Fourth place is everything now

Posted on February 19, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, FA Cup, Featured, Match Reports | 101 Guns

Sunderland 2 – 0 Arsenal Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction It’s been a bad week for Arsenal fans. A crushing defeat in Milan, followed by a comprehensive loss at Sunderland, and the evaporation of any remaining hopes of bringing home silverware. Arsene clearly broke a mirror in 2005, and good behaviour has not granted him any time off fortune’s sentence: it will now be seven long years without a trophy. Yesterday Arsenal were beaten on a ground where … →

Thoughts on our Milan mauling

Posted on February 17, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Champions League, Featured, Match Reports | 57 Guns

AC MILAN 4 – 0 ARSENAL Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction Arsenal have suffered a few significant defeats this season. There was the obvious example of the thrashing at Old Trafford, the collapse at Blackburn, and the capitulation in Greece. In all of those instances, there were mitigating circumstances: teams weakened due to transfer activity, injuries, or rotation. The reason the 4-0 defeat to Milan cuts particularly deep is that this is a game in which Arsenal were … →

Sunderland 1 – 2 Arsenal: Thierry’s Fabulous Fond Farewell

Posted on February 13, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Featured, Match Reports, Premier League | 87 Guns

SUNDERLAND 1 – 2 ARSENAL Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction When I last filed an entry on this blog, Arsenal had just beaten at home by Manchester United, to the audible irritation of a mutinous crowd. It got worse. In the next game, an FA Cup Fourth Round tie at home to Aston Villa, Arsenal found themselves two nil down at half-time, and staring down the barrel of a fourth defeat in five games. Since then, there has … →

Arsenal 1 – 2 Man U: Mutiny at the Emirates

Posted on January 23, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Match Reports, Premier League | 318 Guns

Yesterday, Arsenal lost 2-1 to Manchester United, which is no great disaster. It’s certainly an improvement on the 8-2. However, yesterday Arsene Wenger lost a lot more than a football match. In one moment, he seemed to lose the trust of the Arsenal faithful. The discontent surrounded the substitution of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Chamberlain had been Arsenal’s most promising attacking player, and had just created an equalising goal for Robin van Persie. However, Arsene decided to replace him with Andrey Arshavin, … →

United Preview: Points required; Pride essential

Posted on January 22, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Match Previews, Premier League | 43 Guns

Arsene is not really the sort of manager to deliver a rousing team-talk before a big game. Fortunately, today, he doesn’t need to. All he need do is print out the following, and tack it to the dressing room wall. I’m sorry to have made you look at that again. But it’s important we do. It’s important the players do. And it’s important Arsene does. On that day, Arsenal let down themselves and their supporters. That simply cannot happen today. … →

Swansea thoughts: Ramsey does too much and Theo doesn’t do enough

Posted on January 16, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Match Reports, Premier League | 124 Guns

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction I am not a fan of blaming referees for poor results… …especially in a match like this, when Arsenal had ample time to get back in control of the game. Slow-motion replays may have shown that Nathan Dyer was guilty of simulation, but in real-time it looked very much like a clumsy tackle. When you become the first side to score twice at the Liberty Stadium this season and still conspire to lose, … →

Invincible, Immortal, & In the fourth round

Posted on January 10, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, FA Cup, Match Reports | 132 Guns

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction The diagonal through ball from Alex Song was perfect. It could have been played by Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, or even Dennis Bergkamp. The first touch was immaculate, the body shape breathtakingly familiar. The giant clock suspended from the Emirates canopy seemed to stop, dead. Time wound back to 2004 and, briefly, Thierry Henry was invincible again. As he drew back his right-foot to strike the ball, the Emirates was momentarily hushed. Then … →

Return of the King: Welcome home Thierry

Posted on January 9, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, FA Cup, Match Previews | 21 Guns

What is va va voom? It’s many things. It’s a style, an attitude. It’s a grace, an impudence, a gallic flair. It’s instant control, a side-footed finish, and a shrug of celebration. And what is more, it’s back. As of today, for a period of six to eight weeks, Arsenal will once more be able to call on the greatest player in their history. Thierry Henry has returned. In his first spell at the club, Henry netted a record 226 … →

Fulham defeat shows the need for Henry

Posted on January 5, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Match Reports, Premier League | 22 Guns

I don’t, like Arsene Wenger, blame the referee for our defeat at Fulham. Nor do I blame the Fulham players who targeted a player struggling on a booking: I would hope Arsenal would do exactly the same thing. I don’t blame Johan Djorou for being sent off, or Francis Coquelin for being out of position when Bobby Zamora volleyed home the winner. When you line-up with two out-of-position players in your back four, you have to accept there is a … →

Video: RVP’s year of goals

Posted on January 2, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season | 46 Guns

Happy New Year, Gooners. It’s rare that I will dedicate an entire post to a Youtube video, but in this instance I thought it best to honour Robin van Persie’s remarkable 2011 by showing you this beautiful film by armirvp88. I’m aware that since I last posted we have played and beat QPR, with RVP scoring the final goal of his extraordinary year. However, without seeing anything more than a few highlights I don’t feel best placed to analyse the … →