Match Review: Spurs 0: Arsenal 1 (Gunners Title hopes revitalized in North London Derby)

We asked for a Big performance and we got just that..We wanted to see a show of guts and the boys delivered brilliantly...Even now with the points secured and our Title hopes restored again, this is definitely one massive win  in so many ramifications. I posted after the Stoke loss how i badly wanted this to be our season in the EPL. In disappointment after that loss i had said the FA Cup seemed our only realistic hope for silverware; well not anymore. We are right back in the thick of things now in the league and you know what?  i couldn't be happier.

Our line up was : Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Mertasacker,Gibbs, Arteta, Carzola, Podolski, Chamberlain, Giroud, Rosicky.  A line up that i couldn't fault given our terrible injury situation currently. Flamini was not started perhaps deliberate by Arsene to leverage on Rosicky's intelligent runs on the breakaway. It was almost as though the Manager was aware that the Home team would adopt that ridiculously high line they played all game in defence; He thus calculated that Flamini's presence wouldn't be much required given that scenario. It was a sense of good judgement from the Manager as Rosicky and Oxlade chamberlain were the ones who broke the deadlock with a dual counter-attacking move that culminated in Rosicky ripping the top corner of the net with a rocket in the first half. It was a goal of sheer beauty, power and precision,  After that though we struggled to keep any sort of possession.. as it almost seemed like our early lead had shocked the stuffing right out of us. But we again showed that we can get scrappy wins while allowing our opponents all the possession. Our defenders were immense again..Koscielny and Mertasacker heroic in their commitment and discipline at the back. Adebayor was well shackled and on the rare occasions he got free Szczesny was on hand to deny him. 

Next weekend at Chelsea will be another huge game for us, so our celebrations for this one cannot be too protracted. We will need to show even greater guts and fight  to come away with 3 points in that one. There's Plenty of time to talk about that one in the coming days, but for now i just want to say WELL DONE LADS!!

Match Preview: Spurs vs Arsenal (Derby Presents a Chance to re-ignite Title hopes)

..Quick build-up to our spurs clash today. So Chelsea also suffered a similar result to our Stoke City Debacle. But in their case they didn't as much as crash land at Villa park...They turned over, slammed nose first, then burst into flames bagging 2 red cards in addition; with Jose Mourinho also getting sent to the stands ( Never one to be outdone in anything is he?).  What that portends for us in terms of our title hopes needs no over-analysis, but suffice it to say that with City to Visit the Emirates and a clash with Chelsea at Stamford bridge in the offing; things will look very different again for us with a favorable result in today's game. 

Spurs are in a bit of a funk lately, back to back defeats in both the EPL and Europa league to Chelsea and Benfica respectively has seen their hot February form go ice-cold like a cats' nose. Manager Tim Sherwood acknowledges the task ahead of his team today but expects them to see the Derby as their best chance to bounce back. The small matter of rumors of a dressing room unrest has done little to help the mood at White heart lane. The Spurs manager was slammed in certain quarters for comments made over his players performance but i think he was right to say what he did. Not everyone is Mr Diplomatic like you know who...

We have not won at white heart lane in the last five seasons and that is a statistic that must change today if our title hopes isn't to fizzle out. Its instructive to note however that in those five seasons we somehow always seem to go there at the back of some very bad form. Last season, Confidence was low and a combination of poor defending and lack of belief saw us lose in the most disappointing way possible. However this season, even if we aren't riding the crest of high-flying form; we are coming off a creditable result at Bayern and that should count for something (hopefully). Injuries! injuries! injuries!! They seem to be out to ruin our season... Walcott,Ramsey, now Ozil has recently joined the growing crocked list and i find that worrying in the extreme. Every team need its best legs to mount any sort of challenge to win silverware, for us it just seems no matter what we do there's always going to be one injury or the other to set us back in our quest. On the left Podolski will now have to play, in Ozils' absence and here's hoping the Smiling German can continue where he left off at the Allianz arena. I want to see a compact Midfield display with Ox and Rosicky leading the pressing from the middle while Arteta and Flamini space out to prevent balls over the Top catching us cold as we do so. Lennon is speedy but his game lacks end product..Monreal will be advised to keep him on his left foot as he never likes the ball there..The cut-in to the right foot will almost always happen and when it does snuff him. I know Gibbs already knows this, so if its him playing i have no fears. Adebayor i trust will be marked by Kos on the ground and by Mertasacker in the air. Koscielny will do well to be a good boy today and not do anything rash in the box that would give todays' ref who has a strange record with Arsenal any excuse to give a penalty against us.

