Wenger's pre match conference and Arsenal Q&A Videos

       The Birmingham Pre-Match conference

                                          

Q&A

Part 1

Part 2

                                                                          Part 3

©goonerburgh

End of the DROUGHT?? The Carling Cup preview

Is it finally happening?! Is the 'Trophy Drought' finally ending?! I seriously hope so. I know none of us like to be reminded, but Arsenal haven't won a single, major trophy since the FA cup victory of 2005. Six years... it's been six years since the team won a cup. It's not like we've been playing badly in this period: we've consistently placed in the top four, and challenged pretty well in other competitions... but we still lacked a trophy for all the efforts.

                                               Arsenal vs Birmingham, 27/2/2011
                                                    

Unlike the FA cup, the League Cup (or the Carling Cup) is only open to teams from the top four English football divisions. The competition started in the 1960-61 season and in its early period, entry wasn't compulsory. Interest in the cup grew when the prizes started including a place in the UEFA cup for the following season. Nevertheless, even today, it's still not given as much importance by the big teams.

However, a win in this competition will keep off the critics who've been hammering on about the lack of trophies, and can act as inspiration for greater performances during the rest of the season. Arsenal have a chance for a unique achievement this season: the Quadruple. I know it's a loooooooong shot, but we're the only team left competing in all four fronts now. We're second in the league with comparatively easy fixtures, still in the FA cup, and after an amazing comeback win against Barcelona it's all left to fight for in the Champions League. This win could prove to be a catalyst for a very special achievement.

The road to this cup final has been surprisingly comfortable for Arsenal- and this comfort was not because the opposition were pushovers, but because of the way the boss selected his teams. I mean, you would hardly call Tottenham or Newcastle (to name a few), pushovers. The opening match of the cup was a North London derby in which we were all over the opposition and came out 4-1 winners. Another romp came next with a 4-0 win away at Newcastle. This set up a home tie with Wigan, and another clean sheet with a 2-0 win. The two legged semi-final against Ipswich was a more tense affair with a 1-0 away loss before hitting back 3-0 at the Emirates.

Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott are out of this fixture. It's a pity about Fabregas. All of us know that he wanted this a lot, to captain his side to a cup win, but let's hope he gets another chance this season itself. The prospect of playing without these two players will be tough on the fans, but the performances of some other players are reason to believe that the drought could very well end this Sunday.

WOJCIECH SZCZESNY has been a big stress relief for Arsenal this season. For a long time the boss had a problem at the post, but all those worries are now a thing of the past. Szczesny has been a tall figure between the sticks and has proven to be a great performer under pressure.The Peter Schmiechel fan says that he is prepared to do whatever necessary to be no.1 at Arsenal for the next decade, and a performance at Wembley would make his place in the team permanent.

JOHAN DJOUROU has slowly emerged to become a steady influence in the back four and has marshalled the defense superbly this season. After coming back from am injury, the Swiss international has been a prominent figure in the squad and his partnership with Koscielny in the Arsenal defense has conceded the least number of goals. On Sunday, the 24 year old will make his fifth league cup appearance this season, and in those games the team has conceded only 2 goals.The centre-back will play a crucial role in Arsene Wenger's team this Sunday.

                                                                                                                                      
    

JACK WILSHIRE has been a revelation this season. He's been on a high since his England debut: last week he took Xavi and Iniesta on in their own game, and this week he stood up strong and tall against Stoke.His all-round game has been brilliant and his passing, precise. He can attack, defend, pass and tackle, but the fans love him like they do for his commitment to the club and its cause. He grew up with Arsenal and the fans will be applauding for him come Sunday.

ROBIN VAN PERSIE has been in great form of late and will be captaining the side this Sunday. With 13 goals in 11 games since the turn of the year he oozes  the kind of confidence that will urge him to try for a goal from any odd angle (see Barcelona match for proof). He's also a player who will backtrack and help out in the midfield when needed. He could trouble the defense with jinking runs and great positioning.We can all expect a goal or two from the Dutchman on his day.

Everyone else play vital roles as well. In fact the whole team will have to show up if they're to win this game. Song will have to be more cautious and less enthusiastic about going forward- my advice would be to stick to being a cover for the back four- and we can expect Sagna and Clichy to make marauding runs forward in support, so Song should be on the watch and remain behind from time to time.

