Darren Bent broke free from Koscielny, gaining just enough space to fire a rocket that was parried by Fabianski. The ensuing rebound fell right to Bent and since he was faced with the tightest of angles and he wasn’t all alone in front of goal, naturally he scored. Seconds later, the half-time [...]]]>

Darren Bent broke free from Koscielny, gaining just enough space to fire a rocket that was parried by Fabianski. The ensuing rebound fell right to Bent and since he was faced with the tightest of angles and he wasn’t all alone in front of goal, naturally he scored. Seconds later, the half-time whistle blew and the Arsenal trudged off the field with their heads low while a chorus of boos rained down upon them.

I felt bad for the players. They had played their hearts out and yet here they were losing both the game and their home support.

This isn’t the article you already think it is. I’m not going to lecture you on what you should or shouldn’t do if you are one of those people who have the tremendous fortune to be able to attend games. If you feel like spending £125 to go to a game and vent your anger about the team, then by all means, have at it. Especially if the team play like a one-footed orc.

What I don’t get though is how for years and years I’ve sat and read comment after comment in which Arsenal supporters said “As long as the team give 100% I don’t care what the result is” and yet here was a half in which they had given 100%, the result was not quite there, and yet both in the stadium and online the vitriol was at unprecedented levels.

“Because they didn’t give 100%.” Easy to say, impossible to disprove. The perfect sport’s fan’s argument.

Villa’s first goal was an absolutely brilliant piece of work off the corner. That’s the type of thing that I think Arsenal need to work on in practice because the corners that they take are predictable and easy to defend. Chaos in the six yard box is always good for the offense.

But still Arsenal could have closed down on the second player on that corner and therein lies the rub: the person who wants to say that Arsenal didn’t give 100% will say that they “switched off” there on that goal while I would say that they were confused and didn’t quite know what to do. And while it’s easy to say that they should do better bathed in the dull glow of your LCD screen what you want them to do is much more difficult to actually execute in the harsh light of the game.

But it’s not just a matter of effort.

And if the first was because Arsenal arguably lacked effort, for the second goal you can see the ball just get past Alex Song as he goes sliding into the netting in a gut busting effort to stop the goal. That’s giving 100%. Does he deserved to be booed after that?

The boo boys will then say that Arsenal lacked attacking effort. So, how do we explain the 9 shots in the first half, six of which are on goal?

“Stats don’t prove anything.” Right.

Sure, there was a tame effort from Ramsey after Song played him in and he tried to toe poke but it’s not for lack of effort, but rather lack of creativity and class finishing.

If the boos betrayed anything it’s that there’s a deep lack of faith in this team. I used to joke about how the Emirates crowd were funny in the way they groan  after every misplaced pass. Passes which happen once every 5 minutes. But they have now upped the ante and folks in the stadium reported to me that Arshavin was booed when his name was announced before the match.

Clearly, the pillars upon which Pat Rice and Arsene Wenger have stood for so long aren’t so much starting to crumble as they are being kicked over. Every loss, draw, and even win is picked clean in a forensic analysis of every detail of the match. Where should Ramsey have been standing for that corner? Why didn’t Arteta close down space late in the game when Villa tried the same corner over again? How lucky was Theo for Arsenal’s second goal? Why didn’t he stick out a leg?

Even every other aspect of the Arsenal is analyzed to death. How many years left on Diaby’s contract? What salary is the Ox™ pulling down? What’s Robin van Persie’s pre-match meal? Is he a Muslim? Seriously…

What’s Joey Barton’s?

Twitter, wiki, haircut, Morrissey vs. rape, twitter, Muslim, jersey. I just have to say, some of you are looking for some weird shit about Robin when a convicted criminal like Joey Barton has tamer search history than the in form striker of the Premier League.

Ironically, the boos at half time were drown out by the screams of joy during the second half. Two Arsenal penalties and a fluke goal were enough to convince people that somehow the second half was better. The second half wasn’t that much better in terms of effort from Arsenal, Villa simply lost their minds.

I would say that Dunne’s tackle on Ramsey was as dumb as you’ll ever see but then we saw Darren Bent’s tackle on Koscielny a few minutes later and that was one of the worst pieces of defending I’ve seen in a long time. Did Arsenal drive into the box more in the second half than the first? No. Remember in the first half that Ox had several drives, Theo did as well, Ramsey had the toe poke, and so on.

I can only surmise that for many of us our faith in Arsenal is based on results but that’s not how faith is supposed to work. Faith is keeping a player under contract for nine years as he struggled through injury hell; always showing signs of a miracle, but never quite fulfilling his promise. Faith is giving that guy chance after chance because you see something special in him. You see that he’s a leader, you see that he scores special goals, you see that if he could get a run together and get over his injuries he could be something special.

Arsene Wenger had faith in Robin van Persie through that injury nightmare and Robin has repaid us all with 120 goals in those nine years, tying Dennis Bergkamp’s Arsenal haul. Not only that but Robin has shown what a good run of games from him can do, scoring 46 of his goals since January 2011.

Faith doesn’t always work and sometimes blindly believing in a cause is stupid. It’s slippery that way, if it wasn’t it would be called something else like “fact” or “Truth.” But you have to admit that Wenger showed tremendous faith in Robin. When many of you were calling for Robin to be “cut loose” and for Wenger to “get rid of the dead weight” he stayed his course.

This is the same faith Wenger has in Diaby. Faith Wenger has in Theo. Faith Wenger has in Ramsey. And faith Wenger has in Andrei Arshavin.

It’s up to you whether you choose to follow. I, for one, am just trying to enjoy the ride.

Qq

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Villa are the third worst team in the League in shots per game. Third worst in keeping possession. Fourth worst in pass percentage. And second in tackles per game. They are also just 9 points lower than Arsenal on the League table and have allowed 4 fewer goals than Arsenal. All of which simply confirms what [...]]]>

Villa are the third worst team in the League in shots per game. Third worst in keeping possession. Fourth worst in pass percentage. And second in tackles per game. They are also just 9 points lower than Arsenal on the League table and have allowed 4 fewer goals than Arsenal. All of which simply confirms what you probably already know: Aston Villa are addition by subtraction, a team set up to negate play, in short a team managed by Alex McLeish.

But not all teams can or should play the same way. I watched the Liverpool win over Man U in the FA Cup and they look like a team transformed. Gone are the slick passing midfielders, replaced by long balls, and two-footed lunges. But if you know that a team is going to close down space, rotationally foul the midfield, crowd the keeper on corners, and lump balls forward for their two wingers to run under then you damn well better have a plan to counter that. Arsenal need to keep possession, play solid at the back, keep calm, and be brave — Man Up as some might say in the States. And with McLeish already saying that Villa have no fear of Arsenal, Man Up might be the only way to get a result.

To say that Arsenal have previous with McLeish is an understatement. This is the manager who admitted that he probably sent out his Birmingham side too riled up on the fateful night that Taylor broke Eduardo’s leg.

