A poor away trip to the North again (Sheff.U v Arsenal, lost 1-0)

Yet another horrible performance against a half strength Sheffield United team. It is definitely a recurring theme, we come close to scoring on several occasions early on and then the other team score and we get bullied for the remainder of the game. In truth we were lacklustre with no-one making anything more than an average performance and 2 or 3 players significantly under par.
Admittedly we were severely under-strength with Gallas, Henry, Diaby, Ljungberg, Eboue, Hleb and Adebayor injured but we made the situation even worse by leaving Cesc on the bench. Wenger has done this on 3 occasions this season and we have drawn twice and lost once, we cannot afford to leave out players of his calibre even if he has a cold. We started with Aliadiere up front and Baptista on the left which, with the benefit of hindsight, was a colossal mistake. Aliadiere is useless and Baptista, a much more proven goalscorer was put in a position where he regularly failed at Real Madrid last year. Please Arsene, give him a chance up front and I'm sure that he wont let you down. I would love to see us play Baptista and Henry up front with Van Persie just behind. Baptista's shooting and heading ability combined with Van Persie's vision and Thierry's overall unselfishness would be lethal. People will say that Baptista isn't good enough from yesterday's performance where his 1st touch was admittedly poor but here is a player who is recovering from injury and a season of few performances, playing on a boggy pitch, playing out of position. Give him a chance!
The complete joke of the evening was Jagielka, a midfielder, replacing Paddy Kenny in goal in the 63rd minute. You would think that we would shoot as much as possible for the following half an hour but it took until the 80th minute before we tested him with a shot from Van Persie where, in all honesty, Robin should have done better. I watch matches now with an extreme sense of pessimism. Whenever Chelsea play, I watch them concede a goal early on but know that they will end up winning the match, mainly due to their set piece ability. When we concede a goal, teams shut us down by pressing and using underhand tactics (e.g. Morgan's punch on Van Persie yesterday) but that is to be expected and we need to cope with this or just stop conceding the 1st goal. (The latter would be nice)
In other news, Anthony Stokes scored another hat trick for Falkirk yesterday and Arsene said that he wants him to stay on loan for another 6 months before he comes back to Arsenal which is fair enough what with competition being high with Adebayor, Henry, Walcott, Van Persie, Baptista and Aliadiere fighting for places. The signs are very good for the future though and I believe that Stokes and Walcott will, in time, be the future forward line.
Right I'm off to start New Years celebrations, have a good one all.

Apologies

I am really sorry for my absence for the past week. As explained I was in France. I feel that I have lost credibility as an arsenal supporter having had to find out about our amazing 6-2 performance through WAP on my phone. I will write a proper report tomorrow but in short, very good Xmas period so far, the future looks promising with Gallas and Henry soon to return and Lauren and Diaby to follow.

See you tomorrow all.

Updates

Hello people,

Im in France at the moment and having trouble with their stupid keyboards but thought that I would give a quick update,

Anthony Stokes; who should be returning from his very impressive loan spell at Falkirk on the 31st December has said that he wants to give Arsene a selection headache when he returns and I believe that he deserves a few cup appearances at the very least. We have allegedly rejected a £700,000 bid from Celtic and Sunderland are also said to be interested but I think that it is important that we keep this lethal striker in our ranks.

In squad news, we will be without full-back Emanuelle Eboue for Saturday's crunch clash against Blackburn due to an ankle injury but Lauren isn't quite match fit so Hoyte will get the call up. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because Hoyte knows what is involved in the defensive part of the field, an attribute that Eboue is still lacking. Rosicky will be back which is a big boost for us and Flamini is out which is, in true honesty, another boost. Wenger has stated that Diaby will be back in action in late January after his absence since May due to that **** Dan Smith's horror tackle that broke and dislocated his ankle. This will be important for us because from Diaby's performances last year, he showed himself to be a very strong presence and a potential replacement for Gilberto.

Paul Jewell, one of the few managers that I like in the premiership has said that he cant stand in the way of Leighton Baines moving to a top 4 team but that he will cost much more than 4 million which in my opinion is fair. He is a huge prospect and should be valued as such at about 7 million.

It seems that Theo is starting to win over Wenger with Arsene saying,

“I feel 2007 is a big year for Theo,” said Wenger. “He has made big steps forward already this season.
“What I like about him is, in every game, he is decisive and creates chances. He has played a few matches and done well, but, even more than that, in training he looks a different player to what he was six months ago.
“His power and personality in the game has improved so has his determination to pass people. Before it was only with pace, but now he forces the decision and shrugs people off.
“I must say he will be a candidate for England now. He is ready to handle that now. He has the personality and the intelligence. He will play more and more for us as well.”

