Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

It was such a wonderfully bonkers game of football. Hard to believe. In the first half neither side defended well. In the second half, Arsenal tightened things up but Chelsea, if anything, got worse.

That’s not to say it was a game without skill. It was a game full of brilliant moments, but it had a kind of recklessness that left you breathlessly wondering what on earth the outcome would be. It wasn’t until Robin Van Persie got number five that I really let myself believe we’d done it.

Of the three goals we conceded, two were a familiar failing, an attacking player given too much opportunity to attack a cross. A setback for Mertesacker after games where he has looked more and more solid. The third was a shot from Mata with the power and direction to beat Szczesny. Lukaku blocked Santos from intervening, Song arrived fractionally too late and Szczesny was six inches short of a save.

Szczesny though had some luck to stay on the pitch. If he had got a red card for a charging tackle that sent Cole flying it would have been hard to argue with. But it was yellow only. ‘Well it was only Ashley Cole’, says my wife in a tone that questioned whether referee Marriner should even have stopped play. This has, I suspect, more to do with the way Cole treated Cheryl than his Cashley Cole departure from Arsenal but never mind.

Anyway, enough negatives because we won. And we did it with fizzing style and passion across the team.

Song and Koscielny were fantastic. They put in a huge game to keep Chelsea from playing through the middle. Koscielny is smashing through the assumption that he will give way to the recovering Vermaelen. It’s great because we need all three. At our defensive best we could choose two from Adams, Keown and Bould – and be confident of any pairing.

But this wasn’t a game about great defenders. It was a game about fluid attacking and this time we were on the right end of it.

Goal one had two great elements. Aaron Ramsey threaded a great Cesc-like pass into the box for Gervinho. Inch perfect with the right weight and timing to keep him and Van Persie onside. Then, rather than claiming the chance of a goal himself, Gervinho made scoring a certainty by squaring the ball to Van Persie. The first of two Arsenal equalizers.

Straight after half-time came another equalizer. This one had a magic moment two with Song receiving the ball and turning away from the marking Chelsea player in a single fluid movement that opened up space. Santos, who had laboured through the first-half, was charging down the left, Bosingwa was way out of position and the Brazilian finished past the flailing Cech. Two-all.

Next up with a special display was Theo Walcott. He had a great game altogether, but this bit was terrific. After a foul by Ashley Cole on the touchline, Arsenal took a quick freekick that sent Walcott on a weaving run through a bunch of five defenders. He was brought down and the Chelsea players paused to glance at the referee. Walcott didn’t pause at all. He was back on his feet, switching the ball right foot, left foot, right foot and through on goal. Cech beaten at the near post again. Three – two.

Could we hold on to this? No. Mata gets his equalizer. Whatever next in this bonkers game? John Terry blundering! Malouda gave him a back pass he could have done without. It was too heavy and the opposite side to the way he was moving. As he turned to chase it he lost his balance and went down. Van Persie charged past to go one on one with Cech. No contest. Four-three!

Surely we can hold on now I thought. Arsene Wenger had brought on Rosicky and Vermaelen to grab hold tight to three points. But Chelsea hadn’t given up and attacked too.

The decider came after Rosicky showed the spirit that typified Arsenal’s game. Risking a boot in the face, he dipped his head to take the ball away from an attacking player on the edge of the box. Then he surged forward and passed, to set up a three against two at the other end. Goal number five. Van Persie’s hat-trick. Our first away win of the season – at Stamford Bridge. Arsene Wenger’s 500th Arsenal victory. Sweet.

Robin Van Persie was run-away man of the match of course!

We’ve still got a lot to do this season, but we’re back in this thing now.

C’mon you Gunners!

PS. Does anyone remember what Torres cost? It’s slipped my mind somehow;-).

So we’ve had a run of form, progressed in the Carling and top our Champions League group.  All well and good, normal service being resumed etc.

Tomorrow it gets a bit more testing. Chelsea away.  This level we haven’t got right yet.  But Chelsea have had a bit of a mare this week so let’s not get too downhearted before the game.

Clearly this one needs our strongest available line-up, so let’s start with who are out.

Definitely out: Sagna, Jenkinson, Wilshere, Diaby and Chelsea loanee Benayoun. Rosicky and Arshavin are possibly out of the running too.  Rosicky didn’t make the Carling game and Arshavin took his place.  Does that mean he won’t play tomorrow?

Biggest boost this week is the return of Vermaelen who played on Tuesday but says he is fit and ready for Chelsea.  His early departure from the Bolton game was just cramp after making his return to action.

