After some debate with myself, I’ve decided to move this blog off to another domain.
I’ve owned the domain fastidium.com for some time and haven’t used it in awhile. I think the name is little more “edgy”, especially since I’d like to expand my topics from not only football, but also music and art.
I plan to use this domain, dw31.com, for my professional writing and posts relevant to data analysis, web design, and programming. These are the areas I work in to pay the bills and I’d like go freelance someday, so my mission is to showcase my professional skills.
So, Arsenal, Galaxy, and US Soccer supporters, please join me at the new domain fastidium.com, where I’ve moved over all my football content.
The absence of Robin van Persie from this Arsenal team is quite evident. RvP brings a forward presence to Arsenal that we’re unable to mimick without him. While Eduardo can play a holding presence up front, he doesn’t quite have the pace to come back into midfield when needed. And, Eduardo’s out too, so Arsene Wenger was forced to field all midfielders in this game against Stoke.
Our defense consisted of Almunia in goal, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, and Traore (Silvestre 88). The rest of the team line-up were Denilson, Nasri, Fabregas, Eboue (Ramsey 54), Rosicky (Vela 45), and Arshavin. The reason I list these out is because none of these players play a traditional (or non-traditional, for that matter) form of striker up front. Many of the them are prone to make runs forward but none of them can be considered targets up front, in the mold of RvP, Bendtner, or Eduardo. Even Vela likes to play off of the left-hand side.
None of this is to say that we shouldn’t be playing this way. I’m just pointing it out.
Arshavin’s goal in the 26th minute brought the end of my frustration over the Russian. His touch up till then had been atrocious. In one instance, he could have easily scored but he pushed the ball too far forward and the goalie was able to get to it first. The goal, however, was a perfect example of Arshavin’s knack for shooting without it looking like he’s shooting. He’s got that little flick from a prone position that ends up being a pretty hard shot. It was the culmination of a nice little exchange between Cesc and Arshavin.
It was utter pain to see Cesc miss a penalty.
As soon as Ramsey came on the pitch, our form changed. I noticed that we were playing a much slower, shorter passing game up until that moment. I’m not sure if the change came because of Ramsey but it seemed to coincide with his arrival. His pace was what won him the opportunity to score and he made good on it in the 80th minute. It was a perfectly placed shot which could have gone anywhere if he had taken it harder.
A new frustration has arisen for me with this team … Carlos Vela. I hope he improves. He really added nothing to the team by floating out on the left like he did.
“I trained with the Reserves. It was a very eye-opening experience to be over there, and to be running the steps at Highbury with Tony Adams, and Paul Merson,” Lalas said. “Ian Wright picked me up for breakfast and took me out to dinner. It was an interesting experience.”
It could have gone either way. It could have been a much needed victory for the Gunners. Yet, it wasn’t meant to be.
How did Drogba get his foot, knee, whatever it was, on the cross from Cole in just the right way? How did Vermaelen make the mistake and put the ball into his own net? You take away those two factors and let Arshavin’s goal stand, you’ve got something else. Chelsea’s last goal was just the cherry on top.
Both teams gave it all they had. It rained the whole time. Either team could have had luck go their way.
That’s the way football is. The world goes on. Its only November.
This is just one of the worst possible news items to read this morning: “… more extensive damage had been suffered than was first diagnosed. In order to repair his ankle, Robin will undergo surgery next week in Amsterdam to reconstruct the ligaments. The Club’s medical team anticipate that a full recovery will take between four and five months.”
Priority status for applying for tickets to the U.S. Men’s National Team matches in South Africa will be extended to members of the U.S. Soccer Supporters Club. Registration for U.S. Soccer SC is open now at ussoccer.com, and fans seeking priority status must join by Dec. 3, 2009, at 12 p.m. ET.
“A family-owned Toronto real estate company has submitted a winning bid of $583,000 for the Pontiac Silverdome, former home of the Detroit Lions until they moved to Ford Field in 2002, and nearly 130 adjacent acres. The winning bidder, one of four and whose identity has not yet been released, plans to use the facility for a men’s Major League Soccer team and women’s professional soccer teams, Fred Leeb, Pontiac’s emergency financial manager, told the Free Press in an exclusive interview.”
This sucks! Arsenal’s Robin van Persie is set for a long spell out after seriously injuring an ankle while on international duty. These things happen to us every season.
Robin was stretchered off during Holland’s international friendly with Italy in Pescara on Saturday, November 14 with ankle ligament damage. Initial reports suggested he would be out for around six weeks.
