Arsenalist

Outclassed by a team that is simply better than us. Playing a high line killed us two of the goals we conceded were a direct result of that. The injuries were obviously an issue with Gallas, Fabregas, Van Persie and Song out, but it’s not like the manager didn’t know that he was thin on strikers and defenders in January. It’s naive to think that we had a realistic chance tonight. As a supporter you always hope for your team to pull through, but fact is that Barcelona are ridiculously efficient with the ball whereas we tend to waste too many opportunities. There were a few instances tonight where Clichy, Bendtner and Rosicky made a mess of things when a team like Barceona, in the same situation, would’ve made a goalie work.

The inability of the midfield to hold the ball, string passes together and build some confidence in themselves while building frustration for Barcelona was mandatory and it didn’t happen. Diaby, Denilson and Rosicky had poor games and couldn’t keep the ball when under pressure from Barcelona’s aggressive tactics. Other than having a difference maker like Messi, that’s the main difference between these two teams – they have the grit to get the job done when they need to and we are lacking in that area.

Eduardo looks like a shadow of his former self and Bendtner, as good as he is in the air, is unable to think with the ball at his feet. You can see it every time he touches it, he can’t anticipate the action and doesn’t have the vision and creativity required to finish those half-chances. Walcott’s good, but he’s far from a refined product and I’m wondering how long we’re willing to wait. With another chance at a trophy gone by the wayside, is it time to give the youth movement another year, or will Wenger truly and honestly make a legitimate run at a trophy by bringing in high quality, proven products.

It’s a disappointing day to be an Arsenal fan, and the only good thing about this tie is that it was a complete hammering and there was no question who was the better team. There are no “what ifs” to lament about, it’s an old-fashioned beat down and perhaps we can learn something from it. With our league hopes dependent on Chelsea and Man Utd dropping points, it’s unrealistic to think we’ll end up with a trophy this year, but as always you keep hope. The difference is that in years past, that hope was predicated on proven quality and not just pure hope alone.

Bendtner 1-0: Watch :: Download

Messi 1-1: Watch :: Download

Shit, Messi again 2-1: Watch :: Download

I hate Messi 3-1: Watch :: Download

Messi is good 4-1: Watch :: Download

Wenger Interview :: Bendtner Interview

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Wenger Interview :: Moyes Interview

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Cesc Fabregas 1-0: Download :: Watch

Halftime Highlights: Download :: Watch

Match Highlights: Download :: Watch

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Before the game

Liverpool won, we got to keep pace.

During the game

Almunia saves Young’s penalty. Foul included: Download :: Watch

First Half Highlights: Download :: Watch

A real cunt of a human being 1-0: Download :: Watch – Good ‘ol Clichy, fucking up in big games

A big whore villa 2-0: Download :: Watch I can’t believe a cunt with a name like that can score against Arsenal. Wenger, please fix this horsehit ASAP.

After the game:

Match Report

Lowest point of the season? I think so. Is William Gallas a fucknut? For sure. Are we wining the league? No. Does Sidwell sodomize Brad Friedel? Yes. Did anyone hear Nasri’s name? No. Is black a color or a fruit? Color. Who is Denilson? Is Bendtner Arsenal quality? No. But given Arsenal’s quality of late, yes. FUUUCCKKKK THIS SUCKS>

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Here’s an email I got from a loyal reader:

You should really do an open letter on the site to the Arsenal Football Club, or to Arsene Wenger

Tell him/them to get off his ass and;

- admit Gallas is a faliure and should be publicly stoned
- buy the hardman midfielder and bison sized centre back we’ve been missing since the days of Vieira/Campbell and
- stop trying to plug the DM holes with ppl like denilson and song
- if he wants to have faith in his young players, at least give Diaby a chance in a pure DM role, he at least has the body for it
- accept that sometimes we need to stop playing ‘beautiful’ football – honestly its not like the days of the invincibles anymore when it was fun to watch and they were always counterattacking and raising hell in the defense. Now we watch them pass and pass, give the defence time to recover, and end up with a scuffed shot at the top of the box with 5 men in front of it, or squeeze out a cross from our overworked fullbacks.

