He's off form...but he still got two assists/Team performance

Last night was a good night. It was a good team performance against a resilient Ipswich side that knew if they kept it tight they might sneak it. It took patience, verve and sparks of individual class.

Arshavin is having a dip in form of late and much has been made of it in the media and in the blogosphere. Personallly I've been there when nothing seems to be happening for you and everything you touch on the pitch falls to dust. You just have to play through it, just like any sport and Arshavin is trying so hard, perhaps a bit too hard.

However, last night despite constant anti-Arsenal commentary on the BBC, Andrei managed to pull out two assists last night. Firstly providing a great corner for Koscielny and then excellent work to put through Cesc for the third. In terms of corners, Andrei put in about 4 of that exact same corner into the same area for Koscielny to attack and Fulop was able to get to most of them just before Koscielny but on that occasion he was slow to get off his line and Kos finished well. It was a good corner into a good area that consistently took the goalkeeper off of his line and into a dangerous area.

It was a good team performance though, Wilshire was excellent, Fabregas was commanding and battling, Bendtner looked a bit dangerous out on the wing and we were solid at the back. Though Ipswich offered very little going forward as they tried to defend their lead.

Now its all preperations for Huddersfield, another team performance required and we need to get this result first time. We cannot afford a reply this time. Our upcoming fixture list is congested enough thank you!

For now though, for a brief few minutes - Congratulations Gooners, We're in the Final.

WG

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Bring on the pies, another result needed

Tonight we head to the DW Stadium, where another good result will send us into the new year in a great position. On paper its a result we should walk but the Christmas period often sprouts some odd results.

I'm thinking the line-up will look something like the below, though changes might be made due to fitness or knocks after the Chelski game.

Fabianski
Sagna	Squillaci Koscielny			Clichy
	Song Wilshire
Walcott		Robin Van Persie		Nasri
		Chamakh

With Cesc being injured, I expect Wenger to swap about some players about. I expect Chamakh to return and perhaps with RvP in a withdrawn creative role behind. Its difficult to predict the line-ups but I hope it looks something like the above. You never want to change a winning side.

In terms of a result, we should get this. Wigan are a battling side who have improved massively since the start of the season. Ali Al-Habsi has been playing extremely well in goal and they have been defending better too. Their main issue is scoring goals, their strikers could hardly be called prolific.

Not to dismiss them, with weary legs this is a tough encounter, but there's noone i'd rather play off the back of the Chelsea result. Lets banish the memory of last season, hit them for about 6 and have a great party in the DW. Let them eat pie and we will run riot.

WG

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Staking a claim, right through scumbag Terry's face...

In big games like last night it needs a collective team performance to get a positive result. Last night we got that. Many are pointing to the waning star of Chelsea as a reason for the victory. I think that does Arsenal a disservice and we have much to be proud of,.

I'm loathed to pick out individual performances from such a fantastic team effort, but here are some that stood out for me.

- Wilshire, Young Jack excelled last night. Showing a maturity above his years he was no over-awed by the occasion and excelled in his role. Up against the likes of Fat Frank and Essien he played extremely well and its worth noting that the central midfield of Chelsea were very poor last night. Even swapping Mikel for Ramires did not inspire an insipid performance, no doubt they were hampered by the bustling of Wilshire, Fabregas and Song.

- Song, A great performance by the guy that Wenger said lacked the engine to be a central midfielder (no doubt kidology to make him work harder in training). He was snapping at heels from the first whistle to the last and covered every blade of grass. He's not perfect, but his goal was well taken and his performance deserves noting. His contribution in keeping Chelsea's midfield quiet was significant.

- Fabregas, Back to his mercurial best, if not trying a bit hard at times, it was a great game to have him for, his dynamism, drive and vision was a constant thorn to Chelsea and he deserved the applause he got when Wenger brought him off early to an ovation. Excellent performance from the skipper.

- Djourou & Koscielny, Both played extremely well last night to shackle the Drog. Both showed the best and worst of their games. Koscielny wandered once or twice into midfield and got caught when Chelsea broke, Djourou's timing of headers and runs with opponents was a bit hit and miss but between them an excellent performance.

- Theo, always a threat last night. Cashley was in trouble as soon as he got that stupid booking for kicking the ball away. Theo went past him time and time again and put in crosses (mostly poor) and had a shot on target which forced an excellent save from Cech. Theo's vision to put Cesc through clean on goal was excellent and he showed great composure to score his goal. Another performance showing the best and worst of a young professional who is clearly improving and showed that in abundance last night.

So, in summary and excellent performance all round. Not one player did poorly and will have much to be happy with today. Next game is paramount however, you're only as good as your last game and we need to go to the DW up 'ere in Wigan tomorrow night and get a result.

I'll see you there in the cold and rain Gooners, its a shame Cesc is suspended, he'd have ruined Hendry Thomas and Diame.

WG.

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Daft goal, but we didnt deserve a bean.

We worked hard for 90 mins, we pressed and we probed but we didn't create much at all.

