The return of the orange moustachioed villain to the Arsenal pantomime

It was with a sigh last night, that I remembered today's kick off is a late one. I hate late kick offs. Those extra two and a half hours are the generally the worst two and a half hours of my life. I'm not even sure why it's a 5.30 kick off today. The only other match in London today is all the way at Fulham, so it's not like it's been delayed to avoid having two busy events at the same part of town. Perhaps, after all Wenger's complaining about fixture congestion, the FA took pity on him, and moved the match back two and a half hours to give Arsenal some vital power nap time.
The two and a half hour tedium is intensified today due to it being against the lying moustachioed (although he's not anymore, but looks like he still should be) perma-tanned tw*t and his bunch of little Tigers. You remember the lying moustachioed (although he's not anymore, but looks like he still should be) perma-tanned tw*t? The one who's story had more holes in it than a block of swiss cheese. And I don't mean those swiss cheeses which are mainly cheese, with only a few holes, I mean those swiss cheeses where it is mainly air with only a bit of cheese. One of those cheeses you could inflate with a bicycle pump. In my eyes, after his, and his assistant's, ridiculous antics, Hull were turned from a plucky newly promoted side punching above their weight (the way I feel about Burnley now) to a bunch of dicks who I wanted to get relegated and die.

So it truly is a shame that Cesc can't play today and run the game. But look on the bright side, if we do win, Cesc has the opportunity to come on the pitch afterwards to celebrate again, and that would really piss Brown off. Also, I want to keep a close eye on Brown. I want to see if he trots away down the tunnel, immediately after the final whistle, waving his hands in the air shouting "Even if I run away, it still counts as Wenger not shaking hands with me!" Just so this time, if he does say Wenger didn't shake his hand, he technically won't be lying.

On to the team news, and as mentioned above, Cesc is unavailable. Don't worry though, Denilson is back, and that could mean us fielding the midfield three of Denilson, Diaby and Song. Otherwise known as the most boring midfield three of all time, ever. Now don't get me wrong, I am a massive fan of Song, and I appreciate Denilson, but when you see those three names together on the team sheet it doesn't exactly invite you to think "wow......creative!". Hopefully Wenger will address this by playing Ramsey or Nasri in the middle. However, the prospect of playing his two love childs with Song in the middle may be overpowering, and for good measure he'll probably chuck Eboue into the midfield somewhere. Having said that, I wouldn't be upset at all if Eboue stood in at right back today instead of Sagna.

Tonight it may not be a bad idea if Wenger rotated slightly, although not completely. Giving Fabianski a chance over the rapidly deteriorating Spaniard would be nice and not entirely undeserved. Allowing Ramsey to play in the middle (perhaps even alongside Nasri, as this is a home game) would be nice, and maybe Vela and Eduardo together up front. Last time those two played together up front was against Burnley in the FA cup, and they ran wild. Merida must be cursing Fabian Delph that he is suspended, for this may have been a match where he featured briefly, what with all the injuries to the first team. For those of you who don't know what happened with Fabian Delph, allow me to explain. In a recent reserve match against Aston Villa, in an off-the-ball incident, cameras clearly showed Fabian Delph grabbing Merida round the face and taking a swing at him. Eventually after a five minute discussion with the nearest linesman, the referee proceeded to ludicrously send the young Spaniard off whilst only booking the angry little Villa midfielder. Anyway I digress, this is 3rd of Merida's three match suspension, so he won't be on the bench, chances are however that Wilshere will.

So this is the team that I want to play today:

Fabianski

Eboue Gallas Vermaelen Silvestre(only due to no other options)

Song

Ramsey Nasri

Arshavin Eduardo Vela

However, I am fully aware that this is not the team that will play. I am merely indulging in fantasies. Regarding a score prediction....God knows. Who knows what Arsenal team will turn up? If Brown continues his recent trend of having Geovanni on the bench in away matches, it should be immeasurably easier. If not, we should still win, although I can see our defence leaking a goal. I'll get behind the Arse and say a 3-0 victory today.

Right, I think that'll be all for today.
See you after the match Gooners.

Burnley's defending from the front frightened Arsenal into general dreadfulness.

