Bolton Vs Arsenal | Premiership 29/03/08

[arseman]

Credit where credit is due great come back but the fact still remains this was Bolton it should have been a very easy 3 points.

not meaning to be confrontational, but how should it have been an easy 3 points

-they are our bogey team, we havent won at the reebok in a number of years (6 i think??)

-they have beaten "the" man utd at home this year as well

-its too easy just too say because where they are in the league it is an easy match, they represent the style of team that makes it notoriously difficult for arsenal to play against


should we be beating them? yes, but its one of our hardest away games of the season outside the top 4

Not to mention these are the type of games that we struggled in last season.

It was a fluke winning goal away to Everton that sparked off our winning run that took us to the title in 2002, let's this match is a similar turning point.

[Fabrestuta]

Again I must repeat myself. Bolton were our bogey team under Allardyce, you cannot compare Megsons team to that one. Bolton are shite this season, their league position doesn't lie. They don't have the same steel they had under fat Sam, and they lost their best player in the transfer window. The fact is we dropped points against Birmingham, Wigan and Boro, and almost dropped points against Bolton. We should have absolutely hammered at least 2 of them under normal circumstances.

For years we gave Boro a thrashing every time we played them (under McClaren), but under Southgate that hasn't happened, so how can you say Bolton are our bogey team?

Put it this way, Forest won back to back European Cups under Brian Clough, does that mean that under every manager after him they are the best team in Europe?

[SE13]

Well, it's not like me to miss a game, but I had a good reason yesterday, so only watched the highlights this morning.

First, the red card. No complaints here. Straight red, no arguements. Studs up, into the standing leg.

Second, the conceded goals. One deflected, although we really should have done better in the build up to that goal. The other again was poor defending.

Finally, the turning point. For me, it was the save from Almunia. I don't think he knew a lot about it, but it prevented Arsenal from going three behind. The comeback was second to none! Theo terrorised them. Hleb was slick. The build up to the penalty was simply breathtaking.

Overall, a thoroughly deserved win, against the odds after 45 minutes. This result could well be the moment Arsenal kick into form again. The sheer desire from them in the second half must give hope for a turn in fortunes.

Next up, the triple header against Liverpool. On the back of the second half, surely some real hope of not only three points, but progression into The Semi-Final of The Champions League too. Confidence must be oozing now.

[She_Gunner_Wales]

TBH i was saying to GES last night that yesterdays game could well be the turning point to get us out of this blip, to come back from 2-0 down, away from home with 10 men is brilliant.

[absolutely_fabregas]

Again I must repeat myself. Bolton were our bogey team under Allardyce, you cannot compare Megsons team to that one. Bolton are shite this season, their league position doesn't lie. They don't have the same steel they had under fat Sam, and they lost their best player in the transfer window. The fact is we dropped points against Birmingham, Wigan and Boro, and almost dropped points against Bolton. We should have absolutely hammered at least 2 of them under normal circumstances.

For years we gave Boro a thrashing every time we played them (under McClaren), but under Southgate that hasn't happened, so how can you say Bolton are our bogey team?

Put it this way, Forest won back to back European Cups under Brian Clough, does that mean that under every manager after him they are the best team in Europe?

until we beat them on their own ground, there still will be a mental thing, as there is with a bogey team

their squad isnt changed too much 3 or 4 maybe? and our squad hasnt changed too much, so it would be playing on both sets of players minds

if we hadnt scored in the last min, we would have not beat them there in 6 or so years, so how can you try and say that bolton arent our bogey team at this stage?

[rodney]

I was at work listening on the bloody radio. Could only get talksport which was doing the West Ham game so all I had was updates every 15 mins or when a goal went in. It is one of the worst things going having to do that. When we scored the third I went mental. Was in the middle of serving a customer as well XD. The guy said there has been a goal at the Reebox lets find out which way it has gone. I was sure it would be Bolton, but when it was us I celebrated like I was at the game .

Watched the whole game on footie first. The first goal was down to a mistake from Kolo allowing Taylor to get in front of him. As with all of our recent games we'd had good possession, but in parts of the field in which we weren't going to hurt Bolton in. They have one counter attack and we're behind. Sometimes we really have to be quicker in moving the ball into dangerous positions. The second goal was down to more defensive errors. Clichy as usual was over confident in defence and instead of just booting it clear, played Flamini into trouble. Before he even had a chance to turn he was robbed of the ball and then Gallas turned his back on the shot.

Diaby fully deserved to be sent off, can't have any complaints. Was a late tackle and high and could have caused damage. Down to 10 men and two goals down what else do you expect when we visit the Reebok. Was going to take a minor miracle for us to get back into it and boy did we get it.

Off came big Phil when Kolo should have come off really and Bendtner who missed a couple of good chances and again failed to impress. The change of formation worked well for us though, although it wasn't the change in formation that got us back in the game. A good goal from Gallas after some dodgy defending from Bolton inspired the lads. The move for the second goal was brilliant and a shame Flamini didn't finish it off. We got the penalty and Robin dispacted it emphatically.