And, of course, this is also the same manager who beat Arsenal to the League Cup with Birmingham. Arsenal supporters don’t want to hear this but McLeish knows how to play against Arsenal and get a result. His record against Wenger is P8 W2 D3 L3 and while two wins doesn’t look that spectacular you have to remember that his teams were/are relegation fodder so averaging a point a game while winning a cup final over a top four side is a pretty impressive record.

And in the last three games, McLeish actually has an advantage and has gotten two wins. Worse, Arsenal’s form is in the toilet at the moment. Since beating Villa in December Arsenal have P7 W3 D1 L3. Arsenal need a win to get the season back on track.

That terrible run of form is almost entirely down to injuries. Arsene revealed yesterday that Jack Wilshere suffered a setback in his recovery from a broken bone earlier this season and it’s been a pretty big blow to the psyche of nearly every supporter I’ve spoken with. If it’s that big of a deal to the supporters I can only imagine how much it’s rocked the team and the player himself.

Jack is a bit of a mythical creature. Part human, part football animal, he does add a little extra bite to the Arsenal midfield. The idea that Arsenal haven’t been rotating enough over the last few years and that is leading to injuries is still an open question from my perspective. What isn’t an open question is whether Wilshere would add quality to that rotation.

But if Jack’s injury setback has the team and supporters feeling low, the possible inclusion of Bacary Sagna in tomorrow’s team must have the opposite effect. I always had a suspicion that fullback play was the lynchpin of the Arsene system but couldn’t confirm the effect they had on the team by simply looking at charts. I guess I needed all four first choice fullbacks to go down injured to get the full picture of how they work both offensively and defensively.

I don’t know what team Wenger will name tomorrow but I’d be surprised to see Sagna on the starters sheet. That said, the dot com lists Sagna, Henry, and Arteta as all having tests today and for some irrational reason I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Thierry Henry start and play 60 minutes. So maybe we will see all three return?

For Villa’s part, Charles N’Zogbia is not expected to play tomorrow which should take pressure off the referee trying to get the calls right, what with him diving all over the place constantly. The player that none of you will be happy to see included in the team sheet tomorrow is former MLS all-star and Tottenham/Liverpool reject Robbie Keane. Maybe they have some other characters that you despise but Keane is one of those guys with his flat, moon face, who I just can’t stand.

Referee Michael Jones has been the head ref of Arsenal matches seven times, six times at home, five wins, one draw and one loss. The one loss was away to Bolton last April which ended any hope of Arsenal finishing in the top two. And the draw was a 0-0 at home to Man City where both Zabaleta and Sagna were sent off. Inauspiciously for Arsenal supporters, Jones has been in charge of nine Villa matches, and they have never lost.

But in the end we know that the referees aren’t giving Arsenal any breaks. We know that in cup ties the referees tend to swallow their whistle and let play go on. We know that McLeish will be playing safety first, or perhaps kicking first and safety second. But it’s Arsenal’s job to show their quality and “mental strength” in front of the home supporters and Man the Fuck Up. The team and the manager were booed off the pitch just a few days ago and people on twitter are selling tickets below face value for the first time since I can remember.

This is a real test tomorrow.

What is this team made of?

Qq

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Thierry Henry is not walking through that door, folks. Patrick Vieira is not walking through that door, Robert Pires is not walking through that door, and if you expect them to walk through that door, they will be old and grey. What we are is young, exciting, hard-working, and going to improve.

– Tim from 7amkickoff paraphrasing [...]]]>

Thierry Henry is not walking through that door, folks. Patrick Vieira is not walking through that door, Robert Pires is not walking through that door, and if you expect them to walk through that door, they will be old and grey. What we are is young, exciting, hard-working, and going to improve.

– Tim from 7amkickoff paraphrasing Rick Pitino’s famous “not walking through that door” speech.

Yesterday, in the 78th minute against Leeds United, Thierry Henry took one touch from Alex Song’s perfect pass to beat his defender, composed himself, and in the second that it took to make up his mind 60,000 Arsenal supporters in the stadium drew breath as Henry, in his trademark way, opened his body and simply curled the ball past the keeper. As the net waved, the crowd erupted: a celebration borne of six years frustration. As Leeds put hands on head in tired frustration, Henry danced on the sideline, slapping the badge and egging the crowd on: a celebration borne of six years of fandom.

Thierry Henry didn’t bother walking through the door, he kicked the door in flanked with heralds announcing the King of Highbury and Duke of the Greater Ashburton Grove Area had returned and was hungry for more.

Perhaps I’m edging toward the fantastical in my description of the moment but the greatest moments in sports always dance on the line between reality and fantasy. If there even is such a line.

For the vast majority of the world, reality sucks. We need a way to escape our soul crushing job and sports offers us that outlet. In fact, fantasy is what makes sports great. For 90 minutes fans watch a game hoping to catch that one moment that they can talk about for years to come. That moment that lets them tune out the problems of the outside world and marvel as Alex Song plays in a ball that could split an atom with its precision. That moment where you are transported from your living room into Henry’s size 12 Nikes and you feel the heat of his passion as he thumps his chest and the cool moisture of the grass beneath his feet as he dances on the sidelines.

Fantasy is so powerful in sports that there are people who spend the majority of their sporting experience mired in fantasy: fantasy football, the live-action role playing of a Sunday pickup match, over 40 five-a-side league games, stats, arguing over possible transfers, etc. What are these if not the abstraction of the fantasy, a means of living the fantasy full time?

No one hopes to sit through a dour 0-0 draw but reality sometimes demands such as tax for the fantasy. Thus it was that last night Andrei Arshavin drove at the defense but when the time came he wasted chances. One shot from Arshavin was so poor (a volley off a pass from 30 yards that went harmlessly into the dirt) that I decided we need a new statistical category to accompany shots and shots on goal: shots on crack. Reality also demanded that Chamakh work hard but fail to look forward enough or even seem to have the desire to get forward enough. Meanwhile the Ox showed us why he’s one for the future and not for the now by missing chance time and again. Still, “he’s young!” The fantasists will argue, let’s give him time. Yes, time. Time is a reality, our fantasy selves demanded a hat-trick from the youngster.

Also firmly in the boring old reality column, Szczesny made an important save late in the game as Leeds threatened to undo the fantasy. And that last part is the point: the fantastic and the real coexist simultaneously in every match. They are not diametrically opposed, competing realities, they need each other to exist.

Arsenal’s reality, every team’s reality, is that fantastic players like Thierry Henry come along very rarely in our lifetime. You saw that yesterday. As his teammates wasted chance after chance, Henry took one good chance and converted it. There, the reality of Arshavin’s poor touch and even poorer decision making* collided with the fantasy of Henry’s pure goal scoring ability. There the reality of The Ox’s youth collided with the fantasy of the experienced player who knows how to beat a man with good positioning and a single touch rather than a complex mazy dribble. And there the reality of Chamakh as what is essentially a target man collided with the fantasy of Thierry Henry dribbling into the corner to kill the game off.

