Category Archives: Arsenal News

Can Arsenal Overcome High Flying Everton?

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When Arsenal lost at Old Trafford only a few weeks ago, it was the start of a Manchester United revival. Van Persie scored the winner, and Manchester United were only 5 points behind us. Fast forward a month, and now the second club in Manchester are 12 points behind?

Bet Van Persie has thought twice about his over the top celebration now.

And speaking about Manchester United, they lost at home to Everton on Wednesday night. The greatest football pundit the world has ever seen, Alan Shearer, said Everton dug in deep and defended for their lives and got a result. I’m not sure what he was watching, but I saw an Everton team full of purpose, some great attacking play and a side that made many chances at Old Trafford.

There’s no doubt that after Moyes’ departure, Roberto Martinez has taken Everton to the next level. I used to hate watching Everton because they were so boring and negative, but now they play with attacking purpose and always look to score goals. They thoroughly deserved their win at Old Trafford.

But that poses problems for us on Sunday. They are a real contender for the Top 4 and they will arrive at The Emirates with no fear. They have players who can really hurt us, such as Lukaku. If you asked any Arsenal fan which striker has caused us the most problems over the last decade, then they would agree it was Didier Drogba. Lukaku is the closest thing we will face to him.

Everton have already beaten Chelsea and Manchester United, drawn against Liverpool and gave Manchester City a scare earlier on in the season, so they won’t be afraid of us.

In a way though, Martinez’s attacking sytle of play could play into our hands, and the more open the game the better.

Sunday’s game has all the ingredients to be a huge occasion, and we have to make sure that we don’t give the rest of the Premier League what they want – an Everton victory.

 

Arsenal Absolutely Fantastic As They Cast Liverpool Aside (w/ Player Ratings)

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Arsenal (2) – (0) Liverpool
Cazorla 19′, Ramsey 59′
The Emirates Stadium, London
Barclays Premier League

Arsenal are now 5 points clear at the top of the Premier League after a simply stunning performance against second place Liverpool.

It was the first time the two teams had met as first and second in the league in 20 years and with Chelsea losing to Newcastle in todays early kick off, Arsenal could amazingly increase their lead to 5 points by the end of the day.

But we had to overcome a Liverpool side full of confidence and with a strike-force on fire.

But Arsenal were absolutely sensational today. Our main concern was absence of Mathieu Flamini but we had learnt our lessons from the Chelsea and Dortmund games and put in a performance worthy of potential champions. We were unbelievably good, completely deserved all 3 points and our 5 point lead at the top of the league.

Mikel Arteta put in a real captains performance, marshalling the side and really setting the tempo. The back four were solid, with Sagna in particular playing fantastically well. The midfield of Ramsey, Rosicky, Cazorla and Özil was top drawer and Liverpool couldn’t cope with our incisive, purposeful and slick passing, even though they were the ones playing with five in midfield. Olivier Giroud was immense once again up top, holding the ball up well, linking up play and running for the team like a man possessed.

And both goals when they came were top class.

Sagna was put through on the right hand side by Arteta, and his first time cross was meet by Cazorla who was unlucky to have his headed effort hit the post. But what wasn’t unlucky was his half volley from the rebound, which he smashed in with aplomb with his right foot.

A special goal by a special player!

At half time we came out of the blocks and cometh the hour, cometh the man of the season so far.

A sublime pass from Özil found Ramsey on the edge of the box, and without panicking or rushing himself, he coolly waited for the ball to crop and smashed in a blistering shot from 20 yards. Two world class goals and a 2 goal lead in such an important match.

Overall, a massive, massive win which was absolutely huge in our season. Our first real test in the Premier League and we passed with flying colours. Questions were asked about our title challenging credentials and whether we could increase our lead by 5 points by the end of the day and we did that emphatically.

Player Ratings:

Wojciech Szczesny – 8/10
Had a few saves to make and made them with assurance and confidence. He is really becoming a top, top keeper and he was faultless today.

Bacary Sagna – 9/10
Unbelievably good today – crossed for the vital first goal and owned the right side of the pitch. Linked well with Rosicky, Arteta, Cazorla, Ramsey and Özil and defended excellently. Went forward with real purpose and provided an important attacking outlet on the right hand side.

Per Mertesacker – 8/10
Calm, collected and solid at the back. Organised the defence well and made some vital interceptions and defensive headers.

Laurent Koscielny – 9/10
Outstanding against Luis Suarez. Was aggressive from the outset and gave the Liverpool striker no time whatsoever. He pipped him to the ball, went in hard and really set the tone. Kept Suarez in his back pocket.

Kieran Gibbs – 8/10
Full of energy as usual and defended well. Up and down the left hand side with purpose and drive until he came off injured towards the end of the game.

Mikel Arteta – 9/10
A real captains performance and lead by example. Great determination and hunger, and pulled the strings from central midfield. Positionally excellent, he was the hub for the team to start attacks and he filled the void left by Mathieu Flamini.

Aaron Ramsey – 9/10
Linked up well with Rosicky, Cazorla, Arteta and Özil and showed real determination and desire. Full of energy and completely deserved his goal. He has a never say die attitude which really showed on the pitch.

