Friday, October 27, 2006

Another 3 points in the offering as we take on Everton in a home fixture that we have traditionally dominated. If the stats are anything to go by then Everton will be easy. But they have been playing rather well and if they beat their opponents today then they will got 4th in the table and thats a huge incentive for the merseysiders.
A lot of pre match talk has been about Cesc Fabregas. The gaffer has said that Cesc will get better and thats a rather pleasing though if you are an Arsenal fan. Cesc stays modest as ever.
"I know I will have Thierry [Henry] next to me for the next four years, I will have Alex Hleb, Kolo Toure and [William] Gallas with me in the next four or five years, so for me all I have to do and think is to learn from them because they are great players"

This guy is mature beyond his years and he seems to have his feet firmly planted on the ground. We also had Henry talking in the week about how they are finally beginning to feel at home at the new stadium. Wenger also ruled out bidding for Beckham. Considering how many people we are supposedly planning to buy i think that we will be able to field 3 Arsenal teams in the next season. Arsene also gave an update on Adebayor who will miss the Everton game but might feature midweek against CSKA Moscow. He goes on to say that Lauren will be out till January. I have a feeling that Lauren s Arsenal careeris close to getting over. With the emergence of Eboue, i wonder how many games the former Cameroon International will get. Diaby is a month away from getting to training. He realizes that he will face stiff competition when he returns. Good to see the lad getting back to full fitness..

Wenger showers lot of praise on his opponents for the weekend and says that its an important game for Arsenal. Apparently the gaffer considered signing AJ but then thought the better of it ...thankfully.

If we need to compete with Manu and Chelsea then we need to steamroll teams like Everton at home.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Apologies are in order ... I have neglected this blog for some time now. I will not get into reasons and excuses, all i will say is that i will be making an improved effort to keep this place busy.

Alright then, our performance in the weekend made sure that everyone takes notice of the fact that Arsenal are back and back in a big way. The kind of football that was on show at the Madejski Stadium was the one that we played during the unbeaten season. The passing was great, one touch mostly and most importantly the finishing was awesome. Apart from the Rosicky chance late in the second half, we put away most of the chances that came our way.

After the reverse in midweek it was important that we hit a winning streak immediately and that's exactly what happened. It was good to hear Martin Tyler and Andy Gray say "exhibition stuff" on more than 1 occasion.

The best goal was the one by Van Persie because it was a team goal and the boss also thinks so. He has also played down talks of a rift between Henry and Van Persie. Cesc talks about how Arsenal can destroy any side when they play like the way they did against Reading. Steve Coppell showers praise on Cesc and Henry and says that they are the best in Europe at the moment.

Apart from the fact that we seem to be playing at our imperious best, i am also happy that the team now has a settled look to it. Lehmann is at the moment for me the best goalie in Europe. Even though he didn't have much to do on Sunday but he was called into action once or twice and he was up to the task. I think he needs to work on his catching aerial balls but i am extremely satisfied by his professionalism and commitment. It is scary to see him when he stands in the tunnel before he starts the game.He is extremely focussed and goes about the job with extreme efficiency.

The back four is solid and we can afford to change and tinker with the kind of quality that we have. Djorou has shown that he is more than capable of mixing it with the best and with Clichy and Senderos back, we have a great bunch of defensive players. I feel that the gaffer might have a bit of a dilemma when all his players are back. My back four would have to be Clichy at left back, Gallas and Toure in centre and Eboue (when he is fit)/Hoyte at right back.

The midfield is what makes us so great to watch. Hleb And Rosicky give us great width, Gilberto sits in front of the back four and Cesc has the license to roam. Fabregas has signed on till 2014 and he seems to be happy.He was man of the match in the weekend and had a hand in 2 of the goals. It is great to see him play the way he does ... full of confidence. It will be interesting to see how he fares against the Boltons and Blackburns of the world.

Up front, we have Henry so we have the best. Van Persie, for all his wastefulness at times, is genuine quality and after this season he will be much much better. Adebayor gives us the target man option and then we can always play Baptista there.

We play West Brom in the Carling Cup today and Wenger is showing extra keenness in the league cup this season as its the only domestic trophy he doesn't have in his cabinet.