Arsene, playing in the snow is not the best move

Arsenal 2, Everton 2

I didn't see the first half, but I heard that Arsenal weren't that good. More on that in a minute. What didn't surprise me was that Arsenal aren't really a snow team. Arsene seemed upset that we couldn't get the game in on Wednesday against Bolton. I understood his reaction. At home against a mangerless Bolton we should have won, so against Everton there was no chance of a cancellation. But in retrospect it should have been cancelled. Arsesnal are never going to be that good in the snow. And it was true, and the result, a draw plus it looked like Denilson out for a couple of months after being stretchered off. He had been fouled by Neville earlier. A high kick not called, but he went down now under no pressure late in the second half. Either his back or hamstring. So all in all a game that should have been cancelled. I just wonder what Arsene was thinking.

The conditions were terrible. Blizzard conditions. The field was like an away game, or at least it neutralized our game. A team like Everton, all guts and grits, big hackers at the back like Phil Neville and the big hair bloke broke up our attack. Full marks to Everton they played the way they play.

I did see the second half. We were industrious and had a few chances but couldn't break through. We had a penalty shout and Everton were scrappy in defence. No one on Arsenal shone through. Rosicky came on for Ramsey. Eduardo had a chnace but didn't want to shoot with his right. Traore looked weak at the back beaten for pace by Donovan. Gallas was beaten by Pinaar. But Arsenal was the better side in the 2nd half, I felt, but neither was that good. The Everton countered and beat Arsenal at their own game going up 2-1. It started with a give away by Rosicky in the attacking third, 1-2-3. A goal. Arsenal then went off the boil and Everton had 3 or 4 corners in a row resulting from bonehead defending by Traore. We pressed and pressed for a goal, finally got one from a Diaby run and a decent finish from Rosicky which took a defelection.

In the end a decent result, seeing as we were looking like losers. But the result puts into perspective that without Fabregas, with RVP and without Walcott we lack pace and trickery and play making. There have been some lucky wins and not convincing performances, but the team has been on a decent run. Hopefully the run will continue against Bolton. But if it it snowing ...

Almunia-4
Obvious the defenders don't trust him anymore
Sagna-6
Provided a good outlet on the wing for crosses, some of which were decent
Gallas-6; Vermaelen-6
Why was Traore and Nasri the last 2 back on the second goal?
Traore-4
Had a bad game. Donovan went passed him easily, unnecessarily conceded 2 corners at the end.
Diaby-7
Is in a real good run of form at the moment.
Denilson-6
Is not Song. Somewhat lucky goal, which we needed. And what happened when he fell down?
Ramsey-5
Disappointing from him, as his last 2 games had been very good.
Nasri-6.5
Was alright.
Arshavin-5
Had maybe one good run. He can't play in that centre forward role, he gets to isolated.
Eduardo-6
Played alright.
Rosicky-6.5
Gave ball away for the second goal, but his goal made up for it.
Vela and Merida-N/A

West Ham 1-2 Arsenal: Gunners come back

First of all, I would like to wish all the readers a happy new year. We haven't been able to post because we were out of town.
Arsenal played West Ham on Sunday, and Arsene Wenger sent out a somewhat weaker side to the one that played against Portsmouth. Almunia, Arshavin, Nasri, Traore and Diaby all rested, and Fabianski, Vela, Wilshere, Merida and Silvestre came in to replace them. Andrey Arshavin, who is carrying a bruise on his foot, was left out completely.
The first half was scrappy, and West Ham seemed to be the team more into the game. Arsenal had a couple of chances, one where Eduardo was gifted the ball, but his shot was saved by Green. Vela made a good run, and then back heeled to Wilshere, but the youngster, instead of shooting, tried to dribble pass the West Ham defence. Their goal came in injury time; Arsenal's back line stepped up, but Silvestre played Diamanti onside, and he finished despite Fabianski getting a hand to it. In the second half, West Ham started the better, and were exploiting their right wing, with Stanislas easily beating Silvestre a couple of times. It took the introduction of Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby to turn it around for Arsenal, and soon after they came on, Robert Green made a double save from Diaby and Alex Song. But the goal would soon come, and Song played Vela in, who then played in Ramsey who finished with his left foot, and thats now 2 in the last week for the young Welshman. The second goal came 5 minutes later when Song again passed to Vela who's good cross was met by Eduardo's looping header, and Green, despite getting a hand to it could not keep it out. 2-1 Arsenal, and West Ham were finished.
Player Ratings
Fabianski-6.5
Not his fault on the goal, made on good save, had nothing to do really.
Sagna-6.5
Nothing too spectacular, solid defensively
Gallas-6.5
Ditto
Vermaelen-6.5
Ditto
Silvestre-6
Easily beaten, played Diamanti onside. When he went forward, he was exposed, and thats why he's not good at left back.
Ramsey-8
Very nice goal, and general play was good. Last year I would've bet on Wilshere being the more involved player this year, but Ramsey has developed very well this year.
Song-7
Started off poorly, but when Diaby came on played much better. Heavily involved in the build up for both goals. We'll miss him at the ACN, hope Cameroon is eliminated quickly.
Merida-6
Started off ok, but then really really faded.
Wilshere-6
Could not get involved, made 2 mess ups at the back that almost cost us.
Eduardo-7
Good header, and we played much better with him through the middle.
Vela-7.5
2 assists for the young Mexican, and he played much better on the wings then in the middle.
Nasri-7
Game changed for the better when Nasri and Diaby came on.
Diaby-7.5
Ditto; he always makes good driving runs from the midfield, today was no different, and could've scored except for a good save from Green.

