Much needed win today! It wasn't pretty and it didn't look like we will get a win but fortunately for us we got it done. The game itself was pretty boring until the last 20 minutes. Sunderland decided that they will play with 10 man in their own half and see if we can get through. To their credit, they were very organized and pressed us non stop for 90 minutes. Which doesn't change the fact that we need to get better at creating chances and scoring when teams play us like this.
Except for the first 12 minutes in the first half when we had some very sloppy mistakes in our passing which allowed them to attack, Sunderland didn't create anything and were happy to sit back and watch us suffer. I am pretty sure we didn't create even one clear chance to score in the first half. Second half was pretty much the same scenario: a lot of possession for us but no chances to score. Then around the 62nd min they had a few corners and free kicks in a row where we looked absolutely clueless how to defend and Szczesny had to bail us out. We stack the box and then when we clear the ball there is no one around to block shots that are coming from outside the penalty area. We gotta do better than that! And then they scored out of the blue and i was fucking fuming. Not so much at Mertesacker because he probably tore something, otherwise he wouldn't have fallen like that. But i was pissed that Sunderland were up 1 having created pretty much nothing for the whole game. Not to mention with the way we were playing i thought that there is no way we were going to score 2 goals. So when Ramsey scored it was justice. It was a lucky goal in the sense that it came out of nowhere but that's how Sunderland scored too, so it was only fair. I am also happy for Ramsey because he hasn't been playing well recently.
Except for the first 12 minutes in the first half when we had some very sloppy mistakes in our passing which allowed them to attack, Sunderland didn't create anything and were happy to sit back and watch us suffer. I am pretty sure we didn't create even one clear chance to score in the first half. Second half was pretty much the same scenario: a lot of possession for us but no chances to score. Then around the 62nd min they had a few corners and free kicks in a row where we looked absolutely clueless how to defend and Szczesny had to bail us out. We stack the box and then when we clear the ball there is no one around to block shots that are coming from outside the penalty area. We gotta do better than that! And then they scored out of the blue and i was fucking fuming. Not so much at Mertesacker because he probably tore something, otherwise he wouldn't have fallen like that. But i was pissed that Sunderland were up 1 having created pretty much nothing for the whole game. Not to mention with the way we were playing i thought that there is no way we were going to score 2 goals. So when Ramsey scored it was justice. It was a lucky goal in the sense that it came out of nowhere but that's how Sunderland scored too, so it was only fair. I am also happy for Ramsey because he hasn't been playing well recently.
And then would you believe it: Arshavin out of all people gave a great ball to Henry and we were up 2-1. Henry can still score goals and i was ecstatic that we won the game but he is such a cocky bitch that he pisses me off. I give him credit for being at the right place and finishing the ball nicely but the rest of the time he was on the pitch, he was just jogging and not doing anything. So after he scored, instead of digging in and pressing defensively, he is mocking Martin O"Neil and then booming the ball 50 yards down the pitch instead of keeping possession and helping us close the game out. I remember back in the day when we sold him, i was quite happy because his ego at the time was bigger than the team and today we saw a bit of that again.
I thought Rosicky was the man of the match. Great work rate and had some great passes. He was one of the few guys that were close to creating something offensively. Walcott had another bad game and he continues to be lost on the wing especially when he has no space to work with. Oxlade didn't have a great game but you can't expect him to be great in every game.
I have to give credit to Wenger for his substitutions today. All 3 guys that came in had a huge impact on the game even if there was luck involved. Now, the big challenge for Wenger is to show me that he is learning from his mistakes: he better make at least 3 or 4 changes for the Milan game on Wednesday. Rotating the team has never been his strength and has always been something that makes me fume. I remember last year he kept the exact same team that played in the Champions League on Wednesday for a Premier League game on Sunday, and after the game he said "we were tired", no shit Sherlok! So i hope i see guys like Coquelin, Benayoun, and even stupid Arshavin start against Milan. The annoying sir Alex is a great example for squad rotations: he always shuffles his team based on what he decides for the specific game. An example is Hernandez who scored an important goals vs Chelsea but that didn't mean he was starting today.
Anyway, great, great, great result for us today!!! Very important win because we have some really tough games coming up: Milan in Ch. League, Sunderland again for the FA Cup and then Tottenham and Liverpool back to back. So today's result is very important, we just need to keep it going. C'mon you Gunners!!!
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