Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Arsenal 2014-2015: March

Sunday, March 1, 2015 Arsenal vs. Everton 9AM EST



After Wednesday's debacle a win is a must today for Arsenal. With Manure and Liverpool both winning, a win will keep Arsenal third in the table. Equally important, a win will help to restore some of the confidence that the team lost in the Monaco match.



 The mood among fans is tense and there is a sense of nervousness surrounding the team. A win and three points would go a long way to calming nerves.








Arsenal are back to third in the table with a 2-0 victory over Everton. While it was not Arsenal at its fluid best, the performance was good and there were some promising signs that the defensive shortcomings are being addressed. The most noticeable change was Gabriel coming in for the much maligned Per Mertesacker. Gabriel looked strong and made some important tackles. I would prefer to see a lot more of Gabriel and a lot less of the BFG. It's become clear that Per is just not good enough for Arsenal.



 Ospina remained in goal and had an excellent game. At times his decision making is questionable, but I feel a lot more confident with him in goal over the shaky Szczesny.



 Giroud scored an amazing goal from an Ozil corner. It's funny, how Giroud missed so many easy chances in the match versus Monaco, yet two of his recent league goals have been technically difficult and things of pure beauty. Hopefully, the striker will have regained some confidence and the heat he was taking from the fans will cool off.


 Cazorla wore the captain's armband and bossed the game like a true leader, Rosicky came on as a late sub and scored the second goal, Coquellin was in the trenches and ended the match with a broken and bloodied nose. All in all it was a solid team performance and Everton never really looked like they would score.


 Up next is a mid week match at 17th place QPR.














Wednesday, March 4, 2015 Arsenal at QPR 2:45PM EST


QPR is a match that shouldn't instill a lot of fear in the hearts of Arsenal fans. However, as we've all learned, nothing can be taken for granted. It looks as if Koscielny will get a rest and Mertesacker will come back in to the squad and be paired with Gabriel in the center of the defense. 

 Despite suffering a fractured nose of the weekend, Francis Coquelin retains his place in the squad.



 Southampton won yesterday and everyone around us is playing today so we're rooting for Arsenal, Newcastle, Leicester, Swansea, West Ham and Burnley. At the end of the day, all that really matters is an Arsenal victory.










 The final score doesn't really represent what took place on the pitch. Despite winning by just one goal and both Arsenal goals not coming until the second half, QPR didn't present too much of a problem.
Giroud scored off of a Kieran Gibbs deflection to finally put Arsenal in front in the 64th minute. Five minutes later it was doubled when Alexis Sanchez scored a sublime goal from a ridiculously tough angle.
Charlie Austin got one back in the 82nd minute, but other than that they didn't pose a real threat. Arsenal had double the amount of shots on goal and six corners to just one for QPR.


 Arsenal are still in third and just four points behind the Sheikh and his mercenaries.
Monday, March 9, 2014 2:45PM Arsenal at Manchester United FA Cup 6th Round




 I am about as nervous as if I was playing in this match. After years of Manure owning us, now is the time to finally put things in order. What worries me, and probably most Arsenal fans, is that despite the obvious fact that this current United side are crap, Arsenal always seem to cave in, psyche themselves out or self destruct when we play them. It's as if the ghost of Fergie and Howard Webb's stopwatch of added injury time is haunting Arsenal.



 This is simply a MUST win for Arsenal. Not only for the obvious fact of moving on to the semi-finals and trying to retain the FA Cup Trophy, but almost as important, to restore pride and belief and respect to this Arsenal team. A loss to LVG and these jokers would be unbearable.



 Personally, I have a comedy show tonight which is huge and I'm more nervous about this match than I am the show. Let's get this done Arsenal. DO NOT LET YOUR FAN BASE DOWN!













YES....FINALLY....a convincing win for Arsenal at Old Trafford. Not only that, the player that the footballing genius LVG told was not good enough to play for ManUre and then sold to Arsenal was the one to come back and score the winning goal. I can only imagine in 10 years time there will be a film version of the story....it could be called something like, "Welbeck...the Redemption, the Revenge...the Shaming of Manchester United"!