Arsenal drew Stoke away in the fourth round; that will be played on the 23/24 of January.

Arsenal 3-0 Hull City: Take that Phil Brown

Well, since Arsenal scored three times I should eat my hat. Yet, in the first half the game was not as the score line suggested. Arsenal’s passing was not sharp, the movement was not that great Hull played only one up front, and since they are among the leagues lowest scorers away they didn’t really threaten but neither did we, everything we did seemed to break down around the 18 yard area and many of the final passes were into traffic. There was not the quick movement that we had in the first games of the season. Perhaps it is tiredness. Again not having a tall target man was an issue, Arshavin looked stranded up front. All this changed with Denilson’s free kick which dipped over the wall with, I think, a great amount of back and side spin as it moved into the corner. Lovely goal. Apparently, Denilson wasn’t on “the list” to take the free kick but perhaps he will be now. Earlier, I thought Nasri and Eduardo hooked up well on the short corner. I was happy to see that since, again the high ball into the box has had relatively little pay off.

So into the second half, it was all Arsenal with renewed confidence. Hull had to come out and we had more space. Inexplicably, however, a penalty was given against Silvestre (who had a decent game against a fairly weak side) for pulling a shirt in the box. Completely mad, since it looked like it was mutual shirt pulling and also since how many times have we seen rugby type tackles in the box with no consequence. Perhaps it was payback for the free kick goal that was the result of a foul on Diaby—commentators said it was sort—but I thought it was a foul. So it was Diaby’s run that led to the goal and another run, with a one twos with Song that led to the second, a tap in by Eduardo. Eduardo had earlier produced a wonderful pirouette turning a through pass from Arshavin to be one on one with the goalkeeper. But he shot wide and when Eduardo’s goal came, he didn’t seem much bothered; perhaps he celebrates only when something special happens. He had a decent game, a good shot early on, some nice back heels that didn’t work out but showed he was linking up. Again against tougher opponents, who knows, but he looks to be getting back on track. The same can be said of Walcott, who came on for Nasri and made a couple of very nice runs. He too missed what should have been the fourth. The third, of course, came from Diaby, who had one of his best games—I don’t want to jinx it since he is a streaky player who then gets injured—but it was a great run, taking a pass from Arshavin, again through the middle and beating off a challenge while hammering the ball past the goal keeper.

So in the end it all came together, everything clicked and we looked good, but it took awhile and I thought we looked poor for the first 40 minutes. However there is an eight day rest now and a chance to get some players back …

Player Ratings, by Aidan G

Aluminia-7

Had a good recovery from some awful games. Good pen save

Eboue-7

Good going forward

Gallas-7

Comfortably dealt with the Hull attacks

Vermaelen-7

ditto

Silvestre-6.5

Not his fault on the penalty, which was one of the weirdest penalties ever. Silvestre frightens me, and him against Ashley Young does not fill me with excitement.

Denilson-7.5

Big goal which we really needed. Played well, but I'll be happy to see Cesc back.

