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By Walter Broeckx
Well we all know that feeling. You come home Friday afternoon from work. But you have a cold feeling a bit shacking, a bit feverish. You then go to bed and you have a bad night. You can’t breathe properly and when you have to cough your chest and lungs feel like on fire. You get up in the morning feeling even more feverish. You cough is even more painful and your head feels as if you have been drinking a whole barrel of beer on your own. This was me this morning. So no chance to write a game preview. Sorry about that.
You go and sit on the sofa to watch the game still feeling sick. But hey look about that. Right back Coquelin gives the ball to Walcott who pushes it in the path of Robin Van Persie who can’t miss from that distance. 1-0 after well just over one minute played. Talking about taking our chances.
Then followed a long spell of Arsenal possession but it was as if the team wanted to make sure they didn’t do anything wrong. You could see that confidence was a bit low and we did try to score a second but kept the handbrake on. In the first half hour Blackburn had not shots at goal at all. But then they got a free kick just after that and must say Pedersen is one who can curl it in. One can but admire the goal as it was a great free kick from one of the players that is capable of scoring them like that. I thought the bin bag brigade was jumping up when Blackburn scored.
This was the wakeup call the team needed. Suddenly the players went on with the game with more energy. And when Song gave a lovely ball to Walcott he once again laid it off to Robin Van Persie to score his second goal. Two goals from Robin, two assists from Theo. Blackburn had hardly recovered from this blow when Robin Van Persie turned from scorer to provider. A lovely ball to The Ox who rounded Robinson and put the ball in the empty net. Ref Marinner did what he had to do after that when Givet lunged in with a two footed frontal tackle on Van Persie. The apologizing hand towards Wenger from Givet told enough: he knew it was dangerous and luckily Robin could jump out of the way a bit. 3- 1 at half time and Blackburn a man down. This is what happens when you take your chances a bit and the ref does his job.
The second half was more one way traffic. Arsenal pushing on to make another goal and when a corner was cleared the ball came to Arteta who let go a low shot from just outside the penalty area through a forest of legs. 4-1 after 51 minutes.
Time to add some more and Walcott started a long run which ended with a pass to The Ox who put the ball in the goal. His second of the day. Not bad for a player that had to face a fitness test to know if he could start. And apart from those goals he was incredible in that first quarter of the second half. He ran with the ball, dribbled, crossed, went past his opponents as if they didn’t exist. Oh my God, do we have another great young prospect to cherish. I wonder if some people on some blog will want to remember how they shouted abuse at Wenger when bought him for £12M. It looks to have been a great deal if you ask me.
Coquelin, who had a great game at right back, then gave a low cross and Robin Van Persie blazed in his third with the right foot. A Robin Van Persie hattrick was done with 62 minutes on the clock.
Then Wenger got the Ox, Song and Koscielny out of the field and brought on Henry, Sagna and Benayoun. It felt as if the players didn’t want to hurt the Blackburn players anymore. Was it the desperate look on Robinsons face that made them feel sorry? I think at that time Robinson asked the ref to not add any extra time once the 90 minutes were full.
So Arsenal didn’t put the foot on the throttle anymore and it was more just playing the ball around a bit.
But in the last minute of extra time (the ref didn’t listen to Robinson apparently) Henry stole the ball from a defender, laid it to Van Persie who could have gone for his fourth but the captain showed what a great human being he is and gave the ball back to Henry who could score his goal and the 7th goal for Arsenal.
Then ref Marinner called it a day and both teams were glad he did. Arsenal was happy because of the big win and Blackburn was happy that their torture had come to an end.
Arsenal dominated the game from start to finish and the big difference this time was that we took the chances when we needed to take them. We can hope that this victory will give the much needed confidence to the whole team that not only the defence looks very stabile (almost nothing given away and the goal from Blackburn was a beautiful goal and nobody to blame) but also that we can score if we keep calm.
And I must say that after the game I didn’t realise anymore that I felt sick. But now after typing this, I feel something coming back. My head hurts, I can hardly breathe through my nose. My muscles are hurting me. Oh my, I think I will quickly publish this and then go back lying on my sofa. Still sick but feeling great.
PS: for those who want to comment for the first time take note that we have to approve your first comment. I don’t know how much I will be on line for the rest of the day but will try to keep an eye on it. And well anyway usually after such a win a certain part of the fans doesn’t come around here “for the first time”.
get well soon mate. the snow gods are having a party where i am.
well well well. who expected that?! i also was not feeling too great this morning woke up late and missed the first goal. did i expect 6 more as i joined the game as the superb free kick went in?
ox ox ox. this years jack?! if theo can build on what he did today what a nice conundrum we’ll have when gez comes back.
more of the same please lads. thank you for a very cold snow covered wonderful day.