Adding to the overall thrill of victory over the much hated United and the fact that their reject was the one to come back and burn them, was the performance of the game's referee...Michael Oliver. When Hector Bellerin was given a yellow card in the 4th minute (which he deserved), I was afraid of what was to come. I shouldn't have been, because what was to come was a fair, evenly called, consistent ref job that is rarely if ever seen anymore. 





Fans of every team have become used to the United home match favoritism that dates back to Adam and Eve. Well, not this time. You dive to win a penalty, you get yellow carded (yes you you cheater Januzaj). You simulate contact to get a penalty, you get yellow carded (yes you Angel DiMaria you 60 million pound cheating has been)...you pull at the shirt of the referee after you get yellow carded because you cost 60 million pounds and used to play for Real Madrid, you get your second yellow within 10 seconds and are sent off (yes you Angel DiMaria). Add to that the ridiculous thug that is Marouane Fellaini, who you can almost guarantee intentionally hit Francis Coquelin in the face within the first five minutes. Having sustained a broken nose in a recent, Fellaini apparently felt the only way to get the best of the player was to knock him out of the match. The problem for the mop topped tree was that his thug tactics didn't work. Coquelin had the better of Fellainin throughout the entire match.

 

To be fair, Arsenal were not at their best...but FINALLY, ManU did not benefit from lucky breaks (Tim Krul, Fergie time, phantom penalties) and the poor side that they really are was exposed. Resorting to long balls to Fellaini and cheating did not work. Their £24 million loanee remained on the bench the entire match, while the player that wasn't good enough to be a part of LVG's team scored the winner for the opposition. As the saying goes, karma is a bitch. Even the phantom 5 minutes of Fergie time didn't benefit this hapless bunch. The only thing that would have made the night better would have been Judas Van Persie on the pitch to suffer defeat to the team he felt was going in the wrong "direction".



Stand outs in the match were Nacho Monreal who owned Cheater DiMaria and scored a goal worthy of any striker set up beautifully by Ozil and the Ox. Sanchez was everywhere, Cazorla came close to scoring twice, Coquelin was a beast, Welbeck got the last laugh...to be honest it was a true TEAM performance. They stuck to the game plan and outside of Shrek's goal, kept ManUre at bay all night.



After the match, Arsenal were drawn against either Bradford or Reading (depending upon the outcome of the replay). A favorable draw was deserved and Arsenal are that much closer to their second FA Cup final (and possible trophy) in two years. 





It was a great night to be a Gooner.  




































Stats show Manchester United were WRONG to sell Danny Welbeck to Arsenal and sign Radamel Falcao

 

‘He left because you’re sh*t!’ Twitter trolls Manchester United after Danny Welbeck’s Arsenal winner

 Brilliant support! Arsenal fans stay behind and keep signing at Old Trafford after FA Cup win over Manchester United

 

Man United 1-2 Arsenal: 5 things we learnt as Danny Welbeck came back to haunt his former club

£280,000-a-week flop Falcao starts for United reserves, 24 hours after his latest Old Trafford snub from boss Van Gaal in which striker was forced to watch FA Cup exit from the bench

 

Arsene Wenger wins the Old Trafford duel against Louis van Gaal as Manchester United crash out of the FA Cup to Arsenal


Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger should be hailed for Old Trafford masterclass

 

Saturday, March 14, 2015 11AM EST Arsenal vs. West Ham 

It's been a great week for Arsenal fans following the victory over ManUre in the FA Cup 6th round. Then there was the meltdown of Moanrinho's team at Stamford Bridge against 10 man PSG which sent them out of the Champions League. Today it's back to league action and a visit from West Ham.


 West Ham have come back down to earth since their great start to the season.and now sit in 10th place.  With teams below us fighting to get those coveted Champions League spots, it's important to keep winning and collecting points.




With confidence high and playing at home, this should be a winnable match for Arsenal.










This week keeps getting better and better.  


 West Ham defended well in the first half and despite a majority of the possession,m Arsenal were unable to get the breakthrough goal....that is until Olivier Giroud sent in a screamer literally in the last second of the first half. It truly was an impressive strike. Whatever tension had been in the air eased as the half ended.


