midfield. That was how screwed up things were.

I should tell you at this point that despite the scoreline, the Arsenal fans inside White Hart Lane were not generally speaking that bothered. Don’t believe me? Would we honestly think singing “5-4, we’re going to win 5-4″ remotely funny had this been happening in a league game? I think not.

By now we had a half decent team. And it showed as we began to dominate. We were still trying to walk the ball in through the net rather than play it out wide, which was utterly infuriating. I wish the players could sit in the stands and see just how much more dangerous they look when play is stretched.

Admittedly, it was one such eye of the needle through the middle move that saw Adebayor ping in a cracker and give a decent excuse for us to belt out his new ode.

It also had the funny effect of putting the shits on the Spurs fans, who appeared petrified they were going to cock it up. In fact, it was not until 87 minutes that they started singing “Spurs are on their way to Wembley.” Insecure or what?

By then Bendtner and Adebayor had clashed. It was not, as TV suggested between Gallas and Bendtner. The captain was merely playing peace-maker.

Instead, Adebayor had walked over to the Dane and shoved him in the face. Now I found Bendtner’s determination to pull out of the box and try and play intricate one-twos as if he were Dennis Bergkamp utterly frustrating when he should be there to head in crosses. But I’m not sure it merited physical assault.

The Dane did not take it too well and for the final ten minutes it’s fair to say we didn’t particularly have a partnership up front. Still these things happen between players and at least it showed some spirit.

To further confuse the tactics, William Gallas decided to abandon his central defensive duties and join the strike-force. Perhaps he was there to play peacemaker. Perhaps he thought ‘Fuck it, it’s the Carling Cup. I really don’t care.’ Perhaps a bit of both.

I knew, just knew, that a fifth would follow. And it did.

Reaction? I’d never expected us to win this tie. You can only push playing reserve teams so far and the truth is that after utterly humiliating Spurs last year, they were never likely to let us repeat the trick.

And if things went wrong, the odds of them going spectacularly wrong with such a mess of a side was always quite high. In any case, spankings can always happen in the League Cup and we were due one after falling 5-0 to Chelsea nine years ago and 6-2 to United eight years before that.

The truth is this defeat does not hurt. Not really. They beat our reserves - that’s the blunt truth of it. We were unbeaten against them for God knows how long.

Their songs rang-out but they largely bounced off me. Only the fact that a trip to Wembley would have been fun moved me at all.

What hurt was that draw against Birmingham. But this? I wouldn’t have swapped a win for one of the league victories. I’m not even sure I would swap that point against Birmingham for a win tonight.

It was never a priority. Our team selection told us as much and the mentality did too.

What does matter is the wider implications. Something very strange has happened at Arsenal this season. A common belief was that we had a strong squad of 22 roughly interchangeable players.

But a gap has emerged. Our first team players have on the whole had fantastic seasons.

Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Cesc, Flamini, Hleb and Adebayor have all been excellent and got markedly better. Tomas Rosicky has been good and RVP injured.

Then there is Eboue, Bendtner and Eduardo, who are all competent replacements.

Then look behind them. Look at Senderos, Djourou, Hoyte, Traore, Gilberto, Denilson, Diaby and Walcott. Traore is still very young. But none of the others quite look as good as they did in August. And Diarra is gone too.

It all means that other than up front and in right midfield, there is no competition for places. And it means we are a couple of injuries away from potentially being really stuck.

What would we do without Cesc? Or Hleb? Or Adebayor? How will we cope without Toure? That is what matters, not losing to Tottenham.

The journey home was incredibly quick. We let the boneheads from either side have their fun, slipped into the crowd, strolled down the High Road, onto the less than packed tube at Seven Sisters and away we went.

A couple of perfectly pleasant middle aged Spurs fans (lawyers I think) greeted each other and reveled modestly in their glow. Then one got off at Finsbury Park.

His friend held a contented smile. At which point I was fairly childish and decided to wipe it off him.

I deliberately initiated conversation with my mate about Arsenal. And specifically about the AC Milan game. And I kept the conversation on the Milan game. The very pleasant man knew precisely what was going on and glanced our way occasionally with a rye smile across his lips.

Then I spoke to Richard on the phone and we chewed the fat as usual. He found losing 5-1 particularly annoying - to me with that team going out 1-0 would have felt the same.

And then he finished by saying: “Goodbye. This is the first time we will have been to bed having lost to Spurs since November 1999.” And then we realised.

We had not started work by then. We had not even been to university. We had not been traveling. Not taken our A Levels. Not been down to the Thames on Millennium night. Not even legally bought a pint.

The record had to go at some point. Just be grateful it didn’t kill our invincibility as well in May 2004. And thank your lucky stars it didn’t send Spurs into the Champions League two years later.

Be grateful it came against our reserves in a tournament we couldn’t care less about with us on double their number of points.

And remember while you’re at it that the last time they beat us away was against our reserves too. Almost 15 years ago.

And remember that after ending their Chelsea hoodoo six years ago in identical fashion they lost to Blackburn in the final and didn’t beat Chelsea again for another five and a half years.