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Wenger took Jack Wilshere off after he shouted
Ipswich 1 Arsenal 0
Priskin 78
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A friend of a friend was at Ipswich on Wednesday night.
He’s a Gooner and he sat in the third row of the stand. He could see and hear everything.
He said this : In the second half, Jack Wilshere started shouting at a couple of Arsenal players. As soon as Jack did that, Wenger took him off.
But the BBC don’t tell you that, Sky don’t tell you, the newspapers don’t either.
Within 10 minutes of Jack being taken off, Ipswich scored.
By Friday morning, Fabregas was telling us that Ipswich played rugby.
Cesc, you’re playing in a team of midgets. How dim and gullible do you think we are? You had a bad game, a sloppy game, you don’t want be there, you’re playing as if you want to avoid injury. You looked as if you had the hump because Nasri wasn’t playing. You combine very well with Nasri because his many skills put him on your level. With Nasri not there, you played at 60%.
But you have the audacity to say, “I still think we played well.”
What an mind-boggling statement that is ! I still think we played well. I still think we played well?
GET IT RIGHT, SON !
Ipswich are such a strong team that they ‘re in the bottom six of the Championship. Their new manager hasn’t had time to take charge of a side that’s lost 8 of their last 11 matches. Paul Jewell sat in the stand because he didn’t know the players well enough to pick the team. For the second leg on Wednesday 19th, Jewell will know his players
Your team didn’t fancy it, Cesc. Your team didn’t turn up. Denilson can’t pass the ball forward, Eboue is a diver and a joke, Walcott a nearly-man with a brilliant future behind him.
One TV commentator was gobsmacked when Koscielny said, “Sorry” to an Ipswich player after kicking the ball against him. He said: I’ve never seen that before ! I’ve never seen a defender apologise to a striker for kicking the ball against him !
No, you haven’t seen that. But you’ve seen Thierry Henry lose at West Ham and walk off giving Teddy Sheringham a cuddle.
This Arsenal team was very close to Wenger’s strongest available side, apart from Nasri.
Before the game, the manager who has treated with Carling Cup with more contempt than any other since he arrived in England, the man who set the trend of using it to give kids a game, had done a U-turn. He said he’d pick a strong side to wrap it up in the first leg . But he went to Portman Road and played one up front and the one was…NIKLAS BENDTNER !!
NB52 is a useless lump who gets worse every time you see him. And yet the head teacher of the Colney Creche allows him to wear No 52 because seven is his lucky number. Rosicky wears No7, so Bendtner says, “Five and two and is seven, let me wear 52.” He’s indulged like a four year old. Why? Bendtner is nothing special as a footballer.
Cesc, your team of midgets were outfought and outplayed and deserved to lose. Ipswich left winger Connor Wickham is six foot three and a hot prospect. Just before half-time, his whipped cross just eluded the head of skipper David Norris, a little midfielder
Here’s how the decisive goal came about :
Denilson tried a pass to Arshavin which was telegraphed. The pass was intercepted and when the ball broke back to Denilson it hit his shin and popped up in the air. To be fair, Denilson went for the ball again and won it, knocking it towards Song with his upper arm/chest But Song just stood and waited for the ball, allowing Colin Healy to jab it forward for Tamas Priskin to chase.
The 24-year old Hungarian was been playing as a lone striker in a 4-5-1 and had given Arsenal three anxious moments already. Now he raced beyond Djourou, who did not dare bring him down.
Priskin let the ball bounce once and took one touch and slotted his right foot shot low inside the right post. Szczesny should have advanced and made it harder for Priskin. The goal is 24 feet wide and when the big Pole dived he couldn’t reach the shot. It went in for the only goal of the game in 78 minutes.
Look at Fabregas these days. Do you recognise the player we once knew and loved ? His sloppy,shabby performances suggest that he’s utterly sick of Wenger’s Youth Project, sick of a manager who has created a squad no other top manager would want, except for three players, and horrified by the prospect of wasting more years with a serial loser.
Two years ago Fabregas was telling Wenger to sign Xabi Alonso. A year after that he was telling him to sign David Villa. Right now, Xabi Alonso is playing regularly for a successful Real Madrid, and David Villa is loving it at Barcelona, where he can win the medals he could never win at Valencia.