Arsenal again dominated possession in the second half and were able to keep West Ham at bay pretty easily. Of course Arsenal fans have seen leads disappear before so it was important for the team to score another goal. It took a while, but they added two more in the 81st and 84th minutes.



Giroud added to his goal with a great assist that saw Aaron Ramsey smash the ball in to the back of the net. Three minutes later, substitute Mathieu Flamini was there to tap in the rebound after Adrian had saved a shot from Ozil.



It was another complete team performance with Koscielny and Coquelin the standouts on defense, while Giroud took center stage up front. Running the show was Cazorla, Sanchez and second half sub Santi Cazorla.
 

Aaron Ramsey needed that goal to get his confidence back. David Ospina made a great save in keeping another clean sheet. Theo Walcott finally got a start and had a couple of good chances. He is a player badly in need of a goal and a confidence boost.


 In the late match Burnley played their socks off and defeated the Manchester Mercenaries 1-0. For all the stick that Arsene Wenger has been getting all season, Arsenal are now just one point behind second place Manchester City.


The Champions League returns on Tuesday. Arsenal head to Monaco with a tough task, but with confidence high, you never know what can happen.


















Tuesday, March 17, 2015 Arsenal at Monaco 3:45PM EST Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg


Arsenal head to Monaco with hope, but the task at hand is a tough one. Having embarrassed themselves three weeks ago at the Emirates, Arsenal are down 3-1 with 90 minutes left to turn things around. Arsenal must score at least 3 goals to have any chance of progressing while keeping Monaco off the score sheet. Hopes are high, but most fans have realistic expectations after the shambolic display in the first leg. Arsenal have made a habit of defeating top competition in one leg of Champions League matches yet coming up short on aggregate (Barcelona, Bayern Munich, AC Milan). Fingers crossed, but it'll be touch to accomplish.

Great to see such optimism among Arsenal fans at #MiracleInMonaco is currently a trending hashtag!


















Why didn't Arsenal play like this back in London? Total Arsenal domination and Giroud was able to make the breakthrough in the 36th minute. There were several other good chances and close calls as well as a bogus diving yellow card given to Sanchez when he was felled in the box. Sanchez is so good he doesn't needed to cheat...a totally bogus card.  Arsenal need 2 in the second half. Fingers are still crossed.


AFTER Saturday, March 21, 2014 11AM EST Arsenal at Newcastle AFTER
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Sunday, February 1, 2015

Arsenal 2014-2015: February


Sunday, February 1, 2015 Arsenal vs Aston Villa 8:30AM EST




January ended on a positive note for Arsenal with a confidence boosting victory over Oil City at the Etihad, followed by an FA Cup fourth round win that puts the team through to the final 16.

 A visit by Aston Villa to the Emirates should be a fixture that won't give Arsenal too many problems. However, as we've seen before, no club should be taken lightly. 

 Last season, Villa came to the Emirates in the first game of the season and pulled a shock upset over Arsenal. This year's Villa side has very little momentum and has had a hard time scoring goals. 

Alexis Sanchez may be rested for this match due to a sore hamstring. This would be a good match to rest the Chilean and let the others lead the charge. Ozil and Walcott are back and Rosicky and Cazorla have been in great form. One other player to look for is Arsenal's new number 5, Gabriel Paulista. The centre back completed his move from Villareal last week and Arsenal finally have some defensive coverage that they have been missing. 

Here's to three points!










Wow, what is there to say, but that's the Arsenal that we've been waiting for. Even with Alexis Sanchez being rested the team put on a performance that was impressive and clinical at the same time. 

Mesut Ozil set up Giroud in the 8th minute and after that the result never seemed to be in doubt. Despite the one goal lead remaining intact in to the second half there was never any sense that Arsenal would not win this match.



Villa were unable to do much with their possession and Arsenal put the game out of reach in the second half with the returning Ozil and Walcott getting on the score sheet. When substitute Chuba Akpom was fouled by goalkeeper Brad Guzan, the amazing Santi Cazorla easily slotted home the penalty to make it 4-0. Further damage was inflected when the impressive youngster Hector Bellerin scored his first Arsenal goal from 30 yards out in the 90th minute. The final 5-0 score almost flattered Aston Villa who were played off the pitch and have now gone six league matches without scoring a goal.