The commentary period during an Arsenal match goes like this:

- The commentary raves on Arsenal’s flowing ball
- As they predictably struggle to break down the team, or misplace some passes, the commentator calles it an ‘Un-Arsenal-like’ performance when in reality it happens in 1 of every 2 matches

I mean what is Wenger doing? THe invincibles played at an extremely fast tempo and counterattacked at will, almost never crossed and got physical with teams sometimes (we had that red card record at 1 point)

Now we play at Serie A pace, trying to pass teams into submission/walk the ball into the net. We do cross a lot more, which is sometimes a good thing because we have a true target man in Ade and sometimes Bendtner. But in general we are too slow and look for the extra pass to often. For every 1 clear cut chance our passing movement makes, theres about 3-4 that we f**ked up.

It not like our weaknesses are new – they have been obvious for years now – our lack of height/spine in midfield and defence and our tendency to overpass and walk ball into net. I mean, even the invincibles had some of these complaints but not nearly as severe as now. Wenger has refused to address them. He’s not a good tactician – he’s only used 2 different formations in his Arsenal carrer(42 451), never makes formational adjustments outside of the 442/451 and doesnt make special substitutions – i mean Ade at West Ham was a no-brainer, or throwing on Walcott for energy. He’s only excellent at discovering and rearing youngsters.

F**k man, sorry to rant a lot but I am just fed up of this, going on 4 seasons now, and you seem to be one of the few Arsenal suooprters out there not on Wenger’s dick and blindly swallowing everything Arsenal do. (Although the # of discontented Gooners grow daily) Even my friends today tried to defend Arsenal’s performance somehow. I shud start to watch the games alone. THe commentator said the AV game was a shocker. it isnt to me anymore

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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This is Chinese commentary but good quality. I can’t bear listening to English hyperbole anymore, I prefer chipmunks instead.

Great fight back by the Gunners. All seemed lost at halftime, we were dominating play but Bolton was the one in the lead. Bad defending on their first goal and a giveaway led to the other. Diaby was sent off (rightfully) for a similar tackle as the one on Eduardo. We were creating half-chances all through the first half but it was embarassing to be down two goals to a relegation threatened Bolton side who are basically a bunch of talentless gypsies.

The outset of the second half was dominated by Bolton much to everyone’s shock but Arsene Wenger responded by replacing Bendtner for Emmanuel Adebayor and mixing in Theo Walcott. Immediate dividends followed. Adebayor has been taking a lot of heat since the goals have dried up but his pace was a key catalyst in this one.

Gallas who was having a terrible game scored off a poorly defended corner which should be enough for him to keep his captaincy for another week. Soon after, Adebayor’s run in the box was followed by a nifty back heel to Flamini who’s shot was blocked but Hleb was fouled trying to get to the rebound. RVP smashed one in from the spot and the Gunners were back. The final goal was sheer desire to not settle for a tie, a bit of luck on the deflection but the run by Fabregas was something to relish.

Gunners come back from the dead. Is it going to be enough to win the league? Probably not but it’s exactly what we needed going into the big Champions League clash against Liverpool.

Arsenal.com Match Report

BBC Match Report – Ends up having post-match interviews.

This blog’s Arsenal Feed. If you happen to be a Raptors fan, get that feed too.

Matthew Taylor ’14, 0-1: Download :: Watch

Matthew Taylor ’43, 0-2: Download :: Watch

William Gallas ’62, 1 -2: Download :: Watch

Robin van Persie ’68, 2-2: Download :: Watch

Jlloyd Samuel (OG) ’90, 3 -2: Download :: Watch

MOTD Highlights (English): Download :: Watch

Low Quality Highlights (Korean): Download :: Watch

Finally, if you enjoy free Arsenal highlights, buy an Arsenal ticket, if you can’t afford one, just click here to say thanks.

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

A point rescued. We were still feeling the effects of the Birmingham nightmare and weren’t at nearly our best. For every one pass forward, we made two back hoping to create a “better” channel. This of course gives even more ammunition to those commentators who continue to mercilessly point out how we pass too much for our own good. Although they’re all closet Man U supporters sometimes they do have a point. Arsenal were a little too methodical in this one and never applied real pressure towards Villa who were only too happy to run at us on the counter.