But Henry is the best player in the history of the club and there can only be one best player in the history of the club at any one time. Arsenal are blessed at the moment to have Henry back and his magic last night shows us what a player of his caliber can do. Just as his magic moment reminded us that players like Arshavin, Ox, and Chamakh don’t quite stand up to Henry’s fantastic ability it should also remind us that we have a player of his caliber in Robin van Persie who will probably start the next game for Arsenal.

I, for one, will be watching that game in anticipation of what magic he can do to try and top last night’s moment. Those are the moments we watch the game for.

Qq

*I would give up blogging if Arshavin would stop with those outrageous flicks and tricks he tries — especially in the middle of the park.

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Either way, Arsenal v. Leeds is an old wound.

Arsenal were reigning champions and had the little [...]]]> Old wounds never really heal. Probably because as soon as they start to scab over someone like me comes along and picks it. Or just as likely because wounds picked up when you are young become part of who you are.

Either way, Arsenal v. Leeds is an old wound.

Arsenal were reigning champions and had the little gold lions on the sleeves of their shirts to prove it. Leeds were relegation fodder, though revitalized under new management and flying high because of their antipodean duo: Harry Kewel and Mark Viduka.

Both teams needed a win that day though for opposite reasons. A win for Arsenal meant the team would be in for a chance to retain their title against the old enemy, Man U. A win for Leeds meant another season staving off financial collapse.

Arsenal started the game in what we now call typical Arsenal fashion. That is to say with a makeshift lineup due to “everyone being out injured.” Though, as you will see, there was still plenty of talent in the team.

Kewell opened the scoring with what we now call a typical goal against Arsenal. Long ball over the top, Oleg Luzhny and Martin Keown were beaten by half a yard and Kewell hits a wonder strike past Seaman.

Arsenal strike back after a long range shot by Ray Parlor is deflected off the post and Henry nods home. It’s at this point that you think Arsenal are over the jitters and going to take the game back.

But again, Leeds get a goal in what we now call typical Arsenal fashion. If it’s not a goal from beating the Arsenal high line, then it’s a goal from a set piece where an Arsenal defender heads the ball poorly. This time Harte strikes the free kick and Ashley Cole’s header is the difference in beating Seaman into the bottom corner.

Then Arsenal strike back again. This time some wonderful movement by Dennis Bergkamp gives him the half a yard he needs and Pires’ pass is deftly side footed into the net past the diving defenders.

I remember that morning well. I was standing in front of my television with my blue Thierry Henry shirt. Nervous, but assured. After all, this was The Arsenal, I thought. They are the League Champs. They will get a goal back from Kanu or Henry.

Right?

Then Pennant, who was just a kid but thrown on by the Boss in exchange for Wiltord, tried to do too much with the ball. The turnover led to a break. Arsenal’s defense was at sixes and nines and … oh fuck. Mark Viduka.

Oh how I will always hate Mark Viduka.

It was the first time watching Arsenal that I looked around the room, my mind racing to find something I could do to change the game. Could I invent a time machine, go back in time, and kick Mark Viduka’s father square in the balls right at the moment of conception?

Of course I would do that right after I went back in time and killed Hitler. I’ve got some morals.

Unfortunately, it was done. Arsenal’s title hopes were dashed and Leeds would be around for another year.

Keown, Parlor, Seaman, Henry, Pires, Bergkamp, Cole, Kolo, and Silva all played that day. Those players would go on to form the spine of the Invincibles and yet, they still lost. And they still lost in what we would all probably agree was a most Arsenal fashion; at the final hurdle.

The team were wounded. The supporters were wounded. But I like to think that wound stirred something in that team because in the very next game Arsenal ran out to a 6-1 win over Southampton. The win that kicked off Arsenal’s 49 game unbeaten run and the team they would beat to win the FA Cup that season.

I’m not suggesting for a moment that I’d like to see Arsenal beaten by Leeds tomorrow. These teams are no where near the same as they were back in 2003. Leeds are a Championship team now and Arsenal find themselves fighting for a top four finish and without a whiff of the title in years.

Leeds’ most dangerous player at the moment isn’t an Australian but rather a Spurs loanee named Andros Townsend. Arsene would do well to keep this kid quiet tomorrow. Leeds’ latest match report is full of effusive praise for his attacking prowess and with Arsenal’s depleted, makeshift, stopgap, interim, improvised back line his directness and dribbling could cause real problems.

Similarly, Arsenal are no where near the level they were when they faced Leeds back in 2003. Back then saying that the team were decimated by injury simply meant that Oleg Luzhny was going to get a game. Now Arsenal seem lucky to start two of the same defenders in their preferred positions for two games in a row.

Times have changed and almost nothing remains of the team that lost to Leeds. Nothing except the manager and Thierry Henry.

And still it’s remarkable how long these old wounds stick with us. I’m still angry despite the fact that the loss sparked one of the greatest runs in sporting history.

I’ve just got to stop picking this old Viduka shaped scab.

Qq

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Arsenal are injury wracked, bruised, and have been beaten in two major matches in the last two weeks. [...]]]> Last week Arsenal were “in the hunt for the quad” and this week they are going to be “hanging on to any hope for their first trophy in 2023 days.” What a difference a week makes for sports writers.

Arsenal are injury wracked, bruised, and have been beaten in two major matches in the last two weeks. We won’t know what psychological effect the heartbreaking last minute loss to Birmingham might have had on the team. Though we did see Arsenal play at a very, very high level against Barcelona and again get beaten. That they were able to get up for that game gives us some hope that they might be able to do the same thing again tomorrow.

Unfortunately, the data suggests that Arsenal have struggled in games where there have played both a domestic and European match back to back: Arsenal beat Braga 6-0 and then struggled to a last minute 1-1 draw with Sunderland; they beat Partizan 3-1 and lost to Chelsea 2-0; their best pair was when they beat Shaktar 5-1 and then went up to Manchester and beat the Blues 3-0; then there was the loss to Shaktar, loss to Newcastle; loss to Tottenham, loss to Braga; beat Partizan but came back and lost 1-0 to United; Beat Barcelona 2-1 and struggled to a 1-1 against Leyton Orient. If you are counting, that’s P6 W1 D1 L4 when Arsenal play a big domestic match either before or after a European night.

Moreover, the perssonel losses for Arsenal are huge and going to play a big part in the game. Song is still out, Theo is still out, Cesc reinjured himself strolling around the Nou Camp, and Szczesny is out for 6 weeks with a dislocated finger.

Almunia will be the keeper tomorrow and unless you believe that this is a bizarro Almunia, don’t expect great things. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t support him, because even if he has the nightmare of nightmares HE’S ALL WE GOT FOR 6 WEEKS.

Arsenal are looking to sign someone on emergency but they need permission from the FA. How much you want to bet it’s Jens Lehmann?

