Arsenal vs Bolton

So we finally got a good win. Don't get me wrong, it's obvious Bolton going down to 10 man helped a lot but overall as a performance both offensively and defensively this was our first good match of the season. The defense looked shaky the first 10 min and if it wasn't for Szczesny's great save we would have been 1-0 down. If "good old" Almunia was our goalie, that ball goes in. After the first 10 min, we took control of the game and Arteta had a "Fabregas" like through ball and this is the 2nd week in a row when Gervinho should have passed the ball and we would have scored. He is either fucking unaware that Van Persie was next to him or he just doesn't care which pisses me off. Not to mention even if he doesn't want to pass the ball he should score, not kick it in Jaskeelainen's hands.

Arteta was very sharp again, his passing is really intelligent. And this game he didn't disappear in the second half like he did against Blackburn. Ramsey had a really good game as well, gave a good pass to Van Persie for the first goal, and was solid throughout the whole game. Song was his solid self and scored a great goal. I thought Walcott had a really good game even though he should have scored at least twice. The red card was a bit questionable because the contact was minimal but we have seen those given a lot of times so i don't really care if it was a red or not. That situation just shows you how much more dangerous Walcott is when he is on top of the attack. There are no central defenders in this league that can keep up with his pace. The sooner Wenger realizes that and starts playing him on top of the attack the better Walcott will play and produce for us. Gervinho did not have a great game and as i mention cost us a goal for a second week in a row.

Sagna was solid as usual. Mertesacker looked good even though you can see he doesn't have the speed. Koscielny was alright but i never feel relaxed when this guy is in our line up. Today he actually looked a bit more decisive and made some good tackles but if you read this blog you know i don't think the guy is good enough. Until he proves me wrong with CONSISTENT performance against good teams i am not a believer. I thought Gibbs had a good game as well. Made a very important close down on Eagles when Bolton had their best chance of the second half, if that was someone else with less speed Eagles would have been one on one with Szczesny. So overall with the exception of the first 10 min, the defense looked ok. But let's not kid ourselves: we played against 10 men for 35 mins and this was against Bolton who are not a powerhouse upfront anyway. 

                                                       
I left Robin Van Persie for last because the guy deserves to have his own paragraph after his 100th goal for the club today. He scored 2 great goals and was close on 2 more occasions. He finally got some good deliveries and took advantage of them. We all know he is a phenomenal player who just needs to stay healthy. Congrats to him and i hope he stays in Arsenal until he retires. If he does and is healthy, he will break some records before he is done.

Good win today, but right now we need consistency more than ever. Let's hope we can show a good performance next week and spank a Totennham team that is playing well. Go Gunners!!!