Match Review: Arsenal 0: Chelsea 2 (Gunners exit Capital one cup with a whimper)

 Match rating of those who played for us last night....

Fabianski-------------------6     Didn't do anything particularly bad or extraordinarily good. Was left exposed for the 1st goal by his own defender and whilst he would have done well to react quicker to spare Jenkinson's blushes, you can't blame him too much..

Koscielny:------------------8      Confident in his defending. Anticipated and intercepted chelsea passes at will. Was instrumental in preventing an embarrasing 3rd goal

Vermaelen:-----------------6       Still loves to bomb forward at the slightest chance and leave us exposed to counter attacks. Lucky not to see Red late on in the game after foul on demba ba. He was strong on the tackle mostly and looked fresh but Mertasacker will always be numero uno to partner Kos in my opinion

Monreal:-------------------7       Nacho played perhaps his best game for us since he joined last January. Brilliant positional play, overlapped sensibly and came close to drawing us level in the first half after a fine effort flew just wide. Assured and impressive all round looked like a true spanish international.

Jenkinson:------------------4      I like this dude. But in all honesty, last night he shocked me and i'm sure a lot of his fans with an utterly abject performance. He simply allowed match day jitters get the better of him. He looked like he was a rookie on his debut. Poor decision making, Slow reactions, poor crossing (an area where he usually is very good normally) in fact he had a nightmare. Sagna is usually not given enough credit for his consistency. Carl showed us tonight why he is nowhere ready to fill Sagna's boot.

Wilshere:--------------------6    Did what Wilshere does and that is look to force the play, drive the team forward and play quick one-two's. Sadly this night our Attack was as bad as i'v seen it ever. Wilshere is at his best when a good striker can hold up play whilst he looks to play co-midfeilders in. He did his fair share of Tackling and tracking back but found it hard to influence the game more. It was strange seeing him around the box telling Jenkinson what to do on the play leading to chelseas 1st goal. May have unwittingly contributed to Carl's confusion ultimately

Ramsey:----------------------7  looked our most confident midfeilder but was saddled with a much deeper defensive role than usual in the absence of Flamini and Arteta so couldn't really function in the manner we've seen him do previously this season. He was however always a threat on the few occasions he ventured forward and was a ready outlet for good shots from outside of the Chelsea box. Had to be subbed bearing Saturday in mind,we'll be needing him more then obviously.

Rosicky:-----------------------5 Not his best night. Wasn't his usually influential self and found Mikel and Essien too physical to cope with. Thomas tends to thrive when he has Theo on his right to play in behind the defender. But in Miyaichi, he was devoid of any outlet of such nature. I was disappointed he didn't try to shoot more when well positioned but there you go.

Carzola:------------------------6  Good movement, intelligent passing but you get the feeling he is still coming to full fitness after his long injury layoff. Was at the center of everything good we managed to do last night but as a unit, Arsenal didn't attack with purpose so his efforts were not able to yield anything concrete.

Miyaichi: -----------------------3  I know we all want him to do well because he is a great kid. But lets face it, he looks out of depth at Arsenal. Either send him out on a season loan or sell him off outright. Joel Campbell who's been out on loan can't have done any worse than Ryo last night. (Speaking of which , i wonder why we can't get him a work permit yet?) Ryo looked lost on the pitch and i can't remember any telling contribution he made apart from receiving one good long ball from Bendtner and nearly finding a way through past Mark Scwhartzer. Frustrating night for him and all who watched him struggle.

Bendtner: -----------------------3    A huge reason why we where so poor in attack. Looked completely uninterested. You would expect the fact that since he hadn't played a lot thus far this season he' would be up for it. How wrong. He stunk the place out with his poor movement, he was slow as hell and showed poor hold up play. I was made to see the immense work Giroud does in our attack just by watching this guy last night. Horrible outing. He really needs to contribute more so he can impress some club out there to take a chance on him, because on the basis of this performance  i think Arsene is done with him.

Subs:    

Giroud---------------6  Came in after the chelsea 2nd goal and quickly showed what we had been missing all night long. Better hold up play and attempts at goal! Its easy to say we should have started him but we needed to rest him, he has played quite a lot plus Wenger had to give Bendtner some playing time.

Ozil: -----------------5  Couldn't do much to change the game as chelsea by the time he came in had already closed up shop. 

Park:------------------N\A   Was introduced to the game late on & i honestly don't remember him even getting a touch on the ball till the final whistle.