Chris Foy is the referee this weekend and he’s probably going to need asbestos underpants to get out of the tunnel no matter what happens tomorrow. No amount of good refereeing will make up for any perceived or real bad calls. Personally, I hope he has a Bussaca against Manchester United because I want to know what Rio Ferdinand thinks afterwards.

For those of you wanting to know what Foy’s record is with Arsenal and Man U, I’m not telling you because I don’t want to taint the game either way. This game is so high profile and referees are in such a glaring spotlight right now with both teams I think any previous form records and/or biases will be discarded. Look for United to have the home field advantage for overall fouling and that there will be quick cards given for any Arsenal dissent or Rooney bad behavior.

In the end, though, this is an English cup tie between two very big English clubs who are both in a mini slump and there is every likelihood that the referee will allow both teams to kick the shit out of each other. 7amkickoff has proven that Wayne Rooney is a serial diver and cheat, so look for Chris Foy to be called upon to make several very key decisions in the penalty area. Will he give a penalty? Probably.

Normally, Arsenal would also have to watch out for Nani, but the gash on his leg that he got from Carragher has gotten infected so he won’t play.

After reading through this, I realize that you might be tempted to think I expect Arsenal to lose. And bascially, if you ever wanted to be able to say “I told you this team isn’t ready to challenge for a trophy” now is the time to predict an Arsenal loss. The odds are completely in your favor and not only that but with makeshift players filling in all over the place you can back that up and say things like “Almunia will have a terrible game” and retrospectively point to any perceived or real error.

I’ve noticed that quite a few of my regular readers are slowly slouching toward the fiery depths of Doom and that’s completely understandable because it’s been a few hard weeks: players who we thought were better aren’t; our annual injury record started catching up with us at just the wrong time; and just when silverware was within our grasp we let it go in the last second.

But I feel like it’s sunrise on the sufferbus. I think that we are much closer to winning something than to begging for a fourth place trophy. Yes, Tottenham have gone further in Europe but I don’t care about them and their supporters. I care about Arsenal, and here we are again with all the odds against us: injury stricken, on foreign soil, facing the old nemesis, and on the precipice of something good.

Third time is the charm, right?

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In his post-match interview Arsene Wenger revealed that he had a very difficult time picking his team up after the defeat on Sunday to Birmingham in the Carling Cup final. You would be forgiven if you didn’t believe him when you saw the 5-0 lashing that Arsenal doled out to Leyton Orient [...]]]>

Image courtesy Wonker

In his post-match interview Arsene Wenger revealed that he had a very difficult time picking his team up after the defeat on Sunday to Birmingham in the Carling Cup final. You would be forgiven if you didn’t believe him when you saw the 5-0 lashing that Arsenal doled out to Leyton Orient last night in the FA Cup.

One of the truths about this Arsenal side is that they can be wildly inconsistent and yesterday was no different. Having been beaten 2-1 on the precipice of cup glory to a team that they thrashed twice in the Premier League, Arsenal bounced back, answered prayers, and scored a fiver while keeping a clean sheet.

It was an impressive victory not just for the score but also for the fact that Arsene was forced to make 10 changes from the starting lineup against Birmingham due to injury and rotation with just Thomas Rosicky getting the nod in both games. The lineup also included two reserve team players in Connor Henderson and Ignasi Miquel with the former getting his first team debut and the latter reprising his role from the first leg.

The changes didn’t affect Arsenal though as they play their game the same no matter who the new cogs are in their machine. On their immaculately manicured home pitch Arsenal reached record levels for passing with OptaJoe reporting that both teams combined for 1254, 140 more passes than when Arsenal played Barcelona. The passing was so slick that Diaby was reportedly 100% perfect in his 70 minute cameo, completing all 69 of his attempts.

But for all their slick passing, Arsenal didn’t take nearly as many shots as they normally do only having 8 total where they average 20 shots per game at home. Of course, shots don’t matter if you don’t make them count and whereas they had 11 shots on goal in the Carling Cup final and scored just once, Arsenal had 5 shots on goal against Leyton Orient and scored 5 times. For much of the game Arsenal were content to simply pass the ball around and wait for their chances but when those chances came they took them with aplomb.

It always helps Arsenal when they get an early goal as it forces their opponents to come out and play a bit. Every team now sits back and tries to destroy Arsenal’s pretty game while waiting for the moment that their huge lump of a player can score off a header. If Arsenal can score first, they will usually ruin that plan as we saw when Chamakh opened the scoring in the 7th minute off a wonderfully placed pass from Thomas Rosicky. Many people complain about Arsenal’s lack of directness and claim that Arsenal have no one who will attack balls in the box but that is exactly what Arsene Wenger brought Marouane Chamakh in to do. He’s struggled a bit with form after November but getting on the score sheet today will hopefully give him confidence going into the next two weeks.

Bendtner is another player who divides opinion but both of his goals in the first half were quintessentially Nicklas Bendtner. The first came off a Gibbs cross as the Dane simply out muscled his marker to the ball to win a looping header that was unstoppable.

The second goal is becoming something of a trade mark as well as he dribbles to his right and rather than going for power as is customary for most strikers outside the box, goes instead for placement. His curled shot was the type of audacious attempt than only the Great Dane himself could dream up.

In defense, the freshman Miquel did well again and along with Squillaci managed to stifle Leyton’s attack. There were a few moments where Arsenal looked to be opened up, most coming when former number one Manuel Almunia showed the type of judgment that has seen him dropped in favor of 20 year old Wojciech Szczesny. Almunia seemed incapable of making up his mind at times, allowing Leyton to get their heads on the end of a few delicious corners. When he did decide to come out the result was nearly disastrous. Moments before half time, Almunia went chasing out after the ball and the Orient player’s curling shot went past his flapping hand only to be cleared off the line by Squillaci. One wonders how the game could have changed if that glaring error let Orient back into the game.

But it Orient didn’t get back into the game and 17 minutes into the second half, Nicklas Bendtner score the third of his hat trick that put the score well and truly out of sight. It was Bendtner’s second hat trick in a year and sees the Dane in a bit of good form at the perfect time with hree goals and two assists in his last five games.

Clichy would add the fifth, a daisy cutter off a broken play, and nab his second goal in his Arsenal career.

Arsenal are two weeks away from a two week international break and enter a period where they will play Sunderland in the Premier League, Barcelona in the Champions League, and Manchester United in the FA Cup. Meanwhile, iInjuries are rocking the team right now with six first team players out — Cesc, Robin, Theo, Song, Koz, and Vermaelen.

Cesc is being managed on a “day to day” basis according to the manager and could return to fitness in time to face Barcelona. Theo is certainly out for that match though he might be back for Man U — if I were to guess I’d say he’ll be back in April after the International break. Song and Kozzer’s injuries are reportedly minor and should both be back for the vital clash against Sunderland. And Vermaelen has been out all season so we can’t expect much from him either.

