Adebayor's Wonder Goal vs Villareal

Adebayor scored one of the best goals I have seen in a long, long time. If you didn't get the chance to see it, please enjoy this video to the fullest. I know I did.

RvP Out For Villareal, Adebayor Fiending For Trophies

Morning all. Getting pretty stoked for the Champions League match tomorrow I must say. Unfortunately, they will definitely show the Manchester United match on tv here so I'll be stuck watching it on my computer while I watch the scum on tv.

I watched WrestleMania 25 last night. I have to say that Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels was a great match, classic even, but I was mad that Undertaker won because I think Michaels was better and more entertaining. The tombstone though is a rough move and even though I know it's fake I'd hate to even have to go through a fake one of those.

On to Arsenal though, and we have a lot of players out for the first leg tomorrow in Spain. Robin van Persie is out with his groin injury, while Nasri and Walcott are also nursing injuries. Andrey Arshavin of course, cannot play in the Champions League due to being cup-tied from his time at Zenit. So that multitude of attacking talent we had is very depleted for this one, and I'd guess the lineup will look like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Gallas-Toure-Clichy
Song-Denilson
Walcott-Fabregas-Nasri
Adebayor

So I'm really hoping that Nasri and Walcott are ready to go because I don't know who else we would play in the attacking midfield roles if they are out. We could of course always go back to a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2 but I think we'll probably stick with what has been working.

Villareal have suffered some blows as well, with Santi Cazorla getting his leg broken and being out for the season, so they aren't at full strength either.

I'm going to say that I think the final score will be 1-0 to the Arsenal. I just have a hunch.

Emmanuel Adebayor says he is hungry for trophies, and I'm pretty sure everyone one of us fans is hungry for them too.

"When I joined this club, I was told by most of my friends and team-mates that I had a great chance of winning something. But for the last three years I have gone on holiday having not won a trophy and with an empty heart. Now it's the time to achieve things. Maybe I want it more than the others, I don't know. We all have a desire to achieve things and that's the most important thing."

If you go by the effort showed in Saturday's match, then I'm going to say that Ade is backing up his words with action, which is what you always want to see. If the players can give their all every match for the full 90 minutes, we can beat any team we come up against.

Is there a Gooner out there that doesn't have a special feeling about the Champions League this year? I think we all feel like this is our year to win it all, and with all the players wanting to win as badly as we want them to, I think maybe we can do it. It'd be one of the greatest days of my life and certainly one of the greatest days in the history of Arsenal.

I don't have much else to write as there is very little in the way of news today. Looking forward to the match tomorrow. Make sure you follow me on twitter so we can chat during the match. Cheers all and Come on you Gunners!

Arsenal Are Getting Me Hot And Bothered

That's right, they get me all hot and bothered. Why you ask? Well if you saw how we played against Manchester City yesterday then they would be making you wet as well. Remember when I was talking about that 4-2-3-1 formation? Well we went with it and it worked incredibly well. The lineup looked like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Gallas-Toure-Clichy
Song-Denilson
Walcott-Cesc-Arshavin
Adebayor

Adebayor and Cesc were both making their returns from long term injury absences and neither one of them was the least bit disappointing. Two assists for Fabregas, two goals for Adebayor. The first was from a free kick that Adebayor headed in, and the second was a nice ball from Cesc over the top that Ade controlled, dribbled around the keeper and finished easily. It was great work from them both and it showed just how much potential our team has on their day. With Cesc, Nasri, and Arshy working those attacking midfield roles it presents a scary proposition for opposing defenses. Adebayor was back to the Ade of old, running hard, scoring goals, and putting in maximum effort the whole time he was out there. One instance particularly stands out to me, when he gave the ball away in their half just a little outside of the box, and ran the full length of the field to track down the ball and help in defense. It made me really happy to see that kind of effort and if we could get all of our players to show that kind of effort then I think we could honestly win every match we played.


Song and Denilson were pretty good in the holding roles, and they really allowed Cesc to have a much more attacking role, which was great. In the second half we completely dominated the game, with City barely seeing the ball and having approximately zero scoring chances. So while we were great, it must be said as well that City were horrendous. They couldn't hold on to the ball, they wasted the few chances they had, and didn't look at all like contenders for anything except relegation. Money doesn't solve everything City.