VERDICT : We all thought Arsenal couldn’t be as bad as they were against Leeds. But they were worse. Like Leeds, Ipswich grew into the game.
It’s time for Gooners to ask themselves this question : If Arsenal get to the Carling Cup Final, will they want it enough? Or will Birmingham want it more? Will West Ham want it more?
TWO CLEAN SHEETS IN LAST SIX GAMES :
Arsenal 3 Chelsea 1
Wigan 2 Arsenal 2
Birmingham 0 Arsenal 3
Arsenal 0 Man City 0
Arsenal 1 Leeds 1
Ipswich 1 Arsenal 0
West Ham v Arsenal is on Saturday at 5.30pm.
IPSWICH (4-5-1): Fulop; Peters, McAulet, Delaney, O’Dea; Edwards, Norris, Kennedy, Healy, Wickham; Priskin (Murray, 90). Subs not used Lee-Barrett, Smith, Eastman, Civelli, Thompson-Lambe, Hourihane.
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Eboue, Djourou, Koscielny, Gibbs; Denilson, Wilshere (Song, 68); Walcott, Fabregas, Arshavin (Vela, 80); Bendtner (Chamakh, 68). Subs not used Ramsey, Eastmond, Miquel, Shea (gk).
Referee Martin Atkinson (Leeds).
Arsenal’s Carling Cup / Reserve fiasco / Dalglish /Beckham
Ipswich are coming off a 7-0 thrashing at Chelsea at the weekend.
Ipswich were managerless in that game but kept Chelsea out for 32 minutes before Kalou scored the first goal.
After that it was a massacre with Sturridge and Lampard both scoring twice.
Former Wigan boss Paul Jewell has now taken over at Portman Road.
The Ipswich v Arsenal Carling Cup first leg is on Sky tonight.
Ideally, Wenger should play a very strong team and end this two-legged semi-final before half-time. I’ve said that Arsenal should focus on winning the Carling Cup and I reckon they will win it. But, looking at the way Arsenal defend, and the form of Van Persie and Bendtner, I’m far from convinced that Arsenal are strong enough to win anything else.
Ipswich dismissed Roy Keane last Thursday after 20 months in the job. They started the season by playing 13 matches without a win and Chief Exec Simon Clegg said this week that some of their players found Keane too demanding.
West Ham v Arsenal is on Saturday at 5.30 pm on ESPN.
Last night West Ham beat Birmingham 2-1 despite having Victor Obinna sent off for backheeling Seb Larsson in the groin. I still think Birmingham will squeeze into the final but the second leg will be very tight and possibly controversial.
How on earth could Arsenal reserves lose 10-1 at Aston Villa on Monday night?
Keeper James Shea hit a clearance to Villa’s Gary Gardner for the first goal, and defender George Brislen-Hall was sent off for a rash tackle seconds later.
So Arsenal lost a goal and a man in the first 11 minutes. That’s football. These things happen. But you don’t lose by double figures. You don’t get beat 10-1 !!! Where’s the pride? Did they fancy it? Obviously not.
Will reserve boss Neil Banfield write this game off as a bad day at the office? Or does this fiasco represent something fundamentally wrong in the culture of the Colney Creche?
Blackpool host Liverpool in a league game at 8pm tonight.
Ian Holloway’s side won 2-1 at Anfield and Kenny Dalglish said yesterday that Blackpool are a breath of fresh air. Absolutely right ! It’s a cliche but a cliche is just a truth we’re tired of hearing. Blackpool are great fun and I really hope they don’t lose Charlie Adam in this transfer window.
Kenny’s first move as Liverpool’s new manager was a smart one: he hired Jose Mourinho’s former assistant Steve Clarke as his No.2. Two heads are better than one. Steve Clarke will make a big difference, or my name’s not Sir Nigel Gunshot-Wound.
Can Kenny revive Fernando Torres? Maybe. But Torres needs service, like all strikers. He needs to play in a good team, with quality players like Xabi Alonso and Mascherano, a team with belief and momentum.
Is Torres finished? Is he completely burned out? Does he have head problems? I wonder. He played for Spain at all the age groups and was captain of Atletico Madrid when he was 21. He had to be half their team and that’s a strain for any player, let alone a young centre forward.