I think that this shows the faith that Arsene has in Walcott and we are going to see Theo a lot more as the seasons progress.

I am not going to be able to write match reports while in France so I will give a quick preview of our upcoming matches. To cut it short, if we don't beat Blackburn and Watford, I will break down and cry.

1st Blackburn. Their top scorer McCarthy is out and they have lost 2 of their last 3 Premiership games. Even though they usually give us a tough game, I would like to think that this time we should beat them convincingly. They always look very frail when confronted with pace and Walcott, Hleb and Rosicky can cause them problems. I predict a thrilling (cough cough) 1-0 to the Arsenal.

2nd Watford. If we don't destroy this Championship side, we don't deserve to be considered as anything but a top 6 team for this season. They are having a shambles of a season and their defence is the worst in the premiership barring Charlton. It is vital that we win our next 4 matches against the teams from the foot of the table if we are to reclaim 3rd spot and put a very small bit of pressure on the top 2. Prediction 3-0.

I will be back on the 30th. Until then gooners.

Updates

The Liverpool match has been postponed until further notice. Wenger and the Spanish puffin wanted the match to go ahead but the match official said that he couldn't distinguish between the yellow and orange jerseys of the police from 50 yards away, thats not visibility hindrance, thats colour blindness. I feel sorry for the travelling supporters, they have to put up with a night in Liverpool and don't even get to see a match, what could be worse?? The match will probably go ahead on January 9th or 10th which makes for an even more congested holiday season.

In other news, Thierry has won the French footballer of the year for the 4th consecutive year, well done TiTi.

As Lehmann might be leaving in the Summer, we may be lining up a move for Igor Akinfeev, the highly rated CSKA goalie. He said, "I am delighted that a club of such calibre are interested in me," he revealed to Sport-Express."You can't have too many chances like that in your career.
Of course, if they make an offer, I'll take it seriously and will think about it." He's a good player and this sounds very promising.

Finally, we may be lining up a move for Leighton Baines to give competition to Gael Clichy. Wigan will do all they can to keep hold of him but this would be a huge signing for us and it would be a nice change to buy an English youngster who is almost certain to be a regular international as soon as Cashley Cole retires at age 28 when he's finally got enough money from the Bank of Russia.

Anyway, I've got to go, More news as it arrives.

Liverpool preview

UPDATE: MATCH HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO FOG!!!

Afternoon all. The expected team for tonight is as follows:-

Almunia

Hoyte , Toure , Senderos , Traore
Rosicky , Song(grrr), Denilson , Walcott
Baptista

Aliadiere

Not a terrible team but I think our midfield will struggle in the centre against the likes of Gerrard. I would imagine Baptista having to drop back to strengthen our core because Song is useless and Denilson has a smaller frame than most.

It will be good to see Denilson start a senior match as he has been very hyped up by those who have been at Arsenal training sessions. Baptista will get another chance and I sincerely hope that he impresses like he used to for Sevilla because I am starting to have my doubts about his commitment.

Good news is that Rosicky is back and that is a significant boost for this coming period where Henry, Lauren and Gallas should be making their welcome returns.

In other news, Wenger has said that he will only be offering Lehmann a 1 year contract. Better get your chequebook out then Arsene because Almunia is average and Poom isn't.

That Spanish puffin Benitez has criticized Wenger's youth policy saying that Wenger pays too much for youth and so Liverpool cant afford to buy players like Walcott. Well, if Benitez didnt pay millions for rubbish like Kuyt and Pennant then he would have the money.

Anyway I'm going to stick to my 1-0 prediction. Good Luck all.

Updates: Henry/Transfers/Injuries

Hello all. Nice gloomy day down south but we wake up to some comforting news.

Once again TiTi has reiterated his love for Arsenal by saying (with regard to the Barcelona situation), "Sincerely, it was difficult to say no," he told El Mundo Deportivo. "But my situation was influenced by my relationship with the supporters, the coach and my team-mates, and finished with my love for Arsenal."Because of these things I decided to continue with The Gunners. My decisions depend on my heart, although those things are always complicated." It's now about the 6th time Henry has divulged his reasons for rejecting Barca but it's always nice to hear again.