I had been avoiding all arsenal websites since draw at bolton (let me be honest, it was a very poor result despite a good performance and I was frustrated plus the academic activities consuming a huge amount of my time.)This was a highly satisfying result because we haven’t been scoring a lot of goals this season and this gives a big boost to our players and our goal difference .Individual players also performed well but a goal for rosicky would have only been better.
This victory couldn’t have been on a better time with big matches coming thick and fast,it was just the performance that the fans and player needed.Let’s hope that rest of the results go our way and we begin a winning run from here (it’s the most important).Just for fun, but the commentators mentined that rovers has scored more goals than l’pool ,seriusly is that true ???
Sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. I’m getting over a cold myself.
Didn’t Arsenal’s uniform originally come from Forest? The BBC coverage for today, at 16:58 has a note:
> Nottingham Forest owner Nigel Doughty has been found dead at his home in Lincolnshire, the club have said.
My condolences to his family.
Get well soon Walter. And thank you for your commitment to keeping this site running when Tony is away despite being sick.
Get well soon Mr. Walter. I know this victory will surely put you on a faster route to recovery.
Am on cloud 9. I cannot really even comprehend anything.
Get well soon my friend. Great Performance by the boys today and I wonder why neither bbc nor sky is buzzing the excitement as we are. Infact its as though we didn’t even play talk more of such scoreline. Arsenal fans must realize who the real enemy is, DEFINITELY NOT Arsene and the boys. GodblessArsenal
Please i like to make a plea/request that lets keep our feet firmly to the ground. It was a big win but it was down to 10 men Blackburn fighting relegation. I mean we enjoy the victory but hope our team works ten times harder when we face our enemies like the spuds, so we can make them look silly. Come on gunners we can still finish top of spuds.
Mo,
this almost was the same Blackburn that just over one month ago won 2-3 at Old Trafford. Also then in e relegation fight. you still have to beat them
Hi walter when the substitutions were made, we lost lots of pace and penetration. As much as i love TH14. He is not the player he was. The Ox scares the opposition shitless, the kid can be as good as he wants to be.
Get well soon, love and respect from me to you and yours.
XXXX
Walter,
I’ve got no sympathy whatsoever for you as I also am down with the dreaded lurgi and am 10 times worse than you…..and nobody emails me with any good wishes and I feel awful and I hate you and all people who live in Belgium and I want to die…..
Good article… get well soon….
Get well soon Walter, I’m sure the result will help you get better.
This was a good result for the team and manager and happily a bad result for the AAA who I assume are one and the same as the BBB (bin bag brigade). I am completely disgusted with the antics of the BBB.
Today the team as a whole was excellent and it was good to see the Ox and Coquelin continue to develop, to see Sagna get some more game time and to see the established members of the team start to look like a confident class act again.
Think the BBB must be feeling a bit sheepish! I am all for the right to peaceful protest, but that is all very very silly really
Get well soon Walter.
Nicky’ get well reeeeeeaaal soon. Never mind about Walter.
@nicky
Missed your post first time around – get well soon! (not sure just what the dreaded lurgi is)
@ bjtgooner,
Thanks matey. I’m really ok but I thought I would try and cheer up Walter a bit. (I may have made him feel worse, actually).
HAHA.. Didn’t I tell you. Our winning run will start today 🙂 What a day. First off, going to the stadium (for the second time, but a lot has changed in 5 years), and the obligatory visit to the Armoury to stock up. Then into the North Bank entrance to sit near the corner flag, watching the whole team warm up right in front of me. A funny incident, when the players were lined up for their warm up jog, Szczesny made a save which rebounded straight onto Vermaelen’s ..uh…unmentionables.. Even RVP had a bit of a laugh about that. Tommy V, the fighter that he is soldiered on though, and continued his warm up.
I didn’t actually see any black bags around. The seat next to me was empty and I could see a few empty seats here and there, but no trash bags. Overall though, the stadium was much fuller than I expected what with the cold weather, and the Victoria line not running. I did however hear some moaning from a guy behind me 10 mins from the end, when we were winning 6-1. He said “we’ve wasted 17 minutes with our tippy-tappy”, which is something you can only shake your head at..Some people..
But what a game.. You all saw it of course, but I screamed in the ear of the guy in front of me when RVP completed his hattrick. And jumped for joy after Henry scored the goal I kept hoping for but thought would never come.
