Arsenalist

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

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Highlight of the game: Adebayor rubbing that dance in the fuckers face. Enjoy the goals, my favorite is the Walcott one, reminded me of Thierry Henry a bit. You know, coming down the left and angling it away from the goalie into the side-netting. Classic stuff. Eboue wasn’t half-bad today, but then again this is League 2 opposition. Also, check out Gallas on both their goals. Tsk tsk.

• Arsenal.com Match Report
• BBC Match Report - Ends up having PG interviews
• My Arsenal Feed

Nicklas Bendtner 1-0: Download :: Watch

Some Cunt 1-1: Download :: Watch

Robin van Persie 2-1: Download :: Watch

Emmanuel Adebayor: 3-1: Download :: Watch

Very Big Cunt: 3-2: Download :: Watch

Theo Walcott 4-2: Download :: Watch

Emmanuel Adebayor 5-2: Download :: Watch

Emmanuel Adebayor 6-2: Download :: Watch

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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

That should’ve been at least a 3-1 win. I wish the refs would start doing their job a little better, that tackle on Hleb was a penalty if I ever saw one. Even Kopite Andy Gray couldn’t believe it. We missed a lot of chances which is always disconcerting, especially when the next match is away from home. I’m not too worried though, as long as Bendtner doesn’t block any more goals, I sense a 3-0 pounding next week. Conceding the away goal will probably mean Liverpool’s going to sit on it and play for a scoreless draw which they’re so bloody good at. That’s alright though, because Arsenal are due for a breakout.

We were unfortunate and very unlucky not to score at least 3-4 goals, it’s going to even out in the next leg. I’m not happy about the number of long balls we play, it’s something that’s totally un-Arsenal like, we’re better of passing it into the final third and taking chances with further-out shots instead of hoping Adebayor latches onto one, controls it, creates and finishes. I don’t even remember the last time he scored like that.

Don’t worry Gooners, this second leg will be ours. Match Report.

Adebayor scores: Download :: Watch

Kuyt scores: Download :: Watch

Match Highlights + Analysis + Interviews: Download :: Watch

I don’t feel like putting anything else up, let me know if you really want to see Drogba score twice on us and I’ll make it happen. We’re toast in the league, our only chance of silverware this season is the Champions League.

Watch :: Download

I don’t want to sound all doomy but the chances of winning the league are pretty slim. This is our fourth straight league tie, that’s 8 dropped points against some teams threatened by relegation. We have a very tough April where we play away to Manchester United and Chelsea and at home to Liverpool. This is not counting the two Champions League ties against Liverpool. We haven’t been able to get complete points from fixtures that should be routine for us, that’s what’s going to be the difference in the standings.

The only thing to take solace in is that we had a legit goal disallowed and they scored on a clearly offside play. Tough luck yet again.

Champions League beckons. Here’s the Arsenal.com Match Report and here’s the BBC Match Report with some PG comments.

Adebayor goal that was incorrectly given offside Download :: Watch

Aliadiere Offside Goal Download :: Watch

Toure Equalizer: Download :: Watch

MOTD Highlights: Watch :: Watch

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Eduardo Injury Update from Arsenal.com:

All being well, Eduardo will have his leg in plaster and using crutches for the next six to eight weeks. After that time, partial weight-bearing exercises will be scheduled into a slow rehabilitation process. It is hoped that Eduardo will be running again in six months time and making a full recovery after nine months. Eduardo will be released from hospital in a few days.

That’s great news.

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That was not a penalty. Clichy got all ball, the video below shows that. That’s about all the analysis I’m willing to make. That and Taylor should never play football again.

I feel dirty dropping 4 points to the Brums. We played like shit against them in January but this time around, deserved to win. Two set-pieces gift-wrapped by the ref resulted in two goals. Horrible night for the Gunners, if there’s a silver lining, it’s that Walcott finally broke the ice and scored two league goals. Bad result in FA Cup followed by mediocre result in Champions League followed by a bad result in the league. This is when things started to go south for us last year but this year is different. We played awful last year during this time period, but this year it’s a question of injuries (RVP, Rosicky), bad luck (Adebayor and the crossbar) and bad refereeing (penalty today).

I’m not concerned, we’ll shake this off next week against Villa and finish the job in Italy. Prayers with Eduardo, he’s out for a long, long time, will miss the season obviously and is out for Euro 2008. Say what you will about Arsenal’s bad disciplinary record, we’ll argue with ref, go for a bold tackle, but we don’t try to end players’ careers. The FA needs to realize people come to watch players like Eduardo, not riff-raff like Martin Taylor. I’m very interested as to what the suspension will be for this guy, seeing how we’re the Gunners and not Man Utd or Liverpool, he’ll get off with a slap on the wrist. At what age do they teach you how to tackle? This fucker still hasn’t learned, ban this guy for a season. Wenger is pissed, and rightfully.

Arse!

Eduardo injury pictures:

There are two more, these are more gruesome, so view it at your own risk. Here’s the other one. Here’s one at a unique angle.

Finally, this one is EXTREMELY GRAPHIC in nature. The injury video is the last one on this page, scroll down for it.

My Arsenal Feed.
Match Report.
BBC Match Report - Arsene Wenger Post Match Interview.

MOTD Highlights

McFadden ‘28 1-0: Flamini “foul” + goal Download :: YouTube

Walcott ‘49 1-1 Download :: YouTube

Walcott ‘55 2-1 Download :: YouTube

McFadden penalty + Clichy “foul” ‘90 2-2 Download :: YouTube

Martin Taylor’s horror tackle on Eduardo who breaks his leg Download :: YouTube :: FootyTube video + discussion :: High Quality

Bad tackle on Hleb Download :: YouTube

Adebayor fouled, penalty not given Download :: YouTube