By Walter Broeckx
Where to start this article? Maybe with the events before the match. Wenger has said he would rotate a little bit. So expected some changes. But half a team? And some surprises also.
The one not surprising change was Jenkinson for Sagna as the latter is a bit injured. Monreal for Gibbs is fine for me as they both are top quality left backs. Again Monreal didn’t disappoint at all.
Rosicky in for Wilshere is also fine with me. Both having an injury past so treat them gently. Flamini in for Arteta. Another acceptable swap in my opinion. And finally we gave Giroud a rest and on came Nic Bendtner. How would he do and would he take this chance to show that we can still count on him? That was the question in my head and I can imagine in a few others heads also.
The answer came within 2 minutes after the start of the match. We seem to have a habit of scoring early or creating at least one big chance. And this time we made it easy for ourselves by doing the scoring thing. And what a goal. Certainly the build up was typical Wenger-ball.
Ramsey with a great ball to Jenkinson and his perfect cross was nodded home by the big Dane. 1-0 and not even 2 minutes on the clock. I must say I was delighted with this. Bendtner scoring will be good for his moral. And Jenkinson with an assist will also be great for his moral. As a real Gooner-Gunner he will have felt down after his last outing in the Continental Cup for his involvement in the first Chelsea goal. I think that any nerves he had at kickoff will have been washed away after his assist.
What followed was one of the most one-sided matches I have seen. Oh well we had Naples, Marseille, and a few others when we dominated from the start and gave the others no chance at all. But I think that most Hull players, coach and supporters will have pinched themselves when looking at the scoreboard and to see only 1-0 at half time.
I must say I lost count. From the back of my head I remember chances for Cazorla, Ramsey, Özil, Bendtner again, Ramsey with some dangerous shots, a magnificent save from the keeper on one of the Ramsey shots. And in the final seconds a nice cross from Bedntner but Özil couldn’t put the ball in the net with his head. It was an almost identical attack as for the first goal but maybe the wrong person at the end of it. Certainly for to head it home.
Could Arsenal start like they did in the first half? Yes we can! Another great play between Ramsey and Özil at the edge of the Hull penalty area. Ramsey pretending to look at his right and suddenly putting the ball to the left of the defenders, perfectly in the path of Özil who coolly slotted the ball home at the near post. Wenger ball at its best. 2-0 for Arsenal and that was a poor interval score for all the chances we have seen.
But we carried on playing like we did. Great attacks but…missing our chances. Or the keeper having the last word. Cazorla had a great game but couldn’t find his scoring boots today. Ramsey also went close but was denied by the keeper who came diving in to his feet.
But after one hour you could see the team change a bit. It was all going too easy at times and I felt that the focus was lost a few times. But Hull was so poor they couldn’t take advantage of it. But something we have to take care off not to do against stronger opposition.
Hull came a bit more forward but not that Szczesny had to do much but still you never know what a goal could do to a team. A few slips and sloppy passes in midfield and defence weren’t really what I wanted to see. Last season those were moments we got punished most of the time. But this team wants to make up for whatever mistake of slip that happens and all the players ran and fight for every meter on the pitch.
Theo and Jack came on for Bendtner and Rosicky and a little bit later Arteta was send on the field to replace Ramsey. We played out the game in a professional way.
About the ref… we should and could have had a penalty. At least one. When Ramsey was caught on the ankle when he went passed a Hull player. Was this the same ref who gave that non-penalty for Chelsea a few weeks ago against WBA? Yes, he was. And my trained eye noticed a few strong challenges he let go. Is this the same ref that send off 2 Sunderland players against Hull a few weeks ago for strong challenges? Yes, he was. He now even didn’t call it a foul.
Özil was kicked from left to right at times without the ref giving fouls, let alone yellow cards. Even my match reporter noticed it and found it too lenient refereeing from the ref. And on the other side he gave what looked soft free kicks in favour of Hull. So we surely didn’t get any help from the man in black in this match.
The final result was a poor reflection of our domination in this match. We could have buried them and could have scored 5 or 6 goals. But in a way I rather take 2-0 wins in a row and not a 5-0 win and then followed by a game win which we can’t score.