Oh and the crowd was fantastic. (I was surprised to learn that I knew most of the songs) When Blackburn scored from their first real chance of the game, there was stunned silence for a few moments, but all of us then started chanting ‘Come on Arsenal’. The crowd was right behind the team and I’d like to think that played a part in our two quick goals before halftime.
After the game I attended the Q&A session with Charlie George (the original King of Highbury). He seems like a real gentleman, and is a proper legend of the club.
Back out in the freezing cold after that, and on my way home, I experienced my first ever snowfall. So, all in all, I’d say it was a pretty good day. 🙂
Oh and if you’re around, Tony, I picked up your book from the Armoury today. Looking forward to reading it. Get well soon Walter. I’m sure this result will help. Dogface, I couldn’t see your message about the Auld triangle before I left, so didn’t know where to go to meet the guys. But I am also going for the North London derby, so hopefully will see you and all the guys then.
Up the Arsenal!!! 🙂
those pseudo fans that decided not to show today must be feeling rather silly about their ‘protest’. those empty seats were the only thing wrong today, i would easily give an arm or leg to be able to go to an arsenal game at the grove (especially one like this!)
any fan who was able to go to the game but didnt in order to ‘protest’ should have their season ticket revoked. get rid of the moaners and make room for people who appreciate the privilege of watching the arsenal, who would scream and jump for 100 minutes and who would back the team no matter what!
Shard, by then Tony should be back and will be at the Auld Triangle I think. just give him a message on the blog and you will be able to meet him I think.
I’m still alive by the way 🙂
Ough Nicky, lucky I haven’t that disease… 🙂 LOL
Shard, I’m so happy you had an unforgettable experience and you should come along more often as you’re clearly very good luck! 🙂
Great performance from the lads today with real purpose and desire; and you got the thrashing you’ve been looking for Mandy Dodd!
Well done lads for putting the AAA and BBB temporarily back into their cesspit.
Get well soon Walter and all else who are “feeling the lurgi!”
Come on the Gunners and Gooners!
Great win today! I started to kind of feel bad for Blackburn toward the end, it was definitely slow and painful for them! But what a game! The team really needed a game like this to get their confidence up! It was a complete team effort! Let’s get on that “Invincible spirit” like Arsene Wenger told the team to have!
@DC
Yes. Today’s victory was definitely because of me..LOL.. You’ll see. We will now go on a good run. We have to. It has been an unforgettable day. Thank you for your kind words, and your help earlier this morning.
@Walter
It’ll be great to meet Tony. What about my favourite referee? When do you plan to be in London? If I remember correctly you were planning to be here for the Newcastle match.. I’m scheduled to leave England after that, but I might have to earlier. Would like to meet you as well.
@Walter
It’ll be great to meet Tony. What about my favourite referee? When do you plan to be in London? If I remember correctly you were planning to be here for the Newcastle match.. I’m scheduled to leave England after that, but I might have to earlier. Would like to meet you as well…
Shard I am glad you had enjoyed yourself today. The idea of singing at games doesn’t happen in any sport I’ve seen in western Canada. I would have been hopeless, not that I can sing anyway.
It was nice nobody showed up to put black bags over seats. And I hope all the people who thought up that dumb trick feel about 1 micron tall. And in the upcoming week or so, please keep your feelings to yourselves. They aren’t helpful, and they don’t _support_.
More bad news. Frimpong picked up a knee injury at Wolves, is due for a scan.
Nicky, I am unfamiliar with lurgi. I hope you can deal with it.
Get well soon Walter. You know you have no choice really, do you? lol!
What a game? I find myself pitying Blackburn and their manager. But great for my team and the fans. We needed the cheering up and by George, we got it.
May we witness more days like this… please…
Ha! What a day for a protest. Quite hilarious I must say. I don’t have a problem with people protesting, they pay their money and can have their say, but what a day to choose.
To those who query the dreaded lurgi, you all show your (young)
age. It was first discovered by the Goons, the forerunners of the Gooners (and I’m sure you all know about them!).
Shard because the Newcastle game being changed to monday evening I cant make it. We have to find another game later on. Hoping for the Villa game now
living well, the best revenge! Joy to this world!
It’s a super display from the boys. I was quite worried after Blackburn drew level, which feels like Sunderland game last year (Seb Larsson FK). But somehow I felt that Van Persie will somehow save us again, just like that Sunderland game. and it turned out that way, and not only VP, it’s all players that fought together and gave us 7 goals.