I don’t know whether Kenny can revive Liverpool quickly. Or whether he can revive them at all. The owners are Yanks who love to collect data, so they put in French tehnocrat Damien Comolli as Director of Football Strategy. Is Comolli one of the good guys? Maybe Comolli’s stats and Kenny’s man-management will prove to be a winning combination.
This morning I switched on Sky Sports Beckham and saw that Harry Redknapp is still hoping to sign the bearded old timer from LA Galaxy.
The 35-year old former superstar trained with Spurs yesterday. Maybe he’ll train with Spurs today.
Sky Sports Beckham will let us know in the morning and maybe sooner. I’m on the edge of my seat.
PS Thanks for all your emails.When the software uprade is completed, I’ll post some of the good ones.
Arsenal draw again/Howard Webb/Stevenage/Cristiano’s 31 goals
London’s biggest club will play Huddersfield in Round 4.
But only if Arsenal win the FA Cup replay at Elland Road, following a dismal performance in Saturday’s 1-1 draw.
Bendtner had a shocker. Was Chamakh on the pitch? I’m told he was but I never saw him. After Denilson’s stupid trip conceded a soft penalty in 54, Robert Snodgrass beat Szeczesny from the spot.
A reflex save by Szeczesny kept out a close-range header by Becchio, an Argentinian.
Then sub Fabregas saved the tie with a penalty in 90, after Walcott had been impeded by struggling left back Ben Parker.
Talking about Denilson’s blunder on TV, the cheesed-off Fabregas said, “At this stage, when you are a professional footballer, you cannot risk these type of penalties.”
Djourou was good, Song did OK. Gibbsy came back looking sharp, especially when he won the ball and fed Rosicky, who played Arshavin in for an early one-one-one. But keeper Kasper Schmeichel made a textbook save. Arshavin’s form has been patchy and he was dismal in this game, but give credit to the keeper for doing everything right at a crucial moment.
Clearly, Cesc is sick of playing with mediocrities and he’s started saying it out loud. Why is Denilson at Arsenal? Nobody can explain it. You can’t, I can’t, and neither can the skipper. And why should Fabregas have to play with dunces?
VERDICT : Without Nasri, Wilshere and Fabregas, Arsenal are average.
That’s what the Leeds game told me.
Wenger had claimed Arsenal would try to win every competition. Yeah, right.
Believe what he does, not what he says. He left out his best players because he regards the FA Cup as a nuisance.
Too much fuss was made over the 0-0 against Manchester City.
It was one game out of 38 and a match that Citeh did not dare lose.
Roberto Mancini is a lot tougher than we thought he was, much more determined. He came for a 0-0 draw and got it. Mancini doesn’t care about our opinion. He cares about getting David Silva and Balotelli fit and back into his team, and settling in Dzeko, his new striker from Wolfsburg. Nobody knows how quickly the six foot four inch Bosnian will fit in.
The most notable FA Cup result was at Broadhall Way : Stevenage 3 Newcastle 1.
It’s notable because Newcastle are 73 places above Stevenage and because when these teams met 13 years ago, the home side were robbed of victory by a referee who allowed an Alan Shearer header which did not cross the line.
I lived in Stevenage as a kid and remember the club moving from their ramshackle old town ground to the new stadium at Broadhall Way. They had a great left-half called Ray Freeman, a powerful tackler who could play a bit. I was delighted when they signed Tommy Watson, a tricky right winger I’d first seen in a Sunday league game. Tommy was good enough to move onwards and upwards to Peterborough : the big time !
Sunday’s Manchester United-Liverpool tie began with Kenny Dalglish restored as caretaker manager.
Kenny is a guy I like and respect. I knew him as a reporter and, having lived in Scotland, I could understand what he was saying, which some London reporters couldn’t. I had loved Kenny as a player long before that. The greatest British footballer of his generation by 26 miles.
Nothing much to say about that game, really. The rusty Agger clipped Berbatov after 32 seconds, Giggs made it 1-0 from the spot, and Stevie G was sent off in 32 for a two-footed tackle that Howard Webb did not see because he had his back to the incident. I’ve watched the replay six times and Webb couldn’t have seen that tackle properly, if at all.
What happened was this : Rafael made an imbecilic pass along the halfway line, a pass that was ripe for interception, Gerrard went for it fiercely and got there before Carrick .
