Olympiakos 2-1 Arsenal - Return of Little Mozart

It was a disappointing night in Greece for Arsenal who fielded a reserve team of fringe players and youngsters with one or two senior players. We could have had top spot in the group with a win but like Wenger I too think a rest is needed for a lot of the first team.

The first half wasn't too bad. We started the brighter of the two teams but lacked that bit of cutting edge. Gervinho was his usual frustrating self and Aaron Ramsey looked like a player very short of confidence. This was underlined when the ball fell to him in the box and he looked certain to score but he couldn't even make any decent contact with the ball and really messed the chance up. We did find a breakthrough though and Gervinho's only good bit of play on the night saw him take the ball to the byline and drag a few defenders with him before cutting it back to the 'Little Mozart' himself, Tomas Rosicky to curl the ball into the net.

The second half was just poor from our point of view. Rosicky went off at half time to be replaced by Arshavin who moved into the front three with Oxlade-Chamberlain dropping back. We just didn't have that creative flair in the middle nor anyone at top who could make something out of nothing. I still don't see the point of Chamakh. He did nothing on the night but will be disappointed that on a couple of occasions Gervinho could have played him in and didn't. Whether that is a lack of vision or just selfishness I don't know. Maybe a bit of both.

Olympiakos turned the game around. They were fortunate however. Their first goal resulted from a corner which should have been a goal kick but nevertheless we should have done better defensively. Moments after the corner was cleared the Greeks played in into the box which saw the ball hit Aaron Ramsey and fell kindly to Maniatis who stabbed home from close range. The second goal we couldn't do anything about. It was a superb curling shot from range by substitute Mitroglou.

So we finish second in our group which is still better than half the English teams in the champions league but I do fear we wont get beyond the last 16 whoever we are drawn against. I'm far more interested in three points at the weekend to get our league campaign back on track and then the league cup tie against Bradford. Come on you Gooners!

Arsenal 0-2 Swansea - Why Do I Do This Blog?

Sometimes I wonder why I put myself through it. In writing this blog I now have to relive that complete shower of shite that I saw from my club yesterday.

We should be winning games like this. That's the bottom line. Take nothing away from Swansea, they were fantastic and deserved to win. The margin could have been more had it now been for Szczesny in our goal making a couple of good saves.

It looks liked the game was heading for a 0-0 draw. I always maintained we had some hope of a late winner but it didn't come from us. In the 88th minute Michu was put threw and finished well and a couple of minutes later he doubled Swansea's lead after a slip from Jenkinson allowed him to get through on goal and he once again took it well.

We had a couple of penalty appeals during the game waived away. Not really surprised as we never seem to get given any. Gervinho spurned a good chance in the first half after a good ball from Jenkinson but Gervinho couldn't make proper contact with it. In the second half our best chance fell to Vermaelen who headed straight at their goal keeper.

So once again we have witnessed a gutless, half arsed Arsenal performance. Wenger put it down to the players being 'jaded'. It's embarrassing really. These are professional athletes who earn thousands a week and apparently they are tired. Swansea played midweek too so it's no excuse. It's like we played an away game in Eastern Europe a few days before. It's obvious what our problem is. Lack of goals. Last season a certain Dutch player papered over the cracks with his goals and now he's doing exactly the same thing in Manchester. We now have no paper for the cracks and we find ourselves in 10th place, just 2 points ahead of Liverpool who are terrible.

January is going to be huge for this club and Arsene Wenger. A lot of fans want him out and he's going to have to work his magic and show us what we know he can do and get this team back to winning ways. If not it's going to be a long old season.

Everton 1-1 Arsenal - Is It A Good Result?

I'll hold my hands up and be honest first. I didn't see the game. I've seen the goals but not the match so forgive me if my match report is brief.

Theo Walcott put us ahead after just 51 seconds. A neat one two with Aaron Ramsey put Walcott in from a wide position and his shot deflected in. Marouane Fellaini who was back in the Everton side after a one game ban equalised after Sanga gave the ball away. Fellaini finished smartly from 25 yards. From the match reports I've read it doesn't sound like there was a great deal of action, especially from ab Arsenal perspective. Everton had a chance in the first half when Jelavic shot over after a clever turn in the box. In the second half they had a strong penalty claim waved away after Mikel Arteta appeared to have dragged Pienaar down.

There's been a mixture of reactions from this match. I think the Villa result has had a huge impact on the thoughts of most Gooners. Had we beaten Villa and drew here we would have all been happy but dropping points at Villa gave this one a must win feeling. It doesn't work like that though. Everton have been nothing short of fantastic at home this season. They are yet to lose at home despite their recent form dipping a bit.

Everton are a team that most neutrals find hard to dislike. David Moyes has done a fantastic job and they will be the team for us to beat to 4th spot I believe. A draw at least means they are not pulling any further away from us. I know we lost another couple of points on them lot down the road but we will catch them sooner than later.

