Arsenal 1-2 Man Utd
January 23rd 2012 20:19
Arsenal missed out on the chance to gain ground on 4th spot after losing at home to Manchester United. This is the Gunners third defeat in a row in the league.
It was a quiet first half, but United had the lead at half time thanks to a header by Antonio Valencia right on the stroke of the half.
Arsenal were playing more like the away side in the first half, but after the second half they were more attacking. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was handed his first start in the Premier League, and he made the most of it, he along with Tomas Rosicky, were Arsenal's best players.
Arsene Wenger may have gotten a later substitution wrong, but to his credit, he got one right. He took Johan Djourou off at half time in place of Nico Yennaris. Whilst Yennaris is very inexperienced, especially for a game of this importance, he couldn't have played any worse than Djourou did.
Arsenal created chances early on in the second half, Chamberlain, who was Arsenal's brightest spark in an otherwise dull first half, was again the player looking most dangerous for the Gunners. He squared the ball to Ramsey, who could only fire over. And Rosicky, Arsenal's other star, took advantage of a Chris Smalling slip to bear down on goal, before he layed it off to Van Persie, who you'd have put all the money in the world on finding the net, but somehow the Dutchman fired wide.
United nearly sealed the game up, Welbeck stayed on his feet after he was seemingly tripped by German giant Per Mertesacker, but to the English striker's credit, he stayed on his feet. Mertesacker had just about enough in him to clear the ball off the line.
Soon after, Arsenal found the equaliser thanks to a superb counter attack. Koscielny found Rosicky, who then dinked the ball into the feet of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, before he found Robin Van Persie, who gratefully made up for earlier miss.
Oxlade-Chamberlain had an incredible first league start for the Gunners, and to the dismay of both his captain and his fans, he was taken off a few minutes after Arsenal's equaliser. Andrei Arshavin was his replacement, and this move was greeted with a chorus of boos around the Emirates, as well as chants of "you don't know what you're doing" which seemed to be aimed towards manager Arsene Wenger. And they were right. Everybody in the stadium could see that if Arsenal were going to win, Oxlade-Chamberlain would have to stay on the pitch.
Not long after Oxlade-Chamberlain's departure, United found their winner. To add insult to injury, Arshavin did nothing to stop Antonio Valencia's run into the box, who then crossed for Welbeck to slam in the winner for United.
After the game, Wenger tried to defend the substitution of Oxlade-Chamberlain, stating that it's ridiculous he was being criticised for replacing an 18 year old boy with the Russia captain. And also that he had made a lot of substitutions over the years he has spent in management, so he should know what he is doing.
The thing Wenger has failed to see is Arshavin is one of the most out of form players in the country. In honesty, since his first half a season at the club, he's not been worth the money Arsenal paid for him. A few moments of magic, such as the winner at Anfield in December 2009 and the winner against Barcelona at the Emirates last season, are two that stick to mind, as well as his four at Anfield in April 2009. This proves that Arshavin is a player that simply has moments, rather that long spells of consistency. So replacing the games best player, with a player as bad as Arshavin?. Ridiculous. If you want an idea of how much I rate Arshavin, i'll put it like this. The other football team I follow are my local team, Aldershot Town. They haven't scored a goal in Christ knows how long in League Two, but if I was their manager, I don't think he'd get a game for them. And the other sport that I love is American Football. I support the Chicago Bears in the NFL. If the Bears switched sports, I would take our American Football players to play English Football over Andrei Arshavin right now. So how he is still getting a game at Arsenal and captain of his country is truly beyond me. And I think it tells you everything you need to know about how bad this Arsenal team is compared to ones in years gone by.
If you make a mistake at any workplace, you will be questioned. So I have no idea why Wenger thinks he, as a football manager, one of the most highly pressured jobs in this world, should be any different. And fan patience is wearing away. Arsene is under pressure. It's 7 years and counting. He needs to win a trophy soon. The only way I see Arsenal qualifying for next year's Champions League is by winning it. And can you really see Arsenal winning it?. I can't. Wenger also claims it would be a 'disaster' if Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League. If he doesn't sign players between now and the end of January, that disaster will become a reality.
It seems to me as though Arsene is losing it. I for one am fed up of the excuses every week, the petty complaining. I love what Arsene has done for the club, I respect him for everything he's done too. But for me it's time to go this summer. I wouldn't be surprised to see him walk if we fail to qualify for the Champions League. The board seem afraid to fire him on what he's done for us. You need to make decisions that are best for the team overall. You can say Arsenal will lose a lot of appeal if Wenger goes, but the whole club just needs to move on and rebuild into a title winning team once more.
Most Arsenal fans reading this would call me crazy, but the man I want at Arsenal isn't a high profile name. But he's a great manager. His name is David Moyes. As you will know, he's manager at Everton. For me, Moyes, with the budget he gets every season, is one of the best managers in the Premier League. He gets no money every year, and still manages to get Everton playing well. Everton always start off slow, but do well enough every year. I think if Moyes was given a budget, he'd go a great job at a big club. You see what a manager like Harry Redknapp did at Portsmouth (pre Russian takeover), keeping them up with free transfers and low budget buys, and now you see the success he is having at Tottenham. It's no surprise. I'd love to see Moyes as the next Arsenal manager. It's feasible. Maybe I'm just dreaming, maybe Arsenal won't get rid of Wenger, or Wenger won't walk. Or possibly if that does happen, Arsenal go for a more high profile manager to do the job. But if I was in charge, I would let Wenger go in the summer, and negotiate a deal with Everton to bring David Moyes to Arsenal as their next manager.
Until next time guys,
Tom.
