Morning all
I hope you're all as fortunate as me in getting a few snow days. In such emergencies, there's only one answer; Football Manager.
So after a morale boosting win at Villa Park, we find ourselves in the Semi Finals on the Carling Cup minus Manchester United. Following our win over Wigan, that result was somewhat trumped by the demolition of Man United over at Upton Park. Superb scoreline.
On Saturday, we started at such a frenetic pace that we had to win. We carved Villa opening in the first minute, and that was the case for 90 minutes bar 10-15 minutes towards the end. No point in going over the match as it was a while ago now, but I'll add my thoughts on a few things;
The character of the team was good. It was like they learnt the lessons against Tottenham and grouped together when conceding. However, both goals could easily have been stopped.
A weak link, and I hate to say it, is at left back. Gael Clichy is error prone. Like a goalkeeper, his mistakes leads to goals. I know so many players make mistakes. Some more than Gael. But it is his mistakes in key areas which concede goals. He lacks concentration. We all slate Fabianski for it so why should Gael be any different? Add to that that Kieran Gibbs struggles for full fitness, I feel we have a problem in that position.
Andrey Arshavin is back. A wonderful game from the Russian, full of energy, spark and effort. On his day, not many can stop him. And he took his goal remarkably well. More of the same please, Andrey.
After a slight rest, Chamakh was in full swing. I was disappointed with his display against Tottenham, but I can accept it was a minor blip. Bendtner has trouble even getting near this side, and credit must go to the Moroccan.
Jack Wilshere is stamping his authority on this Arsenal team. His probing runs were creating space and it was good to see. Maybe the absence of Fabregas will unleash the youngster.
Onto last nights game, I've only seen the goals. Credit for Vela for setting up Bendtner. Cracking cross. I've been reading that we didn't play well. But, who really cares. We're in the Semi Finals with a really really good chance of winning. If we show the same attitude as we did at St James Park and White Hart Lane, the trophy really is ours.
And I've been pleased with that. The trophy drought needs to come to an end. And the Carling Cup trophy could really kick on our season.
In my last post I forgot to mention Aaron Ramsey, who has joined Nottingham Forest on loan. This is a great move for all concerned. Forest get a superb player, Aaron gets his confidence back and Arsenal get a match fit player. He deserves credit for the bravery and willingness he has shown going out on loan. I wish him all the best and hope to see him in the red an white of Arsenal soon.
Another player I like, who is out on loan, is Henri Lansbury. He earned a standing ovation on his debut when Norwich demolished Ipswich and it's interesting to see how he again develops on loan. I hope to see him in and around the Arsenal first team in no time at all.
Quite a lengthy post and I hope that you're still reading!!
Thanks for your time.
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