Arsenal 0-0 Tottenham: Eboue the game-wrecker

A ridiculous piece of behaviour by Emmanuel Eboue (sigh) ensured a 0-0 draw was all Arsenal could muster from a hugely disappointing North London derby at White Hart Lane.

I should begin by saying that I was really looking forward to yesterday’s game. Really looking forward to it. My new roommate – who goes by the name of SettaKeys on this blog – had brought with him Foxtel and a new HD television and I had invited four friends over in the hope of watching Arsenal give Tottenham the stuffing they deserved. But it never ensued and it’s all thanks to the stupidity of Eboue.

The starting team that Arsene Wenger put out was reasonably predictable, the only surprise being that Johan Djourou was again left on the bench alongside new signing Andrey Arshavin and fit-again Eduardo. Alex Song and Denilson took up the two central-midfield spots leaving Samir Nasri on the left and Eboue (sigh) on the right. Robin van Persie was restored to the starting side to partner Emmanuel Adebayor, leaving Nicklas Bendtner on the bench. It was a decent team if a little light in the centre of the park.

In truth it was Tottenham who started the sharper of the two sides. Robbie Keane may have been unlucky not to win a penalty after a clash with Gallas while Aaron Lennon twice got the better of Gael Clichy to fire shots at goal. Meanwhile Eboue (sigh) started like a hyperactive ferret, first firing a nice ball across the face of goal and then having a goal of his own chalked off. The manager might have been furious with the decision following the game but in my eyes Adebayor clearly tripped Jonathan Woodgate as he went to clear Eboue’s (sigh) ball and the goal was correctly ruled out.

After starting so brightly, Eboue (sigh) then resorted to his usual tricks. First he was booked after complaining endlessly to referee Mike Dean over a clear foul by Bacary Sagna. Then, after Luka Modric had a fine shot saved by Manuel Almunia and Adebayor almost capitalised on some dodgy defending by Vedran Corluka, Eboue (sigh) effectively ended any chance Arsenal had of winning the game by getting himself sent-off.

Watching the two or three-minute period surrounding Eboue’s (sigh) dismissal on TV was an absolute embarrassment for Arsenal supporters. From the moment he stood over the prone figure of Modric with his hands behind his back you could tell Eboue (sigh) had done something wrong. Funnily enough the referee booked Modric and for a split-second I thought Eboue (sigh) might have gotten away with whatever he did.

Alas, it was not to be as Eboue (sigh) then ridiculously patted the Croatian on the back about 40 times before receiving a second yellow-card and the subsequent red from the referee. Annie, my housemate, was cursing Mike Dean for his decision but I knew in my gut that Eboue (sigh) had done something. And sure enough, he had, replays showing that he had inexplicably kicked out a player who had done absolutely nothing to deserve it.

Make no mistake, Eboue’s actions were an absolute joke. After ironically putting in his best half-hour of the season Eboue (sigh) let down his teammates, the manager and every Arsenal fan around the world for absolutely no reason. I thought the booing of him was harsh and unfair during the win over Wigan but since that game he has not changed his attitude one little bit and everybody else has to pay for it. It was ridiculous and selfish beyond belief and it should be punished accordingly by the manager in whatever way he sees fit. 

To make matters worse, moments before Eboue’s (sigh) brain explosion we lost Adebayor to what looked like an extremely painful hamstring tear. The manager brought on Bendtner and opted for a 4-3-2 formation in order to keep the Tottenham back-four on their toes, a tactic that allowed our boys to scrap their way to a half-time stalemate despite Almunia being forced into a couple of decent saves.

The second-half was a tense if ultimately frustrating affair for Arsenal. Tottenham carved out their best chances of the match early in the period as first Roman Pavlyuchenko then blockhead Robbie Keane wasted excellent chances. Up the other end van Persie fired a half-chance wide before Song wasted our best chance of the day, hooking just wide from a wicked corner by van Persie. 

It should be noted here that despite failing to capitalise on our best chance of the match, Alex Song’s contribution to yesterday’s draw was extremely commendable. He scuttled around in characteristic style, positioning himself well and providing excellent cover for the defence. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again that as long as he has a decent, experienced partner to play the more attacking central role – neither Denilson nor Abou Diaby fit that description – he has the ability to be an excellent defensive midfielder.

Going back to the game and Keane flashed another chance wide before Bendtner almost had a cross deflected into the net by Michael Dawson. Meanwhile, Clichy had to be substituted after an awful head clash saw him lose a wheelbarrow-load of blood.  Kieran Gibbs was subsequently brought on for his debut Premiership appearance as Arshavin and Eduardo say patiently on the pine.

