RSSSpurs win game Arsenal did not care about + player ratings
Perhaps at fault for the third but helpless otherwise.
6
Linked reasonably with Hleb early on but has put in more solid defensive performances and was slow for the third.
5
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
Struggled in truth. Given the runaround at times.
5
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
Injured early on.
6
Not a great game by any means but gave his all and was not as bad as I have seen him.
5.5
Started very well but then faded in the latter stages of the first half. Often looked the most likely to conjure something.
6
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
Awful frankly. But still young.
4
OK with the ball but does not get into the box enough and comes short for intricate passing play too often.
6
Struggled to really settle and though he pulled some strings in the second half, was hardly outstanding.
5.5
Some good hold up play and a top goal but was out of order towards Bendtner. Owes him an apology.
5
Got into some decent positions and caused a lot more trouble than Diaby did
6
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.
23 January 2008 at 4:20 am
Goodplaya, I hope it’s not bcos you couldn’t sleep. Thanks for the match report. It’s a tough thing to do for any Gooner. They won fair and square. But I’m confident the guys will bounce back against Newcastle.
23 January 2008 at 4:22 am
You say “I reckon Sagna and Toure must shoulder the blame for him [Keane] getting in on goal.”
Yes, I would say Toure’s participation in the African Nations Cup is partially to blame for all this, but I think you meant Traore ;).
Other than that small nit, excellent write up & sorry you had to sit through that. But your perspective on it all is well taken.
23 January 2008 at 4:22 am
So then after this combination wenger has lost to sevilla ,drew with slavia,and now again at tottenham ,i would like to see hoyte become a striker and he might if he is allowed toplay in that position for 3 more years but the fact is its no fun,when in the process you go down like this,no disrespect to Wenger ,but he is becming a little too cocky,wasn“t it he who said the January window whould be shut up,what the fuck own up and buy a couple of players !!! heaven knows what would have happened if we were playing against Manu or chelsea!!and what the fuck how are we going to play against Milan!!
23 January 2008 at 4:23 am
[...] Her Accessories wrote an interesting post today on Spurs win game Arsenal did not care about + player ratingsHere’s a quick excerptAnd remember that after ending their Chelsea hoodoo six years ago in identical fashion they lost to Blackburn in the final and didn’t beat… [...]
23 January 2008 at 4:41 am
Thanks for the perspective Goodplaya. I felt wretched when I woke up this morning, or rather when I slept at 4.00 am this morning. The worrying thing for me was what you mentioned we’re a bit short of competition for places–the players did not look anywhere near as good as they did even against Blackburn in the cup game. Oh well, we’ll see how Saturday turns out–better than this I should hope.
23 January 2008 at 4:41 am
OH GEE WHAT A SURPRICETHE SPUDS BEAT THE GUNNERS RESERVES YES RESERVES YOU SEE IF THE SPUDS WERE EQUAL FIRST IN THE COMP.AS WELLIN THE FINAL 16 IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAUGE AND OLSOLETS NOT FORGET THE FA CUPWHO WOULD WHANT TO BE IN THE CARLING CUP AS WELL ITS NEVER BEEN ARSENALWISH TO WIN THIS CUP OVER THIS LAST 10 YEARS OR SO THE WAY THE SPUDS CELEBRATEDAFTER THE WIN ONE THINKS ALL THE ABOVE
23 January 2008 at 5:45 am
hoyte is shit
23 January 2008 at 6:16 am
er, i’m an arsenal fan and i dont agree with the statement that they beat our reserves. many of our 1st teamers played a considerable amount of time in this match, like gallas, sagna, cesc, hleb, adebayor, and gilberto, who isn’t really a reserve quality player although he is not in the 1st team.
23 January 2008 at 6:29 am
goodplaya, well said about the gap between our 1st and 2nd team.
if anything, we needed this thrashing for wenger to see the diparity. we’ve all pinned our hopes on diaby and walcott and gilberto, but to be honest, they just don’t look like they’re panning out.
remember at the beginning of the season when we had a surfeit of central midfielders? now with diarra leaving, it looks like we’re well short in that area.
at this point, if flamini gets injured, we’re boned.
23 January 2008 at 7:13 am
guys stop it. no need to be abusive.it will help a lot if every body including wenger realises that not all players can play any position in the pitch. wake up wenger, dont destroy these guys confidence.
23 January 2008 at 7:19 am
yh it was a game where we lost and it was quite clear we were goin to loose any way with that fukin shithead walcott and the other center back hoyte
23 January 2008 at 7:28 am
Goodplaya - you underrate Rosicky so much and don’t even realise how we have nothing going forward when he doesn’t play. He’s been better than Hleb and Fabregas the past few matches but gets no credit.
