So Arsenal end March with another good win, and another good performance. Elsewhere, Chelsea lost as well as Man Utd, so we have a much bigger chance at 3rd place, and Liverpool have a much bigger chance at the title. Basically, we are in for a very exciting final 2 months to the season! I think that our grip is almost completely secure on 4th spot, and now we can look on to maybe even getting into 3rd, anything above that it a bit 0ver-zealous, however, we can definitely win the FA Cup, and we should get to the semi-finals of the Champions League. So our season won’t be a failure after all, especially with all of our injured players coming back!
So anyways, today was a game o two halves, they dominated the first, and we dominated the second. We took our chances, they didn’t. It was 0-0 at half time, then a pinpoint freekick from Arshavin gave the lead from a sweet header. Minutes later, Diaby and van Persie combined beautifully, and Diaby bulldozered through and finished powerfully. To finish it off, more slick play from van Persie played in Nasri, who finished nicely on the half-volley.
Match Ratings:
- Almunia: Concede the penalty, but then saved it. Was a bit nervous off his line, but he did his job when called on. 6.5
- Clichy: MUCH BETTER GAEL! Looked like the Clichy of last season, made great runs, and had a few sweet passes and long balls. Could he finally have found his form of last season? 7
- Toure: A rock at the back again, a captains performance from King Kolo. 7
- Gallas: Got sillily booked, but same as Toure really, I feel really comfortable with those two at the back. 7
- Sagna: Much, much better crosses, and his normal all around performance. 7
- Nasri: His typical roaming self, he attacked with purpose, kept us ticking, and scored a nice goal. Well done Sammy. 7.5
- Diaby: Was a huge presence in the center of the park, won headers, and pushed us forward with good passes and runs. His long legs remind me of an octopus (PV4). 7.5
- Denilson: Quiet as usually, but completed most of his passes, and had a nice effort towards the end. 7
- Arshavin: Quieter than his first 4 performances, but he had an amazing attempt from 25 yards that hit the bar, and his creative passing was as good as it normally is. 7.5
- Bendtner: His physical presence is so important, and he finally got the goal that he needed today. I have always thought he is better than Adebayor, and today is more evidence that it is true. 7
- van Persie: Yes he got two assists, but he is still too selfish. He gets the ball more than anybody, and his decision making has to improve. Other than that he was normal Robin, brilliant! 7
- Song: Tidy and solid
- Eboue: N/A
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A good assessment. RVP was selfish and Bendtner improves from week to week.
‘I think that our grip is almost completely secure on 4th spot’ lol…urm its only been two weeks since we’ve been 4th…villa have tough games now..but our tough games come at the end..the likes of utd chelsea and stoke in the last three games (albeit stoke at home doesnt seem bad, but they are in a relegation battle, it wont be easy)
Arsenal takes some time to get into the match, and this trend must disappear quickly, so we could start on our old trend of finishing teams in the first 20 minutes, the team played well in the second half and deserved to win with some beautiful football that is a joy to watch.
On the other hand I feel Wenger’s biggest problem is to know who is his real first team players, the competition is nice and well, I’m not worried by the competition between Arshavine, Rosicky, Nasri and Walcot as our quality wont drop with any of them on the field, but I’m losing my mind from the surprises that our 3 young midfield players (Diaby-Denilson-Song), as sometimes they seems average and sometimes the play superbly like world class players.
People would have different opinions on who should partner Fabregas when he returns, I for one voted for Dibay, then turned for song, then for Diaby again, even Denilson has his moments and looks class.
In the end we seems to have a very talented group, that would go big in history if we win the League title, I know it is a very long shot but mathematically it could be done, who knows.
Sheers for the double.
Somewhat shocked on your comments about Diaby. He is definitely the weak link in midfield because he can’t pass and tries to dribble too much it the wrong situations. I lost count of the amount of times he lost the ball through trying to beat the same player five times and when he did pass, it was invariably off target. Arsenal are a team that gets everyone involved in a move. One player off his game and moves continually break down. I can’t wait for Fab to return and until then, I’d rather see Song in midfield, because at leat he passes the ball.
I also thought Gail had a gr8 game at last, and I feel you’ve marked him too low. Other than that, I agree with your assessment, especially on Bendtnar who continues to prove and does not hide. He’s a brave boy and I liked the way his name was chanted when he was subbed.
Shocked on your comments about Diaby.
Shocked on your comments about Diaby!!!!
Diaby is shittttttt!
Diaby does not deserved a 7.5 rating. Besides the goal, which, to his credit, was greatly executed and essentially the winning goal, he made a lot of mistakes during the match. His passing was wayward at times and his decision-making in the final third was pretty bad. I would give him a 6, at most.
Although Diaby was impressive, he still needs to work on his decision making. He dribbles to much which 1) slows down the attacking move and 2) puts himself at risk of losing the ball. Good win today though.
Up the Arsenal!
There is one line which Arsenal fans on these sites always use when analysing Song, Denilson, Eboue and Diaby:
I’ve lost count of the number of times that…
[Insert]
1. They lost the ball
2. Their passes were intercepted
3. They didn’t chase back
4. They lost out in a tackle
These are young and developing players (bar Eboue) who are still learning game and have had to hold up Arsenal’s midfield with little to no experience surrouding them. Admittedly Diaby hasnt improved as much as we would have hoped but he has got amazing talent, and it looks like Arsenal’s season could well be a very successful one.
Harsh re Diaby…at times he provides something very different to our other midfielders & gets beyond the forwards. He definitely has ability its just a question of getting the best out of him.
So Billy gets a yellow.
What exactly would a toon player have had to do to get one?
Apparently a deliberately aimed forearm to the face doesn’t warrant a yellow (never mind the red that it actually should have been).
Double rugby tackle on Gael?
Nope, not that either.
But Billy got one for a clumsy challenge.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
The ref is wanker and hates Arsenal just as much as those three muppets on MOTD, throw in the FA for it’s moronic pursuit of Cesc and you have a stacked deck.
Forearm smash to the face of Arshavin, double rugby tackle of Clichy, not a card from the ref, a word from the FA, not a mention on MOTD, you can see where i’m coming from.