Aston Villa 0-0 Arsenal - Calm Down Wenger Out Brigade

Yesterday's game was disappointing. A game played in poor conditions where the pitch was saturated and slippery. A game where Villa deserve credit for pressuring us in the midfield and forcing us into errors. A game where we kept a clean a sheet. Unfortunately we just lacked a creative spark. Cazorla was quiet and it seems these days if you keep him quiet the rest of the team are quiet. Ramsey, who is usually the focus of so much stick was our best performer in midfield but he couldn't help us find a goal we needed.

We made three changes from our last match. Wilshere, Vermaelen and Sagna were rested with Ramsey, Gibbs and Jenkinson coming in. It was nice to see Gibbs back and he certainly gives us something more down the left hand side. He lacked a bit of sharpness due to his recent injury but I expect him to come good. Looking forward to having him and Sagna back together.

Villa were not much of a huge threat. Andreas Weimann had a goal disallowed correctly for offside, from a bizarre free kick which seemed to have been given after Szczesny slipped over outside the box. In the second half Holman (who?) had a cracking shot saved by Szczesny who's fingertips pushed it onto the post and wide. Our chances were very few and far between. Koscielny for some reason was in the box and unmarked shot over from about 8 yards. He was spinning on the ball and was always under it but you would have expected Podolski or Giroud in that position to have buried it.

Cazorla shot wide in the second half after some good build up play. We have upped the tempo a bit but we didn't really sustain it throughout the second half until the final few minutes. Arshavin and Gervinho were introduced and Arshavin almost found Gervinho with a great whipped in cross that Clark intercepted. Clark certainly performed very well for Villa on the day and made a couple of vital interceptions.

So it ended 0-0. Very disappointing from our point of few. Neither team played well and we will need to up our game at Everton. They are on a poor run but have a lot of talent and they will punish us if we play like this. Hopefully Jack Wilshere will return as we lacked his craft in the middle. Wenger's substitutions were questioned after the match. It was quite strange pulling off Giroud for Coquelin at the end when we were pushing for a goal and Wenger reacted furiously to the questions about his substitutions. 

"What is the thinking behind the substitution? I will not explain every decision I make.
I have managed for 30 years at the top level and I have to convince you I can manage the team?"

Pressure showing maybe? I don't agree with Wenger's subs on most occasions. I don't like our formation either yet I am still shocked at the reaction from a lot of our fans yesterday. The Wenger out brigade were in full force. Anyone would think we lost 6-0. A lot of our players were poor. There's no doubting their ability but it's unfair that Wenger should be at the centre of abuse all the time from such fickle fans. One week they chant 'There's only one Arsene Wenger' and the next it's 'You don't know what you're doing'. Lets face it, every move a manager makes is a gamble. They don't always pay off and maybe Wenger got it wrong with the players he rested and the subs he made but that's hindsight for you. Just because he got this wrong doesn't make our opinions on what he should have done automatically right.

Arsenal 2 -0 Montpellier - We're Through Again!

Whatever people think about Arsene Wenger and the current lack of trophies at the club you can't deny our fantastic achievements when it comes to getting into the Champions League and getting out of our group. This is the 13th year in a row that we've gone through from the group stages and although it's likely we will get knocked out in the later stages it's still a remarkable achievement. Just look at Man Utd and Man City last year and Chelsea who are on the brink of elimination this year along with Man City once again going out of the group stages whilst the Arsenal march on.

We knew a win for us and Schalke would put us through and we got what we wanted. The game wasn't as straightforward at times as we would like but overall it was a lovely routine win and a clean sheet. We didn't have to play great but we did enough. Montpellier had a lot of the ball, especially in the first half but they never really looked like causing us any trouble. I can barely recall them making a shot on target.

The first half was really sloppy by our standards. We gave the ball away so many times it was a bit frustrating. Despite our lackluster first half we were the ones who came closest to scoring. Vermaelen put in a cross from the left hand side which Koscielny headed against the bar. Just moments later our other centre back, Per Mertesacker picked the ball up outside the box and danced past a couple of players before eventually being tackled before he could get a shot away. Podolski had a couple of shots that went just wide but he was clearly warming up for something more special...

We took the lead early on in the first half. Vermaelen sent a cross into the box for Giroud to header down into the path of Jack Wilshere who scored his first goal since his injury. It was a lovely little finish from close range and no more than the boy deserves, he's been excellent so far. We stepped up a gear after that and managed to score again. This one was special. My usual goal celebration is 'GET IN!' but this one made me say 'What a goal!. Good work by Oxlade-Chamberlain on the edge of the box resulted in the ball falling to Giroud who dinked the ball over the defense to Lukas Podolski to volley in with his left foot. It really was a fantastic finish.