 Possible starting line up:
                                                                                    Szczesny
                                                               Sagna  Koscielny  Djourou  Clichy
                                                                                Song    Wilshire
                                                                    Bendtner   Nasri   Arshavin
                                                                                  Van Persie

Arsenal are the favourites heading into this game, but all that is shed once we enter the field. All we can do is hope for a great performance, and with a bit of luck, finally the DROUGHT WILL BE OVER!!!!!!

©goonerburgh

Stoke beaten...but at what price??

Arsenal moved within 1 point at the top with a win over Stoke: a much needed win, but at what cost? If you asked Arsene Wenger after this game if he would take a fit Walcott and Fabregas with a point in exchange for the win, I reckon he would say yes.                

            

The build-up to this game has not been very pretty.There had been a few exchanges between the managers from both the clubs and it was expected to be a rough game... and that was exactly what it turned out to be.

          

The first half was, well, pretty straight-forward.We dominated play in the opening minutes of the game.We kept the ball and Walcott almost scored in the 2nd minute when Fabregas picked him out, but his shot hit the left post and came back into the grateful hands of Begovic. The goal came in the 8th minute from a corner; Wilshire's ball came into the box, bounced off a Stoke head and landed for Bendtner in the left side of the box who, showing good composure, lofted the ball back near the face of the goal for Squillaci who headed it with some power. At that distance, Begovic stood no chance. Great start by the home team.

Unfortunately, that momentum didn't last very long as Fabregas started looking uncomfortable walking and before long he signalled for a substitution. Arshavin came on for him and he got a chance, and another one after that.He missed them both, but showed some hunger- something he seemingly lacked in previous weeks.The only clear cut chance Stoke had was from John Carew whose powerful half volley forced a really good save from Wojciech. For the rest of the half we kept possession, but struggled to cope with them physically.

                                                                     He knows...

                 Stoke emerged the stronger team in the 2nd half, playing a lot more physically and creating some pretty good chances. The team took their time but started to find their pace and rhythm again, but before long, another setback.Walcott went down awkwardly under a mis-timed tackle from Whitehead and had to be stretcher-ed off; Denilson came on as his replacement.The game didn't have much in it from then on except for a little excitement in the last 5 minutes, but we still kept our cool to see it through.

Among the players, Djourou stood out with another dominant display. He stood up to the physicality of the Stoke front-line and along with Squillaci (who also had a good game), made sure that a clean sheet was maintained going into the League Cup final in Wembley.Wilshire was impressive as well, deputizing in Fabregas's position when Nasri moved to cover Walcott. Another player who had a good game was Szczesny. It was yet another strong performance from the young Polish keeper, in place of Almunia at the bench, and he showed maturity beyond his years, coming up with the goods when it was needed and also keeping his cool towards the end of the match, holding on to those loose balls thrown into the box by Delap.

The win was good, but it left us with 2 more additions to the injury list. It has been confirmed that Walcott is out for Sunday.When asked about the situation Wenger said "Definitely out for Sunday. Cesc has a hamstring problem,will be assessed tomorrow." He went on to say "If you can take 3 points on a night like this and be closer to the top, you know your team is hungry....it's a positive sign. We have matured,certainly,because we can win the game when we are less creative,less fluent and that is what have changed."

Win the game when we are less creative and fluent: it's true, we did manage to win the game with less creativity and a more crude way of defending, keeping hold of the ball until the end of the game... this was not how Arsenal played football and it was a welcome change. It was good to see the team close out a match with some confidence. For more from the post match press conference go here

Cesc was pretty much disappointed with his injury and it showed all over his face when he called for the substitute. He later tweeted "I dont know if ill make sunday or no, but all i know is that from this moment to sunday 16'30 i wont sleep if its necessary. Ive waited too long to captain a final for arsenal and i wont give up till the last second." That shows just how commited he is  to the club and its goals.    

In other news, Robin Van Persie has been shortlisted for the PFA Fan's Player of the Month for February. I urge all you readers to vote for him. And for people interested in Aaron Ramsey's interview after he scored a goal in Cardiff's win over Leicester, I have found a video online.