* sigh*    And so one trophy outlet slams shut in our faces. Look, as much as it never feels good to lose and especially to a team like Chelsea we have to accept they were the better side last night, simple as that. Their larger squad depth and quality was what made the difference at the end of the day. Maybe we didn't help ourselves by gifting them a first goal but there you go. In my preview, i mentioned i wouldn't lose sleep if we lost and i still feel the same way. Matter of fact out of those four big fixtures, if i had to choose a game to lose

it would have been this one. So lets pick up ourselves and march on. I just feel though that the only worry tonight was our inability  to switch up our style when it seemed obvious we weren't penetrating. Again i can't stress enough the sooner we get our natural wingers back the better. Our lack of width is starting to be a problem. Theo and Podolski will be Welcome returnees in no small measure. Right gotta run, talk again soon.

Match Preview:Arsenal Vs Chelsea (Capital 1 Cup resumes as Gunners host Chelsea)

Right, its the big one Tonight. Regardless of the fact that's its only the Capital one cup, there's no question about the fact that both teams want this win badly. Not only will confidence be boosted if either team eliminates the other in this 4th round tie, their respective managers will also be looking to get one over the other as well. Whenever these two clash there's always so much at stake beyond the ordinary, such as pride,bragging rights, etc. Over the years, there have been many crunching battles but with the return of that attention seeking maniac from Portugal this one has the potential of being very interesting. The reward is a place in the Capital one cup quarterfinals and for us a good chance to set our sights on snapping up a trophy early next year.

Its hard to fully decipher how each team will approach this encounter. Both were engaged in difficult fixtures at the weekend, with Arsenal slightly at an advantage with an extra 24hrs rest. Squad rotation will no doubt be enforced and you have to say on that ground, the odds even out as Chelsea has the benefit of a larger squad than Arsenal. This competition has always been Wengers' testing ground for his young hopefuls. In the good ol' days when Trophies were part and parcel of our lives(*sigh ) nobody raised eyebrows when young guns filed out to showcase their talents on the Carling cup stage. It was tailored for them to gain much needed exposure and experience. A great way to judge how well the younger players were developing viz-a-viz who is ripe for promotion to the 1st team and who is not.


For us  this season, we have had to stretch the playing resources at our disposal no thanks to long term injuries to key players.  A lot of the first team players would be rested for this tie bar a few who haven't had enough playing time recently. So who are those faces we expect to see? : Vermaelen, Jenkinson, Monreal, Miyaichi,Bendtner,Rosicky,Fabianski, are dead certs to make up the starting line up while Gnabry if fit, Hayden,Akpom and other youngsters will complete the team. The boss expects Wilshere to be fit for the game while he looks to assess Flamini's injury extent. In addition, he revealed he would select a right balance of youth and experience to cope with Chelsea as they will look to also name a squad of experienced players for this fixture. Mata, Luiz, Demba ba, Mikel, Etoo,William, Betrand etc, are some faces that Jose Mourinho would like to give playing time considering their limited appearance on Sunday evening against Mancity. I'm sure we all remember that bruising final at the Millenium stadium in 2007, in this same competition against a different Mourinho led Chelsea. We had a team packed with Youngsters that began the game on fire but as the experienced Chelsea heads settled into the game Didier Drogba and co broke our hearts with a win that was as i recall quite difficult to swallow. Experience will have a huge factor in this one as well. I expect a back 4 with Monreal,Vermaelen,Mertasacker and Jenkinson. This morning, i read an article that flirted with the idea of playing Sagna and Mertasacker in defence whilst Vermaelen takes up a Defensive Midfield position. I have never seen him play there & its hard to say how ready the Boss is to experiment in that regard but my feeling is he'll be in his traditional position in Defense.

Mourinho has already began to unleash his mind games shenanigans about how the organizers are trying to help us out by giving us a 24hrs rest advantage.  Jose ol' pal,  we'll take that advantage all day long . Now zip it and rotate that massive squad you are always quick to boast about! I can't tell you how bad i want to knock him out of this competition. The man is such an annoying prick.

We'll have to have full concentration for 90 mins for this one, take our chances and most importantly score first! Chelsea are the type of team that can defend well and deprive you of chances but you get the feeling they are not the quickest on their feet. If the likes of Ryo can get in behind and make runs to the box we can make life pretty difficult for them. ''Best player in the world right now'' Torres would also need to be closely watched. His pace in close quarters is a weapon, therefore at no time should he be allowed any kind of freedom. It really should be a cracker, i would love a win but won't loose sleep if we lose. Why? we have bigger fish to fry and the season is still young....C'mon Arsenal!