With Southampton losing at home to Swansea, Arsenal are in 5th place, one point behind Manure and on goal differential behind Southampton heading in to next weekend's North London Derby. Things are looking up for Arsenal and it could be time to put things back in order.

























Saturday, February 7, 2015 7:45AM EST Arsenal at Tottenham


Arsenal take on Spuds today at White Hart Lane. There's nothing else to say but as always, Spuds must be put in their place. Arsenal are on a great run of late and this is a match that Arsenal need to win to keep the momentum going and of course for bragging rights.


As for team news, Alexis Sanchez trained with the team on Friday with the hopes of being declared fit to play. Arsene Wenger has decided to look at the long term and has decided not to risk Sanchez and his tight hamstring with plenty of upcoming important matches.


Danny Welbeck is back from injury and he starts along with Giroud, Cazorla, Ozil and Ramsey. David Ospina retains his place in goal with three straight clean sheets in league action.

#COYG #FOYS

















Nightmare, debacle, embarrassment, media and Twitter blackout. Just some of my thoughts and ways of dealing with what was a spirit crushing defeat to none other than Tottenham.

1-0 up in less than 15 minutes courtesy of an Ozil goal and confidence was growing. Then the unthinkable happened. Arsenal allowed Spuds to dominate possession and then concede 2 goals to the current flavor of the week Harry Kane. In the end it was a 2-1 defeat and I was glad that I wasn't in London to hear the abuse. There's nothing more to say except....why Arsenal lose to inferior teams such as Manure & Spuds is inexplicable and needs to be addressed. 

Fortunately there's a match three days from now at the Emirates versus last place Leicester City. Let's move on and forget about this setback.









Tuesday, February 10th, Arsenal vs. Leicester City 2:45PM EST




Nothing like a midweek match against a last place club to help fans forget about this past weekend's debacle at Shite Hart Lane. Nothing but victory will be acceptable today. There are only 14 matches left and with Arsenal having dropped too many unacceptable points so far this season, the wrongs have to be corrected NOW. Sitting behind Tottenham in the table at this point in the season is just wrong. Hopefully Liverpool can put Spuds back below us and Arsenal can move on to climbing above the boring & pathetic ManUre, the surprising Southampton and maybe even the despicable oil barons of Manchester.


This was what you would call an ugly win. Arsenal took a 2-0 lead in to the half and it looked like it could be another Arsenal romp. However, Arsenal were flat in the second half and after Leicester got one back in the 61st minute the match became more of a nail biter than it should have been.



 On the plus side was the fact that Alexis Sanchez was back in the lineup and Gooners would finally get to see our prized assets of Ozil, Sanchez and Walcott together on the pitch. With Rosicky and Cazorla also in the mix expectations were high. Ozil was excellent for much of the match and was the creator of both Arsenal goals. His corner in the 27th minute was smashed in to the back of the net by Koscielny. Then in the 41st minute he sent in a blazing shot of his own which the Leicester keeper made a great save on, but the rebound bounced in front of Theo Walcott who finished what Ozil started.

On the negative side, Sanchez took a few knocks and didn't yet seem back to his high standards. Ramsey came on as a sub and within nine minutes motioned that he had to come off. The extent of the injury is not yet known. Another major negative of the match was the terrible officiating.



Mike Jones may have been on crack or something but he called the match as if he was Stevie Wonder. Leicester defender Danny Simpson handled the ball twice without a call. In fact his second infraction involved him falling on top of the ball and handling it as he got back up. Jones allowed play to continue despite the obvious hand ball and of course that's when Leicester scorer. Simpson in fact could have been issued at least four yellow cards, but he must have something on Jones as he was able to throw himself around as if he played for Stoke.



The funniest and most inane call of the match came late in the game when Mark Schwazer took a goal kick which hit Olivier Giroud in the back as he was heading back to defend. Jones issued Giroud a yellow card. Maybe it was really for the fact that Giroud is just too gorgeous, but getting a card for being hit from behind by a ball kicked by your opponent is ridiculous.


Regardless, the points went to Arsenal. Plus with Liverpool defeating Spuds, Tottenham's 3 day superiority over Arsenal ended and they are back below Arsenal in the table.