So up next we have the Champions League vs Villareal in Spain. They had an awful result this weekend, losing 3-0 and Robert Pires got sent off. Not the best match leading up to the Champions League, but all the better for us. I tell you, if we don't get any weird injuries and play like we played yesterday, we'll win in Spain. Not just score an away goal, but win outright. I fancy us to go through to the next round, and I think you'll see a good performance from us on Tuesday.

So we're seventeen league matches unbeaten which is quite an impressive streak. We still have to face Liverpool, United, and Chelsea this season though, and we also play Chelsea in the FA Cup and United if they beat Porto and we beat Villareal, so it is a tough road ahead. On current form though, would you argue that those teams would beat us? Liverpool are playing really well, but we've shown ability to break them down and score some goals against them. Chelsea and United both seem to be in a bit of a slump, so I certainly am not counting out three points against either of those teams.

The season seems so much brighter now than it did just a few short months ago. We're headed to Wembley for the FA Cup Semi-Finals, we're in the quarter finals of the Champions League, and we're playing loads better in the league and almost have our Champions League spot cemented for next year. It's much more fun to watch football when your team is winning, and that time is now.

Come on you Arsenal!

PS: Yesterday I bought the website www.ArsenalYouth.com. If you have any ideas for what you think should go on there relating to Arsenal's youth and reserve teams, feel free to let me know!

Arsenal Draw Villareal, Then Man United

Morning all. The Champions League draw was this morning for the next two rounds, and would you believe it, we've avoided another English team and drawn Villareal. I don't think it could have happened much better for us. Barca get drawn with a tough team in Bayern Munich, either Chelsea or Liverpool HAVE to go out since they are drawn against each other, and we won't have to face the Mancunian scum until next round as long as we both get through!

I have to say that I'm thrilled with the draw. I think Villareal are a team we should be able to beat if we're playing at our best, plus it means the return of Robert Pires to Arsenal! Everyone loves Robert Pires, so it should be just look Henry or Vieira returning in terms of the warm reception he'll get.

Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis, who remember is somewhat newly arrived, said this could be our year in the Champions League after he saw the draw this morning, and although this quote from his is really long, it's really good so I want to include the whole thing.

"We are laser-focused on the next round. We think we can get a result, but when we played them in 2006 we only just squeaked by. It will be a difficult test.

"The one thing we do believe in is not just the quality of the team, but also the character of our team. I think we saw that in the really difficult environment in Rome.

"Young player after young player made their penalty kicks when they had to. And we will have to draw on those reserves of character to get past Villarreal.

"We have never lost belief in ourselves. We have a superb group of young players. We still believe there is a potential for a really great season for us.

"We can beat anybody on our day. But we can't think beyond Villarreal. We will worry about the next step if we can get by the Yellow Submarine.

"In 2006 we missed out on this trophy by a nose. It might be our year this year. But it is not going to happen just because we want it to. Don't underestimate the depth of character we have."

He's absolutely right I think. The draw sets up favorably for us, and Roma I think really did give our players a leap of confidence. Remember Theo after we won the shootout said it was like celebrating winning the World Cup in the dressing room. I'm getting really f'ing excited about the chances of winning the FA Cup or the Champions League this year. Obviously I want the Champions League more but just winning a trophy again would be magnificent.

Liverpool vs Chelsea for the 5th straight year is really a worry for me. Don't they know that these ties between these two teams are the most boring ties in the history of football? What's worse, I'm sure these will be the matches choosen for television coverage here, because they always favor Liverpool, Chelsea, and United over here in the states. So with two of them in the same match it's a given, which leaves me watching Arsenal on my computer. I'll live through it though, because I think we have a good chance to make it through to the semi-finals for the first time in...I think ever, since 2005.

In other great news, Cesc Fabregas was back in training for the first time yesterday. That's the most welcome news I've heard in months. Imagine him back playing with Arshavin. Won't that just be amazing? I hope we have room for Arshy, Nasri, Cesc, and Theo though once they're all healthy. It would be a crying shame to have to leave any of those magicians out.

There is however, some bad news today, as Theo Walcott suffered a knee injury in training. Arsene Wenger says it locked up while walking back from training, and thinks it could be a cartilage problem. He said he is "surprised and worried" which is never good, and it makes me surprised and worried as well. Theo has been great since we got him back from injury and he brings a whole new dimension to our attack when he's able to go on the right side. They are scanning the knee to see how long he'll be out but fingers crossed that it's only minor.

That's all I've got. I'll try to get a match preview up for Newcastle tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the fact that we got a good draw and Cesc's return! Cheers