The tackle had already happened by the time the referee turned his head. I’m 100% sure he didn’t see it. And I’m 50% sure that if he had seen it, he’d have let Gerrard off with a yellow card. Webb’s assistant must have told him that Gerrard had both feet off the ground. According to the letter of the law, that’s a red card. The linesman told Webb it was “excessive force” and both feet off the ground.
Real Madrid against Villarreal was a pulsating thriller.
Cani scored for the visitors when Rossi flicked him in after 7, Cristiano Ronaldo equalised on 10, and Marco Ruben gave Villarreal a shock lead on 18. In Catalonia, they were loving it, since Barcelona would be five points ahead in Real lost this game.
After seeing Ozil at Fulham in August, I began to watch him closely. It’s a huge step up from Werder Bremen because expectations are so high at Real Madrid. Ozil is fast and direct, a left-footed greyhound who carries the ball till he can see a pass that will open up the defence. He links well with Di Maria and Benzema in a new attack and here he set up the first equaliser for CR. Mourinho left him on for 94 minutes, so the kid must be doing something right. It’s early days in his career but Ozil’s had an exciting year.
Villarreal are a good side who knock the ball around cleverly and swiftly. They were doing well until Cristiano Ronaldo headed the equaliser on 45 from a pinpoint Xabi Alonso freekick. Zonal marking is wrong. It doesn’t work, amigos.
Second half, the proactive Mourinho switched Sergio Ramos to centreback and brought on Khedira for Lassana Diarra. Then he brought on Kaka for Albiol in 70, moving Khedira to the back. When Kaka crossed there was an amazing scramble and Cristiano, as dangerous in a melee as he is in space, scampered back onto the loose ball, spun round, and buried a left foot shot in the bottom corner. Mourinho then brought on Gago, a defensive midfielder, and Cristiano went down the left and hit a killer cross which Kaka stabbed in at the near post for 4-2.
Today’s Real Madrid are a power team full of big athletes and Cristiano Ronaldo has 31 goals in all comps. Not everybody’s cup of tea, but a gladiator. The Special One’s two-fisted celebration at 4-2 was typical and very OTT.
If Jose Mourinho turns nasty when they win 4-2, what will he do when Real lose a big game?
Nigel Bidmead talks to Martin Tyler
Many American readers wrote to ANR during the World Cup.
Almost all of them were loving Martin Tyler’s commentaries on ESPN.
My friend Nigel talked to Martin last week.
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Without Balotelli & David Silva, Manchester City could lose at the Emirates.
Arsenal should be able to outpass and outrun City.
With Nasri and Fabregas showing the way, and Wilshere and Song joining in, Arsenal should pin City back, open them up a few times, and give Joe Hart some work to do.
Main danger to Arsenal will be free-kicks. Half the goals they concede are from set-pieces.
The fiery Carlos Tevez can get shots in against anybody but Tevez can’t beat Arsenal in his own.
City have not won at Arsenal for 35 years. Can Tevez change that? Not on his own. Not tonight.
Kolo Toure and Adebayor had a fight in training yesterday. There are photos in the tabloids. Kolo got Ade in a headlock, apparently.
I always loathed Adebayor, even when he was scoring goals. One day I went to the Emirates and saw him play against Manchester United and I was staggered by how bad he was, how lazy he was, how timid he was, how often he avoided doing all the things a centre forward should do. He was a joke. He was far, far worse than he looked on TV. Like you, I was ecstatic when he was sold to Man City for £25 million.
Roberto Mancini will play for a draw, I think.
Yaya Toure will make a few menacing runs with the ball to give Gooners a fright or two. Yaya has elemental moments, times when he looks unstoppable. Collectively, Arsenal have a better pattern and that will work for them if City sit back and defend the box.
But I still think it will be a low-scoring game.
Manchester United’s winger Nani was the main man in their 2-1 victory over Stoke.
Nani made the first goal when he hit a tasty low cross to the near post that went through the first defender’s legs. The sparky Mexican zipped in front of Ryan Shawcross and flicked in a Latin goal, a bit like Zola. He’s razor-sharp near the goal, as we’ve seen.