Match Review: Crystal Palace 0:2 Arsenal (Ugly game, Gorgeous points)

As it turns out, things are never as easy as they seem are they? In my preview i sounded dismissive of Crystal palace's chances of posing any threat to our annexing the max. points. I said this on the grounds of their woeful current form and other internal issues. But just look at the way we contrived to make this game much more harder than it should have been..The first half was very drab and uninspiring from us. A departure from our recent fireworks in previous fixtures..Some have ascribed it to Fatigue, as well as being Jaded all possible excuses for a rather flat performance but i'm not having that. Top teams all over the world, by now ought to be accustomed to congested fixtures. Its that way for United,Mancity,Chelsea,Milan,Barca etc.. but there's' no use moaning about it,we have to just get on with it..

FLAMINI'S INJURY
Gosh i hope he's ok..His level of importance to the squad is starting to prove crucial in relation to the manner we seem less formidable without him. I think the rest of the team also realize this and it appears a chunk of squad confidence ebbs whenever Mathieu is absent. I won't bore you with details of his work rate and ethics on the pitch. Those are Qualities that have earned him praises across board but for me its his vocal style of leadership that is so immense. 2 games without him 2 dodgy outings..The boss suspects its a groin injury,but fingers crossed its not. Those groin stuffs usually take a while to heal and obviously will rule him out of crucial ties with Liverpool and Chelsea. Not good i tell ya..


The RED CARD

OK i don't necessarily agree with the decision, but i can understand why the Referee flashed the card. It was a ''professional'' foul but the sheer distance of Chamakh from Goal and the loads of work he still had to do if he was to score makes the Red Card unwarranted. Hey its not like its Messi we are talking about here..but perhaps the influence of the crowd and the nature of the foul forced the Refs' hand. Should we appeal it? Yes, if the card is a 3 match ban ( though i think those are for Violent conduct) but No don't appeal if its a 1 match suspension..just allow him serve it out and we march on.


GIROUD 
Look he has his limitations and frustrating aspects, in any case the sooner we come to accept that, the better for us. He's nowhere near a complete striker, granted; but he is a Fighter and always keeps trying. Iv said it here before as a critic of his, he adds a lot to the team with his work rate, though he still misses some good chances due to bad composure. How many of you saw him crouched at the final whistle on his knees looking utterly spent? All those games for France and Arsenal taking its toll finally. That was evidence of a man who had ran his socks off for the team and had given 100%. Rewards invariably falls on those who work hard and his goal was borne out of  that conviction to get into the box at all cost to connect with Ramsey's lob. Fair play to him. Giroud needs a rest now and Bendtner will take his place on Tuesday night whilst he recharges his batteries. He's all we've got until January.


WE SERIOUSLY NEED OUR WINGERS BACK
I don't know about you but doesn't it seem that now we don't have any fit winger to use as an outlet during counter attacks, it now looks like we get a lot of those ''fast break''scenarios in too many games now? I recall one during this game in the second half we had just intercepted a pass on the edge of our Box, i think it was Wilshere who stole the ball. He then laid it off to Ozil on the right (Where Walcott would definitely had been positioned if fit) but Ozil isn't the fastest guy in the world,he just shuffled his way to their box but Defenders had recovered and the move broke down. Now a Walcott or Chamberlain would have burst into the box and had the keeper at their mercy before the defenders gained ground to tackle. Gnabry is a decent stop gap, but he lacks pace too. Theo's speed, as a counter-offensive weapon is a big ace up our sleeve against top sides in Europe and the EPL. They'll tell you its what they fear most when they lose the ball whilst attacking Arsenal. Our wings are not flying at the moment, we have to get at least one of the wide men back asap.

So there you have it, 3 points in the bag and that would do nicely. I'v had my fair share of birds for one week..The result restores much needed confidence before our capital one cup clash with the blues. Hopefully we can put out a team that would knock those jerks out of the cup... Until then though, Top of the league we remain..cheers

Match Preview: Crystal Palace FC Vs Arsenal (Battle of the bouncebackers)

 

 ..hope every one is well..always a pleasure to have you here. Midweek wasn't the best for me as i lost a dear aunt of mine to a heart attack. A quite numbing experience in all honesty. She was just the best, sweetest old lady out there..Life is fleeting guys, with less time than u think. So as James Morrison aptly describes it in his song ''One Life'' we have a duty to ourselves to make sure we live it right and fully. Added to that was the humbling we suffered in the hands of that impressive outfit from Germany, Borrusia Dortmund. I didn't get to see the entire game but from the highlights i caught, i observed it could so easily have been them on the wrong side of that result. You can say the defeat has sort of brought us back down to earth from the dizzying heights of euphoria we have been basking in for the last 2 months. Now both players and fans alike have come to the realization that we aren't quite that complete article yet. If  you ask me, i'd take a defeat from Dortmund all day long if it would help get us switched on and alive to the basics of the game in-order to prevent a more painful and damaging loss to Chelsea, United or City...

