A Premier League victory has never seemed hollower for Arsenal fans in the wake of that shocking injury to Aaron Ramsey at the Britannia Stadium.

It was a nightmare revisited for the Gunners – the sight of one of their own writing in agony on the ground, his team-mates covering their faces in anguish, the physio and medical staff rushing onto the field. It was St Andrews all over again.

Like that day almost exactly two years ago the Arsenal player was the victim of a crude, clumsy but not malicious tackle. Ryan Shawcross is a full-blooded defender and went into the tackle 100 per cent. But with Ramsay’s ankle stuck in the turf, it caught the full force of the defender’s weight. Shawcross’s reaction afterwards said it all. He will take the punishment heading his way but he doesn’t deserve to be persecuted forever more as it is clear he didn’t intend to deliberately injure the Welsh midfielder.

It was still a nasty sight though and one which visibly shook up the Arsenal players. It is still too early to tell the seriousness of Ramsay’s injury, apart from the fact his season is over. We can only hope he has as speedy recovery as possible and he can one day return to the field to fulfil his enormous potential.

Back to the game and it would have been understandable if the remaining players buckled under the pressure. But the vital late win shows there is a spirit in the camp, one that was sadly absent at Birmingham two years ago.

Then the game ended with a clumsy penalty conceded and William Gallas refused to leave the pitch in protest. It was a terrible day all round.

But with this team there appeared a steely determination to rise against adversity, and turn a negative into a positive. Despite Arsenal’s relatively favourable fixture list this game was a major banana skin. So to come away with a 3-1 win, just hours after seeing City trounce Chelsea, puts them right back in the title race.

A title winner’s medal would certainly help Aaron Ramsay on his long road to recovery and the Premier League odds suggest Wenger’s men are in with a chance.

For his part, Shawcross will hope the incident does not hit his chances of securing a spot in England’s World Cup squad.

England’s defence has been hit by injuries and withdrawals and the will need a solid backline if they are to justify their position as third favourites in the World Cup betting.

It was a cheerful end to a bruising fortnight.

The scrappy and, I admit, fairly dull win over Liverpool confirmed our place just ahead of the Merseysiders. However, the two thumpings which preceded it showed how far behind Manchester United and Chelsea the Gunners really are.

Still, results elsewhere and our games to come mean I’m at least a little optimistic for the rest of the season. Perhaps it’s just the eternal optimist in me poking its head above the parapet, but I don’t think we’re out of things just yet.

In previous seasons matches between the Big Four were seen as decisive in the title race as it was a given they would pick up points elsewhere. That isn’t the case this season – we could lose the ‘title six-pointers’ and still finish top.

For starters Chelsea have looked distinctly average in recent slip ups against Hull and Everton, while United are relying on Rooney to drag them through matches. In a league that is more competitive than ever I can see both sides dropping points in unlikely places from now until May. The Premier League title race is far from over.

Arsenal’s fixtures between now and the end of the season see them play a glut of relegation strugglers, some mid-table sides and four of the current top eight.

The home games against Sunderland, Burnley, West Ham, Wolves and Fulham are all winnable, as is Hull away.

These teams are likely to park the bus, but we should have enough to break them down. Eighteen points from these games would do nicely.

Wigan, Stoke and Blackburn away might prove to be trickier prospects.

The media would have us believe that southern softies Arsenal come unstuck against “gritty” northern opposition. There is a school of thought that says if you get stuck in against Wenger’s men they will fold. It is not entirely untrue and Wenger’s stubborn refusal to play any other way leaves him open to such criticism. The side will have to show great spirit if they are to take the points from these games. Five points would be a decent haul.

Perhaps the biggest games in the run in will be Birmingham and Tottenham away and Man City and Fulham at home.

All these sides find themselves in the top eight and these matches could prove pivotal in the title race. We need to win our home games so revenge for Adebayor’s celebration and a win over Fulham would go down well, victory over Spurs would be nice as always and even a draw against Birmingham would be acceptable.

That would leave Arsenal on 85 points, a more than competitive total and one that has been enough to win the Premier League on seven occasions.