The one that has Arsenal supporters really down is the injury to Robin van Persie. Arsene revealed that it’s a tear to the ligaments in the back of his knee caused when he hyperextended the knee scoring the equalizer on Sunday. Three weeks is the minimum he will be out and again since there’s a International break until April I would say four. That said, I’ve torn those ligaments before and I would say four weeks is highly optimistic. I’m not a doctor nor have I seen the scans but ligaments don’t heal the same way as other injuries and more often than not any tear requires surgery. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if his season is done.

That makes the goals from Chamakh and Bendtner all that much more important. Arsenal are pushing on three fronts still and will have a serious test on all three of those fronts in the next two weeks. If they have the character they could come through with all three cups still alive. If not, we could be looking at another early end of the season.

Quick rundown of the blogs this weekend, I have some thoughts on the idea that the grass is always greener when it comes to English center halves, I have an idea that I won’t publish here or one of the 600 other bloggers who read this will steal it, there will  Match preview late tomorrow (after work), and then on Saturday after the game Chary will be doing his man at the match report.

It’s a crucial weekend for Arsenal and every time I’ve come back from England that has been the case. Also every time I’ve come back from England they have fallen flat. Let’s hope this week is different, for once.

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I think I’m back from the dead but I can’t be sure. See, I watched the movie Inception on the plane ride over and now I’m not sure what’s reality and what’s a dream, man. Like, that movie totally kicked in the doors of my reality and replaced them with open arches of [...]]]> I’m back

I think I’m back from the dead but I can’t be sure. See, I watched the movie Inception on the plane ride over and now I’m not sure what’s reality and what’s a dream, man. Like, that movie totally kicked in the doors of my reality and replaced them with open arches of perception.

Maybe, I’m like dreaming all this stuff, right? And, like, you are all figments of my imagination, right? And in real life, Arsenal have already won the treble and I’m just dreaming that loss to Birmingham because I have some kind of deep seated self hatred and like to inflict pain on myself.

Can you dig it?

Where’s my totem?

Johan Djourou, better than Bale?

I’m curious how the press will twist the story of Koscielny’s minor injury and subsequent rest for today’s match. They can go with the “Koscielny Dropped After Cup Anguish” angle or they can do the whole “Arsene Backs Koz to Overcome Cup Horror” thing. Either way, I will be hitting F5 constantly for the rest of the afternoon to see which paper runs with which angle.

All of which is a long way to say that Arsenal are probably going to play Djourou and Squillaci in defense today. Unless Wenger does something truly remarkable and pairs Squillaci with an untested center back whose name has a Q where one might expect a G. Nah, that would be crazy.

Here’s another crazy thing,  outside of two pre-season games Djourou and Vermaelen have never played together. A number of people are suggesting this is Arsenal’s best pairing but I’m waiting until we have some data. I know they are both good and I hope that they work out together but I’ve been burnt too many times by my hunches to just blindly say that they will be good together.

What I do know is that Djourou plus either of Squirrelaci or Kozzer are pretty solid. I looked at Djourou’s entire record of 28 games this season and Arsenal have won 21, drawn 2, and lost 4 when he plays. If you look at just draws and losses they are split evenly among Kozzer and Squillaci with Squid and DJ getting two losses in the Champions League and Koscielny and Djourou earning two losses in the Carling Cup.

You could make the argument that when Squillaci and Djourou are paired together Arsenal have allowed more goals but that’s only true in the Champions League. In the Premier League Arsenal have only allowed 4 goals when Djourou is on the pitch, 2 with each partner. In the Champions League Squillaci/Djourou allowed 6 goals in 4 games and in the Carling Cup Koscielny/Djourou allowed 4 goals in 6 games.

That, my friends, is the only difference. I’m kind of hopeful that Djourou will play today but realistically, I think it will be the Squirrel and Miqqquel.

Alas poor Robin, I knew him Horatio!

As much as I’d like to think that defense wins championships the reality is that defense just protects games and that offense wins championships. Going 0-0 for an entire season will put a team in the relegation zone and you can’t win any tournaments that I know of with a 0-0 score line. You need offense and when it comes to offense Arsenal have it! … For about half of every season.

For today’s game we have Robin out, Cesc out, Theo out, and imposing center forward Alex Song out. Not to put too fine a point on it but those four players combined for 24 goals scored and 22 goals assisted in the Premier League this season.  They have scored 42% of Arsenal’s League goals, folks. That’s as big a blow to Arsenal’s attack as I can imagine.

I hate to sound like every other blog so I’m going to stop there and certainly will NOT say that the other people like Arshavin, Bendtner, Chamakh, Nasri, Rosicky, Diaby, and Denilson need to step up and get some goals.

Instead I will just say, please, for the love of the gods, please, Arsenal, please get some goals against Leyton Orient. Is it too much to ask for a brace from Arshavin, a hat trick from Bendtner, a goal off a free kick from Nasri, and a shot on goal from Denilson? After all, it’s Leyton Orient.

United aren’t the best team ever but their manager is pretty good

I guarantee you that if Arsenal fielded a starting XI that had John O’Shit, Smalling, Carrick, and Fletcher in it there would be widespread panic. Apart from Smalling, those other players are garbage.

The fact that Sir Alex Baconface can get top quality from such rubbish is truly remarkable. What’s even more remarkable is how he gets amazing performances from the referees.

Man U have just two red cards all season and yet I can name four other instances where they should have seen red off the top of my head; twice Neville should have been sent off, Rooney’s elbow, and Ferdinand’ Kung-Fu kick on Sagna.

Every manager tries to be completely one sided for his team but none succeed as well as he does in doing so and then getting the best out of the referees. I suspect he might get a fine for his latest outburst against Martin Atkinson but he will take that fine if in the next match Atkinson gives Man U the benefit of the doubt or if the referees have a look at Luiz carefully over the next few games. See, he’s willing to lose the battle but he knows if he keeps pressuring them eventually he’ll win the war.

But I don’t get how it works. Wenger gets angry about teams getting away with kicking our shins to splinters and instead of preferential treatment we get a boatload of red cards. Baconface spouts off about some referee’s fitness and they get all the calls their way. How does he do it?

Gotta run

Busy day catching up at work which means that I can’t take time off to see the match live. The game is live on Fox Soccer Channel in the USA and I will be recording the game and watching it when I get home. That means I’ll be on media lockdown until tomorrow (GMT).

But really, I’m not worried. This is Leyton Orient at the Emirates and even our second string should be able to put this team away, right?

Anything else and I will know that I’m dreaming.

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Ground rules: 1-5 = varying degrees of abject failure, 6 = just above fail, 7 = the minimum you expect from an Arsenal player, 8 = above average, 9 = nearly perfect, 10+ = perfect.

Almunia – Cursed [...]]]> I’ve never done player ratings before (I think) so here’s my crack at this age-old English practice of ripping everyone!