So when you are smarting from a humbling loss at home in Europe, who better to bounce-back against than a team who have lost their last 5 games, parted ways with their (bonkers) Manager and are as confident as a chihuahua among Rottweilers..Crystal Palace it is. The South London club will be hosting us on Saturday, nursing ambitious plans to bounce-back themselves from their own rotten current state of affairs. They are finding life in the topflight rather difficult to put it mildly, and they are favorites to be back in the championship by Christmas. The whole Ian Holloway fiasco sadly hasn't worked. They had hoped his Premiership experience with Blackpool would somehow provide a good leverage but instead what they got was constant moanings of not having the right quality, or numbers to challenge at this level. No confirmation as yet as i write this on Tony Pulis replacing him, but in any case you have to say it'll go down as a disaster if we fail to get Maximum points from this one. Their only win in this campaign has been against Sunderland which pretty much tells its own story. They play a 4-3-3 formation, a formation i believe is behind the travails they are facing. This formation is best suited to teams fluid in passing and mobility. Attributes this newly promoted side lacks regretfully. The have the ignominy of being the premiership side with the worst pass conversion rate. Against Fulham on Monday they were shocking with their passing and defending, in truth the result in the end could have been worse. Chamakh (remember him?) their top striker looked isolated up-front, shorn of any kind of service to his head or feet. oh and he has only recorded one shot in 8 games this season..the one that led to their goal against Stoke on the opening day.

We possess the plethora of talents to wrap up this game with at least 3-4 goals. Our passing and technical ability will overwhelm them. They are a plucky combative side as all newly promoted sides always are but in their poor form and Managerial Vacuum they stand no chance. Sounding too confident am i? off course i am..Team news is sparse as at press time, but the boss did hint Flamini is back in the squad and there are also no new injuries save for Jack who will undergo a minor test. He should be okay though. So here's to a juicy bouncebacky 3 points as we once again put on our hunting hats and go Bird shooting again..this time some Eagles. c'mon you Gunners.

Match Review: Arsenal 4:Norwich 1 ( I see Dead birds everywhere)

Ok quick round up as my laptop is acting up strangely..i fear it might just either explode or turn into a decepticon any moment, with the way it is making this crackling sound and heating up! So we did the business yesterday in some style swatting aside Norwich in a 4-1 blitz that some will say flattered us a bit. They never looked as bad as conceding that kind of scoreline. By half time, they looked very much in the game and matter of fact should have punished us on a few occasions when we were floundering. Our 2nd goal by Ozil actually came against the run of play, but what they didn't do, we managed to do quite impressively, which is score goals. 4 really top class strikes synonymous with a team in real confidence. We were mobile ,we were patient but most importantly at those times we lost control of the game we were disciplined and didn't concede..Absolutely Lethal stuff.

The WIN
It takes us back to the summit of the table 2 points clear of Chelsea, following Liverpool's draw at St James park with Newcastle. Make no mistake, the pressure was on for us, but we knew we had to roll up the ol' sleeves and just get the job done. I mentioned in my preview that momentum is what is driving us forward right now and if we want to maintain it, we have got to keep improving on this form we are in and ensure it lasts as long as possible.


The Goals

All were sheer beauties. This was the pick of the bunch though...WOW!
Ramsey's wasn't bad as well. It felt like i was watching Kanu in an Arsenal shirt all over again. Those shimmies and dummies and the astute finishing are borne out of a player in soaring confidence. The uncanny way he pops up in dangerous areas is great to see. And even when he is some distance from the opposition net, you still see the conviction in his long range efforts. Look, we have a real player on our hands guys. In this form Ramsey will win us plenty games and save us plenty points as well..


Flamini's exit and the Slump that followed
This showed that if there was still anyone out there wondering if Flamini's addition to this team is worth all the hype they better wake up. I say this because the moment he left the pitch in exactly the 38th min, it was like we immediately reverted back to the ''Bad Arsenal'' of  early last season. Timid, indecisive and Vulnerable. No one to take charge of the organisation in the middle of the park with players just shuffling around. Norwich sensed this quickly and did everything to take advantage but lacked that all important final ball. Arteta was present in Flamini's absence, but it was evident that he is no DM.


