Arsenalist

Arsenal will be away to Stoke City in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Their Goal 1-0: Watch :: Download

Aaron Ramsey 1-1: Watch :: Download

Eduardo 2-1: Watch :: Download

Highlight Pack

Arsene Wenger Interview :: Gianfranco Zola Interview

Twitter – @arsenalist

Liverpool FA Cup – 3-1

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Nothing beats hunting for a goal with two of your best strikers subbed off. Wenger hamstringed this one for us, didn’t understand RVP being taken off, thought it should’ve been Denilson who was poor. At the end of the day it was injuries that cost us this one, Fabianksi was terrible and unsure of himself from start to finish and Eboue got turned around for no reason on their first goal. This was going to be a very tough game with three of our four backs and our first-choice goalkeeper out with injury and so it was. I have to say that with Sagna and Almunia in there this could’ve very easily been Arsenal’s game. I also couldn’t understand the reasoning behind Arshavin not playing and Song not starting in the back four instead of Eboue.

Arsene Wenger says we gave up ‘cheap goals’.

Good play from Gibbs and Adebayor leads to Walcott deflecting one of Cuntley’s hand:

Eboue Terrible, Fabianski, even worse:

First Half Other Highlights

Fabianski screws up again:

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That was a nervy win. Given how many second half chances we created I couldn’t believe we didn’t score six goals. Nicklas Bendtner did some great work on the first goal, he kept the play alive and it bounced to Arshavin who chose to make a simple but important pass to RVP for the finish. Arshavin could’ve taken a the shot at a tighter angle but remained composed and made the wiser decision. The Gallas goal could be argued as offside but we dominated them enough in the second half to deserve a call. Their goal (as you can see) was all fluke but I still can see Hull supporters filing a grievance against the officiating. Tough luck. We got robbed in the Champions League against Liverpool last year on two penalties so I guess what goes around comes around.

BTW, Arsene Wenger did shake hands with Phil Brown. Here’s the proof.

Hull scored off a Djourou deflection: Watch :: Download

Halftime Highlights: Watch :: Download

Van Persie equalizes after a sound decision by Arshavin and hard work by Bendtner: Watch :: Download

Gallas goal: Watch :: Download

Match Highlights: Watch

Spitting Story :: Match Report :: 7AM Kickoff

Arsene Wenger and Phil Brown Interview

Manager’s take on Cesc Fabregas’ “spitting”: Wenger :: Brown

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Revenge mission complete and as a bonus you get two of the classiest finishes you’ll ever see. Make sure you pay attention to how Eduardo uses the outside of his boot on his volley. If Eduardo was our full-time striker up front with one of RVP and Adebayor, we’d be scoring a lot more goals than we do. Think about it, how many times have you seen Adebayor blow an easy chance because he didn’t show composure or shot it too straight instead of applying a thoughtful finish. Same with RVP but to a lesser degree. For all the chances we create our return rate on goals is very low and bad finishing is the primary reason. Anyway, let’s just enjoy the win and hope the Scum can do us a favor against Villa in the next league game.

Walcott looked good in this one too, when he accelerated down the middle of the pitch a few times I realized what we’d been missing the last few months and just why we’ve got 67 scoreless ties. If we stay healthy down the stretch there’s no reason why we shouldn’t easily catch Villa. Arshavin’s also looking good on the left side of the pitch and he’s starting to get some timing chemistry going with the strikers and his midfield, too bad his cup-tied for the Champions League. Honourable mention to Song – very good game. Now let’s see him do it twice in a row.

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The individual goals are below but let’s check out the 23+ minute highlight pack first:

Vela 1-0:

Halftime Highlights:

Eduardo 2-0:

Eboue 3-0

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Great win for the Gunners, hopefully this can spark us in the league. Great to see Eduardo back and healthy, he’s a clinical finisher and we could use him in the league. No more scoreless ties!

Eduardo: Download

Bendtner: Download

Halftime highlights: Download

Eduardo again: Download

Robin van Persie: Download

Full Match Highlights:

I watch the Carling Cup not expecting us to win the competition, but to see the kids in action. Sure, we might win the first couple rounds and see Carlos Vela and Jay Simpson do their thing but we’re all safe in the knowledge that if we face a Premiership team in the later stages, we’ll lose. We’ll lose because Wenger will stick to his age old philosophy of sticking with the young guns even when the opposing team is clearly at full-strength. It happened this year against Burnley, last year against Tottenham and the year before against Chelsea. Three games we would have a great chance of winning if a stronger side was playing; maybe we even would’ve won some silverware which would’ve put an end to the trophy doubt, however cheekily.

The lineup against Plymouth for the third round FA Cup tie was Fabianski, Sagna, Gallas, Djourou, Silvestre, Eboue, Diaby, Nasri, Ramsey, Van Persie, Bendtner. The bench had Vela, Wilshere, Gibbs, Almunia, Adebayor, Bischoff and Randall. Now that’s about as strong a lineup we can put out there (injuries notwithstanding). If Arsene Wenger continues to field a strong side like this for the rest of the competition we can actually look forward to some meaningful games this winter instead of just treating them as practice for the kids. The next one of these games is at Cardiff on January 25th.

So Kolo Toure made a transfer request. I think it’s time. He’s been a great servant to the club but over the last season or so his play has declined, you just don’t feel as confident as you once did whenever a ball is played towards Kolo. He’s been in the midst of some very crucial plays over the last couple years, most notably the Ryan Babel phantom penalty in the Champions League against Liverpool. He used to be the defensive stalwart in the middle but that’s not the case anymore, especially since William Gallas arrived at the club. The two never had great chemistry and were too similar to compliment each other. Senderos, for all his flaws, actually suited Toure as a partner by being aggressive and meeting challenges halfway down the pitch leaving Kolo as a cleanup option in case things got worse. With Gallas, they’re both “wait and see” defenders that often leave things too late for their own good.

Jack Wilshere signed a professional deal with the club soon after he became eligible to do so (by turning 17). He’s got greatness written all over him, at this young age he’s shown the composure of a veteran and the vision that’s well on its way to meeting Fabregas’. He’s ahead of Theo in terms of maturity and has shown a great ability to direct traffic in central and right midfield. I just hope Wenger surrounds the young talent on this team with enough grit and experience so that their ability will shine through. Fabregas had Vieira, Henry had Bergkamp, van Persie had Henry and so on.

There’s some talk of Arsenal pursuing Arshavin. I think he’s overrated. Plus, he claimed to love Arsenal and then two days later dreamed of playing for Barcelona. At least Wenger’s trying, he was even making a play for Inler so suring up the midfield is front and center on his mind. Good to hear, can’t wait to see what he does.

Anyway, the most realistic trophy this year is the FA Cup followed by the Champions League, something we might even have to win to qualify next year. I think we’ve shown we can beat the good clubs, we’ve just had some very rotten luck this year (Tottenham, Aston Villa, Liverpool) and if we just sure up our defense and midfield just a little, I think we’ll climb back into the top 4.

Check by on Saturday for some Arsenal/Bolton highlights.

First Half Highlights: Watch

Robin van Persie 1-0 ’47

Own Goal 2-0 ’50

Their goal 2-1 ’53

Robin van Persie makes it 3-1 85′: Watch

Full Match Highlights: Watch

All the Goals (nice package): Watch

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