Ground rules: 1-5 = varying degrees of abject failure, 6 = just above fail, 7 = the minimum you expect from an Arsenal player, 8 = above average, 9 = nearly perfect, 10+ = perfect.

Almunia – Cursed Shield of Protection -2:

When all else fails those guys in front of you, those 10 guys, need to look around and say, “the goalie will save us.”  That’s the difference once you acquire greatness, true greatness. And very few goalkeepers really acquire that aura about them.

The great Bob Wilson talking to Radiolab about the Loneliness of being Almunia.

I don’t understand why Szczesny was rested because keepers don’t need rest. The only thing I can think is that Wenger gave the team who played 90 against Barcelona the night off as a reward for their performance. Thus, Almunia got the nod and therein lies the real problem.

Wenger didn’t play Almunia in order to gain him some valuable experience, like Man U did in their match to Crawley Town, Mooney’s plenty experienced. No, Mooney is a cast off and Wenger played him to keep him somewhat sharp because we have no backup if Szczesny goes down.

So, if keepers thrive on confidence and you have a player who is getting a game not because he won his spot but because everyone else is unfit then you’ve got to expect some mediocre keeping. He’s certainly not the kind of keeper that inspires the Bob Wilson confidence described above and from the first minute where he spilled a rather tame shot, you could tell that this is a guy who is cracked.

If he plays, expect the kind of goals we saw yesterday.

Arshavin – 7: Arsenal’s little Russian playmaker worked hard for the full 90 minutes and showed some real class when he nearly scored Arsenal’s second, but he just couldn’t quite find the net. I mean the back of the net — he hit side netting twice, I think.

Bendtner – 14/10: I asked Nicklas Bendtner what score he thought he deserved and he replied “I scored a goal and played hard for 90 minutes. If I normally rate a 10 of 10 that means I must rate at least a 14…” I tried to tell him that Rosicky scored the goal and he just got the assist but he couldn’t hear me over the din generated by his ego.

Chamakh – 5: Arsenal’s Summer signing looked to be another gem uncovered by Arsene Wenger as he stormed to 7 goals in his first three months. But this is a guy for whom yesterday was his first full game of the new year and who hasn’t scored a goal since November — when he scored and created to lift Arsenal over Aston Villa.

When he came to Arsenal he was crazy brave going for headed balls but since taking a few knocks he looks like he’s backed off. Is that because of the pace and power of the League? Is it because Wenger has coached the goalscoring out of him?

My theory is that he came from a league where he was the bravest guy on any pitch to a league where every defender wears knockouts like a badge of  honor. Whatever’s happened, he’s not that same guy he was last year and it’s very odd.

Denil… meh – 5: I suspect that even Arsene Wenger is tiring of Denilson. Yes, he passes the ball well, his technique is good (even for Arsenal), and his touch is exceptional. But a central midfielder needs to work hard and defend well. I’ve compared him to Xavi in the past but no more, let’s face it Xavi is a better defender than Denilson. Denilson’s idea of defending is tripping a player and he was lucky not to be sent off for a trip late in the game when he and Song both just took an Orient player out.

Gibbs – 6: Would have earned a seven from me except for his part in the poor tackle that let Tehoue score. Other than that I thought he had a good game.

Migqqqqqqqqqqqqqqquel – 18: Are you kidding me that this kid is just 18 years old? He took Squillaci aside at one point and looked to be explaining something to him which already makes him Arsenal’s most communicative center half. He also didn’t let the Orient markers get away on set plays, passed the ball superbly, and didn’t let the occasion get to him. It’s just one game but I was duly impressed.

Rosicky – 1: The number of goals he’s scored for Arsenal in a dog’s year and yay for that. It was a well taken header but when he’s given the captaincy he doesn’t command the game the same way that Cesc and other Arsenal captains have. Arsenal need a different player to captain the side, sorry.

Sagna – 7: Solid, nothing spectacular either good or bad.

Song – 6: When you set the bar high, you eventually trip on it. Basically, it was a poor game by his standard.

Squillaci – £3m: Arsenal reportedly paid £3m for him and it’s pretty clear now that he was always intended to be the fourth option at Arsenal. Not quite as bad as Silvestre but not quite as good as Miguel — at least on yesterday’s performance.

Leyton Orient – £1m: They were value for their money because they played hard but fair. Their manager Russel Slade made a good change at the end and Tehoue scored the million pound goal.

Leyton have been crazy lucky this season in the FA Cup and so the last minute goal doesn’t surprise me at all. How lucky? They came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Droylsden 8-2 in an overtime thriller which saw both teams reduced to nine men. Yes, you read that right, they scored 6 goals in the last 30 minutes and all 8 game after the 77th minute. Their other two games were not that crazy but they have had some luck in every FA Cup match this season.

Ah the magic of the cup.

Arsene Wenger – 10: Did Arsene rotate 10 men again and again have a game where we didn’t kill off the opposition? Did Arsenal have an FA Cup record 658+ passes and only score one goal? Really? Who’d have thunk it?

I’ve read a bunch of speculation that Arsene need to rotate in some first team players in and that this will lead to injuries, blah, blah, blah, due to the fixture congestion.

Bullshit.

I’d play this same team again and tell them that their future as a professional footballer depends on great performances from here on out. I’d also make this team practice against the other team, I’d make them eat together, and even call them Arsenal B team.

Because to a man they need to prove themselves, or go off and work at a shoe store.

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Football aphorisms tend to work so well because by and large they are true. This week, the phrase “you can only play the team in front of you” is ringing in the ears of Arsenal supporters as the Gunners go from a mid-week clash against the world’s best in Barcelona to a [...]]]>

Football aphorisms tend to work so well because by and large they are true. This week, the phrase “you can only play the team in front of you” is ringing in the ears of Arsenal supporters as the Gunners go from a mid-week clash against the world’s best in Barcelona to a Sunday game against a League One side in Leyton Orient.

This isn’t meant as a slight on the O’s, the facts about the relative size of the two clubs that Arsenal face in less than a week are as plain as the capacities of both stadiums: 99,000 for Barcelona and 9,300 for Leyton Orient. Still, there’s another storyline that says that Arsenal tend to lose focus against smaller clubs and like the aphorism about playing the team in front of you there’s a kernel of truth there. After all, Arsenal have dropped points against small clubs like Wigan, Tottenham, and Ipswich this season.

Arsene Wenger is aware of the danger and is publicly exhorting his team to show that they have matured and are ready for the rigors ahead,

We can gain more respect from everybody if we turn up on Sunday with absolutely full commitment. Then people will say this team is ready to have a real go and not choose the competition or the games.

According to the headlines this means that Arsene is targeting the quadruple of Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and Carling Cup — technically it would be a quint since Arsenal secured a second successive Emirates Cup back in again August, but I digress. Arsenal are in four competitions and Wenger is going for all of them.