Then Dean Whitehead headed in a Tuncay cross for 1-1. A well-aimed header but a soft goal to concede. Then Nani showed what a master of ball-manipulation he is, and how two-footed he is, as he rifled home a phenomenal shot with his left foot after taking a little pass from Hernandez.
Good wingers are very important.
When Brian Marwood delivered for half a season, Arsenal won the title. When Limpar did the same, Arsenal were champions again. When Overmars scored goals in his first season, same again.
Nani gives United a cutting edge and his goals will be vital to United. And Nasri needs to stay fit for the rest of the season. If Nasri stays fit, he will keep doing what he’s doing now and it could go to the wire.
Chelsea have imploded, as Wenger always hoped they would.
Manchester United are still unbeaten. Sir Alex would love to see Arsenal draw tonight.
PS. Fabregas has been teasing on Twitter.
He said there would be a new face in the Arsenal squad tonight.
Oh yeah? Has Bendtner shaved his head?
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The Arsenal-Manchester City game is one of the biggest of the season.
Almost as big as the Carling Cup Final on Feb 27.
Wednesday night will tell us something.
Both clubs have won 12 league games. Manchester United have won 11, Spurs and Chelsea 10 each.
The Manchesters are level on 21 points.But United have two games in hand.
Against Citeh, I’m expecting a tight low-scoring draw.
Fabregas and Wilshere and Song versus Wenger reject Yaya Toure?
The big man should have no chance because he’s playing with such slow partners, Barry and De Jong.
Will he start Arshavin or Walcott? After that acrobatic wonder-goal at Wigan, a volley from the edge of the box, I hope he starts the Russian. To me a wonder-goal is a goal nobody can improve on. Zico and Scholes and Klinsmann scored volleys as thrilling as that.
Adam Johnson’s defected shot gave Man City a 1-0 win over Blackpool. Promotion was a tangerine dream for Olly’s heroes and they’ve already won 5 games away from home. Man Utd have only won 2 away, Chelsea 3, Spurs 4.
Carlos Tevez looked tired and stale against Blackpool. But he’s one of the ten best players in the world and he never gives up.David Silva is a lovely touch player with wonderful balance and vision. Should a player with his ability score 12 goals a season?
Overall, it was a weekend of penalties and 50-50 balls and almost all the big boys got three points.
Aston Villa were leading 2-1 at Chelsea with eight minutes to go. But it finished 3-3.Very harsh penalty award against James Collins. Malouda cutely backed into him and Lee Mason fell for it.He should have given a foul the other way.Villa battled their way to seven yellow cards and a point that could easily have been three.
At Birmingham, Arsenal played well and won 3-0.
The turning point at 0-1 was the handball by Robin van Persie. If a penalty had been given, and scored, it’s 1-1 and different game.
The first goal came when Van Persie smashed a free-kick through a wall and the ball deflected in off Lee Bowyer’s elbow in 13. But the other goals didn’t come till 58 and 66.
Nasri interpassed with Fabregas and then slotted a beautiful shot into the bottom corner. Further sweet and nifty interplay between those two led to a Fabregas shot from a narrow angle that went in off defender Roger Johnson for 3-0.
Nasri was outstanding again and his goal was the best of the weekend by a mile.
Arsenal certainly played a lot better than Man United did in beating West Brom 2-1.
After Obertan fiddled about, Evra crossed, Darren Fletcher jumped as high as he could and missed it, but Rooney headed the ball in from a crouching position. One bounce, one nil, his first goal in open play since March.
Some hacks think Rooney’s form will decide this title. Maybe it will. But his form depends on his fitness. He went off with an ankle injury after three subs had been used, disappeared, then came back on the pitch. He’s competitive.
An important and productive player was missing : Nani. Another important player was missing as well. One they haven’t got. Sir Alex needs a mobile, technical ball-winner, somebody as good as Lassana Diarra. Anderson’s had some very good games but he’s a power player, not a strategic craftsman, not a Makelele or a Mascherano.
James Morrison scored one of the best goals of the weekend with a fantastic half-volley after Vidic headed out to him. That spectacular strike made it 1-1. Then jack-in-the-box sub Hernadez, unmarked, scored the winner with a header from a corner.
Spurs beat Fulham 1-0 with Gareth Bale glancing a Rafael van der Vaart free-kick into the opposite corner. I think the RvdV free-kick was a shot. Can’t believe they practiced that. But it’s possible.