The football odds suggest a title win is unlikely, especially as I have already spoken about the competitiveness of the league, but it is at least something to hope for after a tricky few weeks for the Gooners.

Despite convincing victories over the likes of Blackburn and Bolton most Arsenal fans know that the true test of their side’s title credentials is when they come up against one of their rivals for the Premier League crown. That feeling was not lost on Arsene Wenger who talked up last Sunday’s clash with Manchester United as much as he did when Chelsea visited last November.

Unfortunately for the Gunners they came up woefully short on both occasions. Back in November Chelsea romped to a 3-0 victory at the Emirates and looked like champions-elect. On Sunday a United side, supposedly weakened by the loss of Ronaldo and injuries to Vidic and Ferdinand, were similarly dominant, to the extent where it looked like men against boys at times.

Credit to Arsenal they recovered from that Chelsea setback to re-assert themselves in the title race and they could have overtaken United with a win on Sunday. In fact ever since Arsenal briefly reached the summit with a win at Bolton last week there has been a feeling among the fans that this could be their year.

But all too predictably the wheels came off the Gunners title charge once again. In a performance similar to the one seen in last year’s Champions League semi-final United ripped through the Arsenal defence to finish the game off with just minutes of the second half played. This left Arsene Wenger and the fans to question whether they have enough quality to match the country’s best.

It would be easy to blame individuals, Almunia put the ball into his own net, Clichy looked vulnerable against Nani and Arshavin was isolated up front, but it seems that the side lacks a match winner to force the issue in the biggest games. Dare I say a Thierry Henry type figure?

United certainly have a match winner in Wayne Rooney, who again demonstrated why he cannot get injured if England are to have any chance of winning the World Cup next summer.

Wenger can only look on ruefully at such talent but with a reported £30 million in the bank, the time has now surely come for Wenger to splash the cash and buy a proven match winner. If not then results like Sunday’s could become an all too regular occurrence.

The football betting suggests that Arsenal will now have to settle for a place in the Premier League top four and the club faces another season without a trophy unless they can do something special in the Champions League.

OK, hear me out on this one. I know Abou Diaby is never the most popular with Arsenal fans, principally because he shows glimpses of his talents far too briefly, burying them amongst a rag tag collection of below-par performances.

But with the January transfer window nearly upon us and the rumour mill slowly clinking into gear, it is inevitable that Arsene Wenger will opt against spending his Man City-funded war chest and look within to plug the gaps in his side.

It seems a safe football bet that the main problem is a lack of height and physical strength. We are overloaded with tricky, clever, but little players. The likes of Walcott, Fabregas and Nasri are nice to watch, but when faced with thugs like Christopher Samba or Paul McShane they are battered out of the game too easily.

After his performance at Anfield I would like to see Arshavin push on up front more often. He does tend to float out of games but just like against Liverpool, he has the ability to score goals out of nothing.

But in order for that to happen he needs a presence alongside him. Diaby is big, tall and strong and potentially could be a foil for the Russian magician.

It’s not ideal I know, and I imagine many Arsenal fans will think I am insane, but I am only trying to think like Wenger, who appears allergic to buying players at the moment.

In a perfect world I believe someone like Edin Dzeko would fit well into Arsenal’s system. Prolific last year, he has carried his form into this season and looked impressive in the Champions League. However, he is very much the man-of-the-moment and I can see any bidding war sending his asking price spiralling.

In the meantime, why not try something different? Everton last year picked up results when they had no fit strikers, instead turning to Tim Cahill and Fellaini to play up front, with the rest of the team playing to their strengths.

If Diaby could fill the Heskey England role (i.e. hold the ball up and let the rest do the creative stuff), it could allow the Arshavins and Fabregas’ the time and space to do what they do best.

And the thing that would please Wenger most is that it won’t cost him a penny!