It was an excellent PL debut for Sczcesny, he was commanding and communicated well. He kept us in the game at times and did himself much credit.

Defensively, we were ok, not brilliant but mostly tidy. What annoys me is that noone twigged that the balls that Sagna and Clichy were putting in were just being batted out. It was too easy for Ferdinand and Vidic. If ManYoo wanted us to have posession outside of the box we should have put more players forward.

We never looked like gambling, Cesc was thrown on in desperation, but he is nowhere near match fit. I would rather have seen Bendtner coming on and bustling about up front. We should have thrown the sink at them. RvP was far too deep, he's not a midfielder, he's a striker.

But we didnt throw the sink, or even the fridge and I lost a few quid. Poo.

WG

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Fabianski to face late fitness test - could be goals-a-plenty!

Seems like Fabianski has got his priorities all wrong and got himself injured just before this crunch game tonight. Selfish little bugger.

Needless to say I hope he's fit, I like Sczcesny but I'm not sure he's ready for a game like tonight, but then saying that, how will we ever know he's ready until he steps up and plays. Its a big game tonight and we need big performances to get a result. We can't rely on them slipping up. Our 'A' game has to be in force tonight.

I'm hoping to see the following players take the field tonight;

Fabianski
Sagna	Squillaci Djourou			Clichy
	Song Fabregas/Wilshire
Nasri		Robin Van Persie		Arshavin
		Chamakh

RvP will be crucial tonight. It will be his link-play and creativity that will release Chamakh against the ManYoo defence, that will send the on-fire Nasri through to burn a hole in the net and for cheeky little Arshavin to dart into the box and bang one in. RvP will be the artist, ensuring that Fabregas doesn't need to play if he isn't quite fit.

This is a game that will mean much in the title race, it removes that game that ManYoo have in hand and makes us top of the table by right and not default.

It takes us one full step closer, when the challengers are making baby steps. Am I excited, yes I definitely am. Can we win? Yes we can, but its about belief and performance.

WG

p.s. I'd put a punt on Nasri, he's still hotter than a playboy bunny on the pitch.

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The importance of being Samir - Part 2

See part 1 here

Samir Nasri's career has been meteoric. He began playing with Marseille when he was just 9 years old. He rose through the youth ranks and he started playing in Ligue 1 in the 2004/2005 season at the age of 17, where he started 13 games and came on as a substitute in 11 games, scoring one goal.

In the 2005-2006 season he saw European action in the form of the UEFA cup where he played 10 games and then the UEFA Intertoto Cup where he played one game and scored on his debut and only game in the competition.

I have nicked the below career stats from Wikipedia to highlight his career so far.

As of 4 December 2010 ^[19]

Club	Season	League			Cup [20] [21]			Europe			Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Marseille	2004-05	24	1	0	1	0	-	0	0	0	25	1	-
	2005-06	30	1	0	5	0	-	11	0	0	46	1	-
	2006-07	38	3	6	7	0	-	4	0	0	49	3	6
	2007-08	30	6	11	4	0	-	8	0	3	42	6	14
Total		122	11	17	17	0	-	23	0	3	162	11	20
Arsenal	2008-09	29	6	2	5	0	3	10	1	0	44	7	5
	2009-10	26	2	5	2	0	1	6	3	0	34	5	6
	2010-11	13	8	1	2	2	0	4	1	2	19	11	3
Total		68	16	8	9	2	4	20	5	2	97	23	14
Career Total		190	27	25	26	2	4	43	5	5	259	34	34

At 23 years old, he's played a considerable amount of football. For the purposes of this article I am not going to look at his international career as the games are infrequent and selection doesn't necessarily reflect form.

I'm sure its relevant that we are seeing the best of Samir now that Gallas is no longer at Arsenal. Bundle that with a settled home life and we are reaping the benefits. Deemed as something of a playboy in his final days at Marseille, it is refreshing to know he is still in a steady relationship with Tatiana Golovin - a french Tennis player who lives with him in Hampstead.

I remember watching him vs Porto where he danced through the defence and scored. I went practically mental at that and spent the next ten mins trying to convince the mrs to watch the replay. I said at the time I wished he would do that more often and its refreshing to see another of my wishes come true.

Samir has taken his best ability, the ability to control the ball at full pace and is applying it against the opposition far more regularly this season. I think this is more to do with his advanced position, starting farther up the pitch, closer to the opposition back line. At pace he's terrifying. You either foul him or let him through.

Long may it continue, because with him in the side, Arshavin, Fabregas and Rosicky have someone to play with, someone to read that stabbed first-time pass into space behind the opposition. Something that Samir is excellent at. Don't be fooled into thinking he is Fabregas-lite, Wenger doesn't want to replace Fabregas with Samir, Samir is something else altogether.

WG

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One small step..one giant leap

Arsenal take on Braga tonight in a Champions league tie that should promise much for us Arsenal fans. It should see the return to the starting line up for Wilshire, perhaps a rest for Fabregas and Chamakh with Nasri taking up the Fabregas role and a rare start for Bendtner perhaps?