It looks as if Liverpool have stopped playing to get Roy Hodgson the sack. They don’t like his training , so they were playing to get the manager the sack. The Kop want Dalglish back as caretaker, a stupid notion that could only flourish among the truly delusional.
Liverpool beat Bolton 2-1 and with Joe Cole scoring a jammy winner in added time.
One reader, Obaid Raza, 26, emails me every day. His iPhone never stops.
Fortunately, his latest is a short one.
He says : Are we agreed? Arsenal have moved up a level and United need a hand from the referees.
Well, the embarrassingly slow Gary Neville should have been sent off by ref Chris Foy and a penalty awarded to West Brom.
If that had happened, United would not have won 2-1.
Have Arsenal moved up a level? No, but Nasri’s moved up two levels. Where would they be without Nasri this season?
For me, it’s still a squad of also-rans run by a control-freak who rewards failure too generously. Can the title really be won by a team that’s only kept five clean sheets in their first 20 games?
I’d rather watch Arsenal than Man City… but City have kept 10 clean sheets.
As you know, Eboue has recently signed a new long-term contract.
Eboue has signed a new long-term contract !!
I rest my case.
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From Mac : Wigan–Arsenal
Boy, oh boy!! Did you hit the nail on the head!!
Win one, lose one. Play really well, play like a bunch of old men!! CONSISTENT!!!
That’s the word ! And the sooner Arsenal start being CONSISTENT, their chances of winning the Prem will improve. And they had better start Saturday.
From Lawrence : Happy New Year
Thanks for a rousing sign-off from 2010, you capture the angst amongst fans very well and I like the cut of your jib.
How difficult would it be for him to hire someone to organise the defence and do the part he doesn’t? I guess the longer he doesn’t the less likely it is to happen as it might constitute a sell-out of his plans.
He has been lucky with the title winning teams as the defence was provided, even when we moved onto the later generation they were imbued with the good sense of the defence which came before.
Happy New Year to you and I look forward to your updates in 2011 (how ever caustic they may result..!)
Cheers
From Tom Leyhane : No lamenting here…
Absolutely spot on.
Enjoyed the blogs this year and look forward to reading you in 2011.
Happy New Year.
From Adi D : hammer on the nail’s head
You are spot on, Myles.
Wenger’s post match yap was shocking to say the least.
THAT is something outsiders should be saying and Wenger, being an insider (rather whole and sole), doing something about it. He is complaining that his players dont take charge…who the hell is paid for that??? Erm, it’s you Mr. Wenger…Our fluent footbally clicked against Chelsea and we won. But it doesn’t always click..the nights it doesn’t click are the nights that decide champions. And a team which cannot defend a one-goal lead with a one man advantage with only 10 mins to go can never be champions.
Man Utd and Chelsea will not remain as poor they have been so far…Arsene, you really need to introspect.
From Ed Davie : latest post
I understand the philosophy… And being a season ticket holder I’m not blind to the faults.
However, I can’t help but look around and feel immensely proud of my Arsenal.
Too many tw*ts on Sky Sports feed the same nonsense as I get working in the Bank – it’s all about now, this year’s target, my reward for my short-term performance. 1 win / 1 loss changes everything. Frankly, I’m a bit old for that (at 26 and a half!)
The public anger towards the banking crisis – with that attitude?? You’ve gotta be kidding! Smacks of hypocrisy, or worse stupidity (sigh)
No doubt Gazidis and Wenger could chuck someone else’s money at the problem – but for what? What Chelsea have got??
Nah, not me. I’ll take some long term vision, prudent management and mega desire for success (without risking bankruptcy – Leeds, Luton, Portsmouth etc…) Would rather have a Colman Mockler than a Fred Goodwin or even a Jack Welch!
As the old phrase goes “Barca wasn’t built in a day!”
I think that’s rant over. Of course a very happy new year to you too. All the best.
From Barrie Whipp : I knew….
You’d go ballistic after the Wigan game.
Koscielny reminds me of Ryan Styles, the American improviser – he made it up as he went along too.
I can just imagine Wenger saying “Zut Alors, I have just worked out we do not have a communicator at the back! – Pat, what a genius I am!”
Happy 2011 Myles
From Rahul : 2011
Happy New Year, Myles!