Giroud's unbelievable all round style
He isn't your ''Fox in the box'' striker but what he definitely is is an incredible link-up man for our creative midfielders..who seem to enjoy bouncing passes off him like a wall. Whenever the ball is close to the edge of the opponents D, have you noticed the way Giroud likes to back the post instead of hanging on the shoulder of the defender looking for a through-pass? In those scenarios you will often see him closely attended to by a central defender, but in response to that he shields the ball and looks to play one of the AMs' in..(As evident in the video above) I admit i sometimes still give him knocks especially when he looses his composure a few times good chances present themselves but he really does work hard for the team. If he can only work on his right foot& improve his composure ....hot


Its looking good but we gotta stay Humble 
Much as its so easy to get carried away with a performance like this. This isn't the time for champagne popping or any extended afterglow. We haven't achieved anything yet. The work ahead is enormous. After looking a bit lost earlier in the season, Chelsea seem to be slowly getting back to some form. E'too and Oscar were great today so that should get our boys fired up to improve. The boss spoke of self-belief, and how the attitude needs to be right for us to be real title contenders this term. If we can go on in this way until Christmas, only a madman would write us off.


Dortmund in the UCL, is on Tuesday. That game represents a chance to sew up our champions league group. Here's hoping Flamini is fine for it. talk later.


(p.s :No birds were harmed in the course of this writeup :))

Match Preview:(Arsenal Vs Norwich) Gunners go Bird hunting..as EPL returns!

                                                               
                                


Welcome to another Match preview. This weekend the boys are going canary hunting. Its been a fortnight of international football all over the world (By the way,i hope your country did well :)) and we are right back to the only genre of the game that gets us all buzzing. EPL football! We resume our quest for glory with a supposedly winnable game at home to Chris Houghton's side. I hear some say that we can't have hoped for a better team to return back to, but my reply to that is (in Podolski's voice) ''Aha''! That is Dangerous thinking indeed. History, as they say is repeated by those who choose to ignore it. Recent statistics have shown that we don't particularly do returns from international breaks too well. Without resorting to Opta joe or any other fancy data/stats provider, i can quite remember vividly that at this same time last season we were about fifth on the table. Back then we had also resumed from a similar break and found ourselves scheduled to face a Norwich side albeit at their ground. Suffice it to say, the game sucked from start to finish. Everything was bad. We never got going during the game and got well beaten. To Worsen matters, that result triggered off a massive slump in form that saw us lose to Swansea and Schalke in quick succession with our confidence in tatters. Okay okay, I know that's not the most nostalgic of flash backs, but its a timely reminder of how harsh things can turn around for any team in football if caution is not adhered to.

 This season is starting to heat-up with crucial games now coming thick and fast. And its also instructive to note that between now and mid-November when the next International break will be upon us again Arsenal play 7 crucial games. Starting with this Norwich game, up next is Crystal palace, then Dortmund after which United, Liverpool and Chelsea (Capital 1 cup) follows! That's a season-defining schedule right there. One that'll go a long way in determining our true strengths. Which is why we need to ensure we bag the maximum points from our visitors in this fixture. Momentum is a wonderful thing in football and the boss describes its importance to the team in relation to consistency. The team is on a high, playing well and the injury situation is starting to look better. It is understood that the long awaited Santi-Mesut partnership in midfield may well be on show as the Spaniard is certified fit to play after recovering from ankle injury that kept him out for a month. Rosicky is in the mix as well alongside the usual suspects of Wilshere, Ramsey, Arteta and Flamini.  Suddenly the Boss is awash with options and he can look to rotate liberally as his tactics demand. Bearing in mind the Tuesday Dortmund fixture, the boss may choose to give Ozil a rest and play Rosicky on the right-hand channel of our 4-2-3-1 formation. The choice to rest the German borders on allowing him time to recover fully from his knock against Sweden last Tuesday. Rosicky on his part did not travel and will no-doubt be fully rested and rearing to go. In playing the two holding guys Flamini and Arteta, this game provides a chance to fine-tune our tactics prior to Dortmund, since they are the ones expected to provide stiffer opposition than the canaries. However, playing both of them is also to guard against any slip-ups on the counter attack as Norwich do have strength on the wings which has found us wanting on a few occasions in the past. Ramsey would be my man behind Giroud centrally, whilst Wilshere plays on the left hand channel. But this is just my take on our likely lineup. Wenger quite clearly gave insight into the factors that are involved in his selections especially after international breaks. He mentioned needing to analyse how many minutes a player had played, even going as far as asking players how they felt in relation to their bodies and mental state. Therefore, it wouldn't at all be surprising to still see Ozil in the starting line-up. It'll simply mean he's fit to play.
Defensively,there isn't likely to be any change there. Sagna who was a doubt trained yesterday without problems so expect him to get back into the team. In somewhat unrelated team news, Vermaelen was talking to the local reporters in his home country and suggested he was starting to consider his future at the club following his lack of playing time. And with the World cup due this summer,he said he needs games to strengthen his chances of being selected. The boss sympathized with him on the matter, but stated clearly he could do little to help. The partnership of Kos and Per has been effective and pretty solid thus far, it'll be an unwise decision to change it now. I recall the boss tried something like that last season when he inexplicably dropped Mertasacker against Chelsea at home and paired Vermaelen and Kos. The gamble flopped badly and we got our ass whooped. Wenger must have learnt a valuable lesson on that occasion, so the captain would just have to be a little more patient.