The game petered out until very late on when both Arsenal and Tottenham had good chances to win it. Bendtner had a fine effort tipped over by Carlo Cudicini before Almunia saved a point for us with an heroic save. As Modric bared down on goal with seconds remaining the Spaniard through his body at the Croatian’s shot and deflected the shot into touch. It was a hugely important save given the context and a perfect end to an outstanding game by Arsenal’s best player on the day.

So 0-0 it ended, a score that couldn’t really be avoided after Eboue’s (sigh) sending-off. A lot of credit has to go to the likes of Gallas and the aforementioned Song for their performances in this game, as well as Almunia and van Persie. The former trio’s  contribution could be measured by the fact that we did not concede and generally looked quite solid at the back. Van Persie again showed his quality, using the ball extremely well the few times we were able to get forward.

The injury to Adebayor is a blow, but given the presence of Arshavin and Eduardo on the bench and the inconsistent nature of the Togo striker’s recent performances, perhaps not as big a blow as it seems. Despite only scoring once in our last four games we certainly have the strike-power available to cope with the loss of Adebayor.

In short this was a game that was effectively ruined by the thoughtless actions of a player who has now, in my opinion, exceeded the number of chances he should be given by the club. A decent player he might be on his day, but Eboue’s (sigh) selfish and downright embarrassing attitude has run it’s course and I really wouldn’t mind to never see him play for the club again.

As such, I’m sincerely hoping we’ve seen the last of Emmanuel (sigh) Eboue.

Have your say on Arsenal’s draw with Tottenham by leaving a comment.

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Comments

  1. I feel Eboue was the most dangerous player on your team yesterday so I had mixed emotions when he was sent off, had he stayed on I feel that Spurs may just have nicked it.. but the whole Arseny team tictacs changed and with 9 men behind the ball and stood resiliantly against which on many occasions was a battering from Spurs forward line. Arsenal being fortunate that although we have spent the best part of a billion strikers we still havent got an out and out goal scorer.
    All in all a good game of football…. but not the usual spectacle we have become acustomed to… and we are now looking harder to beat!!! Until next year i bid you farewell

  2. Eboue single handedly ruined the game. Before his sending off we had weathered Spurs average storm and had even put the ball in the back of the net once. It was out 2nd half for the taking with 11 men and a bench full of talent. In the end we defended solidly, i thought Sagna was immense and covered the whle right side after Eboues sending iff and he deserves a mention. Still, it shows how poor the Spuds are not being able to break down at 10 men depleated Arsenal side at home. Id be livid if i were a spurs fan as that was the ideal opportunity to end the wait for a league win over their fiercest rivals!

  3. The thing is, when some of these players start getting accolade, they tend to misbehave. cilichi was not his best yesterday. Adebayo is always minus-one. Ebue’s zeal yesterday was different, so i was surprised, thinking he used drug that was why he was performing superbly, alas, the red card. Wenger, please change this formation. Bendtner is a second half player. He came in too early. Wenger should try using Vela – Nasri.

    Let us show them that we are gunners – AW should get a very good Arsenal and hand it over to Assassine (Arshavin) to eliminate all teams that come out way henceforth – i see us getting to champion league.

  4. I’ve always had a soft spot for Eboué. I almost thought he’d turned a corner when he was one of the most dangerous players before he was injured against West Ham. Again last night he was very dangerous, but fooked it all up again, as we’ve come to expect. It’s a shame he’s such a child, because he always had a great deal of potential. Although many fans very think it or believe it, it’s clear to see. Eboué (sigh).

  5. Hmmm, not sure why Wenger still wasting time with players like eboue, diaby, denilson, bendtner. Personally I feel that they aren’t good enough for a team of Arsenal stature. Unknowingly, Wenger has ‘relegated’ the team out of the top 4 and this is a scary premise for things to come.