The crosses were off, the passing wasn’t crisp and if we we had lost it would’ve been fully deserved. Many thanks to Adebayor for finding Nicklas Bendtner who slotted one home on the last kick of the game. Man U beat hapless Fulham which means we drop two more points but still stay on top of the league. This Arsenal squad hasn’t faced adversity like this before, injury to key players, pressure at the top of the table and emotional distress from the fallout of last week. Hopefully Bendtner’s goal will put a stop to the bleeding and spark the return of the Arsenal side that was playing so well earlier in the year.

Nobody is expecting us to get a result in Italy but a win there would give this team the confidence and belief that it so desperately needs right now.

Cesc Fabregas was scoring goals at an unsustainable rate earlier in the year but the goals have dried up for him and it’s not a surprise, however he should’ve scored towards the end of the first half but instead shot it high. With Eduardo gone and RVP missing, we sorely lack a predator who can also create on a dime with traffic around him. Arsene Wenger pointed out that RVP is almost ready for training which is great news, it’ll pull the pressure off Adebayor and add the creativity we’ve been missing inside the area:

“We will not rush Robin van Persie back, but the news is quite good. It is difficult to say, we go step by step, but he should come back into normal training very, very quickly now.”

10 games left and the two mammoth fixtures at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford will ultimately decide the title race. Even though Arsenal are top of the league, they are the underdogs to win it.

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• Arsenal.com Match Report
• BBC Match Report – Ends up having Post-Match interviews
• This blog’s Arsenal RSS Feed.

MOTD Highlights

Senderos Own Goal ’27: Download :: YouTube

Final Stretch + Bendtner ’90: Download :: YouTube

Maloney Shot that hit the bar

Fabregas’s chance just before the break

Walcott’s chance

Flamini shot

Adebayor’s header at the end would’ve been nice but in the end we have nothing to show for dominating the game. A win at the San Siro will be difficult but if there’s one thing Arsenal know after this game, it’s that they have what it takes to beat Milan. As the boss himself said, we were a little nervous in the final third and deserved at least a couple goals. Toure’s early injury looked to be a setback but Senderos filled in nicely, Fabregas was awesome and Hleb magnificent. Milan were backtracking for the better part of the match only choosing to attack when Arsenal chose to take a break from their onslaught.

The best chance of the evening fell to Adebayor in the closing seconds but his open-net header hit the crossbar. He should’ve scored. Earlier in the match, his five yard pass was too strong which would’ve been a sure Arsenal goal. The big man did cause Milan problems all game long with his size, but never connected on any of the tempting crosses from Sagna or Hleb. The introduction of Bendtner to add some height saw the largely ineffective Eduardo taken out but he couldn’t free himself for any clean headers. Theo Walcott, an injury time introduction, created the final Adebayor chance and got around his defender with ease. Wenger will be sure to use this weapon nicely in the away leg.

Kaka was held in check and Arsenal played smart football on the back-line never allowing Milan and the dangerous Alexandre Pato any room to create. Jens Lehmann didn’t have to do much but his quick outlets, confident clearances and leadership in the back was a welcome sign. Lest we forget, Jens is still a good goalie.

Arsenal tie 0-0 but dominate against the mighty Italians. In two weeks time, this young Arsenal squad will play the biggest game of their lives. After dominating AC Milan for a large portion of this contest, we have the confidence we need to pull of the first ever win by an English club against AC Milan in the hostile atmosphere that is the San Siro. It’s time for the Gunners to pull of yet another Italian Job, just like they did years go against Inter Milan.

Match Report

Match Highlights Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=N9zGBUSHmUc]

Arsene Wenger Post Match Interview (Audio’s a bit off) Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=i_9axZdDgCM]

Starting Lineups and Introduction Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=UHBE2V2lzMA]

The Gunners look to open a up a 5 point gap at the top of the Barclay’s Premier League…stay tuned for highlights.

Senderos ’4 – 1-0: Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=Kp6Tixfi-Ds]

Adebayor ’90 – 2-0: Download

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=lMIjwD7T6Eg]

Arsenalist’s Arsenal Feed

Arsenal.com Match Report

BBC Match Report – Ends up having PG interviews