Morning all, I'm finally back. I'd like to say I have a great excuse for not writing for almost a week, but my excuses aren't that good. Friday I just didn't get a chance to do my match preview, Saturday I woke up to watch the match and then coach my Under 8's to an 11-2 win, and yesterday I went to the Jaguar game. But today I'm back and hopefully I'll be able to keep it up.
So what has happened during my last post? Well we slaughtered Blackburn away 4-0. I have to say I was a little nervous going in. I always hate playing the teams that just try to kill us at all costs like Blackburn, Bolton, etc. I need not have been worried though. We played pretty fantastically throughout and Theo was on display again after his England hat trick midweek. His first little scamper and pass through to van Persie was magnificent. When I saw him pick out that pass it really showed some maturity from Theo because I don't think he would have made that pass in the past. So not only did he beat 3 or 4 defenders but he was able to finish it off in quality Arsenal style, and van Persie made no mistake with the finish. You can watch that fine goal here.
Adebayor of course got his hat trick. It was good for him to get off the mark and he did it in splendid fashion. I think most of the fans have forgiven (if not forgotten) his actions over the summer and I think if he has more games like this one it'll make it even easier to forgive.
So a great 4-0 and we're looking great even with a depleted squad. Granted it is still early and we haven't played any of the big teams, but for now we're looking good so you have to be happy with that. Third in the league behind the scousers and Chelski after four games is not a bad place to be.
We've got Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday for our first match in the group stages of the Champion's League. I'll get a match preview together for that tomorrow but looking ahead at the injury situation it looks like we could have Nasri out for sure as well as maybe Eboue and Clichy. Mikael Silvestre looks set to make his debut so if Clichy isn't able to go I'd guess that's where he will play. I honestly wish he would never ever play for Arsenal but I suppose if he makes it out onto the pitch without tripping and breaking his leg or something then it's going to be inevitable. What a shame. Kiev are a team that has a good chance to get a result. It's tough to play away in Ukraine, but the weather should be much better than it would be in say, November. I think we'll probably win, but I'll save my prediction for the morning.
Silvestre talks about the reasons he decided to come to Arsenal, which hopefully isn't to sabotage the squad or something sinister like that.
"Arsène Wenger wants me to play more centrally and that's fine by me. I wasn't having enough opportunities at United, even if Sir Alex Ferguson wanted me to stay. But I wanted to play a bit more which is why I felt it was time to move. I'll also have the chance to help the younger players. Experience comes naturally as you develop and the younger guys will look up to senior players like myself and William Gallas as we're the ones who have been around for a while."
Great...so our young players are looking up to Silvestre, the Man United lover, and Gallas, who played for Chelski and isn't even a good captain. Something is severely wrong there.
Not much else to write about today, but I'm thrilled with the Blackburn match and really hoping we'll get off to a good start in the group stages. Thoughts on Theo? I'd love to hear them. Cheers all. More tomorrow.
4 comments:
It seems there are some points that need to be brought to light. Early season league tables can be misleading - but they can also be fun. You know the joke - "Let's read the league table - first Tottenham Hotspur oh sorry I'm holding it upside down." But even allowing for early season what-nots there must surely be a twinge of concern in the faces of Mr Flamini and Mr Hleb. Flamini today finds himself playing for a club that is one from bottom of the Italian League. Without the chance of being in the Champions League this season, and with two defeats out of two in the league, plus an incredibly embarrassing defeat by 2-0 defeat to second-division Swiss side Lugano in a friendly on Wednesday, it is not looking so wonderful working in Milan. There are already rumblings about the manager¿ who knows where it will end? Among the other old-boys life isn¿t looking too smart for that awfully nice Mr Hleb who plays alongside Thierry. Having lost the season opener 1-0 at Numancia they then drew with Racing. And, oh no, would you believe it, ex-Arsenal dribbler and Belarus midfielder Aleksandr Hleb went down with damaged ankle ligaments just before half time. He¿ll be out for quite a while apparently. Barca have played two, won zero, drawn one, lost one. So there we have it. A warning, if one were needed, to all the others. Better stay where you have a chance of winning things.
Actually you are being a little unfair to both Silvestre, Hleb and Flamini. And there is something about the who-do-we-have-to-hate-logic. If we must feel obliged to dislike the Arsenal players that moves to a rival club, would it not be natural to sympathise with player going from rival club to Arsenal? I can't contain disliking both kinds.
When Milan are relegated come summer we'll buy Flamini back. Hleb can stay - but I actually was a big fan of his playing style exept for his finishings.
This was a great start to a huge week for Arsenal. I'm always nervous about matches at Blackburn too, but I have to admit that a lot of my worry vanished when I saw Paul Robinson in goal. That guy is a disaster against us.
Great to see Theo coming on, and Ade finally kickstart his season. I think both of those players get better when they are playing confident.
And a healthy RVP is a nice sight as well. His goal was beautiful. In my opinion, no one in football is better at letting the ball run across their body to set up a shot.
Thank you for beeing you
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