  6. I thought it was a poor game of football, contested by 2 poor teams. Spurs bossed the first half, and could have gone in at half time a couple to the good if thay had any decent strikers, which luckily they don’t. You summed up Eboue perfectly, SF, enough said about that idiot. It was more even in the second half, with the hapless Spuds missing another couple of gresat chances, especially Modric’s one right at the death. Apart from Bendtner’s strike from the edge of the box, and Song’s miss from the corner, we created absolutely sod-all during the whole game. Fair enough, we played an hour with 10 men, but as you rightly said SF, we kept 2 up front, so you’d expect us to be dangerous on the break. In the end I suppose we’re all happy to settle for a point. I don’t know if you non-UK boys saw the Man U-West Ham game, which followed directly after ours, but the football on show there was infinitely better than the crap we had to watch. Both teams playing fast, accurate, skillful football (rather like we used to play!). It brought home just what an average side we’ve become. Apart from Almunia, Gallas and Sagna, I thought we were rubbish yesterday. The commentators on sky kept saying that we have the quality to cause anyone problems, but I just don’t see it at the moment. Denilson, especially, was dire yesterday. He gace the ball away so often it was embarrassing. With Villa winning again, we’re now looking to Chelsea to keep dropping points to give us any chance of finishing in the top four. Looking at their squad against ours, and even allowing for our sick-notes to return, I just can’t see that we’ll be able to overturn them. I don’t like being negative, but I think we currently have the worst team we’ve had at Arsenal for a decade. Heaven knows what Arshavin must have thought yesterday, watching that load of rubbish! As you can maybe tell, I’m really pissed off this morning!

  7. @ Fatboy – Agreed about Denilson. However I’m not ready to judge him in a game where we’re down to ten, he’s playing in a three man midfield on the left and he only has Alex Song for company. Much as Song was excellent the combination of two young players like them is not enough for us to win the midfield.

  8. Doesnt matter how long he will be suspended, 1st: he will be having suspension from AW himself for punishement
    2nd: The new guys are all ready now to take over.
    I dont think he is gonna have much play time any more but he will still be on the bench to sub Sagna.
    However, I still hail his good 30mn prformance ystday,mattr of fact I ve always liked his winging style spreading all over the pitch.
    But the lad must have smoked some S**t ystday, who knows!!!???.It was just uggly what he did ystday.
    Well, game is done,another boring DRAW again.
    On the other hand, I m still pretty much confident on our team as
    1st: all the 4 attacks we had yestday during the 30mn of the 1st half were just famtastic.This has clearely given me a very positive glimpse of a fantastic improvement on our attack forwhich I was really thirsty of since the startin of the season.You can see that the boys are really working hard to perform a good game, and yesterday was the only game I could see them performin that traditional Arsenal way of play 4 times.
    2nd: As I said on yestday’s blog (“Eboue s f**n idiot..” quite harsh SF but forgotten”): The return of Walcott & Edu and presence of Arshavin.AW is now forced to put 4 of the most weaken Arsenal players on the bench, Diaby,Deni, Eboue,Bendtner.Song has got the biggest chance to be on the startin11 to me and he deserves it, besides we desperatly need a CDM.So we re gonna have a very strong attackin mdfld line up alredy without including Fabuluous.

    ——–SONG——–
    WALCOTT- ARSHAVIN-NASRI

    Im sure that This is what Le Boss would do but I would prefer to see Nasri in the middle park and push Arshavin wide left.
    3rd: We still have 13 games left to play fromt the 21st of Feb.More than half of this will be played at home but the most dangerous games are these 3 games away:Agst Ptmth, Liv,Manu.Even thou, Im not worried coz by the time we play them, we gonna have Fab, Walcott, Arsha on the startin11 already (Despertly Praying to God for injuries not to happen).
    Last and 4th: The injury of Ade to me, has been a good side.Its not that I hate the lad but i just think that he hasnt been that much convincing since the last few weeks so I ll be more confortable and excited to see Edu to come back side to side with RVP.So we re gonna have a completely brand new squad from mdfld to strikers from the 21st of FEb agst Sunderland.SO WHAT SAY YOU GUYS?? ARE GUYS STILL WORRIED? LETS JUST STOP COMPLAINING AND LOOK FORWARD TO OUR LAST 13 GAMES PLAYED BY THIS BRAND NEW ARSENAL SQUAD.
    Finishing top4 isnt a worry for me(xcpt for injury blow)Im 1000% sure that we will crash every team coming ahead.2 draws agst Liv and Manu away and 11 wins.

  9. A few realities we must accept: i) this talk of Arsenal being all fancy footwork and style and attractive football is far from the truth: this season we have been galling to watch – a bit like Blackburn under Mark Hughes. ii) this talk of going for the title… our battle is vs Everton for fifth place. Villa are rampant, whereas Chelsea and Liverpool too strong. Fifth and UEFA Cup is our likely best position. iii) This summer will be all change. We need two centre backs and a central (defensive) midfielder PLUS will have to replace everyone else who leaves. iv) All this talk of transition over the past four years: the transition starts now – how to make a UEFA Cup team back into a top four (let along title) team. It’s going to take a long time.