It was a quiet first half, but United had the lead at half time thanks to a header by Antonio Valencia right on the stroke of the half.
Arsenal were playing more like the away side in the first half, but after the second half they were more attacking. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was handed his first start in the Premier League, and he made the most of it, he along with Tomas Rosicky, were Arsenal's best players.
Rosicky shone in a rare start for the Czech midfielder
Arsene Wenger may have gotten a later substitution wrong, but to his credit, he got one right. He took Johan Djourou off at half time in place of Nico Yennaris. Whilst Yennaris is very inexperienced, especially for a game of this importance, he couldn't have played any worse than Djourou did.
Johan Djourou had a bad game
Arsenal created chances early on in the second half, Chamberlain, who was Arsenal's brightest spark in an otherwise dull first half, was again the player looking most dangerous for the Gunners. He squared the ball to Ramsey, who could only fire over. And Rosicky, Arsenal's other star, took advantage of a Chris Smalling slip to bear down on goal, before he layed it off to Van Persie, who you'd have put all the money in the world on finding the net, but somehow the Dutchman fired wide.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was superb
United nearly sealed the game up, Welbeck stayed on his feet after he was seemingly tripped by German giant Per Mertesacker, but to the English striker's credit, he stayed on his feet. Mertesacker had just about enough in him to clear the ball off the line.
Soon after, Arsenal found the equaliser thanks to a superb counter attack. Koscielny found Rosicky, who then dinked the ball into the feet of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, before he found Robin Van Persie, who gratefully made up for earlier miss.
RVP celebrates scoring his equaliser
Oxlade-Chamberlain had an incredible first league start for the Gunners, and to the dismay of both his captain and his fans, he was taken off a few minutes after Arsenal's equaliser. Andrei Arshavin was his replacement, and this move was greeted with a chorus of boos around the Emirates, as well as chants of "you don't know what you're doing" which seemed to be aimed towards manager Arsene Wenger. And they were right. Everybody in the stadium could see that if Arsenal were going to win, Oxlade-Chamberlain would have to stay on the pitch.
Not long after Oxlade-Chamberlain's departure, United found their winner. To add insult to injury, Arshavin did nothing to stop Antonio Valencia's run into the box, who then crossed for Welbeck to slam in the winner for United.
After the game, Wenger tried to defend the substitution of Oxlade-Chamberlain, stating that it's ridiculous he was being criticised for replacing an 18 year old boy with the Russia captain. And also that he had made a lot of substitutions over the years he has spent in management, so he should know what he is doing.
The thing Wenger has failed to see is Arshavin is one of the most out of form players in the country. In honesty, since his first half a season at the club, he's not been worth the money Arsenal paid for him. A few moments of magic, such as the winner at Anfield in December 2009 and the winner against Barcelona at the Emirates last season, are two that stick to mind, as well as his four at Anfield in April 2009. This proves that Arshavin is a player that simply has moments, rather that long spells of consistency. So replacing the games best player, with a player as bad as Arshavin?. Ridiculous. If you want an idea of how much I rate Arshavin, i'll put it like this. The other football team I follow are my local team, Aldershot Town. They haven't scored a goal in Christ knows how long in League Two, but if I was their manager, I don't think he'd get a game for them. And the other sport that I love is American Football. I support the Chicago Bears in the NFL. If the Bears switched sports, I would take our American Football players to play English Football over Andrei Arshavin right now. So how he is still getting a game at Arsenal and captain of his country is truly beyond me. And I think it tells you everything you need to know about how bad this Arsenal team is compared to ones in years gone by.
Arshavin was a waste of a shirt
If you make a mistake at any workplace, you will be questioned. So I have no idea why Wenger thinks he, as a football manager, one of the most highly pressured jobs in this world, should be any different. And fan patience is wearing away. Arsene is under pressure. It's 7 years and counting. He needs to win a trophy soon. The only way I see Arsenal qualifying for next year's Champions League is by winning it. And can you really see Arsenal winning it?. I can't. Wenger also claims it would be a 'disaster' if Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League. If he doesn't sign players between now and the end of January, that disaster will become a reality.
It seems to me as though Arsene is losing it. I for one am fed up of the excuses every week, the petty complaining. I love what Arsene has done for the club, I respect him for everything he's done too. But for me it's time to go this summer. I wouldn't be surprised to see him walk if we fail to qualify for the Champions League. The board seem afraid to fire him on what he's done for us. You need to make decisions that are best for the team overall. You can say Arsenal will lose a lot of appeal if Wenger goes, but the whole club just needs to move on and rebuild into a title winning team once more.
Wenger lifts his last trophy, but has lost his touch
Most Arsenal fans reading this would call me crazy, but the man I want at Arsenal isn't a high profile name. But he's a great manager. His name is David Moyes. As you will know, he's manager at Everton. For me, Moyes, with the budget he gets every season, is one of the best managers in the Premier League. He gets no money every year, and still manages to get Everton playing well. Everton always start off slow, but do well enough every year. I think if Moyes was given a budget, he'd go a great job at a big club. You see what a manager like Harry Redknapp did at Portsmouth (pre Russian takeover), keeping them up with free transfers and low budget buys, and now you see the success he is having at Tottenham. It's no surprise. I'd love to see Moyes as the next Arsenal manager. It's feasible. Maybe I'm just dreaming, maybe Arsenal won't get rid of Wenger, or Wenger won't walk. Or possibly if that does happen, Arsenal go for a more high profile manager to do the job. But if I was in charge, I would let Wenger go in the summer, and negotiate a deal with Everton to bring David Moyes to Arsenal as their next manager.
Moyes would be my next Arsenal manager
Until next time guys,
Tom.
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