That's all for today folks. Have a good day!!!!

P.S: I urge all readers to follow me on twitter so I can notify each and every one of you whenever a new post comes up.

                          

©goonerburgh

Rugby night at the Emirates + Another Cesc??

With the FA cup letdown behind us, our focus should now be on the upcoming league fixture against Stoke City. I expect Stoke have been waiting for this game ever since our manager colourfully described them as playing more rugby than football on the field. These comments infuriated a lot of people associated with Stoke… and they won’t need much more firing up for this game.

The manager said it depends on improvement of our home form if we’re to win anything, and this season the home performances have been… questionable to say the least. However, Arsenal has won the last 8 times they’ve met Stoke in a home fixture, so we can go into this match with some kind of confidence.

            

We’ve been playing so many matches recently that sometimes, it might be confusing for outsiders to know which competition we’re going to play in next. That’s what we have to cope with if we want to go all the way in all competitions. Fixture congestion has to be coped with and the squad is looking pretty thinned out, especially at the back. Ignasi Miquel started the last game- it was his first senior start for the club- but it’s clear that he still may not be ready for the league. So, at present it comes down to Djourou, Koscielny (out for the next match though) and Squillaci to share the responsibility until Vermaelen is back… which should be for at least another 2-3 weeks. In other team news, Diaby will be serving the last of his 3-match ban, and Fabianski is out for the season with a calf strain.Van Persie (hamstring) and Koscielny (back strain) are out for 2-3 days, but they should be fit for the Carling Cup.

Coming back to the match at hand, the team should be looking to get all 3 points from this fixture as we won’t be playing a league game for another week and a half  (until March 5). Stoke are known to be a physical team: their disciplinary record speaks for itself (46 yellow cards and 2 red cards in the league). Then again, we’re no saints ourselves with an abysmal, and arguably worse charge-sheet (44 yellow cards and 6 red cards in the league).The ‘fair play’ trophy is one cup we’re definitely not winning this season, which I personally don’t mind: it’s about time the team grew out of the 'Little Kids' tag and started playing a bit rougher.

Back to the game, I don’t think scoring will be a problem for the team as we’ve averaged nearly 3 goals per game for the past 10 matches. A win would be the right way to respond to the weekend and also good preparation for the appointment at Wembley this weekend.

Wenger claims that possession is the key to this game. He said "What is important for us against Stoke is we make sure we have the ball. The more we have the ball, the less they will be dangerous in the air (referring to Delap)."

         

Possible starting XI: Szczesny; Sagna, Djourou, Squillaci, Clichy, Fabregas, Song, Wilshire, Walcott, Bendtner, Nasri/Arshavin.

Some of the players from the weekend will warm the bench. If needed, there are some big names we can call upon. They all have a lot of firing power, but for lack of playing time it’ll be tough to be in the sublime form we expect them to be… which was proven on Sunday. The fringe players should get one more go in the FA cup replay (whenever it’s played) to prove their worth.The  pre-match interview with Arsene can be found here.

    

In other news Arsenal have seemingly 'plucked' (that's the word used in the reports) another La Masia student from right underneath Pep Guardiola. His name is Jon Miquel Toral Harper (quite a mouthful). Apparently, the kid Miquel has agreed terms with the club and a report in ESPN says that Arsenal are paying Barcelona a compensation in the region of  €350000. Now that's a lot of money for a 16 year old (just a thought). Here is a video of Miquel scoring a headed goal.

Also, the Daily Mail reports that former Arsenal shot-stopper, Jens Lehmann, is set to coach Arsenal youth players before he undergoes his coaching qualification tests in the latter part of 2011. He went on to say, "I have plans for March and this one, to coach Arsenal youth players for a few days, is already guaranteed."

Yesterday, Aaron Ramsey scored in Cardiff's win over Leicester. He latched on to a ball from Kevin Mcnaughton with his left leg and shot a decent ball into the left corner of the goal from 12 yards out. His loan stint ends this Saturday. The boss says  he will be in contention for the FA cup replay against Leyton. If that's to happen, it will be his first start in over a year after that horrendous tackle from one cunt named Ryan Shawcross.                  