You’d think people would notice when he doesn’t play how we struggle to score but it seems like blogs like this have something against him. You singled him out as being “good” and the others as outstanding. What a load of rubbish. Flamini and Fabregas have both been pretty poor the past month but you go ahead and overrate them as much as you want.
23 January 2008 at 7:34 am
Mr Wenger thought his boys were going to whip us, but we had other things coming.Fact is we whipped arsenal last night and even if you had 22 players you wouldn’t have beaten us.
23 January 2008 at 7:37 am
Nice rigth up guy.
The team didnt loose, Arsene did.
23 January 2008 at 7:45 am
oh boy,its only carling cup. i stil believe le professors army can spank anyteam in the world,bring on keegan and the magpies.my only worry is the scuffle btwen ade and nick. i hope it wont affect the team spirit.
23 January 2008 at 7:57 am
BENDTNER 6 no way he shold be 3 howcan u scor an og wen ur up front he didnt even score anywere else he sholdgo to a different team hes RUBBISH
23 January 2008 at 8:18 am
If Flamini and Clichy get injured we are fucked thats all i learned yesterday.
23 January 2008 at 8:54 am
Good match report but find it hard to understand the defence of Gilberto and giving Bendtner a higher mark than Walcott. Gilberto allowed (like the 1st leg) a very average player in Jenas to run straight through the middle every time meaning that the defence playing a high line was a nightmare all game. He put no players under pressure and with both the 1st and 4th goals allowed his man to run past him and eventually score. And as for the ‘tackle’ on the 5th I’m not sure what he was thinking.
And I can understand that Walcott is the current whipping boy but the defence of Bendtner is a bit off as he was equally bad if not worse. He sulked around the pitch barely finding an Arsenal player with any of his flicks or passes and like the Everton game proved he is more dangerous in our penalty area than the opposition’s!
Still, we move on and like you say its a unusual feeling waking up to a defeat by Spurs and hopefully one that will cause a reaction in the players mind.
23 January 2008 at 9:05 am
We lost and Tottingham deserved to beat us. The main reasons - Diaby (again) was absolutely woeful, running into blind alleys again and again whilst failing to win the ball back - Diaby achieved absolutely nothing. His shocking fall from grace since last year’s CC Final performance seems irreversible to me. Walcott clearly is nowhere near ready for the first team - I would loan him back to So’ton to gain some confidence and then see where he is in 6 months’ time before making a final decision.
Beyond that Hoyte played out of his natural position (lay off him though - he’s alright). Gilberto decided to sleepwalk his way through the game, esp. the 2nd half. Gallas had his biggest off-day of a good season. Traore isn’t quite ready yet. Fabianski doesn’t inspire confidence yet (their 3rd goal was a gift and that killed the match). Cesc never expected to play - Denilson was so unlucky.
Hleb worked hard, as did Bendtner.
Embarrassing as last night was, remember that WE HAVE DONE THE DOUBLE OVER SPERZ IN THE PREM’ - WHAT WOULD YOU PREFER?
23 January 2008 at 9:18 am
hatta (point 8) - as I pointed out, we started with three first teamers.
Gilberto is not one. He has started five league games. And Adebayor came on at 4-0 for the love of god!
Franky - You are wrong. I rate Rosicky very highly and I agree with you he has been better than Cesc and Hleb recently (not Flamini though). But my point was over the whole season. Trust me though, I really like him!
To others who criticise my playa ratings - fair enough. I was at the game and without replays (and the ones on the screens at Tottenham are terrible), it can be hard to properly pick out who was responsible for what at the other end.
God, it became a long report. But I slept fine.
Just remember, if this hurt you, imagine what our kids dumping them out last year must have felt to them.
23 January 2008 at 9:24 am
5-1
23 January 2008 at 9:46 am
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
23 January 2008 at 10:18 am
…….5-1
23 January 2008 at 10:47 am
Quite simply the best post I’ve read in a long time. Top stuff.
23 January 2008 at 11:08 am
………..5-1
23 January 2008 at 11:11 am
Goodplaya - they are your ratings, they are your opinions so don’t worry if people get the hump about them.
I agree with you that Flamini has been our most important and consistent performer in midfield (possibly the team), and most of your analysis was really good - brought a bit of perspective back.
I think the best way to deal with the Spurs fans is to smile and agree that we were beaten by the better team. Generally it takes all of the wind out of their sails, let them have their moment as you pointed out it has been a long time coming.
