By Walter Broeckx
The Sunderland – Arsenal game was a rather important game. Well they all are important in this phase of the competition. But with the spuds already having won the early kick off and Chelsea having a more easy game it was important to keep as close to those teams as possible. So only a win would be enough.
At first my compatriot MIgnolet was having another fantastic game. He usually has against us. So my message to him is : “Kaan het get mienjer mesjeen de naoste keijr”. That’s even in his local dialect so he will now know that a bit less is better.
But let us start with the team. All different notices flying around before the game. Kos played, no he will not, he will play and at the end of the day…he didn’t play. Not fit enough. All kinds of changes and this meant that only one player was playing in his normal position: our new signing Nacho Monreal at left back. And well even for him in a new team and a new league one could say a completely new back 4.
Now you might say that Per was in the centre. Yes he was but he was playing on the left side of the centre and not his usual right side. Sagna as the second central defender on the right side and Jenkinson as the right back. This was the first time these players played like that. So well not really to look forward to when going to Sunderland as that is usually a tough away game for Arsenal.
Up front Podolski was on the bench-beach (copyright Billy) so not really upfront. And Ramsey came in the team but in midfield. And Cazorla was more on the left flank. The first thing I noticed was the ref. In my preview I hoped for an unbiased ref. I must confess that my stream wasn’t the best ever but I think the unbiased part of the ref will have been visible when my stream jammed for a few seconds on too many occasions because when it worked fine I couldn’t see him.
To put one thing straight: I have no complaints about the two yellow cards against Jenkinson. I think Carl is sometimes too much thinking as a fan and should sometimes think less as a fan. As a fan you might think: trip him when he goes past you. But on the field it is sometimes better to let him run if you know there is cover. The ref was right to take out the cards on both occasions. He was too late and caught the player and stopped a promising attack. So that was fine from the ref.
The kicking of Wilshere in particular was not. During this game I was back thinking that it might end up in another broken leg sooner or later. In the end Sunderland managed to kick Wilshere off the field. Ref Taylor was complicit in this outcome.
But let us forget about the ref. Let us look at the goal. A fine run from Wilshere, a little run from Walcott and laying the ball off to Cazorla who scored with a low shot. 0-1 for Arsenal and before, after and in between we managed to miss a few chances. Or Mignolet making a few great saves. I think Ramsey will have been disappointed not to have scored today. He should have scored. That is the only bad thing I have to say about him. In fact will say more good things later on. If I don’t forget it.
So the disappointing thing was only being up 0-1 at half time. When Wilshere went off we weren’t as dominant as before. And when Jenkinson was sent off we knew we would have a difficult finish of the game. On moments like that the players have to rise to the occasion. And rising they did.
Szczesny with a few super saves showing Mignolet that he also is rather a good keeper. Sagna who was heavily criticised the last weeks by the noisy part of the not existing you know ho. I bet they never know that a player coming back from a severe injury can struggle after playing a while. And when a player has to come back from two the same severe injuries he can certainly have a dip of form. But what do we do when this happens to a player? We get behind him and cheer him on. And today both Szczesny and Sagna showed them that they are not as bad as they make them look at times.
Nacho Monreal had a bit of a shaky start in this game. I hope the noisy part of the not existing you know who will not start getting at him from now on. But gradually he became better and also joined more in the attack at times. The Big German playing against his foot but being his calm himself and there when we needed him. And Jenkinson who I feel needs a bit more confidence in some situations to try and go past his man and not always turn back to his own goal. Now he is a bit too predictable. But I guess that will come with time and more experience and more confidence.
But two weeks in a row now no goals let in and that with a different and experimental defence is rather encouraging.
One bad thing was we missed too many chances. We should have made the game safe before the sending off and that is something we must do better. We should have made sure that there would be no sitting on the edge of our seat last 20 minutes. But on the other hand a hard fought 1-0 win against the Stoke tugs, now a hard fought win against the Sunderland. At the start of the season we couldn’t win those games and had two 0-0 draws. We showed character and determination and that is part we sometimes missed.
Tbh, I don’t think it’s a conspiracy against us. I mean not an organized conspiracy. It’s more something like “I hate that Frenchman who thinks he’s better than all of us”. Also, it’s that idiotic belief that football “is for men”, this meaning you can break someone’s leg on the pitch. On the other hand, it might be the simple fact that most of the refs are not Arsenal fans…
I don’t have enough elements to say it’s something organized. Especially because I can’t find a reason for it. But, at the same time, it keeps happening to us since 2004, maybe 2003.
sharpshooter,
A reason for the refshite? for wondering whom Martin O’Neill might be serving with the serial kick-a-thon? TBH with you, it that there’s reason enough been aired in these parts for over two years running; and the ref review forthcoming might just tip the balance that moves you from the not-enough-evidence-for-me column into the well-maybe-there-is-something-more-afoot column. One cannot account for The Dean’s record against us as law of the averages. One cannot account for that crime at Old Trafford as you acknowledge as mere happenstance. You cannot account for the all-out, all-media Wenger-Out campaign of two summers ago as boys being boys to sell papers. Well, maybe you can, but if, TBH, you want to see some evidence, why not browse through the ref review round-ups here from the last two seasons, and perhaps some of the Untold Media articles we produced here two summers ago. Try that for starters if you want to do a bit more than opine.