It’s amazing how quickly football can toy with and transform your emotions. The nervous anticipation of the derby built up and up throughout last week, culminating in euphoria and the glorious sight of a rocking Emirates as Cesc bagged the second goal just before half time. Read the rest of this entry »

Enjoy:

Robin van Persie 1-0: Watch :: Download

Emmanuel Adebayor 2-0: Watch :: Download

Requested Video: Entire goal again with all the passes that lead up to it Watch :: Download

Emmanuel Adebayor 3-0, Penalty + Foul: Watch :: Download

Emmanuel Adebayor 4-0: Watch

Halftime Highlights: Watch :: Download

MOTD Highlights: Watch

Click on a sponsor to say thanks. Here’s the Match Report.

First off an announcement, I will not be covering the final match of the season away to Sunderland. Sorry. Thanks for visiting the blog all season long, I’ll try to do the same next year if any legalities don’t come in the way (in other words, if they don’t shut my ass down).

The first half was where most of the chances came but it was the second half where Bendtner scored after latching on to a pinpoint cross from Traore. Adebayor probably should’ve scored in the first half but he’s got a habit of missing easy chances – by my count his goal to sitter-missed ratio is about 1:3. He’s had a great season but I can’t help think he should’ve scored more.

Everton played for a scoreless draw because they only needed a point to qualify for the UEFA Cup and it almost looked like they were going to get it. In the second half they just sat on the 0-0 scoreline and didn’t bother doing anything but put 10 men back. The result serves them right, bloody thieves trying to kill the game.

This was crazy Jens’ last game for Arsenal and he got a nice little send-off as Wenger brought him in to replace Fabianski midway through the second half. Say what you will about his off-the-field issues, he’s been a great goalie for us. It’s a pity he can’t accept the backup role, but he does have a point, he’s still better than Almunia.

I think the turning point of the season was the Birmingham game where Eduardo suffered his injury and where they were awarded a late penalty which prevented us from going 8 clear in the standings. With a little more maturity and experience we could’ve won the title. Bacary Sagna’s injury really hurt us more than anything, it forced Senderos to play against Liverpool in the Champions League which simply killed us.

All in all it was a great Arsenal season where they played excellent football and if it weren’t for some very bad luck and some very bad officiating, we could’ve come out with a trophy or two.

Thanks for reading, see you next season!

Arsenal.com Match Report

BBC Match Report – Ends up having Wenger’s post-game interview

MOTD Highlights: Watch

First Half Highlights: Download :: Watch

Nicklas Bendtner 1-0 ’76: Download :: Watch

Nicklas Bendtner Post-Match interview: Download :: Watch

Jens Lehmann send-off and analysis by two old white men: Download :: Watch

If you enjoyed the highlights, please click on the sponsor link.

A very routine Arsenal win against Reading, the team’s still putting out the effort even though there’s no chance of a return from this season. We’ve played some great football this year and were competing for the title up until mid-April, that’s a huge improvement from last year where we were out of it in November. This team’s a striker and an experienced defender away from a title, Song’s a nice enough player but he’s not close to being our first-choice CB. Senderos is a great guy but I’m not sure he’s even Premier League worthy. Wenger needs to address those issues.

Walcott started this game and looked like he deserves to be named first-team starting next season. I just don’t see what exactly Eboue does great that would warrant a starting spot. At least with Walcott you know you’re getting pace and creativity and the expense of some control. Eboue’s a hard worker but he always makes me nervous about getting sent off with his ill-advised antics.

We’ve had a lot of injuries this year but by far the one that hurt us the most was missing Bacary Sagna against Liverpool and Manchester United – I would even say he is the anchor of our defense ahead of Toure or Gallas. As Wenger said, we were unlucky, hopefully next season that changes.

I was excited to hear about David Villa wanting to play for Arsenal, he’s a composed striker that could help finish off those chances we end up wasting. However, Wenger denied any interest.

Anyhow, a nice Arsenal win. Enjoy it.

Robin van Persie is the Top Gun.

• BBC Match Report: Ends up having interviews.
• Arsenal.com Match Report
• This blog’s Arsenal feed.

MOTD Highlights: Download :: Watch

Adebayor 1-0: Download :: Watch

Gilberto 2-0 + some great Arsenal chances: Download :: Watch

Stretch of play where Robin van Persie hits the bar and a minute later, Walcott does the same: Download :: Watch

A very sad day for the Gunners. After taking the league on a deserved Adebayor goal, William Gallas inexplicably puts his arm to the ball and gifts United a goal. After that our defence falls asleep and allows the overrated Hargreaves to fool us on a freekick which was given because of a phantom foul.