A quite embarrassing performance tonight saw Arsenal draw 1-1 with Burnley. As stated in the match preview, Turfmoor is a difficult place to come, so the result in itself wasn't embarrassing. It was the manner in which we played. Apart from a period between the 5th minute and the 20th, we could not keep possession at all. Part of that would be down to Burnley's excellent defensive play all over the pitch, but part is also down to Arsenal's dreadfulness on the few occassions we did have time on the ball. There was no penetration or composure, and the defending was quite frankly schoolboy. And that's being kind. Cesc took his goal very well, and perhaps should have had another (or at least got it on target). Having him come off just before half time was a massive blow, as he was our only player who showed class, composure and intelligence. We also madly missed Robin van Persie. As well as envious intelligence and goal scoring ability, van Persie is also a physical presence, and Arshavin (and Eduardo when we came on) could not compete with Burnley's centre backs.

On to the player ratings:
Almunia - 4. Unbelievably dreadful. His insane positioning almost led to a Vermaelen own goal in the opening stages before an admittedly good recovery by the Spaniard stopped this. The disallowed Burnley goal (which was a very iffy decision) should never have been allowed to present itself in the first place as Almunia inexplicably let the ball dribble through his fingers. His kicking was also way off tonight, slicing every ball he could into touch about 20 yards outside his goal area.
Sagna - 5. Rubbish. Found it difficult to go forward and was troubled all night by Chris Eagles (really Sagna?!). On this evidence Tyrone Mears is a better right back than he is.
Vermaelen - 5. Awful start, almost scoring an own goal. He later gave away a penalty with a dreadful challenge. He grew into the game as it went on, and this stopped him getting a lower rating.
Gallas - 5.5. Played slightly better than his centre back partner, but still looked panicked and liable to mistakes.
Silvestre - 5.5. Thankfully for us, not as much went down Burnley's right as it did their left. So Silvestre didn't have the chance to cost us the game. Still managed to be a liability, and showed he has the pace of a Slug being held down by heavy shopping.
Song - 7. Had the most difficult job of the team tonight, trying to compete with Burnley's physical midfield, and he did a goodish job. Him and Bikey were at it all night, eventually coming out about equal. In the second half Song took it upon himself to become the playmaker, as Cesc's absence was becoming increasingly notable, which he did fairly well.
Diaby - 5. Perhaps our worst player in the first half. Responsible for 80% of the times that we couldn't keep possession. As the game went on he became slightly better, and showed he has a physical side as long as he is in possession of the ball.
Fabregas - 7.5. Our best player when he was on. Took his goal very well. Almost managed to manifacture a second with a delightful piece of skill, and looked dangerous when probing forward. Showed some fantastic pieces of skill. Fingers crossed his injury isn't too bad.
Nasri - 6. Found it very hard to compete with the physical nature of Burnley. He showed some very nice touches and glimpses of vision though.
Walcott - 4. Absolutely disastrous. He is obviously still not quite up to pace with the game, but even so, he should have been so much better than he was. In the first half he was isolated on the right, and did nothing with the ball on the few occassions it did come to him. In the second half, he saw a lot of the more coming towards him, and then past him as it (almost with fail) bounced away from him following an abysmal touch. When he did eventually find himself in a dangerous position, he proceeded to blast the ball both high and wide, when a low cross, shot or pass would have been easier.
Arshavin - 6. He was ok. After Cesc, he was our most dangerous player. Again he made good runs, but too often his touch would let him down. Also found it difficult against Burnley's physical centre backs.
Subs:
Ramsey - 6. Came on to be the natural replacement for Cesc, but showed he still has a tiny bit more to learn and develop. Couldn't influence the game nearly as well as the captain. He battled very well though, and showed an excellent physical determination.
Eduardo - 5.5. Eddie came on for Theo and really didn't have much to do. Was put through on a couple of occassions by Song but didn't look sharp enough. His confidence really has taken a knock this season.

Well there we have it. We knew this would be a difficult game, but still it should be one of those that we win. We're going to have to play so much better against Aston Villa on the 27th. Credit must go to Burnley though for their indefatigable defending all over the pitch. However next time, when we're not being closed down, we have to use the ball better.

'Til next time Gooners.

Who knew that the media jumps on bandwagons? The arrival of the Arse at Turfmoor.

