Arsenal Vs Birmingham | Premiership 16/10/10

[Rockin' Robin]

At least MOTD were kind to us for once though!

He does both, he dives and he usually goes down easily, the latter is part of his game, though. I think it's a natural action because I've seen it so often in almost every match since he began at 18. Sometimes he does some really dick-head actions when he gets desperate, like last season using his hand to clear a corner in our own box and cost us a penalty. He cheats, but Bordeaux wins, and he scores in important games, so everyone forgets.

[Inchpräctice]

3 much needed points yesterday but the manner in which we got them left a strange taste in my mouth.
Chamakh is clearly used to going down easily and theatrically and as a gooner I'm not used to seeing my players do that on a regular basis.
He's done it several times this season and the first few I'd sort of turned a blind eye to, thinking that Wenger would soon slap that out of him but it appears that he hasn't....
Someone in this thread likened it to the Rooney/Almunia dive and that's the perfect comparison imo. Yes there was contact in both cases (so it's not as bad as Conaldo) but just as in the Rooney case he was going down before the contact happened.
Personally I'd have preferred if he'd tried to say on his feet and score a f***ing goal.

As for the Diaby good/bad debate he looked like a driving force going forwards and dribbles very well at high speeds but he's still not quite there yet.
Better than he was last season though imo.

For me personally I still think it's a crime that Diaby and Jack are started ahead of Rosicky.
I know Jack is playing very well at the moment but as soon as Rosicky comes on there are more shots on goal, more accurate crosses into the box and less sideways passing. He's just a more direct and dynamic player who plays at a higher tempo.
It's a shame that a player with all that experience is being benched in favour of kids who haven't really proved themselves yet.

And I agree with everyone who said the commentary was utter f***ing bollocks. I watched Football First and the Sky 2 pundits were total arseholes who spent the entire game calling Chamakh a diver and saying that he's just as bad as Conaldo.



At least MOTD gave us a break and actually praised Wilshere which makes a change, must be cos he's English.

[Dejan]

is it possible to watch MOTD back on the net? Wonder what they said about us

[Git]

is it possible to watch MOTD back on the net? Wonder what they said about us

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodispl ... d-7230796/

Welcome.

[Inchpräctice]

Oh I almost forgot (probably a good thing) but Fabianski was very very solid yesterday from what I saw in the 60 minute highlights.
All credit to him for that. Maybe he really has turned a corner....? *touches wood*

[Inchpräctice]

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archiv ... r-reaction

Wenger: 'Jack said he deserved the red card'

on Jack Wilshere's red card...
He mistimed his tackle and he got the red card he deserved. But it was his first tackle in the game and you have to acknowledge that he got a red card and he deserved it but he didn't spend the whole game kicking people. He played football and was one of the best players on the football pitch. Unfortunately it happened to him but I think it was more frustration. He didn't want to harm the player - he mistimed his tackle. We do not complain about his red card but you cannot say he had a dirty game.

on Wilshere's team play...
He is a complete player. He played defensively well, offensively well, and I believe that overall he had a very good game, a very influential game. He was very reliable defensively and very creative going forward.

on raising the issue of tackling with his players...
Of course I will. You know we are the team who has the most fouled committed against them. I encourage my players to play football but we got a red card we deserved and what can we do about it? Nothing else. Wilshere will be suspended for three games and he will be punished.

on what Jack said about the challenge...
He said he mistimed his tackle and touched him on the ankle and deserved the red card

on having two powerful strikers up front...
Bendtner doesn't look ready yet on what we have seen today. He needs a few more weeks. He has not played regular football for a long time and you do not come back straight away like that into competition.

on Marouane Chamakh...
Since the beginning of the season you look at how many times he has been decisive at 0-0 or 1-1, you will be surprised how influential he is in the team.

on a vital three points...
it was imperative and I believe we played with nerves. It was nervy for us because you could see our fluency was a bit affected by the fact that we had not won for two games. We played a little bit with the handbrake in the final third, especially when we were 2-1 up, and it was never comfortable today. You could see that and feel that in the way we played.

on coming from behind to win...
For us we were backs to the wall considering the championship [situation] and as well in a position where we had absolutely to win and we were 1-0 down. So it was even more difficult. But I cannot fault anybody too much on the goal we conceded because it was a wonderful header like we used to see in England 30 or 40 years ago. There's not a lot you can do about it. But I must say overall that Fabianski had a good game.

on Abou Diaby...
I think he was dangerous many times. His finishing let him down a little bit and I believe that overall he is still not the Diaby he was before his ankle injury. He is still bothered by it and I don't believe he plays completely free of pain.

on Andrey Arshavin's form...
Andrey had two games with Russia and today he lacked a bit of physical sharpness. He was never really sharp today.

Unlike AW to comment on individual performances e.g. Diaby and Arshavin.