This game also reminds me the same game against Blackburn a couple years ago. We won 6-2 (walcott broke Robinson’s goal net, I guess) and at that time Henry was watching. But today, he is in the scoreline.
It’s just magic.
I’d like to wish a get well soon and speedy recovery to Walter and Nicky
Yeah get well soon Nicky. But what is ‘lurgi’? Is it an allergy? Or is it flu? Too bored to google further 😉
“The dreaded lurgi” is a phrase much used in a fifties radio program called The Goon Show. It starred Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe and was very, very funny! This from Wikipedia.
Milligan and Harry Secombe became friends while serving in the Royal Artillery during World War II. Famously, Milligan first encountered Secombe after Gunner Milligan’s artillery unit accidentally allowed a large howitzer to roll off a cliff – under which Secombe was sitting in a small wireless truck: “Suddenly there was a terrible noise as some monstrous object fell from the sky quite close to us. There was considerable confusion, and in the middle of it all the flap of the truck was pushed open and a young, helmeted idiot asked ‘Anybody see a gun?’ It was Milligan.”[11] Secombe’s answer to that question was “What colour was it?” Spike met Peter Sellers after the war at the Hackney Empire, where Secombe was performing, and the three became close friends.
Get well Walter and Nicky as i wrote in the archives last week i told you that i pity the teams who are going to face us,Bolton survived narrowly but Sunderland will be in the firing line. Prior to B/B goal i thought we should have had a free kick the BBB and the AAA will say that its mourning but who cares. I was scared shitless i thought RVP have been injured thanks to him being a clever CPT. At the beginning of the match SKY showed a girl and the commentator said that the girl was having a sad face because she knew worse things where going to happen in the game?/i think he was damn right, i wish Chelsea wins and see if they will be any whore list who dares ask Fergus if there is a crisis and he wont get a left in the groin. Ask Hansen
@Shard:
I’m torn between being very happy for you and being very jealous of you… 🙂 If you do get a chance to meet up with everybody, please represent me and take a shot of something very strong in my honor. Cheers. 🙂
Get well, Walter
@Anne: I think both those emotions can be mutually exclusive so you don’t need to be torn ;). And what if Shard doesn’t drink btw?
@Arvind:
Thanks for helping me to assuage the guilt of my mixed emotions. 🙂
@Shard:
If you don’t drink, please forgive me for any offense that my previous comment might have caused 🙂
like anne im so happy and jealous of you shard… i really wish i can get to ems one day..nice to know you enjoyed yourself and hopefully you`ll go more as you are definitely a lucky charm for us LOL 🙂
Fantastic win and a boost for our confidence levels. Good to see our forward line get amoungst the goals/assists and what a player Oxlade-Chamberlain is.
My concern of course is our defensive display, we still really need to work on fixing this up.
Let this be the beginning of a strong winning run.
And just think: 24 hours later and the match would be cancelled due to public safety issues (15cm of snow overnight).
One game does not a season make. And I’ve seen two 6-2’s in that fixture before! Live…..
Now if they go to the Stadium of Light under the roaring O’Neill and get a spanking result, then yes, praise will assuredly be due. A lot of it. As Sunderland have the form of Champions right now….that’s official statistics, by the way….
As I said in late 2010, RVP had the POTENTIAL to be world-class, but to be so, he had to perform consistently for 12 months at that level. He duly did so, so the accolade was well merited. And awarded……
If others in the Arsenal side want similar praise, they must earn it by delivering a consistent level of performance not just in home games against teams at the bottom but also against surging mid-table sides away and against other top 6 sides. That’s what £50k a week means for players and what £2000 a year for 20 games means supporters have a right to expect.
Of course, if they’d prefer the lower expectations of £10k a week and supporters receive a 50% rebate on season ticket prices, fine.
But you are less likely to win titles that way…………Cups even.
But for 24 hours at least, it was an enjoyable steam-roller ride, wasn’t it??!!
Captain buzzkill Rhys Jaggar strikes again.. And no..that isn’t being a realist.. It’s being something else entirely…
Thank you Arvind, Anne, Mahdain and Gord.. I shall strive to make you even more jealous by procuring us a victory in the North London derby 🙂
Walter
I won’t be in England then.. So unfortunately, it’ll have to be just some other time.. Oh well.. Can’t always have everything.
More bad news on Frimpong. It’s his one of his cruciate ligaments that was injured. I don’t know if it is the same knee and same ligament as before. The loan to Wolves is now over, and Frimpong is back to Arsenal for rehab.
Re: Frimpong
Ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in the right knee. Previous ACL injury was left knee.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/frimpong-to-see-specialist-for-knee-injury