Tomas Rosicky – 8/10
Arsene Wenger plays Tomas in the big games and you can see why. He is energetic, puts in a tackle and presses the opposition and makes it hard for them. Linked up well with the rest of the midfield and a real unsung hero in this side.

Santi Cazorla – 9/10
For me he hasn’t been himself in the last couple of games but today he was back. Great movement, great desire and he was magnificent today. Fantastic range of passing which opened up Liverpool and took his goal so well. That was a goal only a world class player could have scored. Instinctive and top class.

Mesut Özil – 8/10
Was the man who the passing possession went through and his intelligent passing and movement created space for Arsenal to attack into. The pass for Ramsey was truly sublime and only a handful of players on the planet could have executed that pass. And yet another assist for the master of assists.

Olivier Giroud – 9/10
Immense is the word I used for Giroud because that’s what he has been this season, and he was the same today. Caused Liverpool loads of problems and held the ball up so well, linking up the play and bringing others into the game. Without Giroud in the side we would struggle.

 

Watch Crystal Palace v Arsenal For Free This Weekend On BT Sport

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If like me you always check if Arsenal are on TV over the next week or so you would probably know by now that the Crystal Palace game is on BT Sport tomorrow. Only having a Sky package with Sky Sports, then I was obviously disappointed. I looked to see if I could pay for a single game (I can’t afford to pay for a full BT Sport subscription every month) so I didn’t miss it, I was pleasantly surprised that this weekend BT Sport are offering a “free viewing weekend”.

Starting from 6pm tonight and until Sunday, BT Sport is free to Sky Digital and Freeview customers. Which means that the Crystal Palace v Arsenal game is available to everyone tomorrow!

Sweeeeet.

You can find more details on the official BT Sport website.

 

Time For Table-Topping Arsenal To Crank Up The Pressure

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Before tomorrow’s football starts, the top of the Premier League table looks like this:

Screen Shot 2013-10-25 at 11.47.09

[Courtesy of Google]

Arsenal are still 2 points clear of second and third placed Chelsea and Liverpool, while Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur are 3 points behind. Reigning Champions Manchester United are in 8th place, having amassed 11 points.

If you asked any Arsenal fan this summer, especially before transfer deadline day and securing the signature of Mesut Özil, where we’d be on October 25th, you would find it hard to find an Arsenal fan who would have said we’d be top of the league.

But that’s where we find ourselves after an excellent run of form since the opening day defeat to Aston Villa.

Tomorrow, Arsenal have the early 12.45pm kick off against Crystal Palace and before the 3pm games even start, we could be 5 points clear. And with Chelsea hosting Manchester City on Sunday then at least one of those sides will drop points. Liverpool face West Brom at home, which won’t be an easy game and Tottenham play Hull where they will be strong favourites to pick up all three points.

Manchester United have a Mark Hughes side at Old Trafford, so don’t count on Stoke getting anything from that game.

So it is vital that this weekend, especially with Liverpool next Saturday, that we win and get the three points tomorrow.

But with the fixtures coming thick and fast, will Arsene Wenger rotate too much? There’s been talk of Thomas Vermaelen starting tomorrow, as well as Nicklas Bendtner spearheading the attack and Jenkinson playing at right back.

While on paper Crystal Palace are in all kinds of trouble, they will have absolutely nothing to lose and we found it hard at places like QPR last season. A lot has been made of the strength in midfield but my fear is with too much rotation, it could come to slap us in the face.

Tomorrow’s game is massive in defining our season and setting the tone. We have Liverpool and Manchester United coming up in the league and it is vital we collect as many important points before those games.

And don’t forget, BT Sport are having a free weekend of viewing which means if you don’t have a BT Sport subscription then you can watch the Crystal Palace v Arsenal game on Sky Digital and Freeview tomorrow. For more details, click here.

 

Was West Brom 1 Point Gained or 2 Points Dropped?

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As the boring International break begins (does anyone actually care about International football anymore?) and the Premier League is one hold for a couple of weeks, Arsenal sit at the top of the table, pipping Liverpool to top spot after the away draw at West Brom.

But was that a point gained or two points dropped?

On the face of it, it was a decent result. West Brom were full of confidence after beating Manchester United at Old Trafford and gave us a very tough game. They could have even been two goals up as well in the second half, if Nicolas Anelka managed to take one of the two excellent chances he had.

But as it turned out, we dug in, and Jack Wilshere scored a valuable goal to equalise and give us a point at The Hawthorns.

Now though, a few Arsenal fans are questioning Arsene Wenger and his team selection that day.

The main points people have been “unhappy” with were:

  • That Arsene started with Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini meaning we had two holding midfielders.
  • Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere had to therefore play unfamiliar roles (in wide positions) which for about an hour, meant they had no real influence in the match.
  • Because of our midfield selection, Olivier Giroud was far too isolated and couldn’t bring other players into the game.

Personally, I thought West Brom where always going to give us a hard game and it would be unreasonable (but not impossible) for Arsenal to keep up their winning streak going into 10 games. Steve Clarke is a decent manager and knows full well that we have won 10 games on the bounce so changed his tactics accordingly.

Is it reasonable to think that Arsene Wenger should be clever enough to get through this and find another way to win?

I just think that if this was the Arsenal of old, we would have lost that game 2-0. Of course we struggled at times with West Brom but we never gave up and for me, it was a valuable point.

But what do you think?