Robin missed a lot of chances at 2-2, but we got our goal anyway. Yes it was lucky, but who can say they give a shit. The title has gone, but finishing second would be a good achievement and give us a good stepping stone for next season. We must concentrate on over taking Chelsea now.

Well done you gunners.

[Fabrestuta]

Again I must repeat myself. Bolton were our bogey team under Allardyce, you cannot compare Megsons team to that one. Bolton are shite this season, their league position doesn't lie. They don't have the same steel they had under fat Sam, and they lost their best player in the transfer window. The fact is we dropped points against Birmingham, Wigan and Boro, and almost dropped points against Bolton. We should have absolutely hammered at least 2 of them under normal circumstances.

For years we gave Boro a thrashing every time we played them (under McClaren), but under Southgate that hasn't happened, so how can you say Bolton are our bogey team?

Put it this way, Forest won back to back European Cups under Brian Clough, does that mean that under every manager after him they are the best team in Europe?

until we beat them on their own ground, there still will be a mental thing, as there is with a bogey team

their squad isnt changed too much 3 or 4 maybe? and our squad hasnt changed too much, so it would be playing on both sets of players minds

if we hadnt scored in the last min, we would have not beat them there in 6 or so years, so how can you try and say that bolton arent our bogey team at this stage?

Fair point, but I think the fact that our form is so bad had more to do with needing a goal at the death, rather than the fact that we haven't beaten them at home for years. Your league position doesn't lie, Bolton are absolute rubbish and will probably go down, that wouldn't happen under fat Sam.
I don't hold any truth to the fact that because there's a lot of the same players its in their heads, going back to my comment about Boro, they have a lot of the same players they had under McClaren (and we used to thump them) but since Southgate took over we can't seem to beat them.

[dialsquare]

First off, great effort to come back from 2 down with 10 men, no arguements there,

I do see the point however that we maybe shouldn't have to perform these sort of heroics. I does seem to be a little too regular an occurance..we out play the opposition all ends up then conceed out of nothing. Is anyone else worried that we will out class Liverpool on Wednesday for 80 minutes and then Torres wll score from a long hoof (2000 FA Cup final ringing bells?)

[SE13]

Dear Supporter,

I can't remember a better comeback than the one at Bolton on Saturday. We were 2-0 down with 10 men with an hour to go, yet we won 3-2. It is a great credit to the team and I am very proud of our performance. We got a big blow last week at Chelsea and we responded as a team.

It was a mental test because everything looked to be going against us. Not only did their first shot on goal go in but we had a player sent off and just before half time they scored a second one. That was a big blow.

We knew at half time that 2-2 was not good enough. We had to continue to believe, show mental strength and play our game as much as we could. With 10 against 11 that is not easy.

We had a little period where we suffered for the 15 minutes after half time but the last 30 minutes was all us and we created chance after chance. The substitutions worked for us because Theo caused them a lot of problems. Adebayor did as well. His power brought us something straight away.

In the end we were a little lucky on the third goal but we kept going and got a very important victory.

As for Diaby's sending off, I was not upset with the decision but I felt it was more of a protective tackle. But he was too high so I don't complain. Just before that I thought it was a foul on him.

Thanks for your support.

[Fabrestuta]

Have to disagree with Le Boss, our best comeback was the Kanu hattrick against the chavs. But now I'm just nitpicking, because I can't remember the last time I seen him show so much emotion than when the 3rd goal went in at the Reebok..

[arseman]

Have to disagree with Le Boss, our best comeback was the Kanu hattrick against the chavs. But now I'm just nitpicking, because I can't remember the last time I seen him show so much emotion than when the 3rd goal went in at the Reebok..

If, against all odds, we somehow win the league, this might just be the best comeback, as we might view it as the turning point in our challenge. Remember, in the season that we won at Chelscum, we ended up the season nearly 20 points behind manure

[Fabrestuta]

Have to disagree with Le Boss, our best comeback was the Kanu hattrick against the chavs. But now I'm just nitpicking, because I can't remember the last time I seen him show so much emotion than when the 3rd goal went in at the Reebok..

If, against all odds, we somehow win the league, this might just be the best comeback, as we might view it as the turning point in our challenge. Remember, in the season that we won at Chelscum, we ended up the season nearly 20 points behind manure

True, and there's the added bonus that beating Bolton will probably help them go down, but that day Chelski thought they were strolling, and the headhunters were laughing and taking the piss until Kanu showed some of his magic, magic that if he showed more often would have made him a Gooner legend I might add.

Now that I think of it, wasn't it absolutely lashing rain that day also?

[Inchpräctice]

I'm still not entirely sure what a 'protective tackle' is.....?

[Inchpräctice]

By the way, check out the match wallpaper.
It's pretty intense:

http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?this ... Wallpapers

[Leody]

Looks like Cesc is about to start crying... what passion. LOVE IT!!!