So on to the Visitors, who to be honest ,are in a right mess at the moment in terms of current form. They have won only 2 of their 7 premiership games both by 1-0 scorelines to Southampton and Stoke. Sitting in the relegation zone, they no doubt would want to start getting points on the board as they have lost some games they really shouldn't have primarily to Hull City and Villa. Chris Houghton likes the 4-1-4-1 style that suits his team's counter punching credentials. They have an energetic holding midfielder in Alex Tettey who is hard on the tackle and breaks up play quite well. However, he gets naive at times as evident in his howler that caused chelsea's William to score against them at carrow road. I would like to see Ramsey lurk around him dangerously. In Leroy Fer and Jonathan Howson they have hardworking midfielders who are tactically disciplined and would have been drilled on how to ''soften up'' our guys (especially Wilshere) with a view to upset our rythm. I think it was Howson who scored a quite brilliant solo effort on the last day of the season to Mancity last season at the Etihad. Where he was allowed to ghost past 4 players before finishing superbly. A massive warning in case we start getting sloppy. Their wide men are Anthony Pilkington (left) and Robert Snodgrass (right). Pilkington is a doubt for the game but in him they have a guy who's very good in the air. Alongside their new striker Ricky Van Wolfswinkel (chuckle!) they've got plenty of height in the final third, so defending on crosses will need to be on point. Chris Houghton their manager is a Spurs fan, so i have no sympathies for him despite his widely acclaimed good guy personality, i hope he leaves the Emirates empty handed.

In all honesty, this one has a home win written all over it. We are in great form (W-W-W-W-W-D) whilst they are not (L-W-L-L-W-L). Last season's fixture between us was a cliff hanger for the most part. They scored first in the 56th minute and looked like they would bag all three points. Until an Arteta Penalty halted that and we ran out 3-1 winners. A quick word on the referee tomorrow, Lee Probert. I discovered a series of worrying stats regarding him and us.  We are winless in the last 5 games involving him as ref. (2 draws, 3 losses) Our last win with him in charge at the middle was in 2010. ( a League cup tie with Tottenham). Now here is where it gets really weird, Norwich are unbeaten in their last 7 games under Probert. (5 wins, 2 draws) and one of those wins was the 1-0 over us at Carrow road last season. Strangely, Probert also has been at the helm of games where the biggest upsets have happened already this season. He refereed the wins of Cardiff over Mancity and West ham over Tottenham (Gulp!). Feeling confident? Its on that re-assuring note i say COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!

So great to be a Gooner on any day...oh and Looking at that table definitely helps

Its a beautiful day in Lasgidi. The Sun is up and its as bright as i'v ever seen it since returning to my home country after a sojourn in the Queen's land. Mondays&Tuesday usually have nothing surrounding them to be happy about, but this week has been an exception. I'll have you know we love football down here, and maybe the sweetness in the air isn't unconnected to the heartwarming win recorded by the Super eagles in faraway Ethiopia. Watching that game,i couldn't help but feel sorry for the hosts. 1st half, they played some quite impressive football. Their movement, skill and technical savvy left the eagles looking lost all over the pitch. The Ethiopians as a matter of fact played a bit like Arsenal used to in 2007/2008. But in the Eagles, they were up against an experienced side and eventually found out fancy football is nothing without end product.

Speaking of which, iv sometimes asked my self. What on earth has kept me a Gooner all these years? through all the tears,disappointments, talent departures and yes that Carling cup Final? We have definitely had it rough of late haven't we? I recall sitting in my seat at Wembley in the Carling Cup final 2011,dejected and heartbroken asking myself why i even bother..It was the lowest point in my Arsenal supporter-ship life and it wasn't funny at all. Like many out there, i had hoped that trophy would help us kick-on to better things that year, we were 2nd on the table behind United by one point at that time and still in the F.A and Champions league,but to have seen it all crumble like domino almost destroyed me. But we all pushed on, and kept on hoping that one day we'd overcome our challenges and win something again. Hoping that even though we knew our Love for the Club would never die,we wondered was there a chance we would ever be able to smile again at a Trophy?