Regarding the play - Diaby was awful, but he has never really looked comfortable on the left hand side. I thought even against Blackburn when Blackburn were in the ascendancy he struggled. He doesn’t seem to fit in the Arsenal style of quick control, release, move as he likes to slow the game down and take a few extra touches.
Walcott - I can’t ever remember a good game. Apart from the 7-0 Prague match, which was obviously against sub-standard opposition.
Gilberto - his decline has been scary, but I think having to cover for Diaby who didn’t track back means he was pulled out of position a lot.
Ade - I don’t particularly like him, as reagulars on here could probably attest to, he scored a great goal but headbutting a team mate is pretty unforgivable in my mind. I didn’t catch the incidentand they didn’t show it again, but if he did but St Nick I will be very hacked off.
Ps - what has happened to the comments today? A plethora of juvenile ones, most strange. I guess it is going to be a weird day all round…
23 January 2008 at 11:13 am
……………..5-1
23 January 2008 at 11:31 am
The scums won fair bcos they rate the Carling highly and Ramos is a cup specialist. Man utd beware!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!As to the team, i think yesterday is just one of those off form days, and this should tell the fans that they should stop all this talk of putting Wenger under pressure of using the first teamers whenever the team wants to play a seeming difficult game…………..Boys please bounce back on saturday. Do anyone realise that Ade has taken over from Piresd as tyhe regurlar goal scorer against the scums??????????????
23 January 2008 at 11:45 am
Can’t ever remember Pires butting a teammate.
That has seriously hacked me off.
That has annoyed me more than the result.
23 January 2008 at 11:50 am
………………5-1
23 January 2008 at 11:55 am
I do not think he butted him… it was hands by the looks of it.
23 January 2008 at 12:14 pm
The press are saying that Bendtner had a swollen nose, and was bleeding. I didn’t get a good view though, but can’t understand why at teh final whistle he had to be restrained and kept out of the changing room.
Very poor.
23 January 2008 at 12:16 pm
It is but it happens.
23 January 2008 at 12:20 pm
lets move on from yesterday. Bendtner and Ade should ave a good talk and resolve to move on from here.
23 January 2008 at 12:26 pm
I think it was frustration from being publicly thrashed
23 January 2008 at 12:46 pm
That is Blog Head’s only true statement so far.
Hleb was crap, he ran and ran lost the ball time and time again, passing was awful, he was worse than diaby. But we deserved a good spanking last night.
23 January 2008 at 12:51 pm
And boy did we deliver, even your arses were red after that spanking
23 January 2008 at 12:54 pm
I didn’t know blog head was filthy spud ape?
23 January 2008 at 12:55 pm
The Riddler,
Of course I am, I aint a total prick
23 January 2008 at 12:59 pm
Where do the likes of Hoyte, Diaby, Walcott, Traore,(Djourou) and Bendtner go from here?We have a good first 11 + Eduardo. The rest are just not title chasers or champions league challengers & its abit worrying for the end of the season. They are just not ready as Wenger put it & I think its time to move on some of them
23 January 2008 at 1:26 pm
Eboue is worse than Diaby. Diaby gets an unfair deal because wenger plays him on the left wing every F****g game. then when he finally gets the chance in the middle he has to play alongside Cesc - ie 2 attacking midfielders together. can you be surpised we let in more goals? they just got in each others way - why cant wenger pick a balanced team in the CC?
Gilberto is worse than useless and does not even have age on his side. maybe his legs can be used in the kebab shop.
but you are right, I said it after the first leg, the reserves are actually quite a long way behind the first team. that might sound obvious now but some people think we can simply interchange those players into the first team seamlessly. well, you cant. if we get injuries, our title and CL challenge are fu***d.
23 January 2008 at 1:31 pm
then why aren’t you on the other spud pages joining in on the mass masturbatory round-robin that’s currently going on?
23 January 2008 at 2:14 pm
Out of the cup - couldnt give a shit
Losing a carling cup semi to tottenham - couldnt give a shit
a below par performance from a few 1st team mmebers - it can be overlooked
another abject performance from Theo - Now THAT i am bothered about.
I know he’s young - I know he’s naive - i know he’s relatively inexperienced. BUT you could have said the same thing about Cesc, Anelka, Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney…etcetc.
I dont expect Theo to be at their level..the point is that his youth is masking a lack of natural ability out on the pitch. His passing is poor, his decision making is poor and he very rarely gets himself into a goal-scoring position.
