some thoughts..please weigh in and agree / disagree..just be nice tho, !!! thank you in advance for your insights.....
1. Szcz and Song were simply massive...huge performances...it is ever looking like we may have a WC keeper in the making...and when we pair Frim with Song, we now have a tough, physical, def midfield...not mentioning the return of Diaby soon ))) would be nice to get our attacking mids back..Ramsey and Wilshere, hurry up and return....
2. VP is simply class. The beauty of his goal came not from the shot - it was excellent of course but he had a clear shot close in 1 on 1 and should always finish that...no, the real beauty was his winning the ball upfield by getting to ground, and then immediately getting up and making the devastating run...how much more could one player do on a play sequence: go all out to win the ball and push it to another player, get up asap and make a killer run into the best space, and then finish....absolutely first class. VP is our leader..our captain..who wants to be here and leads by example and behavior...and we have needed one
3. our overall defensive play was excellent...no red cards, no PK giveaways, no idiotic collisions (we still love you and miss you Eboue)...we stayed goal side, won soooo many balls in tight spaces, and for God sakes finally just cleared it 40 yards from dangerous space when no other option was there. There is absolutely nothing wrong with clearing the ball up field from dangerous space in front of our goal, even if it means turning the ball over, if no simple and safe option exists. Our players made those good decisions all night.
4. the Dortmund goal was a piece of beauty, and we ought not to feel bad getting drawn by that quality of goal. it happens sometimes...if it takes that level of goal to draw us away at a difficult place to play (biggest stadium in Germany) against a major league champion, then I feel pretty good about us...
5. I thought Theo did not have a good night. Yes, he assisted on VP's goal, but that was a fairly standard through ball; VP did all the work before and after to make that goal. Theo has got to start being consistent. I often get the feel that all he offers is his pace, which is good enough for the occasional breakaway goal, and stretching defenses...but he needs to become a complete footballer..and he is far from that..and we need that from him
6. what can I say...wonderful to have Gervinho back also...we can all see his potential...and he will start finishing his opportunities and provide us another source of goals..he is close...what I like so much about him now is his ability on the ball in tight quarters, his abililty to dribble out of trouble. after losing Fab and Nasri, we needed to replace some of that in the squad. There was a sequence late in the match where Gerv carried the ball down the left side of the pitch for about 40 yards, and eventually 3 Dort players went after him, pushing him against the touch line..he dribbled out of it back upfield, kept possession,and made the simple yet perfect pass across field..play like this wins games...
Sooo..dare I say this....after a miserable, tortuous..painful...excruciating...transfer summer and first 3 PL games....yet after watching our large group of new players...I am beginning...just beginnng, but it is there..to feel a bit better, more optimistic..do I see the shaping,the forming, then coming...of a team worthy to be called Arsenal. ???...long long way to go of course...but I might be )
On to Blackburn...and we need all 3 against a club in disarry and at the bottom of the table...
thoughts on Dortmund..on to Blackburn
posted on 14/9/11
Defensive play has been brilliant so far this season except for the united game for obvious reasons, when our attack and midfield gel and click together we will be climbing up the table.
posted on 14/9/11
Nice to see positive comments!
I'm guessing there were no injuries? I didn't think so but you never know sometimes
posted on 14/9/11
Even though we played away from home, i still expect our ball retention to be better then we showed. We haven't passed the ball well all season. Surely this must be because of a lack of confidence and not just the departure of two (albeit important) players?
I'm not going to criticise anyoen yesterday. We all showed a good defensive mindset and barring a brilliant goal would have sneaked three points.
Arteta for me is still finding his feet. His work rate was excellent and got his tackles in well. The passing and attacking influence is still to come. Yossi got a fair bit of stick, but i think he performed well.
Agreed about Song. Massive. His second half was almost the best i'cve seen him play.
Szeczeny....well i only rate Reina more then him, at the moment. Finally a goalkeeper we can put our faith in.
posted on 14/9/11
We're going to thrash you
posted on 14/9/11
We're going to thrash you
...................................................................................................
Just like you thrashed Wolves, Villa, Everton and Fullham.??
we are terrified you have got 1000 fellow supporters marching this weekend protesting oyur manager...looks like a dangerous club to me!
posted on 14/9/11
Rhackw: Hope you enjoy Westfalia and the atmosphere in the stadium. I was there too and I was a bit dissappointed that we didnt manage to grabb three points. I think the draw is the right result in the end. You cant do anything against Dortmund's goal. That was stunning. Noone to blame.
Dont agree with you on Walcott and van Persie's performance. I think that van Persie wasnt that good. Walcott has the problem that our midfield wasnt well linked up with our strikers. If noone can provide any long pass to run into spaces than you shouldnt play Walcott. Its not his game to dribble through three defenders. I think that Theo and also van Persie miss Fabregas most.
Dont agree also with the performance of Song. He had an okay game and agree with Serial Wumanizer here that our ball retention and passes were a disaster. There we have too improve massively. Song in the first half lost posession too often. Sometimes its only because he kept the ball for too long.
Our defence and our high line in the first 20 min. were a misterium to me. That was better in the second half. Dortmund lacked the creativity in midfield so there were almost not a goal opportunity for Dortmund in the second half.
Benayoun was the man of the match I must say. Very lively, run all over the field and helped out defensively.
posted on 14/9/11
You might as well get your excuses ready now, be prepared to be embarrassed.