Heavens alive Sharpshooter, did you even read my post?
Either you missed the issue so badly I’d have to question your comprehension, or you really just waded in without any due thought.
Truly a less than intelligent response, and that’s being very polite.
@Mandy everyone who has seen the trends in the past couple of year will guess without a doubt that it will be Mike “i love dancing when Arsenal concede” Dean for Spuds. It has to be…
Lol @ Bale the Diva.
AFC and / or AW has got some powerful enemies. I’m beginning to suspect this game is quite rotten, because even regular players are aware that when playing against Arsenal, they have some extra leeway in terms of what they can get away with. They also know they stand a strong chance of getting a free kick / penalty if they collapse at the slightest touch. I regularly see opposition players commit blatant fouls and then go and scream at the ref when he finally calls a foul on them – secure in the knowledge that they won’t be booked for dissent. We simply cannot get away with that sort of thing. Our players know this, and many no longer bother staying down when fouled, even in the penalty box. Especially Theo. He knows he has a better chance of scoring if he gets up quickly and just scores a regular goal (he did this against Alain Pardeiu’s team and I forget the other one where he was pushed from behind as he was about to shoot). Penalties are now the stuff of dreams.
I watch enough non-Arsenal games to see that:
1) The refs are certainly capable of calling the type of fouls that they deem to be non-fouls in our games. The “physicality” teams are allowed against us is not allowed in almost all non-Arsenal matches I watch.
2) The teams that kick us like Sunderland did are also fully aware which teams are protected and which teams are not, because they certainly don’t employ such “physicality” against the “loved” teams, i.e. the likes of manure or the tiny totts. They would have finished such a match with 9 men or less.
I still believe this bias played major role in us losing players. In their shoes, I’d also be considering how safe it is to play at AFC, and what the bloody point is, because even if I play well enough to win, some dancing ref might undo all my teams hard work with a blow of his whistle (or lack of it).
Whoever we’re up against wields considerable power, because the only people willing to speak up against this nonsense are us AFC fans, so its not surprising that there seems to be quite an effort underway to divide the fan base. These bias issues are mainly raised in blogs, never in the “papers”. And occasionally a sensible fan from another team will admit we get “special” treatment, but most won’t because their teams benefit from it. This is why it’s important to remain united as fans, so we can have a louder voice. Even AW seems scared of being punished some more if he speaks about it. Journalists have tried to coax it out of him, specifically asking if he thinks a player (Jack) was targeted, and he keeps saying no. He obviously has a good memory, and remembers well what happens if he speaks out against the bias. I like the red card idea, the fans should carry those to the games and let the officials know we’re onto them. I wonder if the “journalists” would publish it though, like they did with the solitary “Wenger Out” banner that caused a skirmish?
@ MikeSA Glad you’re polite, I’m not. So let’s try to comprehend your profound post that I didn’t read. You begin nicely, as I said, I agree with the first two paragraphs. But after those paragraphs, using the “classic” cliche “AW is a good manager, BUT…”, you begin the less nice stuff, ending with the super conclusion “an exceptional poor piece of management”.
Btw, Moyes or Laudrup are “good”, AW is “excellent” if “world class” seems too much for you.
I also couldn’t help noticing the nice parallel between Ramsey and Denilson and the assertion that Mr. Denilson became “ineffectual” (I’d say a lazy and uninterested young player) because of AW’s poor man management. I won’t
even try to refute this, it’s simply too unfair a statement.
In the end, I understood that, in spite of Wenger’s “exceptional poor piece of management”, the team won. Very nice thing to say after yesterday’s game.
Please excuse the fact that in my post I used the expression “tactically inept” instead of exceptional poor piece of management.
P.S. It’s sad you haven’t noticed the little slaughter Sunderland gave us, but you noticed something about Ramsey position on the pitch…
Beat MU in the next game and I will believe it.Otherwise be prepared for red faced to win the treble and the epl the next five years.
I believe Red Faced aint satisfied with winning the epl /treble. He will want to repeat winning the cl assuming he wins it this season.And for this I blame Wenger.He dismantled the 2004 team when it could have gone on to challenge if not downgrade the red faced.
I think fans of Arsenal and other teams are getting fed up with the unending dominance of MU.I don’t know but there could be a conspiracy to perpetuate his winning run.Why do other teams raise their games against MC/Chelsea/Pool/Arsenal but wilt or give in to red faced?
All empires come and go but if this icreasing domination of MU is not stopped,I believe many fans will give up watching the game. It is too one sided and no more exciting and I blame the FA and their henchmen fo helping the red faced.
You don’t believe me?See how mo differ when they they next umpire the red faced game.
Ramsey got a lot of stick ( also from me ) and rightly so. But i give him big credit for sunderland and i start to realise what wenger sees in him (thats why he is the manager i guess). He gets himself into scoring positions as a midfielder. But he should really start to take those chances!! wp aaron and stop losing balls as the last man in midfield!!
Ramsey will score…people do not see that Ramsey is a leader and a lot many things off the pitch have not been too kind to the lad…but he is a leader! The sunderbus game was just a curtain raiser on the times to come…it is just a matter of time when he starts scoring!