I’m concerned that the only thing to markedly change with age will be a loss of pace…the only major attribute that gets him in the team. I really hope I’m wrong but I think we’ve got another Franny Jeffers in the team (ok…he’s not that bad)
23 January 2008 at 2:43 pm
..5-1
23 January 2008 at 2:52 pm
Goodplaya - thank you for a fantastically balanced view of last night’s game. In the face of today’s gloating (Spurs fans) and general hysteria (Gooners), it’s important to capture a little perspective. Yes, it’s not ideal, but it’s hardly the end of the world. And does anybody really think that this will destroy our season? Keep the faith. Some very average performances last night, but we simply cannot win every game 5-0…this isn’t a computer game! Spurs wanted it more, and deserved it - and if all they have to bout about is a League Cup win against Arsenal Reserves, then I think that says more about them than us, don’t you?
23 January 2008 at 3:27 pm
………………………………………………………….5-1
23 January 2008 at 3:34 pm
Blog Head, bet you was pinching yourself last night! pressure´s on you now though coz if you dont win the final, your gonna have to qualify for the uefa cup through the inter toto lol.
23 January 2008 at 3:38 pm
Tubes………………5-1
23 January 2008 at 3:55 pm
Bloghead. I’m 27. I wasnt alive the last time Sp*rs won the league.
23 January 2008 at 4:23 pm
Anon, I wasnt alive either…………….5-1
23 January 2008 at 4:38 pm
and the last time they beat us I wasn’t even an Arsenal fan Its nothing to be ashamed of :) :) :)
I don’t think I have ever witnessed Arsenal loosing by a 4 goal margin.
There you go
23 January 2008 at 4:54 pm
Goodplaya,
You have to admit Spurs were nonetheless brilliant.
By the end of the game we had as many reserves/semi-depleted invalids as you:
Cerny (reserve)
Chimbonda (soon to be leaving)
Dawson
King (semi-injured)
Lee (reserve)
Lennon
Jenas
Tainio (reserve)
Malbranque
Keane
Berbatov
Then when you bought on your big guns, we had a reserve striker and baby-faced midfielder on:
Defoe (reserve)
Boateng (reserve)
;)
23 January 2008 at 5:26 pm
Sorry guys just had a bit of business to take care of, what was it I was going to say………..er………oh yeah…….5-1
23 January 2008 at 6:02 pm
Sorry guys just had a bit of business to take care of, what was it I was going to say………..er………oh yeah…….thumped the spuds away.. and beat them at home..
23 January 2008 at 6:17 pm
………………………5-1
23 January 2008 at 7:17 pm
Goodplaya:
This is one of the most enjoyable posts I have read for quite some time. Congratulations for one of the best if not the best Arsenal Blog.
23 January 2008 at 7:28 pm
Two Owls,
And I suppose there’s no need to ask who your favourite poster is, eh?, eh?……..You love it, 5-1
23 January 2008 at 8:01 pm
Goodplaya - Sorry mate just seen it on SSN and it was a butt. They are showing it now. Disgraceful behaviour.
Absolutely disgusted. Probably the worst I have ever felt towards an Arsenal player. No amount of apologies will make up for it.
23 January 2008 at 10:29 pm
Poor Blogyhead he’s all over excited over some Beer Cup Competion, its been some time I believe? He’s been all scared looking out the window for the Met Police all week. He says if they win the Carling cup and he loses his virginity he’ll die happy(hopefully soon). Right enough of my cyber geek son and on to pleasing tramps down back alleys.
23 January 2008 at 11:16 pm
Christ Goodplaya, I didn’t realise you were so young…
24 January 2008 at 12:40 am
i think hoyte should be rated 3.5
24 January 2008 at 2:51 am
hmmm…walcott going out on loan? so says the daily mail for what it’s worth. that would leave us with, who, barazite as back-up?
24 January 2008 at 4:25 am
Best analysis I’ve seen among the fan sites. Thanks! Once again, Wenger was caught in between wanting to win and brooming the kids. His character won’t change, like his stubbornness and arrogance. If he fails to see the lack of depth in the team and act now again we’re having another trophyless season. Also I won’t brush off the defeat lightly like some gooners since I see this a huge blow to the already thinned morale. Can we bounce back on Sat? 50-50, in Wenger’s cliche.
24 January 2008 at 8:27 am
As I have said before not only is the clown useless on the field but he is disruptive to the team. The disgraceful display against Bendtner is only the beginning.
24 January 2008 at 9:36 am
…………………………………………………………5-1
24 January 2008 at 10:28 am
1-0, or 5-1… it would have all felt the same. Irrelevant.