I do like it when he does though....

[Git]

That's very interesting actually.

[GunnGunn]

Anyone think that the Almunia/Fabi situation is remarkably similar to the Lehmann/Almunia one?

My thoughts on the game starting from the back.

Fabianski was sensational, complete performance, some of the saves/catches were superb and he just looks a different player.

He conceded what was IMO something very few would have saved yet he just seemed to get angry rather than down and every move after that had so much intent to get the ball, its so great to see him not being bullied at set pieces anymore.

Defence overall IMO was solid, Squillaci is becoming one of my fave players every game, i love the fact that he is just a no nonsense CB who has slotted in so seamlessly, nobody seems to think he is there, he is like an invisible rock.

Nothing they could do about the header either, Zigic had a good 5 inches over Djourou standing up and he jumped about 10 more getting on the end of it.

Song was great, looked back to his old self, crunching tackles, still thinks he is Pele but meh, if he does both well i don't care.

Wilshere...ruined a sensational appearence with a needless challenge, i do think Shearer was right however, a couple of years ago that would have been a yellow, he lost the ball and poorly attempted to win it back, i didn't think it was a clear over the ball challenge myself, he seemed to go in on the side of his boot and caught him.

I like his feisty nature however, he has the technique of a Dutch/Spanish/Brazilian player yet the grit and work rate of an English player, he is in many ways unique and its the same for a hell of a lot of English players coming through our ranks.

I am glad AW didn't defend him, and i am glad that Wilshere admitted it was a bad challenge and apologized, at 18 its normal to have a reckless nature like that especially when the team you grew up with is being slagged off.

Diaby = Beast, seemed to be playing an advanced central role, great performance, span off of every challenge and was really strong on the ball, one thing that frustrated me however is that he can score long range shots and he can finish superbly, so i wish he would have had a punt himself a bit more...

Nasri was just Nasri, arguably our best player, he has really stepped up this season not just game wise but he seems to me to be so much more mature, he looks like a Captain on the field, don't know if its just me but everything just seems to revolve around him at the moment, he isn't ever going to be a replacement for Cesc, not because of ability, but purely because i think Nasri is his own player with his own unique traits, and him and Wilshere really get on well and you can see it when they play.

Arshavin was Arshavin, lazy, maybe slightly fatigued but no excuse...how he has scored 5 goals and has 6 assists in 10 games is truly mind boggling, could you imagine if he has the workrate of Chamakh? They guy would be leaving Messi for dust...

Chamakh, seriously one of my favourite players around right now, dived on clear contact to win a penalty, he is a smart striker and his goal was sublime, i don't think he got lucky i think he knew exactly what he wanted to do and pulled it off superbly.

[starmandb]

Fabianski and Djourou

Thats worth at least a goal conceded

07/08
sunrlan0...us1
08/09
cc...us6...shff..ut..0...vry..goo..gam..from..jourou
chams...lagu....uso..fnrbahc.....o...
cc....us...trio...wigan....0
both....fabianski..an..jourou..ha..vry..goo..gams
fa..cu..cariff..0..us..0...jourou..ha..a..vry..goo..gam
us..a..trio..burnly..0
ortsmouth...0...us..a..trio

[starmandb]

According to the commentator here... Arsenal have lost 7 of the last 10 matches Fabianski has played in goal...

No wonder I don't like him.

i..woul..o..my..own..rsarch...bfor..amning..1..of..our..own...its..5....in...10

[Est83]

I am now fluent in starmandb's "stat talk" language. Yay!

If Djourou does turn out good, I can give you all the finger and say "I f**king told you so!!!". I also stuck by Flappy... that was until I saw Mannone and Szczesny and thought "why the f**k is this guy standing in the way of two great young keepers!?!". But anyway, has ANOYONE other than Wenger stuck by Flappy? I'm sure the guys mum even thought he was shit at one point!

[starmandb]

I am now fluent in starmandb's "stat talk" language. Yay!

If Djourou does turn out good, I can give you all the finger and say "I f**king told you so!!!". I also stuck by Flappy... that was until I saw Mannone and Szczesny and thought "why the f**k is this guy standing in the way of two great young keepers!?!". But anyway, has ANOYONE other than Wenger stuck by Flappy? I'm sure the guys mum even thought he was shit at one point!

i...hav....h....wars...th...shirt

[Est83]

Nope... I've lost it! Definitely not fluent!

[SE13]

I think someone has a keyboard problem!

[starmandb]

where did the [always shit v birmingham]come from prior to saturdays game?
our title hopes may have ended there last term but in 07/08 we were still in the box seat despite eduardo,s injury,the late pen and gallas meltdown.
last season at the emirates against them we were very good
diaby and fabregas were superb
gibbs,rosicky,song,rvp and arshavin[when he came on] were very good