[saildrive]

AFC - SS (1-0) is not a scoreline to write anything home.

After the kind of signings that we have had at deadline - we should have atleast score 3 goals.

Worst is did not get to see the game - lucky to see AA's goal; which was again a stoke of luck - unlucky Swansea.

CL awaits this week. BTW did anyone get to see what transpired between Arshavin & Frimpong; AA has even written about the advice he has given EF on his website. I am trying to get a link of this somewhere on the internet, was it on the feild or off it.

Its going to be a lot of hardwork to even make it to the top 4 this year around. Getting the trophies in the cabinet - will be another distant dream this season.

The only player who plays with confidence and steel is Schezney and when the little man comes back - Jack Wilshere. I personally think they are way way ahead of anyone in the team and stand apart from the rest.

They could well play in the best of the world teams....and no one would know the difference. Real Grit!

ManU and ManC are rock solid at this moment.

Really - Come on Gunners!

[joslicx]

By the way, Messi got a yellow card for diving!!! Trying to win a penalty when Barca were tied at 2-2 against Real Sociedad with seconds remaining on the clock!

So much for being the best player in the world!!! But then, he is playing with the likes of Sergio Busquets and Dani Alves so some good habits of theirs are sure to rub off him! Disgraceful cheaters.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by saildrive

AFC - SS (1-0) is not a scoreline to write anything home.

After the kind of signings that we have had at deadline - we should have atleast score 3 goals.

Just Google "One Nil to the Arsenal". You would know what I meant.

Agree, the team is still not good enough for the title. But a bunch of players were missing and some of them were on the pitch together for the first time in a competitive game. This is the start of a new begining for AFC and that scoreline was a blast from the past.

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by joslicx

But then, he is playing with the likes of Sergio Busquets and Dani Alves so some good habits of theirs are sure to rub off him! Disgraceful cheaters.

+1 to that!
You forgot pedro

Update on cleverly injury is that thankfully its not a broken bone, and he might be back in a month.
Disgraceful Kevin Davies

[BheemBoy]

All the major teams won in EPL except my team Liverpool.
We had ourselves to blame as we couldn't convert from so many chances.

Downing, Suarez and Enrique made some pleasant watching. Adam was not upto the mark against Stoke.

[naveenroy]

Wow, finally Arsenal controlled possession at the final stages of the first half. Good, calm piece of scoring by van Persie.

But all in all, Arsenal are surely very low in confidence. They are not confident in their defence and their possession of the ball.

Impressed with Gervinho, van Persie, Koscielny, Szeczny. Good they're keeping their heads. Unimpressed with Benayoun, Gibbs, and TW - though he fed van Persie for that goal.

Hoping for a more confident second half from Arsenal.

[figo_united]

Anybody playing the official Fantasy football (EPL and/or ECL)?
If so, we can create a league for T-BHP

[saildrive]

Wow, finally Arsenal controlled possession at the final stages of the first half. Good, calm piece of scoring by van Persie.

But all in all, Arsenal are surely very low in confidence. They are not confident in their defence and their possession of the ball.

Impressed with Gervinho, van Persie, Koscielny, Szeczny. Good they're keeping their heads. Unimpressed with Benayoun, Gibbs, and TW - though he fed van Persie for that goal.

Hoping for a more confident second half from Arsenal.

the only player that has stoood out is - Schezney; RVP & Walcott in glimpses.

gervinho - keeps running into players - a bit like walcott at times.

60 minutes gone - 30 to go.... none of the new players have impressed me so far; arteta, per and yossi are mediocre

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by saildrive

60 minutes gone - 30 to go.... none of the new players have impressed me so far; arteta, per and yossi are mediocre

Oh well finally ended in a draw. Hats off to Szezsny! But decent game by Arsenal!

[Saanil]

Champions League starts!! I have been waiting a long time for this match. In fact all Arsenal supporters were waiting to see their new team start off their quest for European glory with style. Dortmund Manager said the result did Justice to the match. In fact he is right. I still believe Dortmund were the better team last night. Though Arsenal got the early goal, throughout the match they were looking uncomfortable. It was good to see Arteta and Benayoun in the starting lineup. Let the analysis begin:

Defense: I think we did a decent job. I know conceding the goal was frustrating but such goals cannot be stopped. In order to stop them, the mid fielders/wingers have to do a lot of tracking back which did not happen on that occasion but I would not call it Arsenal’s fault. The star performer for me was – Koscielny. I am still not convinced of Mertasacker’s defensive abilities. People have always mentioned his positioning strengths but to me he looked a little lost yesterday. Koscielny covered for him at crucial points. I think Mertasacker still needs more games but he did not make any blunders which could have cost us the match. I was not happy with Gibbs yesterday. He has pace and great crossing ability but he is not getting enough support while coming forward which is weakening his contribution. Sagna was average and looked out of place sometimes but his save off the goal line was super. Long balls were dealt with satisfactorily.