         

Today is the beginning of a very busy schedule for Arsenal: a run of 5 games in 14 days. It starts with the visit from Stoke, then the Carling Cup final against Birmingham on Sunday, then the darn FA cup replay, again back to the league with visitors, Sunderland, ending with a Nou Camp finale. The squad's season could be decided by this run of fixtures and how they come out of this will go a long way towards deciding who's going to win the league this year.

That's it for today people. The match is at 19:45 (GMT). Be sure to watch it and look out for the match review tomorrow!!

©goonerburgh

Arsenal 1-1 Leyton Orient, financial windfall for Leyton

Saying we just ‘helped’ Leyton Orient break-even would be an understatement. We just made their entire wage budget and Russell Slade, their manager, should be thanking us.

            

It’s funny the way we play football. Not even a week has passed since we beat the 'best' team in the world, and here we are drawing to an English League one team. Well, that’s football for you folks. It’s not that we played badly- we actually played pretty well. We dominated possession, made great passes (6 times more than them), and created a lot of chances. But like it or not, even with all these great statistics, the end product was not achieved.

              

All the starters of the Barcelona game, with the exception of Song, were rested. Young Spaniard Ignasi Miquel got a start at CB, along with Squillaci. He looked assured throughout the game; not an eye-catching performance, but surely someone to watch in the future. Gibbs and Sagna (what a terrible hairdo by the way), played beside them with Almunia between the sticks. He had a horrible game, Almunia. Surely he’ll be on his way out at the end of this season with the emergence of Wojiciech and Fabianski.

The midfield trio of Song, Denilson and Thomas didn't boast much creativity, but they were expected to dominate anyway and they did everything except put the ball in the back of the net (except for Rosicky). Arshavin, brimming with confidence from his late goal against Barcelona, was expected to play well and he troubled the Orient back four all day. Bendtner and Chamakh had a few swings at goal- none making much of an impact.

The goal from Arsenal came after a long wait and it was a pretty good one. Bendtner tried a shot at the goal that got blocked and came back to him. He waited and dribbled his way to the right end of the box, before chipping in a cross which was met by Rosicky's head from some distance. A good goal.

Leyton did respond pretty well and they looked likely to score from then on, but despite the encouraging signs, they still weren’t making too much of an impact. The real impact was made by one Jonathan Tehoue, a former French division 3 player who came on in the late stages, replacing Scott Mcgleish, showing just why he was known as 'Super Sub' among the Orient fans. He jinked his way through Miquel and Gibbs and shot a mean and powerful shot under the legs of a scampering Almunia. Game over. 1-1. For pretty good highlights from the match go here.

                                                                    Jonathan Tehoue

A draw, though not a bad result, does nothing good for the already congested schedule. The Orient fans were ecstatic and we can’t take anything away from them. They played well, put men behind the ball, and in the end got the result they desired.

                

Wenger later said in the press conference "Overall it is a disappointment, but we are still in the competition and will now play at home. The most negative side of our result today is one more fixture and in fairness that is not what we needed. We have had problems in the cups against teams from the lower divisions to finish them off, but also we have given a lot."
      

On top of all this, if we win the tie at the Emirates, we’ll be going to Old Trafford to play Man Utd in the next round. Looks like we’ll have to win the FA cup the hard way. Our attention should now be on the upcoming Stoke City match on Wednesday.

In other team news, the injury scare for Djourou wasn't that bad and Walcott is fit as well, so they both should start. A preview for the game will be up in the next few days.

That’s all for today day folks. Have a good Monday.

©goonerburgh

The Very First

Name: Achuth Anil

Age: 21

Occupation: Student

Passion: Arsenal/Football

That’s all you need to know about me. I’m an Arsenal fan and this blog is just for my thoughts (aka ramblings and rantings) about the club, so all you haters can just suck it. I have little experience with blogging, so be patient with me while I, like a kid for the first time on a cycle try to learn the ins-and-outs of the sacred art of the ‘blog’. I’ll try to blog every two days with match previews and reviews, team news and just general talk about everything Arsenal-related. Hope for support from the gooner community.

©goonerburgh