So here we are with 14 games played and 34 points. Top of the league. We mastered our black November. And started off well in December. One of the top favourites for the title lost. 0-1 at home to Everton who now come to the Emirates. In fact we have a habit of playing teams that have just got a great result. And we seem to bring them down to earth each time. Let us just keep doing that next Sunday.
Welcome to the Machine, the Arsenal machine!
Fowler on MOTD said Arsenal can win the title 🙂
Great write up Walter and I agree with you about the ref – he chose not to see some incidents. However, we were dominant enough to win despite the ref.
Even with five changes, the team played well and with fluid movement, overall a very enjoyable performance. In addition it was good to see some of the team get a breather.
An excellent win and three valuable points.
great performance and the three points is the most important thing. But we are going to have to be more clinical and take our opportunities over the next 4 games.
Well done to the team, seems to be a pattern forming with these refs, even if it is more subtle than in previous years. Thought their keeper played very well….our stadium sometimes brings out the best in visiting keepers. Everton nest, we will have to be on our toes for this one….but this team usually are
Ramsey was brought down in the box. No penalty?There have been many cases of refs making blatant errors and yet are not punished for such underperformance.In one game tv cameras caught a player pushing another one in the face. Why doesn’t the FA act retrospectively?Maybe if the offending player was from Arsenal,they will probably.
Arsenal have a series of crucial games coming up. Everton are no pushovers and will defend and kick where possible .With red face less 12 points behind,maybe it will be another repeat when they overhaul Newcastle.Dream on.
The difference this time is Mc and Chelsea will be there if Arsenal were to fall.These two sides are oceans apart from the chasing pack in 1995-96. So the red face less can dream on. If I aint wrong some of the chasing pack from the 95-96 class are in the championship.
Dear fellow Gooners….due to the sudden dissolution of the AAA moaners and meanies on UA (and in fact across the web) I have been charged (by the powers that be)with the onerous task of whining and criticizing AFC like a pseudo-AAA ass. So here goes with my player ratings:
Szcesny: 1/10…should have replaced him with a real keeper last summer with a spellable name…does nothing all game
Jenkinson: 1/10..afterall he’s Finnish(ed) isn’t he?
Per: 2/10…too slow,too tall, too German
Kos: 1/10…always in Per’s shadow, has to grow taller
Monreal: 1/10…not English, not expensive, not bad
Flamini: 2/10 ..too treacherous, too French, too bad
Ramsey: 2/10…not worthy to wear anything,too Welsh
Rosicky: 1/10..too old, too Czech, too tricky
Cazorla: 1/10..too hard to pronounce, too skilled,not English
Ozil: 2/10 …too Turkish,too many assists,not enough goals
Bendtner: 1/10..too tall, too Danish, too lanky, too blond
Fabianski: 0/10..never does anything, waste of money/space
Vermaelen: 0/10..has been,too waffle-like, not English
Gibbs: 0/10…not English enough, not Ashley Cole
Arteta: 0/10..too much hair gel, too Spanish
Wilshere: 1/10…too young, too English, too injured
Walcott: 0/10…too fast, too small, too baby-faced
Giroud: 0/10…too French, too muscular, too in-form
Wenger: 1/10..too tall,too scrawny,not English,speaks too many languages,too intelligent, ignores our AAA sage advice, kisses the Board’s ass not OURS, Wenger out!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh that felt good….like finding a bathroom when you suddenly have an unexpected bout of AAA!
You forgot bad hair for Bendy.
yea why is there no mention about bender’s hair??
I hope we give Bendter a few runs cos he looked good during times and deserves to get another game. It wil be up to AW to see if this will benifet us and the team I suppose, but confidence will be in abundance for him and had he got that close chance after Ozil strike, he would be laughing!
Everton will be a test for sure, I thought that Ozil and Ramsey would have got a rest though and theo start, but what do I know?
COYG!
Routine victory. Brings back memories of all the special Arsene Wenger teams.
Question. From the remaining 32 Champions League Clubs, which is the only team being forced to play their Domestic League match Sunday, before a crucial final mid-week CL group match?
Spain appear to have no domestic fixtures this weekend whilst Turkey, Portugal, Russia, Italy, Scotland and France have all allowed certain Champions League representatives to play on FRIDAY, aiding rest and recovery time. Helping not hindering their clubs chances in Europe’s top competition.
We could use Bendter as our FA Cup striker to get games under his belt, when does it start for us?