If he really is fit he should come back in to our league back four, freeing up Koscielny to deputise at right-back.  Koscielny played there earlier in his career and his form this season is much more consistent than Djourou, who is the other option.  Looking after Cole and Mata is not a job for reserve Nicholas Yennaris, despite his encouraging performance on Tuesday.

Unless Arshavin is going to make two starts in a row, the rest of the team picks itself.

I expect the line-up to be:

_______ Szczesny _______
Kos _ Merte _ Verm _ Santos
________ Song _________
__ Arteta ____ Ramsey ___
Walcott __ RVP __ Gervinho

What do you think?

But what of the all-important Annual General Meeting?  Not a lot, as predicted.  Some of the media had hyped this up as some great fan showdown, which it was never going to be. And wasn’t.

Stan told how he loves being in London.  Arsene pointed out we had a poor start but have done better since.  Yawn.

So Gael Clichy departs to Manchester City for a decent price and a fair bit of dignity.  He hasn’t engaged in the media games like some and good luck to him.

£7million for a player in the last year of his contract.  Mixed feelings about Gael Clichy. He’s good player and always put the effort in.  He played a blinder in the first season after Ashley Cole departed but then seemed to stall.

So who should take his place?  Gibbs is a good prospect but only that at the moment I think.  Not really ready.  Some have talked of switching Thomas Vermaelen out to fullback, but I’m not sure that does the job either.  It would rather depend on us finding another two central defenders and we haven’t landed one yet!

The two names consistently shooting through the rumour mill are Enrique and Baines. Baines would be my first choice, but Enrique is a good option too.

In recent years I’ve been finding international football a bit dull and uninspiring.  So yesterday afternoon I almost didn’t bother.

But in the end I was sucked back in to see how Jack, Theo and Johann got on.  Plus there was that Scott Parker who many suppose could supply some diligence and maturity to Arsenal’s midfield.  Then there were a couple of lost boys too: Ashley ‘never been the same since…etc’ Cole and Phillippe Ponderous, sorry Senderos.

England started with ten minutes of quite spirited stuff, looking quite promising, but then lost there pace and purpose.  Inler and Behrami established Swiss control over the midfield and England were on the back foot.

Then those England boys seemed to come up with the tactic of confusing the hell out of the Swiss with a startling different way of defending free-kicks.  Rather than the zone method they adopted the ozone method, as in les make big holes in it.  The Swiss will be so confused they won’t understand what they’re up against!

Two direct free-kicks later the Swiss are so confused they’re two goals up.  Two free-kicks in which no-one, attacker or defender, touched the ball on its journey over the line.  The first came from a slightly high ball into the the middle of box that neither Terry nor Ferdinand judged right.  Hart decided not to come for it, which was not necessarily the wrong decision, and was left stranded as it crept inside the far post.  Even if he had managed to reach it and parry, the two nearest players were both Swiss.

The second was from a tighter angle.  Hart set a two-man wall of Walcott and Milner to guard the near post and crouched ready.  This time the free-kick was hit low and at the wall with a Swiss player making a late run into the box.

Milner obviously decided that this was the threat and started to move, despite the fact that the ball was heading straight for the wall.  It was a bit like a snooker player concentrating so hard on where the cue ball is going to end up that they miss the pot.  So the ball sails past Walcott, who had stayed put, through the space where Milner had been positioned by Hart and in the goal at the near post.

So, two-nil down and it’s looking a bit desperate.  At this point England woke up and went back to playing football.  Jack Wilshere won the ball and went on a determined run into the box where his club team-mate Djourou obligingly brought him down for a penalty.  Frank Lampard almost messed up with poor placement but had enough pace on the shot to score. So England ended the first-half still in the game.

Much of the pre-match debate had been about how knackered Jack Wilshere must be by now, but actually it was Lampard who looked most short of pace and form.  So it wasn’t a massive surprise to see him replaced at half-time.  In the end it was a draw, after a good goal from Young. But for a lot of the time the Swiss were the better side and if they’d taken three points you wouldn’t have called them lucky.

So what of the Arsenal boys, old and new?

Jack Wilshere is looking a bit worn round the edges now and needs time on the beach, but he was one of the better England players yesterday with determination, good running and intelligent passing.

Theo didn’t get in the game as much, but did okay.  He made some good runs but didn’t get a lot of support.  He also did his bit defensively making some good covering moves when Johnson got overlapped.

Djourou had a bit of a ‘mare.  He made some strange choices positionally and could have conceded a second penalty.  Senderos was the same as ever – committed, direct, reasonable positioning but little finesse and no pace.  Ashley Cole wasn’t too bad, but not stunning.  Someone landed on his instep early on which left him limping.  For some reason Capello waited an age to replace him with Baines, so he spent half his time on the pitch looking rather half-hearted.

