Arsenal 2-0 Stoke City

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.

Arsenal 0-3 Chelsea, Tragedy Strikes

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.

Arsenal 6 – 2 Blackburn, King Henry Returns

Blackburn gave up 8 goals to Arsenal last season. With Thierry Henry in attendance for Arsene Wenger’s 13th anniversary at Arsenal, we almost matched last year’s performance in a single match.

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First Hardware of the Season 2009/10

By finishing off Rangers 3-0 on Sunday, Arsenal won their first hardware of the new season, the 2009 Emirates Cup. Yes, its only a preseason tournament and it was on our home ground, but let’s celebrate it and look forward to good things to come.

Here are some notes that I jotted down while watching. The highlight reel from Youtube is below.

• Andrey Arshavin is so aware of things going on around him. He had several dummies and its hard to see how he knew that another player was behind him. I’m looking forward to some more magical moments from Arshavin. He might be my favorite current Arsenal player right now … no, that’s not true; although, he’s probably a close second to Cesc Fabregas.
• The last goal is a showcase of the young, young guns coming through at Arsenal. Sanchez Watt doesn’t give up and manages to get the ball off the endline where the defender should have been able to shepherd it out. The ball comes to Aaron Ramsey who has the foresight to not blast the ball at an impossible angle. He patiently waits and sees a running Jack Wilshere through a crowd of players. Then, he manages to dink it over everyone to the opposite side of the goal where Wilshere has the composure to place a well hit ball into the far corner. Its a thing of beauty. Watch the highlights below.
• Jack Wilshere!
• The biggest problem for Arsenal is the ability to clear the ball on corners or set pieces. The ball bounced around too much in the box and luckily Rangers didn’t jump on their chances. Hopefully, having Thomas Vermaelen in there will help to remedy those situations.

Turning Our Attention

In terms of football, this has got to be one of my favorite times of the year. The MLS cup race is starting to come out of the duldrums of summer and pick up speed toward the finish line. There’s been some talk of a new playoff system in MLS, which, in my mind, is one step toward the ultimate goal – doing away with it. However, it is the time when players start to realize that the pressure is on and its time to step it up. “Making the playoffs” is on everyone’s mind.

On the other side of the pond, the start of the Premiership is just around the corner. After watching MLS games played in terrible heat and worse conditions, it’s almost time for the “Ahh, ha” moment when we see what club football can be like with real competition and players with extraordinary skill.

Its time to get the funds together for Arsenal TV Online and start integrating the Arsenal blogs into my daily reading. There is so many good writers out there, writing about Arsenal, its hard for me to put myself into the blogosphere as any kind of expert on the subject. I’ve followed them since 1997, so at least I have a decade under my belt. My 12th season of Arsenal starts August 15th!

We’ve been able to finally get rid of Adebayor. He really endured himself to supporters last summer with his “maybe I’m Arsenal, maybe not” remarks. Unfortunately, Kolo Toure has left as well. Both have signed with Manchester City, which should make the watching of “Citeh” finish mid-table again even more interesting. With all of the money they’re throwing around to sign players, they think they’re heading to the top four of the Premiership. I think that’s hilarious but I guess we’ll see. Arsenal has supposedly pocketed 40 million pounds on the deal, so if we just get them to take Eboue as well, the whole thing would go down as the biggest swindle ever, in the whole history of the world. Well done Arsene!

We may actually get to see Rosicky, Arshavin, Walcott, and Fabregas all in the midfield together at some point. Rosicky is said to be back after being gone for so long. Our new Belgian centerback Thomas Vermaelen looks to be a great acquisition as well. Rumors are swirling around talks to get Patrick Vieira back at Arsenal and to sign Daniele de Rossi from Roma. I’m not holding my breathe for either but just one of them would be outstanding. Vieira is past his prime but coming back to the club he loves (and we love you too Paddy) would probably throw the engine into overdrive for at least a season or two.

This weekend, as part of the pre-season Emirates Cup, Arsenal take on Atletico Madrid on Saturday and Rangers on Sunday. Then, we take on Valencia next Saturday, before opening day against Everton on August 15th. Ooh, the anticipation!