In other news, Cesc has gone even higher up in my estimations after slagging off Cashley Cole. He said, "For me, Ashley Cole is a closed subject. He is not a friend because after leaving Arsenal he said many unjust things about us, In the world of football, respect between companions is the key - and he broke this rule. This player is forgotten - and also the person. I do not want to speak to him again." Good on you Cesc. It's ashame that a 19 year old is the only player in our team with enough conviction to come out and criticise that money-grabbing, pathetic, whiney excuse for a footballer.

Wenger has yet again said that he won't be buying anyone in January which in my opinion is a complete mistake as our squad is looking very stretched at the moment. He said, "We will not strengthen in January, we will definitely not strengthen. We will maybe sell, but certainly not buy.” In a sentence of 19 words, he managed to say we won't be buying anyone in January 3 times, now that is stubbornness for you. We might be selling??????????? The only person we can afford to get rid of at the moment is Alexandre Song but who in their right mind would want that lummox in their team.

And finally injury news,

Thierry Henry is targeting the FA Cup Third Round tie at Liverpool for his comeback.

Freddie Ljungberg is also going to be absent for the holiday games after he was forced off early against Portsmouth on Saturday.
"He had a hamstring [injury],” said Arsène Wenger afterwards. “He will miss the Christmas period."

Lauren played 55 minutes of a reserve game and should be back in 2-3 weeks. Just in time because Eboue has been prone to mistakes of late and his confidence is diminishing.

Ok, that's about it. Liverpool tomorrow night in the Carling Cup, I'm sure we will put out a half-strength team but players like Baptista will get a chance and I think we will win.

Prediction 1-0 to the Arsenal.

Jekyll and Hyde at Emirates. (Arsenal v Portsmouth) Draw 2-2

Just a quick note to introduce myself. My name is James (alias gooner14) and I thought it was about time to vent my feelings about the greatest club in the world: The Arsenal. I will be providing a post after every match with a review of the events and any other news concerning anything goonerish. Enjoy.

Another stalemate at home against Portsmouth in what was the most dire 1st half I have seen since last season at Bolton. We were spineless, showing no conviction or determination. We started in a 4-4-2 in what was a welcome change from our useless 4-5-1 exploits. The only problem was that Wenger yet again decided to rest players and started with Aliadiere, a striker who hasn't played 1st team football at Arsenal since 2004. Now I understand resting players during the Xmas break but resting arguably our most effective player of the past few matches in Adebayor was a mistake. The game started with Freddie getting injured after only 6 minutes- He will be out for 3 weeks with a hamstring problem. Walcott replaced him and gave an efficient if slightly subdued performance. We came out firing and Van Persie should have scored a header early on. After the 1st 10 minutes we seemed to give up and every player in red was useless for the following 35 minutes. A late controversial free kick gave Portsmouth the lead in what was another sample of pathetic defending from a set piece. The free kick was a dangerous inswinger which missed everyone and hit the post rebounding straight into Pamarot's path for a free header. Our complete inability at defending corners and set-pieces is a real worry and we will not be title challengers until we have a player with Vidic or John Terry's aerial command in the box. The second half started with Portsmouth getting a second goal with a nicely placed volley from Matthew Taylor, once again this goal was due to defensive frailties and we were once again reminded how Eboue feels that defensive duties are optional. The 2nd goal seemed to wake the team up and Gilberto rallied the troops. Adebayor finally came on and changed the whole perspective of the game; he was enthusiastic and chased the ball down at all opportunities (which I wish some other players would do). He scored a well worked goal and then 2 minutes later Gilberto showed his true colours with a very well taken goal from a Walcott cross. We should have scored shortly afterwards with Van Persie fooling THE WIMP Sol Campbell but messing up the finish.

This match demonstrated our frailties in the 1st half and our potential in the second half and Wenger said after the game, "After we went two goals down we had to show we are a special team and show special character and determination. We did and I can't praise my players enough. "

I would have liked to see some criticism of our 1st half performance from "Le Boss" but we all know he is a manager who won't criticise his team.

We’re similar to Jekyll and Hyde these days. We can produce the most exemplary footballing performances known to the premiership but we are equally capable of producing absolute dross. This inconsistency will cost us dearly unless it is resolved. Please Arsene, we need to play 4-4-2 attacking winger football like the old days, teams know that we are a1 dimensional, through the centre team at the moment and that needs to change but credit to Portsmouth for their fine performance.

PLAYER RATINGS: Lehmann (7), Eboue (5) (Flamini 78) (6) , Toure (7), Djourou (7), Clichy (6), Ljungberg (Walcott 6) (6), Silva (8), Fabregas (7), Hleb (7), Aliadiere (6) (Adebayor 55) (8), Van Persie (6)

Goals: Adebayor 58, Silva 60.