Song-7

Not one of his best, but good interplay for the second goal

Diaby-8

Am I right in saying his best ever game for Arsenal? It's games like these when I see why Arsene likes him. It games like the one against Burnley where I see why I don't like him all the time.

Nasri-6.5

Not his best game, deserved to be sent off, luckily Hull decided to show off their aggro which took him off the hook.

Eduardo-7

Got into good decisions, missed one chance, but tapped in the other. Nice to see him get a goal.

Arshavin-6.5

Did assist for Diaby, but seemed to be isolated a lot in the first half.

Walcott-6.5

Showed off his pace, but also missed a fairly easy chance from a long ball.

Vela-6

Didn't do much in his cameo

Ramsey-6.5

Got involved in his sub role. Nice to get him a game.

Burnely v Arsenal Player Ratings

Almunia- 4.5
Does not fill me with confidence. Caused a back header early with a lack of communication, and looked bad on the goal disallowed. Also, he can't kick the ball out.
Sagna-5.5
Wasn't there for me attacking wise.
Gallas-5.5
Seemed to get burned once or twice. Missed a header at the end, didn't perform well.
Vermaelen-5
Needless challenge for the penalty. His first bad Arsenal game.
Silvestre-4
Can't defend, can't pass, can't cross. I would much rather have Eboue or Tom Crusie at Left back.
Fabregas-7
How much we missed him when he went off. Was the driving force of the attack, and should've had a second. How much will we miss him? Hopefully, only misses the Hull City game.
Song-7.5
Worked hard, made some of the best passes, defended well. Most consistent Arsenal player
Diaby-6.5
Seems to give the ball away too easily, and his first touch is poor. Still, I guess he's needed for the physicality.
Nasri-5.5
Didn't create enough when we needed him.
Arshavin-5.5
Got too isolated in the attack, had one shot from the top of the penalty box that he his straight at Jensen.
Walcott-4
Got isolated too easily, and really really poor. I know he's coming back from injury, but he was poor against Chelsea, and Olympiakos, and Liverpool. He can't beat defenders, and makes the wrong decision at times.
Eduardo-5
Didn't do anything. Had one run where he pulled out when Jensen came out, which I think is fear of his leg.
Ramsey-5.5
Couldn't replace Cesc adequately enough, though few do. He looks promising, but still needs to develop.

Arsenal v Stoke City, player ratings

Almunia -- 4.5
The Arsenal goalkeeper really does not inspire confidence, and was saved by Vermaelen and Gallas as he seemed to go to no man's land on the long throws on a couple of occasions.
Sagna -- 7
Had a good game, his usual solid self defensively
Gallas -- 7.5
Dealt with the long throws and set pieces well today, as we all knew of Stoke's threat. Silvestre and Song's performance defensively in the mid week showed how much we would miss either him and Vermaelen, and hopefully his knock isn't serious.
Vermaelen -- 7.5
I could write almost the exact same thing for Vermaelen as I did for Gallas. Glad to see his return to form after Drogba terrorized him last week.
Traore -- 7
Best performance from him. His cross lead to the blocked Fabregas shot, and he played well defensively. Obviously his ankle knock is a concern, especially as Silvestre is the replacement.
Denilson -- 7
Replaced Song really well. Made some very good tackles, and his performance was overall excellent.
Fabregas -- 7
Passed well, set up Arshavin early, and passed well. His missed penalty, however was a dissapointment.
Nasri -- 7
Tackled well, played well, and was solid. Like the rest of the team, played better today than last week.
Rosicky -- 6
Started brightly, but then somewhat faded at the end of the first half, and it was either this or a picked up injury that prompted Arsene to take him off.
Eboue -- 7.5
I think he played really well. Obviously he had some passes go astray because he's Eboue, but he was good attacking, making some very good runs. He couldn't do anything about Cesc's shot, and we seemed to lose something on the right when he came off (even though Ramsey scored). Hope he's not out for that long.
Arshavin -- 8
Magnificent in the centre forward role. Probably should've had at least one more goal, but the one he took was finished brilliantly. I think he should take Van Persie's role.
Subs
Vela-- 7
Added a different option with his pace when he replaced Rosicky, and has very good ability. I think he should start instead of Eduardo, who was dropped completely (probably injured.)
Ramsey--7
Slower than Eboue and a different team, and seemed to give the ball away easily, but took his goal very well after good play between him and Arshavin.
Silvestre--N/A
Frightens me when he plays. Complete nightmare.