Hey check out this article from this excellent blogger, I loved it…
http://poznaninmypants.com/2013/12/03/schrodingers-midfielder/#comment-6281
coyg…
@ OMG Arsenal –
Bad news – 0/10 for attempting to be an AAA – you suck !Requires more bile , more ignorance , more loss of brain cells and/or being outed as a closet Spud !
Good news – 10/10 for humour ! Well done !
@ elkieno – great link – superb !
Although those diagrams seem to be very sexually suggestive (to me at least !).
I don’t know about you guys but was there a picture of a six titted woman in that lot ? It was a turn on for me .
Damn !
Fail !
1) A patient is seeing his psychiatrist for the first time and is undergoing the Rorschach test. After each ink blot the patient excliams it is a couple copulating.
The psychatrist stops the test and excliams, “You appear to have a preoccupation with sex.”
And the patient replies, “You’re the one showing the dirty pictures .”
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg1q3PRL5e0
Damn it omgarsenal I was just about to impersonate some AAA dipshit myself….
Let me add –
Cazorla was utter crap missing two absolute sitters. Arsenal are wasteful and will never win anything against a top side …
Hahaha
Life is s( o )( o ) much funnier when you have a dirty mind.
Heart Murmur
An eighty-year-old man was having an annual physical. As the doctor was listening to his heart with the stethoscope, he began muttering, “Oh oh!”
The man asked the doctor, “What’s the problem?”
“Well,” said the doc, “you have a serious heart murmur. Do you smoke?”
“No,” replied the man.
“Do you drink in excess?”
“No.” replied the man.
“Do you have a sex life?”
“Yes, I do!”
“Well,” said the doc, “I’m afraid with this heart murmur, you’ll have to give up half your sex life.”
Looking perplexed, the old man said, “Which half – the looking or the thinking?”
MESSAGE FOR THE HOLIDAYS …
With the Holidays upon us I would like to share a personal experience with my friends about drinking and driving.
As you may know some of us have been known to have brushes with the authorities from time to time on the way home after a “social session” out with friends. Well, two days ago I was out for an evening with friends and had several cocktails followed by some rather nice red wine. Feeling jolly I still had the sense to know that I may be slightly over the limit.
That’s when I did something that I’ve never done before – I took a cab home.
Sure enough on the way home there was a police road block, but since it was a cab they waved it past. I arrived home safely without incident.
This was a real surprise as I had never driven a cab before, I don’t know where I got it and now that it’s in my garage I don’t know what to do with it.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS, GUYS !!
Why are ManUtd still title contenders??? Ah…they expect us to drop 12 points, dont they. And all the while they expect ManUtd to win those 12……And What of the other 7 teams in between????
ManUtd are out of the title race. Now its the battle for the 4th for them. That little kid mugged a 30 year old……
Got an important meeting today. I will be proudly wearing my Arsenal tie.
@ Brickfields, LOL, I heard that one with a bus before, but a cab works out just as nice.
My impressions from last night:
1. The refs are still trying to screw us over.
2. Chelsea are the luckiest team in the PL.
3. Man City have practically 2 teams with tremendous players, and still had a bit of a meltdown in the end. My conclusion is that when pushed and bullied (not physical bullying, but rather when they face a superior footballing side, see Bayern) – they will crumble.
4. Man Utd are title contenders for not participating in any european competition next year.
5. The air of good feeling has gone out of Southampton and Newcastle and in fact both clubs will deflate.
6. How good is Scezny? He must have been bored out of his skull for 97% of the match and still managed to be in the right spot all the time (and I attribute that risky pass in the end to that boredoom).
7. Risking sounding like a traitor, I was actually happy for Villas Boas. I don’t want him to go home.
(Yet).
I want them to have some hope, and even more so, I want Spurs to take away points from the other teams (as I predict that they would still give it all they got against us in No Heart Lane even if they have nothing to fight for).
Arsenal now boasts of the best defense in the league#fact
Also we thank man utd for taking our pains for us RvP we would have lacked him for running to 2 weeks now if he were in our team
Billy G,
I never wish injury on players and I’m never happy when any player is injured. Until now. I’m so glad the fucker is injured but not because of him. It gives me so much joy that Man United now suffer from his absence.
