The Man - Ade or Eddie?
February 4, 2008
For sure, Adebayor’s doing the business, and the mighty Arse would have seriously suffered in the past couple of months without him. Goals galore, he’s got a swagger about him that means we’re going to see plenty more. Long may ‘two a game’ continue.
But credit to Eduardo too. I think this guy is much more clever than people give him credit for. His movement is somehow different from other strikers, and he has a lazy, laid back style which makes you think that he’s somehow off the pace. But then he just pops up in all the right places, and I think he helps Ade in terms of positioning and space almost as much as Ade helps him. They could end up being very, very good together.
View from the Beach
January 29, 2008
Top tip for busy bloggers: Make sure that when you go on holiday and fancy doing some blogging, that the hotel has broadband. If it does, make sure ‘broadband’ doesn’t equate to the 2,400 baud supergeeks used to get from those modem things that actually hooked onto the phone handset. Otherwise you’ll end up like me in Thailand last week… Posh hotel, nice beach, no blogging.
Watched the Newcastle game in some seedy bar fending off various females (I think) who suddenly took an interest in the mighty Arsenal, which is nice. I thought we did pretty well, at least better than we got credit for in the press. Cesc is getting back into his stride and Eduardo could have had a couple, which bodes well. Even Senderos had a good game, which I guess makes two in a row.
But I guess the main event during the week was Spurs…
If Havant and Waterlooville had beaten Liverpool on Saturday they would have produced a commemorative mug and DVD to celebrate their giant killing act. It wouldn’t have made Havant the better team, but the lesser team would have had its day in the sun and the teams would then just go back to playing ‘proper’ football and worrying about the teams they should really be worrying about.
Well Spurs have produced the mug and the DVD, so let them enjoy their giant killing day in the sun, whilst we go off and worry about the Premier League title, the FA Cup and AC Milan. Spurs won’t being seeing any of that. Our team that played them can regret the loss, and then dream of getting into the Gunner’s first team one day.
Having said that, Adebayor and Nik Bendtner’s bust up was all a bit odd, and if Ade was really out of order I hope he was dealt with harshly. Despite becoming a very good player, we can’t have senior members of the squad goading and winding up junior prospects who may end up being just as good if not better in years to come. Let’s hope they really can put it behind them, although God knows how if they’re competing for a single slot in the starting eleven.
As an aside, this (via Arseblog ) is worth a read. All Gooners need to make sure we don’t lower ourselves to the horrendous levels of our friends from Shite Hart Lane when it comes to offensive chanting.
Newcastle again tonight, let’s see more of Eddie and Ade up front and get a strong team out to go back to the top. Who knows, Portsmouth might just do us a favour on Wednesday.
If We Can’t Beat Birmingham..
January 13, 2008
Well, wasn’t that a load of crap? Clearly what was a good strength team thought they’d just waltz past the Blues with little effort, which reminds me of so many games last season. Even when Birmingham scored just after the break, we should have easily been able to score again in the following 40 minutes, but until the last 10 there was just no sense of urgency… The goal would come so why worry? Dropping two points at home against a team that has been really struggling is poor, and once again we find ourselves knocked off top spot.
Despite the lack of urgency, we looked good in the first half and were totally in control. The pre-game worry, Senderos, had a couple of shaky moments but overall had a pretty good game, especially in the second half. Hopefully that will give him the confidence he needs to do well in Kolo’s absence. Fabregas lost the ball far to regularly and really needs to recapture his early season form. Hleb was excellent, Eduardo did OK and should have scored a couple, whilst Ade was pretty average. Clichy was superb, as usual, (thank the heavens that Cole left us) and Almunia did well in goal.
The one standout…? Theo Walcott, who was absolutely crap. I know he’s young, but we’ve seen younger players come in and do much better, and to be frank I’m starting to think he’s never going to make it at Arsenal’s level. He has pace, the occasional nice touch, but his passing was dire yesterday and his first touch often let him down too. No point having all that pace if you can’t give or receive the ball properly. He should be dropped until he can really deliver… He even had me wishing Eboue was back, which is really saying something.
As David Platt kept saying on the commentary I was receiving, we completely lacked width in the last 20 mins and where trying to break through the blue wall on the edge of their penalty area, which wasn’t going to happen. With Theo being so crap, I do hope we end up with a new wide player during January. Perhaps Dimitrov? Arsene is denying he’ll be bringing anyone in, but things can change fast.
Let’s hope Rosicky and RvP are back soon to add some more drive to the attack and that somehow Theo learns the skills he needs to even make the first team squad.
Nice Little Run Out
January 3, 2008
Well, that was a nice stroll for the lads, a comfortable training game feel and 2-0 win against a team, West Ham, who shouldn’t have been quite that easy. All bodes well. Sadly no individual I can really have a go at as everyone seemed to do well, even Eboue who I was watching like a hawk. Still some minor drama at times but overall he behaved himself and played well.
Eduardo is, me thinks, starting to come good, which might sound weird seeing as he’s scored three in the last couple of games. The noticable thing is that he’s making more of a contribution to the team, chasing back more, getting more involved. Still some way to go, but the signs are positive, and the finishing, of course, is world class. His goal involved fantastic technique, and while a number of reports have focussed on the amount of time that he was given in the box, I would tend to agree with Luka here who suggests that he just has the knack of finding the best position. Hopefully Arsene will continue with Eduardo partnering Adebayor in a 4-4-2, at least until Van Persie returns. Adebayor was also top class against the Hammers.
Well the next few league games should see us taking all the points, so lets see if Man U, who it seems have been a bit, how should I put this, shit in their last couple of games can stay the pace.
Well, well, well…
December 30, 2007
Well, well, well, well, well. Don’t get that every day of the week, do you? 4-1 away at one of the Premiership’s form teams, in a game that included quite possibly our worst 45 minutes of football this season. Well, well, well.
So Nicky Nick Bendtner got his start and to my obvious surprise played like a complete donkey. His only contributions of note were being away with the fairies on a first half corner, allowing Cahill (or Yakubu?) to sneak in and score, and a couple of awful tackles resulting in two yellow cards and a sending off he couldn’t really complain about. Luckily only one game out but it could be a while before he gets another start, as Adebayor soon showed him how it should be done once he came on. I still think Bendtner could be our long term big man up front, but I guess his age and more importantly naivety has shone through today.
Apart from that, the whole defence was bloody dreadful in the first half, and we’re still a long way from our best, which I guess we last saw in the first half at Villa. Let’s see if the return of RvP can bring back that spark.