If Arsenal go into the finals my count shows a mere 8 extra matches between now and June. Surely a club that listed 41 players for the League’s new homegrown rule can handle an additional eight games over three months?

Rotation will be the key there and I expect a number of changes for tomorrow’s game. Arsene has been substituting liberally at the end of games and many of the midfielders and forwards have gotten a rest but the defensive unit of Djourou, Koscielny and Clichy have barely gotten a break. Djourou has been passed fit after a scare over his back, but he’s the only one of those three who has been subbed in the last month, coming off with another injury scare against Newcastle. Meanwhile, Koscielny has played in 19 of Arsenal’s last 20 games with 10 games on the stretch since his last rest, the 1-1 draw against Leeds. Wenger has a choice there, sub for the player who has a track record of injuries, or sub the player who has played 900 minutes since January 12th.

For the rest of the team, Clichy will almost certainly get a breather as Gibbs needs playing time, Robin van Persie has ample backup in Bendtner and Chamakh, and the Arsenal midfield should see Denilson get his first start this month. I also suspect that Rosicky will captain the side as he has done every time Cesc gets a rest. Diaby would come in for Song, I think, but for his red card against Newcastle. That’s a lot of changes but they are changes that need to be made given the number of fixtures ahead.

Leyton Orient are a small club but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous and Arsenal will need to be on our toes to guard against Ben Chorley, Charlie Daniels, Dean Cox, and Alex Revell. Orient are on a three game win streak and are currently just three points from the playoff spot in League One. That said, the O’s have been very fortunate in this FA Cup campaign to get this far. All of which just goes back to Arsene’s statement about showing up. Surely, Arsenal have the quality to go through as long as they don’t take their opponent’s lightly.

There were a number of articles on former Arsenal trainee and Orient captain Ben Chorley and clearly the man is looking forward to the clash. His compatriot in defense, Charlie Daniels is a former Tottenham player, and is 2nd on his team with assists — this from the left back position. That gives you a clue to the way that Orient play — it’s a 4-4-2 and they bomb down the wings with Charlie Daniels on the left and Dean Cox, a traditional #7, on the right. Cox is actually a bigger threat with 6 goals and 12 assists and is going to be looking to get on the score sheet at the expense of Gibbs. If Arshavin starts on the left of the attack, he will need to put in a shift there covering Cox just as Theo will probably need to start on the right to peg Charlie Daniels back.

Center Forward Alex Revell is a 6’3″ traditional #11 who had a brief goal splurt in the middle of the season but since has only bagged 3 in their last 15. Still, he’ll be a big target and will look to get his teammates involved with knockdowns and hold up play. This could be a problem is Arsenal start Squillaci as expected because the Frenchman is chronically incapable of dealing with headers.

If Arsenal shut off service to the wings as expected, then that will leave Orient route one as the only option and they will be hoping for third time lucky if they can get anything from this game. They’ve been very lucky in their first two FA Cup matches; against Norwich they had just 5 shots while the losers had 16 and against Swansea, they were properly battered and shouldn’t have gone through but a late own goal secured the win. In his interview on the dot com, Ben Chorley openly hoped for a draw in order to get a replay at the Emirates (and the big payday that would ensure) but I don’t think Arsenal will want a replay with so many fixtures piling up.

The referee is Kevin Friend and he last took over an Arsenal game in the 3-0 win over Wigan. He’s a young and relatively inexperienced official but his career has been blighted with some crazy officiating already. Here’s what I wrote before the Wigan game:

Today’s referee is the newly promoted and highly controversial Kevin Friend. His most controversial match was down in the League Championship between Burnley and Preston. Preston was managed by Darren Ferguson at the time and his post match rant at the referee, plus the abuse he hurled at him in the tunnel earned Sir Alex Ferguson’s son a fine and a three match touchline ban. I’m no Ferguson apologist but in that match Friend sent off a player for time wasting. I’ve never seen a player sent off for time wasting.

I’m not going to focus on the official and even contemplated not putting that out there but I felt obligated since I’ve called him to task before. It’s important to note that Arsenal dominated that Wigan match, winning 3-0, and so focusing on Kevin Friend’s past mistakes is a bit harsh. Besides, Arsenal should have the quality no matter who the ref is to beat a team like Leyton Orient.

Which really should always be the case, shouldn’t it? Wenger said that the team gains respect by showing full commitment in every game and I couldn’t agree more. Ignore the refs, the fouls, the supposedly ugly football and just commit yourself to every moment of every game you play and no one will ever fault you. Well, no one outside of a few naysayers. But as the aphorism goes “haters gonna hate” so ignore them.

The match kicks off at 8:30am PST and is live on Fox Soccer Channel. I can’t play football tomorrow so, I will be doing a post-match review and will post around noon my time. See you then and in the comments or on twitter in the mean time.

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At the Emirates on [...]]]> Arsenal may have fielded a team with eight full international players but through a combination of squad rotation and rust, the Premiership side struggled against their League One competition, Huddersfield. In the end, Arsenal required a penalty from her inspirational captain to secure a next round FA Cup clash away to Leyton Orient.

At the Emirates on a chilly winter’s day where snoods were aplenty, Wenger rang in the changes with seven new faces from the game 5 days ago against Ipswich. Back from injury were Diaby and Squillaci while Eboue and Gibbs were rotated for Arsenal’s starting fullbacks. Up front, the Arsenal manager elected to replace van Persie with Chamakh and in the midfield it was Nasri who took the captain’s armband from Cesc.

Perhaps the most unexpected change was in goal where Wenger chose to start Almunia for the first time since September’s 6-0 Champions League win over Braga. Almunia was the player who had been out the longest of any of the seven changes but actually ended up looking one of the sharpest as a late save and important punch spared Arsenal an early exit from the FA Cup.

A lack of sharpness is to be expected when a player hasn’t seen first team action in a month as was the case with Diaby. Though exactly why Squillaci and Gibbs struggled so mightily is a mystery. The Carling Cup finalists would eventually need to even bring on Thomas Rosicky due to injury to Nasri and in Thomas there was yet another player on the pitch for Arsenal who had been out for nearly a month.

Huddersfield started brightly and put in a cross in the 20th second which looked for their big striker Alan Lee but was cleared by Koscielny. It was a signal of intent from Huddersfield. They were not going to lie down and take a beating.

Arsenal responded immediately and as soon as they found a little rhythm, it was Arshavin’s who played a diagonal ball that was knocked down expertly by Bendtner. His cut back and left footed shot was blocked but the combination of Arshavin and Bendtner with both just not quite finding their feet would have been the story of the day. Had it not been for the late substitution of Cesc for Diaby in the 70th minute.

Arshavin was looking sprightly on both ends of the pitch and his vision kept picking up the runs of his fellow forwards on the other side of the field. Ball after lovely ball were played to Bendtner, Chamakh, Eboue and others who all contrived to waste his talents. Perhaps the worst example of this profligacy was the many chances that Arshavin and Nasri created for Bendtner. Time and again the Russian would beat his man either with some great skill or a smart run and put the ball into the danger area where Nicklas would contrive to keep the ball from even hitting the target.

