Arsenal vs Fulham

First, i want to apologize for not posting after the Norwich game. I was celebrating my birthday so there was a lot of heavy drinking involved and i just didn't find time to write. I am a little pissed that i missed a chance to post after a win and now i have to do it, after a disappointing draw for us.

I think Wenger made a big mistake by not making more than the 2 changes he made to the team after the Champions League game on Wednesday. It was obvious that we were tired and we lacked sharpness. There should have been at least 4 or 5 fresh bodies to start the game and it's not like we don't have the quality on the bench. Guys like Benayoun, Frimpong, Oxlade-Chamberlain (even though he wasn't even on the bench), Rosicky. We should have given starts to those guys and if things were not working out, then make the 3 changes and put the guys from Wednesday for 30 min.

The first half i thought Fulham pressed us way better than we pressed them (what's new there) and we still had some great chances. Ramsey, who had a bad game (mainly because he missed so many passes and chances, not because a lack of effort), had a decent chance in the 7th minute and almost scored. Then in the 24th min, Wallcot had a great run down the right put the ball right at Ramsey's feet and he hit it in the fucking sky. I thought that was one of our best chances for the half. The rest of the half we didn't create much and Fulham actually had a great chance towards the end but Szczesny bailed us out. At the end of the first half the possession of the ball was 54% to 46% in favor of Fulham. Just another proof that they controlled the game.

Second half was a bit better. Van Persie started to wake up and had some chances. He was unlucky not to score when a Fulham defender cleared it off the line. We still did not look great though, we were lacking the urgency to create something and score. So when Fulham scored on us i thought there was no way we can score 2 goals back. I guess their goal woke us up because, we found some energy in our passing and went forward. Vermaelen is the man! That guy was very unlucky to score the own goal but didn't let it affect him and scored a great goal to equalize for us. I thought right around the time we scored and the 5,6 min after, we could have won the game. Fulham for some stupid reason panicked, and stopped pressing us whatsoever. We couldn't take advantage and score again, but considering the way we played throughout the game i think a draw is a fair result. I definitely wish we would have won because we need all the points we can get for the race for 4th place, but we didn't play well enough to do it.

I thought our defense was ok. More than once we allowed Fulham to pass the ball around instead of pressing them hard, but they didn't have too many chances to score. Mertesacker didn't make any mistakes today which is good for his confidence. Vermaelen was great as usual. The own goal was very unlucky situation, other than that he was tough and never allowed guys to receive the ball without putting them under a lot of pressure. Scored a great goal too. Santos did ok as well, he likes to go forward so much that i don't know if i should rate his runs on the wing or his defensive performance. Djourou did well. I am always nervous when people take him one vs one because he can be very clumsy at times, but today he did very well. Had a great block in the 5th min. Almost scored from a corner kick (I still can't believe Schwarzer saved that).

Arshavin was fucking awefull!!! Considering he hasn't been playing often lately, he should have taken this chance and try to prove himself, instead he showed very little effort throughout the game. Just jogging around; not chasing the ball after he loses it; didn't do much offensively either. The lack of effort is what drives me nuts the most. Ramsey had a shitty game but never stopped running, fighting and trying to create something. Arshavin was just hoping something good will happen with very little effort on his part. Arteta was too busy asking for fouls for half of the game. He didn't play bad but he didn't play great either. Song had a decent game but you could tell he wasn't fresh. Wallcott was on and off throughout the game but he was probably one of our best players. Set up Ramsey nicely in the first half. Crossed the ball very well for Vermaelen's goal. So even though he wasn't amazing he played a  very solid game. Van Persie was a bit off in the first half, and then missed some chances you expect him to do better with but he definitely played better in the second half and could have scored if it wasn't for Baird who blocked his shot of the goal line. Gervinho defintely gave us a spark of the bench. He created some chances and had one himself but didn't shoot well enough. Diaby didn't impress me much but he hasn't played for a while. Chamakh didn't play long enough, for me to have an opinion about his performance. 

So tough result for us today but let's hope we get some fresh legs ready the Carling Cup and get a good result vs City. C'mon you Gunners!

Arsenal vs West Bromwich

Today we finally got a complete performance from our boys! I think since the start of the season this was our best performance in all three phases of the game: defense, midfield and attack. Yes, yes, I do know that we played West Brom and it was at home but that hasn’t stopped us from turning in shitty performances in the past (remember last year?).

The defense overall was very solid today. Kosicelny and Vermaelen played very well together, and the good thing about them is that both have good speed. This way they cover and help each other nicely. They also make up in a way for the lack of speed of Santos, who also had a good game today.  The trade off with having those two being the central defending pair is that we lack height in the back but until Mertesacker catches up with the speed in the Premier League this is the better pairing. I still think Mertesacker will be good, he will just need some time, the same way it took Koscielny more than a season to start playing well. Another sign that the defense had a good game is that West Brom didn’t create  anything in the first 20 min. Their first real chance was in the 35^th min when Song tripped and fell and Jerome Thomas tried to get a penalty with minimal contact from Koscielny. We had a few shaky moments in the second half as well: Vermaelen had a great stop on Tchoyi when luckily for us he took too long to shoot and Thomas blocked his shot; and we also had one bad header defensively by Santos which could have cost us, but West Brom didn’t take advantage of it. So, defensively we got a clean sheet and a good performance. This is very exciting that we finally had a solid game in the back.

Vermaelen was great, scored a good goal and had another big chance when he missed with his header in the second half. Koscielny continued his solid play from the last 3,4 games. Santos was good as well, we didn’t see his lack of pace today, maybe because West Brom didn’t have a lot of quickness upfront until Tchoyi came in. Jenkinson was great as well and this is worth mentioning: he had at least 7 or 8 GREAT crosses today. His crossing is very, very good, I wish we had taken better advantage of it. 

The midfield played a good game today. Not as many chances as we sometimes create but good ball possession and we managed to score three goals. Song was a bit disappointing for his standards (which he has set very high), lost more balls than usual; missed a great chance to score as well; but even though he wasn’t great he was good and covered a lot of ground as he normally does. Ramsey had a very good game. Gave a phenomenal pass for the first goal, we had not really created anything that great before that pass. He completely opened the defense up and Walcott’s pace took care of the rest, Walcott should have scored but luckily RVP was there to tap it in. Ramsey almost scored himself as well, after a good pass by Gervinho. Gervinho was good too, I like that he has learned to pass the ball when someone else is in better position. Robin Van Persie didn’t have the type of game he had against Chelsea but he still scored, had an assist, and did what was required of him. Arteta was good, scored a very nice goal. He still lacks some pace when he tries to chase people down defensively but the good thing is that he is actually helping out in the back, which he didn’t always do in previous games. Walcott had an assist and some good runs but other than that I am disappointed with him. He always tries the same move on defenders and some of them know that he always tries to run to his right and cross the ball so they are prepared and don’t allow him to do it. He should definitely try to switch things up and start cutting in more, even if his left foot is not his favorite, otherwise he will keep making the same move over and over and not creating anything. Arshavin, Rosicky and Benayoun came in, when the game was pretty much over so I can’t really grade them.

So, a great day for the Gunners; finally a complete performance and things are starting to look really good for our boys! GO GUNNERS!!!