Giroud had a chance to score against his old club when his shot was saved but he had to settle for his two assists on the night. The Frenchman is really looking like a fine addition to this team and we seem to playing more to his strengths. His hold up play, cushioned headers etc. is what you need from a traditional 'number 9' which we are seeing more of and he's also good defensively when needed to. Podolski is showing us why Wenger signed him and from being a side who looked like we couldn't score a couple of months ago we now have a very tasty looking strike force. We also now have Gervinho back and it will be interesting to see if he can get back into our front three. It will be tough for him.

So we're through to the next round. Top of the group is out of our hands but Wenger said he wants to go for it. Personally I don't really care. If you want to win this competition you have to beat the best so sometimes getting them sooner rather than later might be a good thing.

Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham - North London is Still Red

Well after a few recent lows I can't think of anything better than beating the old enemy to lift our spirits. Yet another 5-2 victory over the scum just 9 months after the last one, and although this victory might not be as sweet as the previous encounter it's still up their with one of the most satisfying victories.

The match got off to the worst possible start for us. William Gallas had a goal ruled out for being offside before another former Gunner, Adebayor put them ahead with a tap in after Szczesny palmed away Defoe's shot.Adebayor soon went from hero to villain just a few minutes later when he lunged in on Santi Cazorla. His foot was high and his studs were showing so Howard Webb had no choice but to send him off. It was this point when things started going well for us. The red card gave us some momentum and it wasn't long before we were level. Some great work on the right hand side from Theo Walcott allowed him to float a cross in for Per Mertesaker to superbly header in. Our big fucking German getting his first goal for the club. Speaking of German's our other German Lukas Podolski put us ahead 18 minutes later when his shot from inside the box took a small deflection off William Gallas to trickle in. 

Just before the break we made it 3-1. Santi Cazorla making space for himself on the left hand side to whip in a cross for Olivier Giroud to slot home from close range. The Frenchman is starting to find the net more regularly now which is great to see. At the start of the second half AVB made a couple of changes to Spurs. He decided to go for it and play 3-5-1 by taking off his full backs and adding Dawson at centre back and adding Clint Dempsey to the midfield. Like the second half they started well but they couldn't find the goal they needed to get back into the game and we exploited their lack of numbers at the back. Walcott fed in Lukas Podolski to play the ball across the box for Cazorla to smash home from close range to make it 4-1.

They pulled one back from a low range drive from Planet of the Apes extra, Gareth Bale but we finished the half professionally, keeping the ball and running down the clock. Had we done that in the 4-4 a few years ago the outcome would have been different. We also managed to grab another goal at the end. Oxlade-Chamberlain burst down the right and played the ball across to Theo Walcott who finished with a strikers finish. He certainly deserved a goal. The whole team were great but Walcott, Cazorla, Podolski and Wilshere were particularly outstanding. 

Lets hope with this great result that it has the same outcome as last years 5-2 and drives us forward whilst Spurs slip down the table. Fingers crossed.

Arsenal 3-3 Fulham - Don't Blame Arteta

You can't score 3 at home and not win the match. Another 2-0 lead lost in a week and our defensive woes continue. Finally Theo Walcott was given the responsibility of taking corners after he assisted from two against Reading and he whipped one in for Giroud to header home to make it 1-0 after 11 minutes. 12 minutes later we made it 2-0 when Arteta pulled the ball back to Podolski who beat the keeper from 6 yards.

Unfortunately the 2-0 lead didn't last long. Before the match Fulham were the second highest scorers in the league so you thought they would have goals in them and they proved they did. First Berbatov became the next person to score past our zonal marking from a corner when he nodded in Bryan Ruiz's corner. We were beaten by another header before the break when Berbatov became provider and whipped in a cross for Kacaniklic who made it 2-2.

Fulham took the lead in the second half. Arteta lost the ball in his own area to Ruiz who he then tripped up trying to claim the ball back. Berbatov stepped up and coolly converted. Fulham's lead didn't last too long and we soon made it 3-3 when Cazorla played in Giroud who's shot hit the post but bounced out to Theo Walcott who crossed back in for Giroud to equalise.

In the dying moments of the match we had a golden chance to claim victory when we were awarded a penalty for a really harsh handball by Sascha Riether. It wasn't s pot kick in my book and when Arteta stepped up and his shot was saved justice was done as much as it hurts me to say so. Arteta got blamed by a lot of fans for missing the penalty and costing us the game but at the end of the day we shouldn't be letting 3 goals in at home in the first place. So far this season we've found ourselves lacking goals or shipping in too many. I can't see this team every turning up and winning 3-0 comfortably against anyone at the moment. This should have been one of those games and at 2-0 up we should have held on and built on our lead. A lot of work needs to be done at this club. The North London derby would be a great game to turn our fortunes around.