By now I am well aware that those of you who have stumbled across this blog in the past have now given up on it, but Play the Gooner Way is back after a lengthy absence. Allow me to explain the circumstances. I was very busy. I realise that is a poor excuse, so I apologise.

Recently there have been numerous instances of the press finding a particular scenario and then bumping it up to garner higher viewings, readings, comments etc. This form of lowest common denominator publishings has seen intense hyperbole of: the Eduardo 'dive', the Henry handball, for some reason the Wenger rant at half time at Anfield, and many more. Today, the media are taking a swipe at poor old Mick McCarthy. It is well known by now that McCarthy made 10 changes to his side that went to Old Trafford last night. On Sunday, it will be the third time in 8 days that Wolves will play a match. McCarthy obviously knew his best team didn't have a cat's chance in hell of winning at Old Trafford, and it was best to save his team for Sunday when they play host to Burnley. A match where they are far more likely to get a result. As it was, the second choice Wolves team only lost 3-0 against the Mancs, which ain't half bad.

Now, I can fully understand the travelling supporters being thoroughly pissed off by splashing out on a trip to Manchester, travelling there, and then not seeing the first team. But to 'brand' (along with other painful mental images such as 'label') McCarthy disrepectful is shortsighted in the extreme. To make matters worse for the Wolves boss, the media have built it up so much that now the Premier League has formally written (oooh I bet McCarthy's scared) to Wolves to ask them to explain their team selection against Old Trafford. Presumably, McCarthy will explain what is written above, the Premier League fat cats will realise they are stupid and the whole thing will blow over. I don't know why there is all this speculation anyway. Ferguson was happy with the team Wolves put out yesterday, and what he says goes.

Yes I realise this is an Arsenal blog.

Arsenal travel to Turfmoor tonight, the home of Burnley. For those of you who think it will be a walkover, think again. For those who think 'well we won at Anfield, we will trounce Burnley', you lot can also think again. Make no mistake, at the moment Turfmoor is a more difficult place to win than Anfield. Burnley have only lost once at home, and have beaten ManUre there. Even so, it must not be forgotten that we are Arsenal, and these are the kind of games that we should be winning. In injury knews, Denilson and Traore are out. Eboue is back. Thus my predited line up is:

Almunia

Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Silvestre

Song

Diaby Fabregas(c)

Nasri Arshavin Eduardo

I reckon Wenger will decide on Arshavin in the middle of the front three because of all the talk about how good he was against Stoke and Liverpool there. Am I the only one who wasn't particularly impressed by him? Yes he makes good runs, yes he took his goals well against Stoke and Liverpool, and for his size he competes fairly well physically. But against Stoke, his touch was absolutely dreadful. The worst on the park. It let him down on every instance except his goal. Liverpool wasn't much different, although his increased work rate in the second half was commendable.
I would much prefer for Eduardo to play in the middle of the front three, and Arshavin to play alongside him where he seems to have better control but, as I said, I have a feeling this isn't going to happen. Speaking of preferences, I would infact prefer to see Nasri play alongside Cesc as he did against Stoke where he was magnificent (and in my opinion the best player on the pitch) with Walcott, Vela or even little Jack being the final player of the triumverate upfront. Failing that, Ramsey in midfield, with Nasri part of the front three. Whatever means Diaby doesn't start. Anyway, I will say it will be an Arsenal victory...3-1.

Finally, Wenger has said he will 'sort out Silvestre's contact', as it expires at the end of the season. The dot com say it in such a way as to suggest le Boss was just playing with us all along when he didn't think about renewing Silvestre's contract till now. In a kind of 'Ahh got you there guys. It's ok don't worry guys, it's ok, I'll sort his contract out. I had you worried there though didn't I? You thought I was just gonna let him go at the end of the season. Haha good times.' God I want Silvestre to go at the end of the season.

'Til tomorrow Gooners.

Arsenal 6 - 2 Blackburn Rovers

I have long since resigned myself that this is going to be a rather futile post simply because I have run out of superlatives. Nevertheless I'll have a go.