I had also asked a few other gooners what is it about our club that sets their heart racing? Is it our history, our style of play, what exactly? Is it even the Manager?  That's not a joke, as there are some young gooners that have known no other manager than Wenger. For a long time, it was the style of play we had come to adopt under Wenger that did it for me. The invincibles team when firing on all cylinders were simply a delight to watch. Henry on the right, Reyes in the middle, Pires on the left , Ljunberg in the hole all combined to form a devastating attack quartet that ran all opposing defenders ragged. The synergy and understanding between those guys was sheer magic. Goals always came with ease, as it was a rarity all 4 would suffer bad days at the same time. Deeper down the field were Vieira, Gilberto, Edu, and Ray Parlour. A mixture of Power, graft and stamina that was as effective as it was reliable. One indelible sight stuck in my head is a young Patrick Vieira ghosting past people in midfield with his long legs galloping like a wild horse in the wild. Box-to-box he was unstoppable and in him we had a leader we could rally around when push came to shove. And then our Defence, with Toure, Campbell, Cole,  Keown and Lauren. All Lion hearted toughies who went into games with that Gladiator spirit. Micheal Owen paid tribute to them in a recent article stating how hard it was for him as a Liverpool young star to face that defence. Those truly were the days. Even in the years after the invincibles, players like Hleb, Rosicky, Nasri, Fabregas, and Van Persie have all passed through and played their roles in entrenching this style of play that has won us plaudits Globally. A sense of pride always overwhelms me when our style is mentioned as a distinguishing factor amongst Europe's elite and we have the manager to thank for that.

Being a Gooner is a decision i made happily and chose to stick with. I have seen many others with lesser stomach for the years gone by give up and denounce the club. No one should bare them any grudge, each to their own. But this season we have for the first time in a while started the league strongly. Everyone is talking us up and the runaway fans are starting to find their way back. One look at the EPL table and a nostalgic feeling fills the senses. You get the feeling, that's' where we belong not only just now, but come May 2014. The board must take a cue from this and empower the boss to strengthen the team in January. We remain one world class striker and a central defender short of being a complete team. Similar additions of the caliber of Ozil will ensure we remain in contention by the season end and hence stand a chance of ending the trophy drought in grand style. It was worrying seeing the fans react the way they did after the Aston Villa game. I was among those who didn't see those reactions as just rants. The fans actually were correct to voice out their frustrations. They Love this club and want to see it succeed not struggle. Its great to be a Gooner on any day, we have class in the way we do our things both on and off the pitch. And you know what, i think rival fans have a healthy admiration for us even if they would never admit it openly.

Match Review: West Brom 1 vs Arsenal 1 (Gunners hold Baggies to stalemate...whilst keeping Momentum)

Well what a real SCRAP THAT WAS! Any seasoned EPL watcher will tell you that in a typical season you must expect to encounter games like this..Games where you will find yourselves not firing at full hilt and up against an inspired team playing out of their skin. On the basis of this performance displayed by West Brom, its a lot clearer how they managed to pull off that upset at Old Trafford. Something tells me we may have slightly underrated them and almost paid for it too. They were organised, disciplined and hardworking without necessarily pressing us too intensely. It became clear to me from the 8th minute that a lot about how we were set up was largely experimental by the manager. Wilshere on the left, Arteta and Flamini mostly parallel to each other as opposed to the latter slightly in front of the former as they were against Napoli. The balance didn't just seem to click but the lads had to get on with it. West Brom are blessed with some really direct attackers who would trouble any one in the division. Sessesgnon, Berahino and Amalfitano swapped position across the midfield and final third and where giving our defensive screen of Arteta and Flamini lots to think about. Anelka the old war horse, i have to say was totally off form and thankfully so as his lack of awareness and way-ward finishing saved our blushes at crucial times in the game. The prognosis of being fatigued after our midweek exertions is not untrue but i feel we need to be careful. Its starting to look like there may be selections and tactical adoptions we use that will combine to short circuit the natural style we want to play.