Guiroud, Poldi and Sanogo (if he is listed) have enough threat in them to cause problems, the question is how they are used by Arsene. I'd go with Sanogo and Poldi starting ( i know, i know its a strange choice). But Giroud has shown a knack for goals from the Bench. Also if anything, Spurs won't be expecting that and it might rattle them. Sanogo isn't a world beater yet, but he is unpredictable and that in itself  can be a weapon. Anyways that's it for this preview. I guess we can only hope the boys are up for it as the EPL is far from over! oh and Carzola...I need a big game from you little Man.. COYG!!

Arsenal March on in FA Cup..As Everton are dispatched 4-1

i'll start by saying the score line flattered us immensely. We never really looked that much superior to them as the  4-1 margin would suggest. The game was close all through, Everton caused us troubles at the back all game long especially on the breakaway. In Ross Barkley they have a fantastic young player who will be a great asset down the years and it was him who was our tormentor-in-chief. The contest was no more than i expected , Martinez has done a great job on that team and they can be proud of themselves despite their loss. However this was a game we absolutely needed to win after that car-crash of a match against Stoke last weekend. The overall mood around Arsenal had ebbed after that game, as it seemed our title hopes had fizzled out with that loss. Getting eliminated today would have been an unthinkable disaster, so kudos to the boys for responding like they should.

Our Start to the Game

We began the game in quite the same fashion as the Bayern one at the Emirates and i'll tell you this, it just seems whenever we start off any game like a house-on-fire it puts our opponents under pressure and also gets the fans rocking. There really is no sense in bottling your energy levels at the start of any game. All it takes to set yourself up to win at this level is to have a resolute start and put your opponents on the back foot, something we spectacularly failed to do at the Brittania last week. In that game, we only started to play after going behind and i found that  very annoying. Luckily no such repeat here. 

Ozil

Look i know Ozil has been in the news for a lot of rubbish lately..But it has to be said most of the stick he has received has been as a result of some of his performances that have been poor lately to be honest. His body language also at times potrays a man who doesn't care but if the feelers from his pals and national team mates in the aftermath of the Bayern game are anything to go by, he was completely crest fallen after that fateful Penalty miss.  Today he looked much better and worked harder..Although i think some work still needs to be done on his ball retention, as i think he gets shrugged off it too easily. In any case , he responded to his critics with a goal and an assist. So here's hoping he has gotten over his slump. Afterall goals bring confidence and we need Mr Ozil to find his very fast.

Giroud

Giroud seems to enjoy a knack for getting goals from the bench. He replaced the largely toothless youngster Sanogo and immediately got stuck in to the physical battle with Distin and Stones. He got two excellent strikes that remind us that with him..sometimes its all about the quality of the service he receives. Every striker thrives on service and Giroud is no exception. The only thing that frustrates with him is his inability to take on defenders and beat them like say maybe *cough*  Aguero. But you could also argue that the ManCity man can't Hold up play like Giroud can. I get frustrated like everyone else with Olivier's game but i'v learnt to accept his limitations and expect the manager to employ him in a manner such as today that can cause him to be more productive. I feel we can start Sanogo on some occasions to freshen things up and then introduce Giroud to give the defenders a different Kettle of fish to cope with. Its has been proven to work on occasion.

WOW WEMBLEY!!

So we make a long overdue return to Wembley ever since our horror show in 2011 (no i won't go there). Its a great feeling to know we will be watching Arsenal on that famous ground again. Whoever we meet i want the team to Go for it like its the UCL final. Its not everyday you get to play at  Wembley, so lets hope the draw is favorable and we give it a right go.

Thats it then, roll on Bayern on tuesday..i may put up a preview for that, but if i don't do bear with me.

could that be that with our title hopes?

 Sorry guys i just couldn't bring my self to write a report on that eyesore i witnessed on Saturday..It was just too sad and depressing. Most of my gooner mates here say i must have been mad to believe we were gonna win the title and laughed-off my sad mood on Saturday as naivety in the extreme. Apparently they had been expecting this sort of setback....But i make no apologies to the effect  that i always strongly felt that this could be our year. (like i'm sure many of you out there felt too) Have we thrown it away now? only time will tell..have we made our quest even harder?..of course...also where do we go from here? no where, just Keep supporting and hope that we can push on in the FA CUP, our last hope for any trophy..I really am fighting the temptation to review that game at the weekend,so to avoid that i'll just stop here..have a great week folks

Match Preview: Stoke City Vs Arsenal (A win needed to strengthen our title belief)

Morning everyone... really great to be back on the beat after a short hiatus from this forum. Not that i planned to stay silent on the blog all this while until now, but sometimes our other life concerns take preeminence over some things. Not a lot has happened anyway at Arsenal since last weekend when we were in action but with the Stoke game upon us, there's activity everywhere.