Bendtner even once found himself in acres of space, one-on-one with the keeper, Nasri’s expertly played ball dipping and he whiffed on the volley. It’s not an easy shot but a center forward of the reputation he has of himself would surely have tested the keeper.

Arshavin struggled with form as well. At least three times he squandered a chance, blazing the ball over after a great set up, scuffing a shot well wide, and once when played in perfectly from Nasri actually kicking the ground before his shot. It was a performance true to his current form though encouragingly he worked very hard and even had a crucial tackle in the box late to save a goal.

Bendtner would try to take credit for the first goal but if there was a dubious goals panel it would be ruled off easily as an own goal. Arsenal cleared from a Huddersfield goal kick and the header found Nasri who played another nice diagonal ball to Bendtner. Bendy drove forward and unleashed a shot that, to be fair, might have gone out for a throw in, but McComb dove to block and redirected the ball past the keeper and perfectly into the corner of the net.

Huddersfield were hardly rocked as they came right back with Pilkington and Hunt playing some lovely combination football down the right side, beating Gibbs and putting in a deadly cross that was toed out by Squillaci. Almunia was in no man’s land on that one and Arsenal were riding their luck as Alan Lee looked to have beaten all his markers.

Mark Clattenburg put his stamp on the game as well booking Arsenal twice for time wasting, the first to Gibbs in the 27th minute for a toe poke on a free kick and the second to Cesc who was shoved down from behind in the 90th minute.

Clattenburg most courted controversy when he sent Squillaci off three minutes from half time with a straight red card for obstruction on Jack Hunt. The whole sequence did little to cover Arsenal in glory. It starts on the other end where Eboue has a wide open shot after some work from Rosicky and he trods on the ball. Seconds later, Jack Hunt, who has been terrorizing Arsenal’s right side skips over the outstretched leg of Denilson (if he’d have gone down, surely Denilson would have gotten a yellow) cuts inside and since his strike partner Lee is offside, has no choice but to poke the ball into open space and try to run onto it.

Squillaci, who has been obstructing players all day, does it again and Clattenburg calls the foul and wastes no time showing the straight red card. There was no doubt about the foul but for the red card there needed to be denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity and replays showed plenty of Arsenal players in position to recover. Just ask yourself this, would Clattenburg have made that same call if this was Man U v. Oldham at Old Trafford?

Clattenburg compounded the insult for the Arsenal faithful when he let off Jamie McCombe for his foul on Bendtner which led to Cesc’s winning penalty. Again, replays showed that McCombe was both the last defender and Bendtner had a real opportunity to score. Squillaci’s foul was not nearly as clear cut. Perhaps the FA should send out a pamphlet explaining the denial of an obvious goal scoring rule, because as a male writer I can say I don’t understand it.

Because of Squillaci’s dismissal Arsenal were forced to make their first change and Chamakh was sacrificed for Alex Song who partnered Koscielny in the center of defense.

From the restart, though Arsenal looked like their pernicious habit of letting games slip away started to creep in. Under no real pressure from midfield Denilson simply passed the ball backwards to Pilkington. Huddersfield’s most dangerous player saw his shot dragged just wide but it was a warning.

To add injury to insult, it was just a few minutes after the restart that Samir Nasri pulled up holding his hamstring and needed to be replaced with Thomas Rosicky. It’s a huge blow to Arsenal with arguably their in form player likely out for three weeks.

Arsene Wenger spoke to the press after and revealed that he actually wanted to start Rosicky in Nasri’s place and felt he needed to take the gamble on Samir because Thomas was still recovering from his bout of flu.

So I took the gamble on Nasri and it back-fired but he could have come on and because it was after 25 or 30 minutes it could have happened as well if he comes on. It is difficult to predict but of course we are at the stage of the season that we play so many games that to lose bodies is very difficult for us.

Arsene fears that Nasri will be out for three weeks. Hamstrings can be quite tricky and if two weeks is the match against Barcelona having Samir healthy for that would be the best possible outcome.

The second half was played in much the same manner as the first, Arshavin is played clean through down the left by a lovely ball from Rosicky and again he beats his man but it’s his shot that lets him down and he screws the ball into the left side netting.

Arsenal supporters will take solace in the fact that the little Russian played his heart out making a vital defensive tackle in the 55th minute to deny a real opportunity. Gibbs was nowhere to be seen and Andrei dove in, putting his body in harms way as he, Lee and Almunia all went for the ball with equal fervor.

With half an hour to go Huddersfield applied a good spell of pressure and swarmed the Arsenal midfield eventually dispossessing Gibbs and winning a corner. The ensuing bit of play saw yet another Lee header go wide. Replays showed the shot to be mere inches from a goal.

Moments later, Huddersfield would get their first real chance as a cross again finds Lee whose header required a great save from Almnuia.  The visitors were starting to find real belief and their dogged determination was winning possession in midfield from which they were giving great service to their target man up front.

From the corner, Gudjohnsson’s volley skips over the heads of Bendtner and Song and is just wide. The Huddersfield faithful were suddenly in full voice as the spartan Emirates crowd looked on worryingly as Arsenal kept gifting chances.

Alan Lee would get his chance just two minutes later. The League One side played a diagonal of their own in to Pilkington whose cross was cleared by Alex Song. On the ensuing corner though, there was no stopping them as Pilkington simply put the ball on the penalty spot and Arsenal were completely incapable of keeping Lee off the ball and out of the net. Lee had been knocking and it was no less than Huddersfield deserved. The League One side created 17 shots, two more than the Premiership side, at home.

The match is getting late and Arsenal looking stretched with just 10 men. Fabregas’ introduction almost immediately paying off. Arshavin has yet another chance go begging as Cesc’s cross frees him to dance around the defenders and play a perfect ball to Bendtner, who elects to take a touch rather than shoot and is easily blocked.

The moment of the match is when Cesc charges down Gudjohnsson who had dallied on the ball, wins the challenge, cuts back, beating the defender handsomely and plays in a perfect ball to Bendtner, right on the penalty spot. Bendtner is shoved from behind by the last man, McCombe and Clattenburg points to the spot.

Cesc took a cheeky hesitation penalty and after several near stops managed to beat the keeper. Two-one to the Arsenal and Huddersfield might feel aggrieved by the score line. The League One side put in quite a shift and nearly earned a replay against Arsenal at the Emirates.*

Arsene took a gamble by ringing in seven changes and only time will tell how much he lost: Nasri is out for at least two weeks, Squillaci is going to get a one match ban, and even Denilson came up hobbling. As it stands, Arsenal moved on and earned a fifth round match to Leyton Orient but with Barcelona and several hard tests in the Premier League some will have to ask at what price?

*Strange, these were notes on the game and I didn’t think they were published. Now I know why people were criticizing the report.

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