The title for yesterday’s post didn’t show much optimism from me. “Do what you must” simply meant that if Arsenal drew or lost yesterday’s game, I wouldn’t have broken sweat.
I have been doubtful about Almunia’s ability in recent games but after reading about Lehmann’s outing against Wigan Reserves, I felt that we had to stick to the Devil we knew but just as Almunia paved the way for Fabianski before he paved the way for Szczesny before injury brought Almunia to the squad, Almunia decided to repeat the cycle again by paving the way for Mad Jens Lehmann but instead of cocking up in the field of play, his knee decided to play a fast one on him so we were left with the 41-year volatile emergency goalie to stand between the sticks from the next 90 minutes in the seaside.
Blackpool started brightly with their adventurous style of play which resulted in a series of set pieces for them with their captain, God’s first creation in the thick of things. He whipped in a good cross but Arsenal’s captain defended well.
After another swift attack, rVp forgot his attacking duties to execute an inch-perfect tackle that led to another Blackpool. Before the corner was about to played by the first creation, Mad Jens used a very wise tactic of cooling the game down by tying his boots again. That move took the steam off Blackpool a bit and eased up pressure on the Arsenal defense. The corner was whipped in but we defended well. Blackpool is renowned for scoring the highest number of headed goals so I was very wary anytime they had a set piece.
Our first attack was created by some good interplay between Wilshere and Clichy. The full back chipped the ball on the left for rVp but his drilled cross was defended well. Fabregas came with another approach in yesterday’s game. Instead of giving his razor sharp ground through balls, he floated in delightful balls over the top of the Blackpool defense times without number.
Fabregas floated the first of his thousand and one aerial through balls and it made 2 Blackpool players clash up like Evra and Heinze in the Champions League match against Milan. AA23 killed a bird with his proposed shot on target.
Sagna didn’t pass the fitness test so our favourite Farmer Eboue was drafted back to the squad after 1000 years in the bench. He passed a simple ball to Fabregas and our captain won a free kick on the edge of Blackpool’s box. rVp floated his free kick over. With his amazing technical ability with the ball, it’s still bemusing to know that the last time rVp scored a free kick was in 2007 in that 3-2 victory against Sunderland.
His last free kick
There’ve been times the bar or post was the opposition’s saviour or the keeper picked the right moment to be a hero.
Lehmann showed very good handling as he dealt well with Blackpool crosses. There was a moment when the ball was crossed to our area, Lehmann moved forward for it then realized that his defenders were present so he went back to his goal line. Almunia would have gone all out for the ball and probably would’ve missed it.
Nasri then floated a very nice ball for rVp but his chest control let him down as the ball went straight to Kingson.
In the 18th minute, Arsenal got their breakthrough. Diaby was caught in possession but did well to win the ball back. As he fed El Capitan, he used his long legs to dart forward as an attack built up. Fabregas saw his vice captain free on the left so he sent a lovely ball to the Flying Dutchman. rVp showed great vision to drill the ball straight to Diaby’s path in the 6-yard box. Diaby still showed good composure to sidefoot the ball home. Ramsey was in a not too similar position 2 weeks ago against West Brom but he spurned the chance.
While we were still basking after going up against Blackpool, Wilshere showed again why he deserves to be crowned as the Premier League’s best young player by suppling a superb assist to our farmer who smashed the top corner with his left boot. With 2 goals scored in 21 minutes, the 6-0 scoreline recorded in August start looming in my mind.
Wilshere and Farmer Eboue worked well to tee up Diaby but the long legged Frenchie spurned the chance to put us 3 up. Wilshere and a Blackpool bloke clashed heads but Vampires were disappointed because there was no blood to excite them with. Blackpool attacked again and crossed a ball that hit the Squisha on his arm with the linesman pointed to the corner flag. Fabregas then sent another defense splitting aerial ball to rVp. rVp’s control was perfect but his chocolate leg didn’t give him the finish he had in mind because it was easy pickings for Mr. Kingson.
Arshavin, Clichy and Nasri exchanged nice passes and entered into Blackpool’s box. rVp was free on the right but Nasri chose to shoot the ball which was saved by the goalie but Blackpool didn’t clear the ball convincingly. Up stepped Fabregas to give another L1 + ? pass in Pro Evolution Soccer to Nasri who was free but the French footballer of the year’s one time volley clipped the post before going out.