 Sunday, February 15, 2015 11AM Arsenal vs Middlesbrough FA Cup  



Arsenal's quest to retain the cup continues. With Chelsea, Citeh and Spuds all dropping in the last round, a golden opportunity to do just that has been presented. Middlesbrough visit the Emirates for the 5th round and the one time Premier League club are currently second in the Championship. They cannot be taken lightly, especially after dumping the Oil Barons of Manchester out in the last round. Fingers crossed that the Arsenal get it done today!













An amazing team performance from Arsenal with many stand out players; including Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud and Kieran Gibbs. The final score of 2-0 doesn't do justice to the domination that Arsenal held throughout the match.



It's hard to believe that this Middlesbrough side defeated Manchester City after witnessing the team's inability to mount any real threat. Arsenal had 65% of the possession, but even when Middlesbrough had the ball they barely put any pressure on the Arsenal defense.



Despite Arsenal being in control from kickoff to the final whistle, both goals came within two minutes of each other. In the 27th minute Cazorla and Gibbs combined to set up Giroud for the breakthrough. This came about after every Arsenal player on the pitch had touched the ball. Giroud got his second in the 29th minute off of a Sanchez cross. Giroud volleyed the ball from a tricky angle in to the back of the net. It was a beautiful goal that was equally difficult as well as skillful. 


The out of favor Szczesny was back in goal and had little to do and thankfully gave him less of a chance to mess up. New signing Gabriel Paulista was solid in the back and impressed on his Arsenal debut.














 Saturday, February 21, 2015 Arsenal at Crystal Palace 10AM EST


It's back to league action today and Crystal Palace away is on tap. I saw Arsenal play Crystal Palace last season at the Emirates (2-0 to the Arsenal, Ox scored both goals) and I was amazed at the level of noise that the traveling Palace fans made. That said, I expect the atmosphere at Selhurst Park to be loud and Arsenal will need to block out the crowd and get down to business. A win is a must.












This one looked like it was going to be a walk in the park after Santi Cazorla gave Arsenal the lead from the penalty spot in the 8th minute. Olivier Giroud scored Arsenal's 2nd just before the half and the match looked to be won. 
Crystal Palace deserve credit, however, for giving it a real go. Arsenal were forced to defend often in the second half and a third goal that would have made the match more comfortable never came. To be honest, even though Palace had a lot of the ball it never looked like they were going to score.


Palace finally made a breakthrough in injury time, but it was too little, too late and Arsenal walked away with the points. With ManUre losing to Swansea, Arsenal have now jumped United and currently sit third in the table.



It was nice to see Arsenal grind out a win.  Successful teams are ones that figure out how to win even when they are not at the top of their game. With Champions League action coming in four days, it was obvious that Arsenal were already thinking ahead to their meeting with Monaco.
















 Wednesday, February 25, 2015 2:45PM EST Arsenal vs. Monaco Champions League Round of 16 First Leg
For what seems like the first time, Arsenal actually got lucky in the Champions League Draw. Instead of Bayern Munich or Barcelona, the club was drawn against Monaco. Much is being made of Arsene Wenger's reunion with his former club, but the bottom line is this is a match-up that Arsenal can, and should, win.










My enforced media lock down is over and I am finally able to speak of what can only be described as a humiliating and pathetic defeat at the hands of Monaco. It was pretty much assumed that Arsenal would easily handle the French League side, but it was the other way around. The Arsenal defense seemed to have left the building and Arsenal were caught napping three times with Monaco easily able to score each time.

Per Mertesacker was completely exposed and it was pretty clear that he is way too slow and not good enough to compete at the highest level.
 

When Oxlade-Chamberlain got one back in the last few moments of the match, hopes were lifted. Unfortunately that didn't last long as Arsenal lost focus and allowed Monaco to scored a third.



 Giroud had a bad night and missed a boat load of chances, but to be fair, the entire team was off. So that easy draw proved to be not as easy as first thought. Now Arsenal have it all to do in the return leg at Monaco on March 17th. Arsenal would need to score three and keep Monaco off the scoring sheet in order to go through. It's possible, but the overall feeling is that Arsenal once again blew an opportunity to advance in Europe's elite club competition.









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