I don't think I have ever seen a team attack so well. I don't think I've ever seen a keeper have such a good game yet still concede six. I'm not entirely sure I've ever seen Fabregas play so well. And I've never seen a team win six nil where each goal would be a serious candidate for Match of the Day's goal of the month. All of this in front of Thierry Henry who must be fairly upset that he now plays for a team who's football, quite frankly, pales in comparison.

Through all of the genial attacking play though, we must not forget the defensive side of the game. Although individually each of the back four had a good game, together they weren't so reassuring. The understanding establised between Vermaelen and Gallas seemed to have diminished ever so slightly, hopefully not permanently. One underlying moment was just after David Dunn had been felled in the box (I still say no penalty, but I would) the ball was sitting in between Vermaelen, Gallas and two other Arsenal players none of whom could decide who to take the ball. Eventually Dunn almost had time to get up and retake possession of the ball before Diaby managed to bundle clear with it. Worrying moments indeed, however this kind of school boy defending happened only once. Nevertheless, Blackburn's first scrappy goal should have been dealt with, if not by a defence that was not struggling and back pedalling, at least by a non-stranded Vito Mannone. As it was the Arsenal line were struggling and back pedalling, and Mannone was stranded. It was almost as if the back line had underestimated how far Robinson could kick it, and Mannone had overestimated.

Enough of that, it's almost taking away the glory of a sensational pure footballing victory. Something which Sam Allardyce seems intent on doing. It was hardly a turning point you fat toad. The way which Arsenal came back from the first two goals, would have happened again should Blackburn have got a penalty, and scored from it.

Each goal was sensational. Whether it was an individual effort from Vermaelen, Fabregas or Bendtner or the goals occuring from sumptuous approach play a la van Persie, Arshavin or Walcott, each goal was from out the very top drawer. And each goal deserved to be watched again and again today by myself. Which they will.

Onto the player ratings.
Mannone - 6.5. For the first goal I think he either should have come for the ball or stayed on his line. In the end, he did neither, and was stranded. Something I remember happening to him against Stoke reserves last year. However he made up for it somewhat with good stops from Olsson and Dunn.
Sagna - 6.5. I've said before that at home against easy opposition (yes Allardyce your team are shit), Eboue should start instead of Sagna at right back. And I maintain that. Although Sagna didn't really do anything wrong, Eboue would have offered a lot more in this match. Also, I've noticed Sagna side-foots a lot of crosses instead of whipping them in. Something for the training ground Arsene? Please?
Clichy - 7. Clichy is excellent at closing down high up the field, but recently has been known to allow a lot of space in behind him. He had a fairly good game today and joined in with the attacking more than the other wing back, but I think it's time Gibbs was given a chance, especially at home against a rubbish team. At the moment, he's just sitting on the bench, neither playing for the firsts not the reserves.
Gallas - 7. Gallas was ok. Can't really think of much else.
Vermaelen - 8. Well, as an allround football player, I honestly think Vermaelen is the best defender in the league. He may not be the best defensively (although he's close) but as a complete football player he's incredible. His goal was stunning, although at the back he was slightly more patchy than we're used to seeing from our consistent Belgian. That's right, I've labelled him consistent already.
Song - 8. He had a tough job, which must have required a lot of will power. Whilst everyone else was attacking (even the players who seemingly play behind him) he had to stay in the defensive midfield position all day. Which he did.
Diaby - 6.5. He didn't do anything wrong. Ramsey would have offered more in this match though. Still, he didn't do anything wrong.
Fabregas - 10. Man of the match. 4 assists, one goal. Forced three good saves from Robinson, and should have had a couple more assists, if only for better finishing (that's right, 6 is not good enough!). An absolutely mind-boggling performance.
Rosicky - 8.5. We've missed him. More importantly, Fabregas has missed him. They both play so well together. It was also evident that Rosicky is getting more and more up to speed with the game with every match. Offered a simply stunning cross with the outside of the boot for Fabregas.
Arshavin - 8.5. He really has now fused with all the other Arsenal players. Offers a different type of creativity than Fabregas, and with those different types, any defence in the world will struggle to cope. Didn't track back as much as he did against Olympiakos however, which was a shame.
van Persie - 9. A very underrated and subtle performance from boy wonder. He led the line exceptionally well, especially considering the physical and illegal play of the Blackburn defence. His goal was excellent, and his first touch and vision throughout the match were also exquisite.
Subs:
Walcott. He immediately added yet another dimension to Arsenal's attacking play, which Blackburn already couldn't cope with. His goal was born out of a masterful team effort.
Bendtner. Nik B came on and looked hungry for a goal straight away. He played somewhere in the front 3, although he was drifting to very good effect. His goal was an absolutely incredible strike, reminiscent of Pires against Liverpool all those years ago.
Ramsey. Looked very neat and tidy when he came on, and sent a few balls over the top that worried the Blackburn back line. Also managed to pick up the assist for Bendtner's goal.