  10. Well Morning goons (notice I didnt say good). Lets put the match in perspective shall we? Ok Eboue who lets be honest is not a fans favourite had a good start to the game such a good start in fact I had to do a sight test lol. Then the twit gets booked for not shutting his gob. Ok then disallowed goal for nothing really but to be honest everyone stopped playing when he slotted it home anyway so cant really say he really would of scored had play continued. Then the modric incident if anyone saw it had eboue not drawn attention to himself he would of been ok because the ref wasnt looking until eboue started pleading innocent with his body language which caused the ref to stop play thinking eboue did something (as in he was the initiater). Then the ediot narrowly escaped a booking but wouldnt just go away not he had to linger until he got sent off what a prat! He deserved to be sent off anyway but he could of escaped had he been smarter. Adebayor is out for a few weeks well that paves the way for Eduardo to get right and get back! We need a clinical striker that understands space and movement and he fits the bill very well. Its unfortunate that Vela didnt get a run before Edurdo got fit because he has good touch, pace and a decent strike rate in front of goal. I am still not convinced we are moving in the right direction. We have lost games we shouldnt of lost, drawn games we were winning and drawn games we should of won. We are unbeaten but not in good form at all. Of course our injury list has a lot to do with that but at what point do we say listen we have not been good enough and identify why and do the best to work around with what we have? Why should it take injury and suspension to players before they are replaced in the team? Eboue has not warranted a starting place since the emergence of walcott last season!

  11. @ mavientes – I must agree with you mate. I’m not sure we’re quite as bad as Blackburn, but we are a pale shadow of the team we had 4 years ago. Players the quality of Eboue, diaby and Denilson would never have made the starting 11 in 2004/5; they would have been playing in the Carling Cup games at best. Now they hold down first team places and are expected to carry us to titles and Champions League glory- it ain’t gonna happen.
    I honestly wonder where we go from here. With all our injured players back (Walcott, Rosicky, Eduardo, Fabregas, Adebayor), plus Arshavin, you’d would think we’d have enough to cement 5th place, but we may be too far adrift by the time they’re all back. Onto next season, we must sign a decent, experienced DM, CB and goalkeeper. Even if that happens, it only gives us a starting 11, we still won’t have quality strength in depth. Yes SF, Song is coming on OK as a DM, but he’s a log, long way away from being the finidhed article, and it’s finished articles we desperately need right now.

  12. @Mavientes and Fatboy, you guys might be right if we all look at the past, but how I look at it from my angle is from the 21st agst Sunderland upward.What I know is: that what was wrong all this time was our lack of creative mdfld.And I beleive in one man changing team’s performance; If you look at Liv, they are completely different when StevieG isnt in action,look at Barca without Messi, look at us without Flamini, look at Inter without Muntari, and we have Arshavin and Walcott coming back.We still have 13 games to play.its not abt trying to be optimstic but more realistic.My biggest concern here is the PL from the 21st Feb.Dont let Eboue Idiocracy crash ur mind guys, We still have a lot play and to give with Arshavin and Walcott, Fab may return earlier.CL title might be out of sight for me as Barca will claim it but finishing in the top4 is HUGELY POSSIBLE.

  13. i think the decision not to play Eduardo was right, judging from the intensity of the game, he might be injured himself again. He should play next game against Sunderland

  14. mornin all…a nights kip has seen my opinion of eboue mellow from f&*K&N S$** to jackass.
    i agree with both mavientes and fatboy on the current state of the team but im actually willing to give song time.on reading alot of comments iv come to ask myself why it is so many of us think we need a DF MID,thats not or never was our formation when we were at our best,sure we had players like platt,vieira,petit,parlour,flamini,etc but those players were dynamic and could deliver a the other end when needed,the closest weve ever had to an out and out DF MID was gilberto.just because our nearest rivals find this style of play suitable do we?
    i dunno maybe im wrong but just because we have an outstanding football brain in cesc does that mean we have to negate that by putting in a ‘DF MID’,do we need a player who for long periods only contrbution is to chase dwn opponents and if successful look to pass it BACK or to cesc?if so iv a pet labrador that is very good at that!c’mon lads surely if we could get nasri and co to put inthe defensive work of our parlour,freddie,overmars even bobby put in a tackle(see CL v juve when he cleans out paddy V at highbury to set up our goal) we would have room for a midfield player with an eye for a forward pass or,heaven forbid,a shot from outside the box(see freddie and parlour goals vs chelsea fa cp final).
    am i talkin out my ARShavin fellas or does anyone agree?

