At times like this, not only does it feel great to be a Gunner, it feels even better to be a blogger on all things Arsenal. An evening like this that ends with a good win, a much happier twitter timeline, jovial fans, topped up with a performance that every supporter should be proud of, is a good thing. Notice i said ''proud of'', not ''carried away by''. Because i feel much as it was a great display by Arsenal,we've had many like this down the years. For example, the one at West Ham last season in Upton park, where we showed the epitome of team ethic, skill and hard work but after then, couldn't find the consistency to push on. Wenger right now must be a man gloating inside '' oh ye of fickle and little faith, told u i knew what i was doing'' he must be saying. But not withstanding, he ought to know this result has only bought him some elbow room from all the acidic transfer scrutiny from fans and the media.
So unto the game proper, i begin with this quote from the Telegraph It sums up the game even at half time succinctly. We were by some distance the better side, and the home team can have little complaints about the result. The game in my opinion was won and lost in midfield..We began the game with Carzola, Rosicky and Ramsey centrally in that department. With Ramsey playing the ''deeper sitting'' role when we didn't have possession, but was still allowed to execute his trademark runs occasionally. Rosicky played at the tip of the trio and was responsible for making the play and pressing the Fulham defenders alongside Giroud. Carzola maintained his favorite roaming role from the left channel and did that to devastating effect at times. The rest of the team in other areas picked itself with only Podolski replacing Wilshere the only change noticeable from Wednesday. In my preview, i reported excerpts of Martin Jols' pre-match comments where he pointed at our Midfield as our biggest threat. He spoke of how difficult it was to contrast between our forward-line and Midfield. ''Its easy to get outnumbered in the middle of the park against Arsenal'' he said. ''The technical ability of their players allow them to exploit the weaknesses in your setup and every out field player is a finisher which makes them harder to pickup''. It was almost prophetic. From the blast of the whistle we seized control of the Midfield and started to impose our game on Fulham. As early as the 10th minute Walcott found himself in front of Stockdale the Fulham goalie after a nice pass from Midfield but his smart shot was well saved. Soon after in the 14th min, Arsenal were not to be denied. Ramsey in one of his forays up front let fly from the edge of the box, he saw his effort ricochet of Giroud and fall nicely for the french man. The striker made no mistake from 6 yards. In a rain drenched pitch, where finding rhythm and balance are almost impossible,the fantastic Carzola kept finding the spaces ,runs and passes that left the home side exposed at will. Fulham having conceded the goal where sparked to life and Szczsesney had to pull off some good saves to keep us level. Both teams were at this point making dangerous chances but in the 41st min we put daylight between us. Carzola had slipped past Scott Parker and picked out Walcott, the striker fired a shot that the keeper could only parry into the part of Podolski who rifled the ball into the roof of the net from outside the area. Podolski prior to this game was the subject of rumors linking him to a return to the Bundesliga. That news when i heard it, was as troubling as it was totally bonkers in my opinion. With this thin/weak squad? i thought..cant be true. Look, Podolski may be a lot of things, he may appear sometimes as lazy and a Luxury to have in the lineup but there's no denying his finishing ability. He and Walcott are our best finishers, and he proved just that.
In the second, half we looked to wrap this game up by getting the 3rd that'll kill off the hosts. At the back Sagna was performing heroics snuffing out Fulham attacks with Mertasaker. Its almost unbelievable how brilliantly he does the center back thing. His timing and awareness are simply excellent. It also seemed like the rest of the team were feeding off the confidence at the back to take the game to Fulham. Cue the 67th min, where yet more fantastic combination play from Gibbs and Carzola led to Podolski belting the 3rd Goal and knocking the wind out of the host. 3-0 at that point and the game was over as a contest. Bent scored the consolation goal to maintain his uncanny penchant of scoring against Arsenal (not like it matters), as the 3 points were ours.
After the game,Wenger praised the performance as impressive.. He reserved special commendation for Podolski, Giroud and Ramsey where he also confirmed the German was not going anywhere. Its ludicrous how anyone would have suggested he was not going to be part of the managers' plans. Wenger also hinted that all those waiting for signings may have to wait longer, as he won't be active until at least the NLD (North London Derby) next weekend. I don't know about you, but i'm done with fretting over the Transfer window.
Matter of fact i want it shut now even. Its just such a needless pain in the butt. The buck rests on the managers table whatever he does with this team, and he's the one paid handsomely to carry the can so there.
So a great Win and like always we march on. Next up Fernabache on Tuesday,so see you then.
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