The line up was the same against Napoli, save for Sagna who was ruled out after a hamstring problem. We weren't able to fly out the blocks like we did in that game on Tuesday, and it set the tone for the home team to articulate their plans to stifle us. Two banks of four suddenly confronted us whenever they lost the ball and had to be on the defensive. Mulumbu and Yacob superbly broke our play and irritated us early doors and we were lucky not to go behind when Szecesny pulled off a stunner by saving a Berahino goal bound shot that had wrong footed him after deflecting off Flamini. He's slowly becoming an expert at pulling those kind of difficult saves. I recall he's done it three times already this season. Once at Fulham, once each against Stoke and Tottenham at the Emirates. Keepers are meant to react lightening fast to situations,and once they throw their body in one direction according to the movement of a shot, if anything disrupts the trajectory of that ball its nigh on impossible for them to counteract. That is why when watchers say that kid has potential to be a great goalie provided he keeps his head low and works hard they know what they are saying. Their goal was a throwback to the dark days of Arsenal defending from set pieces. A corner from our right side was only half cleared in the 42nd minute, the ball was whipped back in and Yacob was left with a free header at the near post to head past Szecesny. It was a great header and one that many others will fall victim to in the course of the season but you get the feeling a Sagna in the team would've been marking Yacob. His experience was missed at crucial times during the game especially early in the second half but not to take anything away from Jenkinson who did okay. Wilshere at a point appeared to be having a terrible game. After all that rubbish about his smoking pix, he seemed his head was not right for this game. His tackling at times was horrendous and as the Manager said maybe it was reaction for suffering a lot of pushing in the game from West Brom players. But like all Top players, in the 2nd half he showed his influence and grabbed the equalizer out of nothing. Collecting a pass from Ozil in the 64th minute he let fly from 25 yards and found the bottom corner. Goals are all Wilshere needs to add to his game to become truly World class and as one of his biggest fans i hope the spirit that possessed Ramsey finds him soon.

The latter stages of the game was end to end stuff, both teams going for it with Genuine penalty calls at both ends (hands in mouth stuff for the Koscielny one). Quick word on the Referee Lee Mason, He sucked! big time. No need to elaborate on him. one of the worst performances iv seen at this level. Painfully naive and ''Bottley'' if you catch my drift. So we had to settle for a point that just ensures we remain Top on goals scored. I'd take that. The international break in October arrives  with the Top 4 looking like this Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Southampton. Make of that what you will, but  as for me i feel we are in for one of the most open title races in EPL history... talk to y'all again soon

Match Preview: West Brom VS Arsenal (No time to stop and admire the work we're doing)

Its that time of the weekend again. Lots of praises and plaudits galore for the team ever since their midweek execution job of Napoli . And yes, Much as every accolade is richly deserved not only for that display but their all round form, its important to note that its not yet time to rest on our oars. No! We have yet to accomplish anything still. Its early days and form as we know can disappear and appear like Wayne Rooney's hairline. Nonetheless it was a thoroughly enjoyable game against Napoli and you have to fancy us in that form to pretty much destroy any other team in our path  (Yes, including you Bayern Munich). Such was the efficiency, cohesion and killer instinct. I can hear our title rivals quaking in their boots, none of them want to meet us now. Which is why it is crucial we keep the Tempo and wins coming so as to maintain this ''Devastating'' form that will literally crush all the other teams challenging us for honors..

Its going to be a rather brief preview today, We have met The baggies already in the season and the result was a win. However cynics have made the distinction that it was only the league cup. The line-ups of both sides will definitely see different faces to the ones that squared up to each other less than a fortnight ago. Since then, West Brom have recorded perhaps one of the shocks of the season thus far by beating the champions United on their own turf the ''Theater of  Dreams (or Nightmares if you like)''. Highlights of that game showed the Baggies may have done nothing other than just simply taken their chances when they presented themselves. Fine finishes they were too. Its ample warning for us to ensure we do not allow them a sniff of any of such chances to hurt us. Bearing in mind they now boast players who can do damage like our old Boy Anelka and Anichebe. They'll be feeling confident of-course, who wouldn't be? (although on the other hand, beating this Moyes-led United  may be offering misplaced Confidence).

However, as the Boss would always say  before a game, if we focus on our performance and deliver another disciplined and assured team performance they will stand no chance. Our away record is frighteningly good, we are in high spirits and definitely would like to go off on the international break on the back of another win. The only injury report is Bacary Sagna who pulled his hamstring and would not play. How big a blow it is time will tell. The boss calls him a ''Complete defender'' and few will argue, but Jenkinson has a chance to show us why he can be trusted in Bacs absence.
Rosicky is back in the team, and that's a plus. He dictates the pace and allows us to press better, so i'm happy to welcome him back. It all sets us up for a great game, fingers crossed we come through like we have managed to day in the other games. Come on you gooners!