The pain and heartache of witnessing your domestic season flatten for two years. 3-1 away defeats to Fulham. 1-0 defeats to Man City, Sheffield Utd, and West Ham. Home draws to PSV, and Birmingham. A 0-0 away draw to Pompy. 1-0 up with 15 to play of the Champions League final, then losing 2-1. And whilst we take the Carling Cup seriously, it is not our main objective to win the competition. Our objective is to give the future of Arsenal Football Club games in order to further their progression – regardless of what round of the competition it is. The games in mention are the real meaningful games for supporters of “The Big 4” … and whilst Tottenham are our rivals, due to the dominance of the red half of North London it isn’t as meaningful as what the Man Utd and Chelsea clashes are now. Because of Tottenhams inept, and lack of ability to keep up with Arsenal since the early 90’s – which they should have no excuses for – they simply aren’t a patch on us. Yes they pushed us to 4th one season, but that was only one season. They weren’t even capable enough of finishing the job having held that position for 3/4’s of the season.
Unlike Chelsea, Man Utd, and now Liverpool, we can’t go out every summer and spend money to accommodate the forthcoming season. Chelsea for example, its summer time they need a striker… Bang, £24m Didier Drogba… Didn’t quite work out the first season or two, so bang, £30m Shevchenko. Shev hasn’t worked, bang… £15m Nicolas Anelka. You’re talking £70m without a care in the world. We as a club simply can’t do it, we can’t. So, as unfortunate as it may seem, the Carling Cup is a mere write off for us every season. We use the competition to help develop our younger generation, with the hope they gain valuable experience, and character, to put together with the majorities all round technical ability, in order to become a top class player.
Clichy, Flamini, Cesc, Van Persie, and Adebayor are all as good as they are at the age that they are, because of our policy in this competition. You can bet if it wasn’t for the games they featured in between 2004 and 2006, they wouldn’t be no where near the level they are now. Beating two or three Premiership clubs in this competition a season, gives the younger players the confidence and belief to prove their potential. They taste victory, swallow it, and like a drug it becomes an enigma. A hunger to want more. A supernatural feeling which only exists in their heads and hearts. A craving like no other. Like the opposite, they experience defeat, and they don’t want it. They don’t want to feel that feeling again. Together, both sets of feelings and emotions entice with one another to set about in creating a future first team player of Arsenal Football Club.
Yes, no one likes to lose.
Semi-finals.
Against your rivals.
5-1.
But the fact of the matter is, would you rather be playing Slavia Prague in your next European fixture – of which, is considered a mammoth tie, whilst languishing in 11th place, 27 points off your most hated… or be sitting pretty 27 points clear, in second spot, level on points with top – knowing that a truly magnificent clash against one of Europes most famous is just a matter of weeks away??
Spurs will never have that feeling. They will never win the league. They will never play Champions League football even. They will never play a prelimary round fixture of the Champions League? They will not win a cup competition every season. Let them have their moment, for we have had plenty. A ridiculous amount against this one club. We have knocked them out of cup competitions, and won titles against them.
5-1 or 9-1 … Were as far superior to this club, as the difference in Arsenal and Tottenham’s trophy cabinet suggests…
24 January 2008 at 10:53 am
…………………………………………………………………….5-1
24 January 2008 at 11:45 am
…………………………… Nine years
24 January 2008 at 1:22 pm
………………..5-1
24 January 2008 at 6:30 pm
Fuck me you have seen Gilberto play worse than he did the other night.If he was a horse he would have been shot after the game
24 January 2008 at 6:43 pm
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Nine years
24 January 2008 at 6:44 pm
The gap between the first eleven and the rest of ths squad is huge.Bendtner,Walcott,Denilson are not good enough and Diaby plays like he hasn”t got a brain,Arsenal play a quick passing game he holds on to the ball too long.
At least Chelsea will give Spurs a good hiding at Wembley
24 January 2008 at 6:51 pm
I am not so sure that the gap between the first 11 and the rest is such a problem. I think if you take one or two in isolation from the “second string” and put them in the current first 11 it shouldn’t be a problem. ie Traore for Clichy would be fine so long as he has Rosicky in front of him and the normal defence around him. It is when too many play that the limitations are more prevalent, which is probably not going to be that regular an occurence. I think we would have picked up more points through December if we hadn’t lost Cesc, Flamini, and Hleb all at the same time for example.
Having said that Walcott for Rosicky against Birmingham seemed to mess up the entire team, but Theo has been especially dissapointing.
25 January 2008 at 9:32 am
Bendtner presents a great Aerial threat, you’ve got to give him that
25 January 2008 at 10:20 am
Fair point McGooner