  15. Fatboy,

    I really cannot agree with your assessment of Denilson, you defeat your own argument when you say ” he gave the ball away so many times it was embarrassing”. You can’t give the ball away if you don’t first have the ball. Denilson worked very hard for the whole match first to win the ball and second to move into positions where he could receive passes. In the position he was playing, after the disgraceful Eboue’s dismissal, he was often receiving the ball from other hard pressed team-mates while under immense pressure himself. It’s time to get off the back of a very honest and hard grafting player, a player who gives everything he’s got in every match he plays. He’s twenty years old playing in the toughest position in the toughest league in the world ffs give him a break!

  16. @ Radads RSA- My point about looking back is that it demonstrates how we have gone backwards in terms of quality players over the last 3-4 years. This raises serious questions as to the manager’s ability to sustain the levels of progress and success that he has achieved since 1996 when he arrived. In his first 8 full seasons, we were either champions or runners up every year. In the last 3 seasons, we’ve finished 3rd or 4th. This year, we look like struggling to finish 5th. Why is this, do you think? My view is that the manager has failed to adequately invest in the team- he’s placed far too much emphasis on bringing through young players, who have for the most part, failed to become good enough to keep the club challenging for homours. Add to that his failure to keep hold of quality players (Flamini and Hleb being the latest) and you have a worrying trend. Very few managers are able to keep their teams at the very top forever (Ferguson and Mourinho being the exceptions), so we may just be seeing a bad patch from our own manager. But how long do we allow this bad patch to continue? I believe that this summer is critical. Without major investment in the team, we will be looking at yet another season of trophy-less struggle. Remember we haven’t won anything since 2005- by far the longest run of failure out of any of the accepted “top 4” in England. We all owe AW a debt of gratitude for what he’s done for the club, but another season like this one and we’ll all need to ask some serious questions…

  17. it wasn’t a disallowed goal as play had been stopped.

    essou-Akotto walked away making no attempt to get the ball.

  18. i keep hearing people refer to villa as average,does that mean were awash with quality?cos if we are then were second to them for desire,tactics and tenacity..we have 2 players tat will put their bodies on the line for the team; sagna and gallas.ask urself how many players in the FOUR teams above us are doing it weekin week out?
    AW says he believes in the teams quality and desire and im sure we look fantastic on the trainin ground if thats where hes basing this on,but i doubt 1 tackle is made there,its easy to pass and move when uv got so many players who let yu do it and thats where we suffer on the pitch when we have to break down teams who are in your face for 90 mins,forcing you into errors and then when you concede possesion do you seriously think nasri,eboue,denilson,diaby,ade or bendtner show the same desire and tenacity to regain that possesion?what would you see when thierry usedto gt disposessed?were not as hungry as the current top 4!
    as for summer recruitment i have my doubts where the moneys coming from….unless the boss ships out 4 or 5 of the deadwood

  19. I was also waiting this match hardly. eBuuue (vomiting sound) should go to spurs to meet buuentley there – it will be great to see them together. I hope redneck will remember eBuuue and will ask his bosses to buy him ASAP!

  20. @radads rsa- that is a good way to think about it, there are many who will be returning, and with the fa cup break they have an extra week now to get fit and used to playing with the side. if arshevin and eduardo can be good to go v sunderland that should be a win and should be a different side that we see compared to the one from yesterday. then bringing back walcott and cesc will further add flare on the offensive side. the defensive side is starting to round out even without the injured players, which i think bodes well for the rest of the season starting on 2/21. meanwhile chelsea is in a worse state than arsenal right now, and we have a game against them head to head which is a huge opportunity. if they lose to villa and we beat sunderland(both likely outcomes i think), the chances for overtaking them are good. i wouldn’t even be surprised if big phil gets sacked if they have a poor performance against AV.

  21. Very much agree Spanish, but I would suggest that while Eboue has shown that he is far from a great right midfielder, as back up in defence I still think he is a cut above most other clubs’ squad options for RB. But his stupidity is costing the team points and perhaps a spell on the sidelines would do him some good long-term.

    I too thought Song was immense yesterday and I would like to see him paired with Fabregas when he returns, but I still think an experienced DM in addition in the summer and a CB would make our team complete.

  22. What the hell is wrong with Eboue? He started well, but he just had to mess things up. I doubt we’ll ever see him in the red and white again. We have Arshavin, Rosicky and Walcott coming back soon. This was his last chance to impress and he messed up! I wont be suprised if we sell him in the summer.

  23. see my previous comment, i swear i did not already see the news when i predicted the sacking of scolari

  24. When is Wenger’s time? Its ovedue and where can he find a patient board as Arsenals?
    At times,change is good especially after 4 years of emptiness! Do you think you can keep hold of good players with more than 4 years trophyless? Don’t say I NEVER TOLD YOU!