But ignore all that, the problem was still something very familiar: Arsenal’s inability to take easy chances. Adebayor being the guilty party yet again. We shoulda coulda woulda been up 3-0 in this game if we had a striker the quality of Henry up front. I don’t know why RVP was playing in midfield for most of the game, I imagine his finer finishing ability would’ve been put to good use up front.

We again dominated 75% of the game but somehow managed to lose off of set pieces, a problem that’s been there for quite some time. There’s very little solace in knowing that we were the better team yet again. Wenger needs to fix up the defense for good this summer. Alexandre Song starting in place of Senderos for such a crucial game is testament that we have very little depth in the back four.

The season ends with Arsenal playing some brilliant football for the first half, getting decimated by injuries to key players and finally putting forth a commendable effort to finish out the season. Unfortunately, the ref ended our Champions League campaign and its fitting that we lose at Old Trafford by gifting United a goal and being passive on a set-piece.

This year has been a learning experience and has allowed us to identify exactly where we need to get stronger: defense, concentration, experience and leadership. Its up to Arsene Wenger to address those issues in the summer. What would’ve been the outcome of this season if Eduardo, RVP, Sagna and Rosicky would’ve been healthy? For the most part, I do think we have the talent to compete, its the intangibles that seem to be missing.

Arse!

Match Report

MOTD Highlights

Arsene Wenger concedes title in post-match interview

Adeabyor: 1-0 Download:: Watch

Gallas Handball (can you believe this?) and Ronaldo penalty: 1-1 Download :: Watch

Hargreaves Goal 2-1: Download :: YouTube

I miss The Oak.Big it up for eastcoastrapsfan for stepping up and doing a great job covering what appeared to be two unwatchable games that were the lowest points of the season. I’d like to think it can’t get any worse but Charlie Villanueva has yet to explode against his old team and there couldn’t be a sweeter time to do it than Wednesday. There are two things that make this stretch the Raptors are in even more unbearable 1) These are very important games that shouldn’t be hard to get motivated for and instead of stepping up and playing at a higher level, the team has malfunctioned and has once again shown how flawed it is at its core and 2) The opposition isn’t exactly great.

Barring something unforeseen and entirely out-of-the-blue, this Raptors team is headed for a one and done in the post-season. If that is to be the case, I’m hoping it’s a very humiliating series where this team is ripped apart in every game starting from tipoff to final buzzer. There shouldn’t be any doubts or questions about what the flaws of this team are, what the talent level on it is, how hard working the players are, how bad the coaching is, how suspect the preparation is and how watered down the on-court product is. The last thing I want is a first-round exit where we win two or three games and give false hope to the fans and management that this group might be more than a .500 team in a weak East. That’s one school of thought. The other is that we somehow win a playoff round (facing Orlando or whoever) and build on it in the off-season replacing key components instead of blowing the whole thing up. Fine, this might be a legitimate roadmap and something that I still subscribe to but what the previous fortnight has shown me is that instead of requiring maybe a legit 3 and a rebounder, we need a legit 3, a real rebounder, a better shooting guard, a better coach, another decent 3 and maybe something else.

We’re a jump shooting team and Dave Feschuk correctly summarized the reason for the NJ loss in a single sentence:

“..their jump-shot-heavy offense couldn’t produce the preferable haul of long-range swishes”

We can talk about our defense for eons at a time but the heavy reliance of our offense on outside jumpers is too much. The always crucial Points in the Paint stat has always been against us and over the last three years there’s been nothing done to remedy that. Yeah we average 100.24 which is good for 13th in the league but what gets masqueraded is that we get into long stretches where we’re comfortable trading baskets with teams that know very well that when it comes down to it in the fourth quarter, they’ll be able to get a stop and we won’t. We lack a clutch performer, Chris Bosh is a power forward and that’s probably the last position player you want originating your offense in the clutch, it’s not a shock that the fourth quarter is usually his worst. I respect Chris Bosh for playing hard on both ends but his clutch game focuses on trying to get fouled rather than trying to score – not a good #1 strategy. In another Feschuk article, he’s absolving Sam Mitchell and blaming the fourth quarter blues on Bosh:

…if your $13 million all-star can’t stick an elbow in a smaller man’s eye and score at a game’s biggest moments, in a league in which the best player on the floor so often prevails, you’ve got bigger problems than the contents of the clipboard.

