Free fall

Hello everyone.
The dust has settled a bit after yesterday's horrific loss and not only did it not serve to calm the nerves, the cold light of day showed, our problems go much deeper, than a simple defeat.
There was, as usual, a post-match press conference and the manager was again heavily questioned about his non-existent transfer policy. His reaction was rather unexpected. He said, the reporters should be happy, their "prophecy" has been fulfilled, seeing as the team without additions lost. As if they (the journalists) are to blame for his downright incomopetence, when it comes to securing deals. Arsene Wenger, and he alone, is guilty for failing to secure signings, which resulted in a defeat. Sure, it's not so simple, the additions would not necessarily bring us the three points, but they would have made the team stronger, more capable of coping with injures. As it is, we've lost a game fair and square.

Villa review: nothing more to say

If the title of this blog suggests, I'm gonna launch another attack on Arsene Wenger I have no such intention. In the end, I'm another fan of Arsenal, I have been for nine years and I will never ever wish us to lose games and drop points, only to prove my being right about about something. I'd rather be proven wrong every time.
So, as you may have guessed, we've lost our opener against Villa. The final score was 1-3 and, while being somewhat harsh, I don't think anyone, who've seen the game, will disagree with it, however bitter it feels.

Villa preview: do what we must with what we have

Hello everyone.
So, Arsenal kick off tomorrow with a game against Aston Villa and, needless to say, three points is a must. If we do get them, it will give the players some breathing space and allow the manager to play his mind games a little longer.
In terms of availability, the boss has confirmed, that Arteta has sustained a serious injury, that can keep the Spaniard out of action for up to six weeks. Not a pretty picture at all, and I'm not just talking about this injury making our short numbers even shorter. Arteta is, at the moment, one of the most important players (if not the most) we have. His metronomic passing (92% - that's how many of his passes found their target last season), tactical awareness and the amount of defensive work he shifts in, made him a constant presence in our midfield. Remember a spell two years ago, when we only just scraped our way into the top four, winning two or three games out of last seven or eight? We played these games without Arteta. And mind you, van Persie was in top form back then.

Into the darkness

Hello everyone,
A lot going on, little of it good, so I'll start with the good tidbits.
Yesterday all friendlies and qualifiers were played, meaninig the players have all returned by now and will start prepping themselves for the opening game against Villa. Quite a few of them were involved too, with Cazorla and Walcott scoring some very nice goals, while Whilshere's appearance was restricted to 45 minutes only, which is a good thing. It's refreshing to see the national manager (Hodgson, that is) making good on his promise, understand the delicacy of the player's situation and listen to Wenger all at once. And just a few more words about Walcott. His goal encapsulated everything good about his game in recent months (a year, maybe). Firstly, it was an equalizer. A crucial goal, that needed scoring in a match so hotly contested for obvious reasons. He stepped up, took the responsibility and delivered. Secondly, the goal was all about timing the run from behind the defender, and Theo nailed it. We all can recall, how often he was caught offside, when failing to time one of these runs even last season. Now, however, he seems to have got the hang of it, and even when caught offside, isn't miles away from being onside. And thirdly, the finishing. The english winger waited for the defender to run past and slotted the ball into the bottom corner, while making it all look ridiculously easy, when it was anything but. A true masterpiece of a goal.

Tick-tock

Good morning to you,
Not much going on, so it'll be a short one.
So, as you're well aware by now, Friday's draw pinned us against Fenerbahce and that worries me. The runners-up in their domestic league are no pushovers. They may well be the hardest opposition for us, but hey, we're always lucky, when it comes to the draw. Just remember Udinese two years back. The manager himself acknowledged the class of the Turkish side, before stating, we can pull it off even with the squad we have. I, personally, still have Galatasaray defeat in mind to think clearly. I'd very much like to share this belief, but things are never easy with Arsenal. Fingers crossed, we'll be primed and ready for this one.