  25. AW is in a bad position… he must kick Eboue out of Arsenal, if he does this he will get nothing for him. To keep the price up he must play him.. Oh sh1t not again!

  26. @Fatboy,I fully understand ur feeling as a Fan, and from a fan point of view, you are totaly right, but to be a real good Fan my friend is to put urself on the shoes of ur coach.Im gonna try now to follow ur opinion line and try to explain to you what might have been in Le Boss’s mind from the startin of the season, but you must remember that what I have been asking you to do was to look ahead, look at the next fixture and all the upcoming players coming back and newly comin in.One thing also that u have to remember is that We were amazingly fantastic for the last 2 seasons, its only this season that the whole breakdown came up and there is no way that you could crtiticise AW for the last 5 yrs coz you and I know that he really deserved it for these last 2 seasons but u knw S**t happens sometime.I tell you now what has happened:
    Our line up in Sept/08 was:
    Sagna-gallas-Toure(/Djourou)-Clichy
    Walcott-Deni-Fab-Nasri
    RVp-Ade
    This was the team which have scored many goals during the startin of the season but most importantly, highly criticised with its lack of a good CDM.Song was still lacking play time(’till now!!) so Deni has taken all the blames.But what do you see in this team?? Its a complete team and a good one, I dont really think that AW has made a mistake to trust in this line up, The biggest mistake that the Arsenal management staff (Not AW alone!!!)has made was to have let Flamini go, but apart from that, I can say that this line up is perfect.(Story now continious..)then few weeks later injury started to occur, agst stoke, hull, etc..@ some stage Sagna was injured and AW has no option but putting Gavin Hoyte, the likes of Ramsey and Jack wilshr started to show up coz of lack of players, Walcott got injured again, Fab folowed him on the list after few weeks, and again and again…Our injury blow for 2007/08 started at late stage while our injury blow this season started early, which AW has never expected.I dont even think that AW has prepared himself to put the likes of Diaby, Bendy, Song on the startin line up but regarding the current situation, he had no choices.To me, this line up is good enough to challenge the PL title (regardless of an early case of injury); AW has planned to put the apprentices guys (Diaby etc..) as subs, coz he knows that the only way to get these guys to improve is to make them play surrounded by experienced and good players, but didnt work coz the injury blow occured at early stage of the season.Thats why Aw has never thoought of byuing any players coz the 1st squad was so strong and also becoz of the economic crash (Must remember that Le Boss holds a Master degree in Economy, He is no stranger to the world economy environmt).Our team started to tumble coz of the early injury this season and Deni;s lack of maturity in the flank other ways it would have been difrnt.
    However, now I dont think there’s much to complain abt anymore, all we have to do isto look ahead, and it worths to be looked at coz we still have 13 games left to play and our players are all coming back.I see our 2007/08 performance startin now from the 21st Feb.

  27. Scolari’s sacking shoulda be an example for all those calling for Wenger’s head. Chelsea had Mourinho who was established- he went through some struggles and got axed. They will now be on their 3rd coach in less then 2 years… Wenger needs to stay as long as he is willing to. Nobody can get this much out of the players we have…

  28. ridiculous to even consider getting rid of AW.C’mon whod replace him?obviously he has great believe in the teams future and every game i watch when the teams is below par theres nobody more frustrated than him on the line.point taken some of his selections have bein questionable but the players arent covering themselves in glory either..

  29. Scholari’s sacking is a huge surprise. A poor decision too, in my opinion. Manager’s need time to settle in and get used to their players and Scholari was not given the time.

  30. So much passion, proper analysis goes kaput! Last season’s strongman in CMF was(surprise! surprise!) Francesc Fabregas. NOT Flamini. For anyone who goes back and analyse(accurately) games in which they both played in, will figure that out. Ironically, the same eyes which, wrongly, heaped praises to Flamini, are being blinded by the myth-that-Flamini-was, and blame arguably the best DM in England so far by a mile for nothing but their own hunger to justify their “observations” without really trying to give that boy a fair chance. As Johno said earlier, Denilson gives his 100% day in and day out, and you don’t hear any noise from him. He has the best stats of any DM in the EPL not because someone decided to award them to him, it is because HE DID THE BL**** THINGS THE STATS SAID HE DID.

    I am going to compile some stats from last season, and let the analytical minds go to work an draw their own conclussions.
    I would advice everyone to keep an open mind on this for the time being.

  31. I wasnt suprised when Scolari was sacked TBH. I saw it coming, and i mensioned it a few months ago. Chelsea are not as patient as the rest of the big clubs, they want immediate result, they keep pumping laods of cash to solve their problems, and thats why theyll never be as great as Arsenal, ‘pool and ManU. Grant reached the UCL final just a few months after he was appointed but he was still sacked (why?), now Scolari (a world cup winning coach) it shows how stupid the club really is.