Harsh but warranted criticism. However, Sam Mitchell gets a big fat F on his coaching this season regardless of how well Bosh has done in the clutch. His failure to establish a consistent rotation, develop Bargnani (yes, he takes some blame for that), handle the TJ Ford situation and tighten up his X’s and O’s have no doubt proven that the Coach of the Year awards don’t mean shit. His post-game analysis of things has become mundane and it always boils down to making shots and just playing “better”. Sure, he doesn’t have much to work with but its not like he’s helped improve one area of this team from opening day. Even Sam Vincent’s ahead of Mitchell at this point.

As I’m typing this Kevin Durant just hit a deeeep bomb to tie the game in overtime at 135.

The question is how do the Raptors salvage the rest of the season and the playoffs. What can they do that might make this campaign a relative success and not a drastic reverse from last season? Winning a playoff round is looking more and more unlikely, the development of Andrea Bargnani (arguably our core piece) has been a huge disappointment, our successful PG combo from last year has been a source of more disruption than production, our bench has declined (especially defensively) and generally speaking there hasn’t been a single area where we’ve improved from last year. The answer of course I don’t have (maybe we need a hero?) But I know that even if we do somehow manage to fluke some playoff success by some sheer stroke of luck, it’s going to be a hollow victory because the knowing supporter is well aware of the problems that this team has.

We have five games left and even if we win all five, it won’t mean a damn thing aside from getting some soon to be squashed momentum on our side. I want Atlanta to catch us so we can drop to 8th and face Boston, at least Bosh will get an up-close look at greatness when he faces Kevin Garnett and take something away from the experience. If we face Detroit they’ll just put on a technical marvel of how to dismantle a team broken at the nucleus – if you think the Raptors have issues shooting the ball right now, wait till Billups, Wallace and Co. get done clamping down on Parker, Bosh and Forderon.

Let’s look past the technical issues, the thing to be most questioned about this team is its mental toughness and willingness to fight. There have been very few occasions where this team has played playoff intensity basketball or shown a determined grit and desire to make a consistent defensive stand. Never have we stood up for a teammate after a hard foul, rarely have we shown a willingness to win a game in the paint and play tenacious physical basketball in the trenches, almost never to be found is that deep confidence that even the hated Vince Carter displayed late in the fourth quarter. The swagger and killer instinct hasn’t been there all year and it’s left up to the smallest guys on the court to rev up a team whose heart seems to be missing.

There are times when one thinks back to Charles Oakley and even Antonio Davis (like him or hate him) and realizes that those types of players bought intangibles to a team that are almost a necessity to any rebuilding project. It’s that touch that we miss right now. Say what you will about Glen Grunwald but when he saw a problem, he tried to fix it. It may have gotten him in trouble once in a while but at least he acted and built a pretty damn good team at one point – it was Lenny that couldn’t figure his end out.

This summer is looming large for the Raptors, we need to take a long hard look at Andrea Bargnani and see what we have in him, if it’s just a continuation of status quo, we need to dump him right after bumping up his trade value. The TJ/Jose thing is a mess and someone needs to go (TJ has some great value, I sincerely believe that), summer signings and trades (note the plural) are almost a must if we plan on finishing anything above than 4th in the Atlantic. Our scouts (taking Final Four off) need to look at the draft and see if there are any sleepers that can help this team right now, we don’t need any more Joey Grahams or Jamario Moons, we need some players that can take the pressure off of Bosh. In other words, we have a lot of work to do and Bryan Colangelo and Maurizio Gherardini better not have any vacations planned.

One might even say that the summer has already started.