Mid-field: Arteta and Benayoun have huge expectations on their shoulders. I know it is too early to expect them to start playing good football right away but Arsenal desperately needs it. Arteta was very slow yesterday. I think he is being too cautious and not taking risks. This can be due to the fact that he is playing in Champions league for the first time and was happy in doing just the basics right. But he was short of doing that too. We kept giving away possession to Dortmund players quite easily. Benayoun on the other hand gave away possession because he seemed to be too much in a hurry. He was full of energy but somehow he was misdirecting his passes. Every time both of them got the ball they would either pass the ball back to the defenders because of lack of support or they would lose possession because of Dortmund players attacking them. There were no through balls or defense splitting passes (expect for the goal) – a thing Arsenal was famous far. Song was exceptional – He did his job of tracking back very well. He kept losing his footing quite a number of times just like Gervinho (Something wrong with your boots guys?). I hate to say this but I think we should play with Rosciky and Diaby when they get fit because they have been playing for Arsenal for quite some time now. Absence of Wilshere and Ramsey was sorely missed.

Attack: The attack and midfield looked disconnected just like the Swansea match. There is no proper flow of ball from midfield to attack. I hope this is just temporary and will improve. Gervinho got into some good positions but just could not score a goal. I think he will be the crucial player in attack if Arshavin decides to play the way he has been playing for quite some time now. Walcott is still not making improvements – he is making the same mistakes again and again. I know he set up our goal but he needs to be consistently doing that. He can do wonders with his pace if only he can learn to dribble a bit rather than just bumping into the opposition.


Conclusion – I think Arsenal should be happy with the result. I expect them to qualify for the next round in Champions League but topping the group is not certain. In premier league even coming 4th is looking difficult now. Champions league qualification is absolutely essential if we are to attract some big names.

Point to ponder upon: While watching the game yesterday I was thinking about how to improve our defense in long term. I think Wenger should buy English defenders or those ones who have played in PL for at least 2-3 seasons. When we buy players from German/French leagues a good amount of time is spent in them adjusting to the pace of PL. Buying mid-fielders or strikers form other leagues is fine but defense should be purely from PL. I still think Cahill/Samba would have been a good buy. I do not think that Wenger will be doing anything in the January transfer market and we will have to do with what we have. Till things get better I think we should at least achieve 1-0 wins and draws against the tougher teams.

[pranxter]

Not Good times being a Gunners fan :( We are becoming kind of punching bags for the other teams revival! Hopefully things will change in the days to come.

[saildrive]

The Season is over for Arsenal.

Nothing for us this season.

Looking at Adebayor playing for Spurs, I think we should get him back.

Anyways if wishes were horses! AFC is done, really gutted.

[Saanil]

What a Sunday!! Liverpool losing and Torres missing! Spurs were simply too good today. Bale, Modric, Adebayor and Defoe were damn dangerous. Charlie Adams needs to do something about his anger.

I am still not convinced about the Manutd-Chelsea match - Somehow I feel the result does not do justice to the actual performance of both the teams. Result aside, the papers will be full of Torres or rather his failure. Nobody is going to point out that he was Chelsea's best player on field today but everyone will be pointing out his terrible miss! Chelsea had their chances but they missed them. The mid field and defence of Chelsea was really aweful in the first half. They seemed to sleeping most of the time. But they came back brilliantly in the 2nd half but this was just not their day.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by saildrive

The Season is over for Arsenal.

Nothing for us this season.

Looking at Adebayor playing for Spurs, I think we should get him back.

Anyways if wishes were horses! AFC is done, really gutted.

Faith my friend, faith!

[figo_united]

A- Arsenal B- Bolton C- Chelsea ----- All done....!!!
21 goals in 5 games, wow!
But injury concerns still continue to haunt us

Cole's tackle on hernandez was shocking! Phil dowd bottled it too, If he was booked for the tackle, why wasnt it a penalty then?
We had just 1 defender on the bench today! smalling also went out with a knock. Vidic, rio, rafael all out already. Cleaverly and welbeck out to!
get well soon guys!

Torres miss needs a mention too! ROFL!