Arsenalist

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.

Arsenal vs Stoke City MOTD Highlights 3-1 (Ramsey injured)

Arsenalist — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:00:24 +0000

Slightly longer MOTD highlight pack with the injury analysis at the end.

After the Ramsey injury, this team could’ve folded like it did against Birmingham when Eduardo got injured or responded. They responded. We were the better side after the first 10 minutes and fully deserved the full three points. Stoke tried to bully their way but we wouldn’t have any of it and rightfully spanked the shit out of the cunts.

The skinny guy from Superbad 1-0: Watch :: Download

Bendtner (from a perfect Fabregas cross) 1-1: Watch :: Download

Download First Half Highlights

Aaron Ramsey Penalty Shout: Watch :: Download

Aaron Ramsey Injury (graphic, his foot’s hanging): Watch :: Another vid :: Download

Handball and Fabregas Penalty 2-1: Watch :: Download

Vermaelen 3-1: Watch :: Download

Fabregas Interview :: Pulis Interview :: Wenger Interview

Twitter – @arsenalist

Arsenal vs Sunderland MOTD Highlights 2-0 Bendtner, Fabregas

Arsenalist — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:00:40 +0000

2 back of United, 6 of Chelsea. Much better than how things stood a couple weeks ago.

Nicklas Bendtner (good work by Eboue): Watch :: Download

Cesc Fabregas (foul + penalty): Watch :: Download

Wenger Interview :: Bruce Interview :: Sky Sports Wenger Interview

Arsenal.com Match Report

Twitter – @arsenalist

Arsenal vs FC Porto Highlights 2-1 – Champions League

Arsenalist — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:19:22 +0000

Moral of the story: Fabianski is trash and our strikers are ineffective. Also, Clichy is done. But we can overcome this by scoring just one goal in three weeks time.

Fabianski Own Goal (Clichy turned inside out): Watch :: Download

Sol Campbell: Watch :: Download

Another Sham Goal, Fabianski and Sol fuck up: Watch :: Download

Arsenal.com Match Report

Wenger Interview :: Wenger ITV Interview (UK) :: Fabregas ITV Interview (UK)

Twitter – @arsenalist

Remaining fixtures the one glimmer of hope

Chris Rivers — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:01:21 +0000

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.

Arsenal vs Liverpool MOTD Highlights – 1-0 (Abou Diaby winner)

Arsenalist — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:29:51 +0000

Great game. Yes, the better parts of it were dull but sometimes that’s how a game needs to be played. The second-half saw an inspired performance from Arsenal and their persistence to go forward paid off. The backs did a good job of backtracking and even though Liverpool had their half-chances on the counter, the overall effort was solid and much improved from the weekend. Man Utd dropped 2 and Chelsea dropped 3. Spurs also lost to Wolves.

Diaby 1-0 Download :: DM

Wenger Interview :: Benitez Interview :: Fabregas Interview

BBC Wenger Interview :: Benitez Interview

Arsenal.com Match Report

Twitter – @arsenalist

Pre-Liverpool thoughts

Arsenalist — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:58:52 +0000

We must win. If we don’t, then it becomes a dogfight for a Champions League spot and we want no part of it. After this game we have a relatively easy schedule: Sunderland, Stoke, Burnley, Hull, West Ham, Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Arsenal will be favored to collect all three points in every single one of those games which means this is the last hurdle to greener pastures. Who knows, with some luck Man Utd and Chelsea could drop some points and it would be a title race again.

The good news is that they haven’t beaten us at home in over 10 years. Other than the robbery in the Champions League where Babel got awarded a penalty and Hleb got denied one, they’ve struggled against us. Usually the man to watch is Fernando Torres but he’s out with injury. This means the central defense combination of Gallas and Vermaelen will have to focus on Babel, Ngog and Maxi Rodriguez. I’m more worried about our situation at left-back where Clichy has looked far from reassuring, I’m concerned how he’ll handle the efficiency of Dirk Kuyt when he’s matched up with him, the latter has a tendency to score big goals for them. Kuyt doesn’t have the deception that Clichy saw in Nani or Ashley Young, nor the strength of Drogba, but the man is gritty and can will his way to a goal. I’m surprised how far Clichy has fallen, there was a time when I was shocked that he wasn’t part of the French team, now I see why.

Eduardo will not play today and he’s expected to return against Porto. The boss is probably thinking that since we were able to beat Liverpool (and quite handily in the second half) using the little Russian up front, there’s no reason we can’t do it again. We have really missed his creativity up front, he had scored a great header against West Ham and had setup a couple goals (one for Fabregas) before he got injured. Since then we’ve gone to the “single striker” lineup and that’s produced no results for us. I really do hope the boss starts Bendtner up front, I’m not saying he’s a great striker by any means but he at least has a chance of getting a head on those crosses we seem to be supplying of late. With Arhsavin those are a total waste, with Bendtner there’s a 1% chance he connects.

Arsenal.com has a pretty nice page where they keep track of how loaned players are doing. Caught a bit of Bolton’s game against Man City and have to say, Jack Wilshere did not seem out of place. They lost 2-0 but he was quite impressive in midfield and seemed very composed with the ball at his feet.

I hate the Spanish press for obvious reasons. Check this story where they’re saying Fabregas has agreed to a “verbal deal”. Soon after Barca “flatly deny” any such claim. I’m surprised The Telegraph would even publish a story which has no footing whatsoever but I suppose with the internet taking over newspapers, cheap hits are the way to go.

Just waiting for 2:45PM local time. Go Gunners!