This should be a game where Walcott and Rosicky (both of whom I expect to start) attempt to stake their claim for a more regular starting berth. I really really like Rosicky and I see the benefit every time he is on the pitch. Walcott has been struggling to repeat his early season form since his injury but will want to prove himself again.

Tonights opponents, humbled at the Emirates promise to be a bit wiser this time. The manager and their supporters are happy to play for a draw and have said as much in the media and on Arsenal.com. Don't be fooled, Braga know a win against us would see them cement their 3rd place and put them level on points with us in the group, albeit being 3rd due to goal difference.

Partizan have nothing but pride to play for and I don't expect them to prove tough opposition to Shakhtar. Which turns the game tonight into a Must-win....another one...as they all are from here until may.

We can't afford to drop any points here, if we win at least we've qualified, job done, play the kids in the last group game. That should be the focus tonight. Get the result we should have got in Shakhtar.

WG

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Unbeaten on Merseyside since 2007

The thing about Arsenal this season is that I'm still not sure which Arsenal will turn up to a game. Wednesdays performance against Wolves was awesome, it was a committed, determined performance and we aquitted ourselves very well against the physical threat of Wolves.

I didn't feel concerned pre-Everton. I really rate them as a side (they always start the season badly (poor pre-season?) ) and David Moyes continues to work tiny miracles on a half-shoestring budget but I felt if we took the intensity from Wednesday to the table then it would be us feasting on the sunday roast by 4pm.

Things conspired against me to post the above pre-match. No excuses about the game however, I watched it and I was pleased to see that intensity again. The determination stemming from Fab4 set the marker for our performance. We were in control for the 90 minutes and it was disappointing to concede that goal in the dying minutes. Albeit a scrappy goal, I felt we didnt really help ourselves by not keeping the ball and clearing our lines better.

All in all though an excellent away performance against a top side. Lets not fool ourselves, Everton aren't rubbish and will be around the top 6 by the end of the season. Chamakh played well yesterday, his movement constantly keeping Jagielka and Heitinga on their toes. Great goal by Sagna (66-1, might have a quid on him for the next game, these things seem to go in sequences) to beat Howard at his near post and his first goal for two years.

Great news with Chelski getting done by the Mackems!! I had a feeling the ascendency was with the Mackems pre-match so I had a couple of quid on sunderland to beat chelsea at 17-1. Result.

I'll be posting something this afternoon about Aaron Ramsey and his reintegration this month.

WG

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Thrown to the Wolves - Arsenal bite back.

Arsenal, on the back of two losses, face Wolves on Wednesday night. After the disappointment of losing to Newcastle in the Premier League we travel knowing that there can be no second chances this week. We will need to be vicious, efficient, powerful.

What can be taken from the last two games? Wilshire continues to grow in stature and performance. He was awesome at the weekend. Fabregas will feel he has something to prove after two lacklustre performances in the last two Premier League matches. RvP made his return, though he is a country mile off fitness and Chamakh proved that the run of constant games is taking its toll, he's exhausted and needs a rest.

So what is in store for tomorrow night? I hope that the boys take on board the obvious points from the weekend. We did not penetrate enough or convert our chances. This cannot happen tomorrow. We need to put down another marker and stamp on Wolves. I don't want it to be a war, I really don't want to see any of our players get injured. I want a fast, mobile, efficient performance. Its about time Rosicky got another game to be honest. Perhaps rest Fabregas and play Rosicky in that role?

I really think Fabianski will have a great game tomorrow night. He's shown character in the past when criticised and I see no reason why we won't see that again.

Come on you Gunners, go up there and give 'em a whoopin!

WG

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Playing within yourself-the Cesc Fabregas Story

Having injuries is a nightmare. We've seen it time and time again with players who are still carrying the psychological scars following an injury. Players like Walcott, Djourou and Van Persie who've been unlucky with injuries will all tell you the same. The physical injury is only half the problem.

Sundays game carried an air of despondency which has been highlighted across the blogosphere with Fabregas being vilified for a below-par performance. You can see it in his face. He's scared stiff of doing his hamstrings again. He doesn't want to become the next Van Persie or Michael Owen who just have to sneeze and they're on the treatment table.

I feel for him, he's given so much for us (and been handsomely paid for it mind!) and I wish I could wave a wand and make that worry go away. Arsenal needed him yesterday and unfortunately he didn't feel able to step up. I'm loathed to believe the hyperbole that his mind isn't on the Arsenal job as he's always been very honest about his allegiances and how much he feels he owe's Arsenal and Arsene Wenger.

I wonder whether he's reeling from this weekend's press reports about Arsene's supposed infidelity. Certainly he idolises Wenger and hearing that perhaps he isn't as perfect as he seems to be could have affected Fab's mental state.

Its all speculation, but if someone I viewed as a 2nd father figure suddenly went from being practically god to me to suddenly being flawed and human it would probably shock me too. I'm not saying Wenger is or has been up to anything, practically I couldn't care less but there is a chance it could have affected the onfield performance of our players.

Lets hope its all sorted soon.

WG

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