  32. Sacking Wenger would be one of the biggest mistakes Arsenal could ever make. If AW can make players like Diaby, Song, Bendy, Eboue etc beat teams like Chelsea and ManU, imagine what he can do with Walcott, Arshavin, Rosicky, Cesc, Eduardo, RvP.
    Think about it people.

  33. @ TayGoon – I will try and keep an open mind, but I’ll also tell you right now that my player of the season for last year was Mathieu Flamini. There’s no doubting Cesc’s influence – which was massive – but Flamini was the most important player in our team last season.

    Let’s see these stats though! 🙂

  34. @ SF
    Sure the Flamsta was great last season, but dont you think he was a one season wonder? He was no better than Song 2 seasons ago and he’s really struggling this season.

  35. Wenger plays games with his players minds better then anyone out there. He convinces these players that they are incredibly gifted. When players believe in this absolutely they play with no setbacks and can do amazing things. There is actually new research out that proves that the way you perceive something can make it happen… Wenger has been doing this for years. That is the secret to his “youth policy”. Sure scouting is important but it is how he treats these players thats get them to perform so well. Why do you think they all suck when they leave?

  36. @ Gibbs – I can’t say for sure whether he’s struggling or not this season, I don’t watch enough Italian football, but there’s no doubt in my mind that had he stayed then he would have played well again. It’s also not my opinion that he was a one-season wonder. I always liked Flamini as a player, his energy in the middle was always there in the few opportunities he got earlier on at Arsenal, it was just his passing and ability on the ball that needed improving. He improved this are and had a good season as a result.

    The other thing that needs to be taken into account is that Flamini and Cesc worked incredibly well together. They were, last season, one of the best midfield partnerships in Europe. Cesc trusted Flamini’s ability to retain posession and cover the defence and this allowed the Spaniard to push forward more often. On the flipside, when Flamini did push forward – which he did a lot more than people maybe remember – Cesc was often happy to sit back. Sometimes you can’t explain why players just click, but Cesc and Flamini clicked and it was a shame to lose that.

    My personal opinion is that Cesc has the ability to make his midfield partner look good, but Flamini was exceptional. Song and Cesc is a partnership with great potential, in my opinion, while Cesc and Denilson is not. The Brazilian just does not have the tackling ability nor the defence-first mentality that Flamini had and Song has. That’s the difference between the pair.

  37. I’ll add this quote from my mid-term report card from last season: https://arsenalfcblog.com/arsenal-mid-term-report-card-part-2/

    “Mathieu Flamini
    In my opinion, the standout performer in the Arsenal team this season. Has put in the hard work to go from third or four-choice at the end of last season to becoming arguably the most important member of the midfield. Flamini’s energy and workrate has been phenomenal, his partnership with Fabregas vital, and he has not played poorly once thus far. Irreplaceable. (A+)

    Cesc Fabregas
    The little Spaniard’s form has dipped a little of late but his contribution in the first third of the season has been vital. When on song Fabregas has regularly been a match-winner, scoring goals at crucial times. His fitness, ball control and excellent passing has allowed him to dictate the play on many occasions. (A)”

  38. And my final backing of Flamini is this. Of the seven games we lost last season (all competitions), Flamini’s involvement was as follows:

    + 3-1 to Sevilla (Unused Sub)
    + 2-1 to Middlesborough (Injured – DNP)
    + 5-1 to Tottenham (Unused Sub)
    + 4-0 to Manchester United (Late Sub, Arsenal already 3-0 down)
    + 2-1 to Chelsea (Played 88 mins)
    + 4-2 to Liverpool (Injured on 42 mins, scores level at 1-1 at the time)
    + 2-1 to Manchester United (Injured – DNP)

    So as you can see, the only game he played in full that we lost was the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea. In my opinion that’s a pretty comprehensive account of the defensive stability Flamini brought to the side.

  39. Scolari’s sacking is good for Chelski and bad for Arsenal. I loved Scolari for his football and success who is often regarded as one of the best managers of this time. Why not? He has won many things in Brazil and hell of a “World Cup”. He struggled at club level because of key injuries(essien) and star players under-performing like Drogba, Terry.
    Arsenal Hero Tony Adams also got sacked, felt sorry for him.

    If Chelski sign Guus Hiddink, that would be worst for Arsenal. No matter whoever comes in, they will bring more energy and determination to save their season.