So all in all, a splendid game. The best game I've seen in a very long time. Some praise must go to Blackburn for getting Arsenal going, although not much. Against a better team, Arsenal may not be able to score six (don't tell Everton that though), so we must work on the defending.

Next game isn't until the 17th. Yes that's right, we have to grin and bear another England match. Oh well, we have a win against Birmingham at the Grove to look forward to.
'Til next time Gooners.

Wow

Well that was the best attacking display I think I've ever seen from team in any football match ever. Scored 6, if wasn't for an impressive Robinson, it could easily have been 12. I need to compose myself somewhat, before writing a match report later.
'Til then Gooners.

Arsenal 2 - 0 West Brom

A really spirited performance by the kids saw them deservedly triumph against West Brom last night. The game may not have had the same air of quality about it that a first team match does, but they showed grit and determination to overcome a physical West Brom, who more often than not had 10 men behind the ball at all times.

The starting line up was:

Szczesny

Gilbert Senderos Silvestre(c) Gibbs

Coquelin

Ramsey

Wilshere

Sunu Watt Traore

The referee (Lee Mason) tried his very best to ruin a good game of football, but in the end just embarrassed himself. Apart from the sending off of Jerome Thomas, there was nothing else he managed to get right. On several occasions, blatant fouls by West Brom players would end up as a free kick to the away side, and the he also managed not to give Arsenal a stone wall penalty.

No matter, in the end the Ref was nothing more than an annoying little mosquito on a beautiful summer's day. The kids went about their job patiently without trying to force an opening. This took slightly longer than usual, due to not having the same quality of movement as the firsts, but the introduction of Carlos Vela soon changed that. His introduction meant a game that was in danger of going slightly stale was freshened up. His movement and acceleration was too much for a tiring West Brom defence and, in the end, he became the difference.

So on to the player ratings:
Szczesny - 6. Showed signs of being a top shot stopper, however came flapping for corners and without fail missed the ball everytime.
Gilbert - 7. Fairly impressive by the now 22 year old. He tentatively probed forwards, without fully committing himself to attacks, but did very well defensively.
Gibbs - 7. See report for Gilbert.
Senderos - 8. Brilliant performance by Big Phil. I would still be slightly wary against better class opposition because, on the turn, he is still very slow. But his positioning was excellent, good composure on the ball, and good distribution as well.
Silvestre - 7.5. Similar to Big Phil, I would be wary about Silvestre in matches against better teams. However Silvestre had a very good performance today. One slide interception to prevent a through ball to Luke Moore comes straight to mind.
Coquelin - 7.5. The young defensive midfielder showed positioning whch belied his tender age. His passing would occasionally, and only very occasionally be sloppy, but I'm knit-picking there. Deservedly received a massive standing ovation for an impressive first start for the club.
Ramsey - 8.5 My man of the match. It was very difficult to slice open to the West Brom defence, but out of anyone Ramsey looked like the one to do it. But more than that, it was a composed game which saw Ramsey a quite obvious step above the rest in terms of quality. His work rate was also excellent, especially whilst defending, he never panicked, and always seemed to play the right ball.
Wilshere - 7. Ok, but not great by little Jack. He played most of the match in the centre, where he found it very difficult to compete. He underhit a fair few passes, but the team did look like it had more energy whenever he was on the ball.
Sunu - 7. He looked like he easily had the measure of the West Brom left back, but unfortunately had a quiet evening, which meant we never saw that happen. Gilles is by a trade a more out an out striker than wide man, so he wasn't playing in his best position.
Traore - 7.5. A lot more seemed to come down the left than the right. Traore looked dangerous with his pace and experience against this calibre os opposition, however disappointingly never really managed to get a cross in.
Watt - 7.5. Sanchez Watt had a difficult game today. He was in the centre of the front three which meant balls were often played to his feet, and he would have to compete physically with Jonas Olsson. However he kept trying, and kept working hard, and eventually his goal came. In that respect, a good attitude for a striker to have.
Subs:
Vela - 8. Was the difference. After he came on the team had more of a spring in their step. Took his goal well, he was obivously under huge amounts of pressure as he dawdled on the goal line in front of a completely open goal, stopping for a few seconds, and then lofting the ball into the roof of the net.
Randall - 7.5. Surprised me with a composed and skilfull game when he came on. West Brom were in fairness struggling at that time because of being down to 10 men for so long, so there were big gaps appearing. Nevertheless, Randall looked like the Randall with confidence that we saw a few years ago. A stunning chip against the cross bar from 25 odd yards out, which had it have been Rooney would have had commentators and sports journalists all over England purring and running to their typewriters to write a piece on the art of a Rooney chip, led to Vela's goal.
Barazite. It was nice to see Nacer play. He wasn't on long enough for me to give him a rating. But he looked intelligent on the ball, and often would come in field to help dictate play. In that respect, coupled with his hair, he is very reminiscent of Bobby Pires.