So what of Scott Parker?  He certainly is diligent and mature, again yesterday as ever, and there are times when Arsenal need that.  But he doesn’t have have massive skill on the ball.  For a good price he would be a good option to have, but I hope we can do better.

Injuries to Fabregas, Nasri and Diaby mean that Aaron Ramsey is sure to start today at the ground where he had his leg broken. Could be a bit daunting for him, but coming off the back of a great game against Manchester United it will hopefully be a chance to rise above what must have been a dreadful episode with another classy display.

You have to wonder about Fabregas’ injury. Is it the same sort of problem perhaps as Almunia’s elbow? Have we seen him play for the last time? Much will be written on the ‘should he stay or should he go now’ theme. My two thoughts are that he needs to make his mind up early on, and he should only stay if he really wants to. Performing on the pitch isn’t just about technique. You have to want to be there. Cesc needs to decide where he wants to be. I don’t think it’s cut and dried yet – does Cesc want to be part of a Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets rotation? – would be any happier at a different non-Barcelona club than Arsenal?

Doubts about Djourou’s fitness may mean the return of Thomas Vermaelen. I’m in two minds about this. His injury made a huge difference to Arsenal’s defence this season and it would be great to see him back. Just so long as it isn’t going to jeopodise his fitness. With only three games left and the title hopes a faint flicker, the priority now has to be his fitness for next season.

Clichy is also a doubt with a tight hamstring, so it could be a rare chance for Gibbs. With speculation about transfer moves for a left-back, Kieran Gibbs will want any opportunity to be on the pitch. Gael Clichy has got better as the season has gone on, but still hasn’t shown the promise that he did immediately after Ashley Cole’s departure. Arsenal could probably do better, and whether Clichy is number one left-back next season depends more on whether the the right deal is available than his own form.

Arsene Wenger says that although there is only a faint chance, a real competitor fights to the end. So I assume that means Van Persie starts rather than making some gesture to Bendtner or Chamakh. Keeping number two and three strikers sweet is a real problem given the formation Arsenal play, but fighting until the end means that RVP should start.

So depending on the final fitness tests, I expect to see:

_________________ Szczesny ____________________
Sagna _ Djourou (Vermaelen) _ Koscielny _ Clichy (Gibbs)
___________ Song ______ Wilshere _______________
________________ Ramsey _____________________
Walcott _________ Van Persie ____________ Arshavin

Painsme to say it, but we need Chelsea to win today to tighten the race further, on top of a solid Arsenal win at Stoke. It’s only a flicker, but that’s what the game is all about. We are Arsenal – it isn’t just about taking part!

C’mon Arsenal!

Wenger-haters look away now;-)

Arsenal played well this weekend. Chelsea and Manchester United were both dismal. The rollacoaster ride of being a Gooner swings upwards again.

Even a last minute ‘assist’ by Ashley Cole for Sunderland’s third. What a great weekend.

Bring on Spurs!

******  Vote for your Arsenal Man of the Match here. *****

First thoughts on the game.

First things first, I think that Arsenal played well today and the reason we are where we are is because we dropped points against West Brom and Sunderland rather than how we played today.  But we missed chances to score and it cost us the game.

We started really well and had more chances than Chelsea.  Diaby‘s role seemed s bit scary at first, pressurising very high up the pitch, but it seemed to work.  Koscielny could have got a goal in the opening minutes but was caught flat-footed and got no height for his header two yards out.

The Drogba goal was well worked with Cole and Drogba just beating Sagna and Squillaci after a good pass from Ramires.  We should have had a freekick just before, but that’s football.  Ramires was determined in his tackle and then made a great pass to put Cole in behind Sagna.

Chelsea’s defending was awesome and we couldn’t find a way through.  Every Arsenal player worked today.  Some will blame Arshavin and some of his passes went astray as usual.  But I think they were all worth their place. Anyone who claims they would have left out our top scorer today is talking rubbish.  I think that Clichy had his best game of the season so far.

If only we’d had Fabregas or RVP today to unlock that defence.

Alex’s freekick was a stunner.  Fantastic pace and swerve.

All eyes were on Fabianski of course.  He had a good game.  No-one was stopping that freekick.  Apart from a single nervous half-punch at a ball earlier on he was strong and decisive.  I’m not saying Arsenal’s keeper problem is over, far from it, but Lukasz Fabianski was ok today and that’s worth saying at the moment when confidence is low.

We were beaten by a fantastic defensive display today.  We’re seven points behind because we were crap against West Brom and careless against Sunderland.

Vote for your Arsenal man of the match here.