    4th place is looking more unrealistic for us game after game. Not to win a game almost for a month and to score one goal in 4 league games proves the fact. We are struggling to score goals so badly after Cesc got injured.

  40. Flamini was my player of the season also. He did three good things very nicely;
    1. Bringing muscle and hardness in the middle park which we don’t have at all this season.
    2. Allowing Cesc to play his game. He guarded the defense so well and won ball back when not in possession.
    3. Playing triangular passing game with Cesc and Hleb.

    His best performance should be against Milan when he didn’t allow Kaka to do anything for 180+ minutes. We dominated a midfield with Kaka, Pirlo and Seederof.

    I don’t agree with Spanishfry about Song. He has no ability to make a solid partnership with Cesc in the middle for 2 reasons: 1. Too slow on the ball. 2. Can’t make a 10 yard pass. Cesc can never flourish under him. I agree Song had good 20 minutes against Spurs and few decent games this seaosn. To play a decent 20 minutes in one game and disappear for another 5 games in not good enough. If you remember he was eaten alive by Hull’s Ashbee and Stoke’s Olonfinjana. I haven’t seen one excellent game from him in Arsenal shirt. Never been selected as Man of the match in the pich playing for Arsenal. I still think his best place to play is Charlton United.

  41. If my stats are correct, the possibility of the current team based on individual players game stats that I so brilliantly calculated against the ratio of muscle mass per every square kilometer covered, Arsenal have a probability of 35% winning the league and 50% chance of finishing 4th. These forecast might change though because the spy I hired working at the emirates is still in his underground bunker thinking that the snowstorm is still ongoing.

    Hehe 😛 Anyway if we are going to be compiling data on players then Helb would be the most outstanding player in Arsenal last season who have completed passes and assists.

    I don’t doubt stats but its not really important in football as oppose to American football where they actually have working formulas to a play and essentialy the main catalyst to scoring a touchdown.

    Football has always been an artistic game, a team can have majority of possesion (hehe who could that team be) and end up losing or a team can play a counter attacking style and win or it may be up to one outstanding player (Ronaldo, Messi, maybe Arshavin) who would change games in an instant.

    Arsenal used to play a very fast 1-2 counterattacking style untill Cesc became the fulcrum and now we play a slower lots of touches possesion football. Recently the team had been trying to stretch the opponents to the corner flags and its a good sign that the lads are trying something different and pushing for that final decisive pass that they seem to be missing nowadays.

    Denilson and Song will always be a backup untill both steps up a notch. Song was good during spurs game so give credit when due, and Denilson was awful. Both have the potential, its just up to them to push themselves even further.

    Cheers!!

  42. laninja you would have to be one of the most football smart posters i have come across since i have been reading this blog.

    Agree with what you say.

    To be honest i think the best way to play football atm is the fast counter attacking football with 2 brilliant players to be decisive.

  43. @ TAYGOON: 100% AGREE WITH SF!!!!To me Fabregas could have never flourished without Flamini, the duo was just fantastic.Flamini is exactly the like of Clichy in the middle park and no doubt that we really miss him now.As I said, that was the biggest mistake that the Arsenal club has made this season, shud have kept him and gave him more money.Deni and Fab would never work, Deni subs for Fab, YES!!!Song needs more play time, and I can see that the lad likes women, thats why he lacks reflexes and engine.Song would be a very good successor for Flamini IF he stays away from ladies for a while to stay fit, and given more play time, thats why matured players can stay fully fit at the age of 24 to 28.
    Sackin Le Boss would be a HUUUUGE mistake, many clubs out there are now desperatly dreamin of that to happen, But It will NEVER AND NEVER happen.
    35% OF CHANCE TO WIN THE Pl TITTLE!!!? Thats great!!Ive neva evn thought that we are still havin that much chances. 50% to be on the top4!!? Id rather say 95%, keeping 5% for injury.Top4 is dfntly guaranteed to me, I am a guy who beleive much in individual capacity of every single player, Only Walcott comin back and Arshavin on pitch, we are waiting for to see a completely different Arsenal team.Imagine now if Fab comes in!!! Plus, Im quite happy with Ade’s injury so that we could see Edu in action again.Its not that Ade was so bad but Edu might be bringin different style and more dynamic activities by partnering with RVP.
    My estimated line up on the 21st of Feb:
    SAGNA-GALLAS-TOURE-CLICHY
    ———–SONG———
    ARSHAVIN—DENI—-NASRI
    –BENDI/EDU–RVP

  44. i would like to say..’what a shit post’, but then that wouldn’t exactly be productive…instead i’d say this…
    lay off Eboue will you

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