Seeing the highlights of the game yesterday, I think Man Yoo were unlucky in that game as they had more begging chances. With the traitor around, it’s quite likely that they would have won. Same with their match away to Cardiff. That was what we endured for several years and when many of us Gooners complained, we were told to shut up. Well, what is fair is only fair so I hope that he stayed injured for a very long time.
And yes, before any self-righteous PC police say so, I am terrible and I know it, so don’t bother!
@ Bootoomee, I share the same sentiment. You are not being terrible, what you feel is a great feeling that sadly I rarely feel in my field of work – JUSTICE.
We were there for him when he was on and off the treatment room. Then, he turned in a healthy run of a season and some great goals, and suddenly the inner child called. So he had a great year with them, and now I think it’s only justice that he will return to be a talented, injury prone player.
Good luck to them in the Europa league.
After many years of player exodus, Wenger need a plan for the future. He got it. Think about it. Would we able to play like this if we still have Toure, Song, Fabregas, Nasri or RVP? Instead of relying on player’s individual brilliance, I think he decided to rely on player’s teamwork brilliance. Everyone now attacks and defends together. Even Ozil and Cazorla. I still remember Wenger said many years ago that he will find a way to create a cohesive arsenal and break down ultra defensive teams. i think he successfully did that. Those years we will dominate and beat top teams but end up losing to lesser teams or top teams who played with defensive-counterattack game plan. After the Hull game, its more visible because in despite missing a number of first team players, we still performed consistently with same movement on and off the ball with different players. I wont exactly say second team players because all players in Wenger’s team is different and bring variety of attributes and quality. This explains the simple market transfer of Flamini and Ozil. Flamini brought discipline, tactical know-how and leadership back from Milan meanwhile Ozil brought technical quality, calmness and winning mentality from Madrid. Like a secret cocktail for a well-known bar in already well-known bar street. For further productivity, success and fame. Thus, this awesome midfield machine. Everytime the opponents doesnt know who plays where and whose runs to mark. Added to mix, a tall, muscular and skillful striker and a fight to death defense. Tony, you are right. In your own words, the first ever midfield rotational tactic. Can it be better than the False 9 tactic or even the infamous Total Football?
Bootoomee- I would go even further and say I hope he never kicks a ball again
I made this picture to show you how flexible Arsenal formation upfront. The Playground.
Chippy bootomee I was wondering why everyone ignored me when I said hope “he breaks a leg” was more to do with that phrase. But I think Rooney should be injured too considering all the recklessness he has got away with. Well what goes around comes around.
On RvP:
Can we also say that Wenger got his “sell by” date about right. Enough gas in the tank to deliver a trophy to ManU but little else thereafter..
RvP didn’t do badly in the tripartite deal though: nice retirement dough for the next two -and-a-half years. Heck! Wish I had some footballing talent and sharp agents as he did. Of course, I’ll also need suckers like Red nose and smart helpers like AW.
Lost in translation ….
Did you hear about the Beverly Hills school Christmas pageant?
Two kids dressed as Mary and Joseph and they are on their way to the inn in Bethlehem.
On the other side of the stage, a boy in a shepherd’s outfit is on a mobile/ cellular phone, calling for reservations.
Bendtner was impressive, perhaps the early goal lifted his spirit
he was very involved in the game, even his passes were not much far off
I hope he continues like that and will score for us again
Oh Carol !
Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates.
“In honor of this holy season,” Saint Peter said, “you must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven.”
The first man fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. “It represents a candle,” he said.
“You may pass through the pearly gates,” said Saint Peter.
The second man reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them and said, “They’re bells.”
Saint Peter said “You may pass through the pearly gates.”
The third man started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women’s panties. St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, “And just what do those symbolize?”
The man replied, “These are Carol’s.”
I get the impression that Ozil is really appreciating playing with Ramsey in particular, they seem to be forming a telepathic understanding as seen in the second goal last night.
Do you think all those ‘experts’ clamouring for Wenger to buy Fellaini as a defensive midfielder during the last transfer window are now feeling a bit silly given his sub standard performances for Manure compared to our on fire free signing Flamini. Arsene knows best!!!!
Judas: Can I just add my name to list.
I put him in the same bucket of shit in which I discarded the traitorous Wright many years ago.
Does that make me ‘double’ terrible Boo ??