So there we are. West Brom tried to intimidate the kids by leaving trailing legs everywhere, but it didn't work. The kids showed the kind of grit the first team could do with from time to time. There's some rubbish this morning about Di Matteo blaming Wilshere for Thomas being sent off. Di Matteo admits Thomas came clattering into Wilshere late (also with a high and vicious looking elbow), but then is surprised that Wilshere didn't accept Thomas' hand. Aparrently, this is what Thomas reacted to (if it was only this that caused a slap, I don't think I would want to hang around with Jerome Thomas). Whatever the case, it was a blatant red card, and it's not exactly like Wilshere asked Thomas to slap him, so I really can't see how Wilshere was responsible. By not reacting to being fouled, he's to blame for getting the person who fouled him in the first place to get sent off for reacting to him. Work that one out. It is probably more likely little Jack said a few words of disgruntlement that most players say when they've just been fouled, and for some reason Thomas overreacted to that.

Anyway, a great performance by the kids. As of today, I shall be away again, so there will be no articles for the next week and a bit.
'Til later Gooners.

Arsenal - West Bromwich Albion, Carling Cup Preview

Ok so tomorrow is our first, and hopefully not last, chance to see the kids take the carling cup by storm. West Brom are perhaps slightly better opposition than Sheffield Utd were at this stage last season, but not nearly as good as Wigan, who we easily defeated 3-0 in the next round.

Of course, Wenger has started a tradition that a few managers have followed, in playing a mixture between firsts, reserves, and youth players in the carling cup. Regardless of the fact that no established first teamers will be playing, or even in the squad, we will still be a bit weaker than we wanted to be. Fran Merida and Gavin Hoyte have been called up to the infinitely pointless Euro U20s tournament. Henri Lansbury is on loan at Watford, Jay Emmanuel Thomas at Blackpool and Jay Simpson at QPR.

My predicted starting XI therefore is as follows:

Szczesny

Gilbert Senderos Silvestre Gibbs

Coquelin

Randall Ramsey

Wilshere Watt Barazite

or if it's 4-4-2:

Szczesny

Gilbert Senderos Silvestre Gibbs

Wilshere Randall Ramsey Traore

Watt Barazite

It is difficult to see where Traore will fit in if Wenger will play the talented duo of Wilshere and Barazite as well as one of his new favourites Sanchez Watt. On the bench there will be a few of Kyle Bartley, Francis Coquelin/Armand Traore, Oguzhan Ozyakup, Luke Freeman, Ignasi Miquel, Emmanuel Frimpong, Rhys Murphy, Connor Henderson, perhaps even extreme youngsters Benik Afobe and Chuks Aneke...who knows.

Whatever the teams, it'll be an interesting watch, apart from whenever the ball goes near the left side of the central defence, or to Randall. I hope Silvestre and Randall both play well of course, but past performances indicate they probably won't.

Right that's all for now. I'll be back on Wednesday me thinks.
'Til then Gooners.