Why is there always a sense of trepidation before we play Stoke at their place? I cant help but sense a palpable fear among gooner analysts and fans alike that see this game as a proper candidate for dropped points. Against any of the Big 4 you may be pardoned that fear, but Stoke?? I'm not sure a historical Synopsis is necessary to find out why that is, but perhaps this Stats table might help; (culled from soccerpunter.com)

DateCompetitionHomeScoreAwayHT 

2014-03-01	Premier League 2013/2014	Stoke City	16:00	Arsenal
2013-09-22	Premier League 2013/2014	Arsenal	3 - 1	Stoke City	2-1	+
2013-02-02	Premier League 2012/2013	Arsenal	1 - 0	Stoke City	0-0	+
2012-08-26	Premier League 2012/2013	Stoke City	0 - 0	Arsenal	0-0	+
2012-04-28	Premier League 2011/2012	Stoke City	1 - 1	Arsenal	1-1	+
2011-10-23	Premier League 2011/2012	Arsenal	3 - 1	Stoke City	1-1	+
2011-05-08	Premier League 2010/2011	Stoke City	3 - 1	Arsenal	2-0	+
2011-02-23	Premier League 2010/2011	Arsenal	1 - 0	Stoke City	1-0	+
2010-02-27	Premier League 2009/2010	Stoke City	1 - 3	Arsenal	1-1	+
2010-01-24	FA Cup 2009/2010	Stoke City	3 - 1	Arsenal	1-1	+
2009-12-05	Premier League 2009/2010	Arsenal	2 - 0	Stoke City	1-0	+
2009-05-24	Premier League 2008/2009	Arsenal	4 - 1	Stoke City	4-1	+
2008-11-01	Premier League 2008/2009	Stoke City	2 - 1	Arsenal	1-0	+
2005-01-09	FA Cup 2004/2005	Arsenal	2 - 1	Stoke City

above, you can see that in the last 3-4 seasons, we have only won just once in the Brittania. And that was on that fateful day on the 27th of February when then 19 year-old Ramsey had his leg snapped nearly in half. Since then, its been two draws and a defeat. I don't know about you, but these stats aren't in my opinion enough to engender the kind of fear surrounding this tie in the Arsenal media. Yes, the numbers aren't great, but Stoke aren't world beaters themselves and will not become one overnight just for Arsenal. I do however know that their players will be up for this, as already seen in their wins over Chelsea and Man Utd. Their fans as well, no doubt will be ready to make the atmosphere hell for us due to their well known hatred for everything that has to do with Arsenal. Just take a look at this Hate blog they erected in our name and see the nature of their comments. 

So how has the Hughes revolution worked out for them since last summer? Not as good as they would have liked, if their position on the table is anything to go by. Tony Pulis, the erstwhile Manager was widely seen to have taken the club as far as he could. After overseeing their promotion to the Premiership in 2008, and enjoying one very short  Europa stint in his tenure,  it had been largely down hill ever since for him and so their Board decided it was time to part ways. Hughes has come in with his more Aesthetic/beautiful style of play and has made them less of a Rugby team (as Wenger famously described them). But being easy on the eye and being an effective/efficient unit on the other hand are two entirely different things. They haven't completely managed to bed-in with the New manager's style and therefore they seem a team as unsure of itself as you would ever find. Under Pulis, at least Stoke were known for their direct ROUTE-1 style of play. Get the big Midfielders and Center-backs into the box at Set-pieces, hoof the ball in there and allow them cause havoc with their brute size and strength. Yes, it made them the butt of Jokes in the division, but at least it worked for them and kept the Points coming in. With only 6 wins out of the 27 games they have played, its clear they are finding life tough this season but with us on a title chase and them on a relegation scare..we must not take liberties and toy with this fixture. It must be one we go in with the mindset to win. This game is of course the first of a brutal set of games in March that will shape our destiny this season trophy-wise.. Everton, Bayern,Spurs,Chelsea, Mancity are coming up and that is exactly what makes me bemused regarding why we are quaking in our boots for the  *cough* ''Mighty'' Stoke-city. 

No matter the revolution they are presently undergoing play-wise, they will never be able to keep the ball on the ground better than us. So i expect our Midfeild of Ozil, Wilshere, Flamini and Rosicky to monopolize possession. As Wenger would say, the best way to keep opponents danger men quiet is to starve them of service. Adams, Palacious and Ireland are not the most mobile of players so if we can start as well as we did last weekend and take our chances early, we can make life very difficult for them. Team news sate that Ramsey is not yet fit to play, while Gibbs and Monreal face late tests. Vermaelen is fit and can be drafted in if both men fail to get the nod. I'm looking for a convincing performance and 3 points to heap pressure on our rivals who also have tricky games. Not much else to say but here's wishing the Boys the best of Luck...C'mon Arsenal!