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
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