Fabregas was at it again with a crossfield long ball for rVp but he couldn’t reach the ball even after stretching. Diaby then got himself a needless booking for a rash challenge which almost led to a Blackpool goal. Adam flicked the ball to some bloke who evaded our players as if they weren’t there. The bloke drilled the ball to our danger area, the Squisha and Lehmann did well to reduce the velocity of the ball but it almost sneaked in. Fabregas trapped the ball on the line and just cleared it in the nick of time because a Blackpool chap was making a sliding tackle towards the ball and it would have ended in our net. Fabregas’ clearance got to Clichy who quickly fed Wilshere who launched a counter attack using the Farmer’s wing. The Farmer dallied on the ball a bit but he still gave the ball to rVp who was barged from behind but no penalty was given.
The last chance of the first half started with another amazing long ball from El Capitan. The ball got to rVp who shimmied the hapless goalie who was way outside his box. rVp wasn’t in a good position to score so he gave Diaby who just had the simplest task on Earth to plant the ball into an empty net but the bald Frenchie chose to cut back before the ball was taken away from his feet. A very good chance gone begging by a player that has a loose nut in his brain.
The home side started the second half the way they started the first. Some bloke crossed from the right but the ball evaded everyone in Arsenal’s box. Minutes later, Blackpool were handed an unlikely lifeline from a lad with a long ass name. Wilshere tackled a Blackpool player close to the centre circle but the ref waved play on. Some chap sent a through pass that cut our defense like hot knife through butter. In a matter of seconds, Lehmann found himself one on one with a Blackpool striker. The striker evaded Lehmann easily but our goalie wasn’t going to go down without a fight so Lehmann took off his legs with his arms. That would have resulted to a Lehmann red but the ref decided to let play go on again because that long named chap was on hand to fire the ball to an unguarded net.
That goal sparked a revival from the Blackpool faithful and they were more vocal because they felt that a draw was on the cards. rVp had a chance to put us 3 up but he had one touch too many so that chance went begging. AW the Alchemist brought on Walcott for Arshavin to add some steel to our attack.
Fabregas decided that it was ground pass time so he sent a nice through ball for rVp but our usually redhot striker wasn’t with his shooting boots because his shot went wide. Walcott was a constant thorn for the Blackpool defense because he kept being fouled on the right for being too fucking quick for the full back. Fabregas sent another overhead through ball to rVp but he flashed it over.
Blackpool almost had a chance to make it 2-2 but the Squisha produced a tackle of the highest quality. Diaby took the ball from our defense, evaded some markers then fed El Capitan who sent a lovely defense splitting pass to Walcott who was free on the right before delivering a simple assist for rVp who wasted no time in scoring Arsenal’s third and congratulating his speedy teammate. Walcott’s last five assists have supplied to rVp with the most notable that one against Wolves where he was too fast for the linesman.
With Arsenal firmly in control of the game, Clichy decided to activate his Self Destruct chip by losing possession in our defense but Lehmann decided to save his blushes by making a decent save from the striker. rVp floated a nice corner but El Capitan’s header was good enough to put us 4 up.
There were late reinforcements in Gibbs and Ramsey who came on for Nasri and El Capitan. Walcott had the last Arsenal chance of the game by flashing a free kick wide.
Farmer Eboue teaching the fans how to till the soil
At the final whistle, Arsenal reduced the gap to 7 points again. In a weekend where Man Utd and Chelsea won we handed the pressure well to win against a side battling relegation. They are the worst to play against at this point in the season.
Lehmann (7.0) marked his 200th Arsenal appearance with a very assured performance. Clichy (6.7) did okay. Farmer Eboue (6.9) scored a very good goal. Koscielny (6.5) for once was outshone by the Squisha (6.9). Wilshere (7.0) supplied a nice assist for the Farmer and almost beat the goalie with a very slick lob. Diaby (6.9) scored a simple goal after some good teamplay. El Capitan (7.5) terrorized the Blackpool defense with defense splitting over the top passes. Nasri (6.7) showed good movement. AA23 (6.4) didn’t really influence the game. rVp (6.7) scored a goal but missed a few. Walcott (7.0) was veery problematic to the Blackpool defenders and supplied the gun powder for a goal. Gibbs and Ramsey won’t get ratings.
AW the Alchemist said after the game that he hopes that we can maintain this intensity. We have no other choice but to win all our games and hope for the worst for Man Utd. We host Liverpool on Sunday before playing that bloody game in hand against Twitch FC. Our next two games will definitely define our season.
Arsenal Football Club is about to be Kroenked.
He says,
“We are excited about our opportunity to increase our involvement with and commitment to Arsenal. Arsenal is a fantastic club with a special history and tradition and a wonderful manager in AW the Alchemist. We intend to build on this heritage and take the club to new success”.
Despite the Kroenkation of the club, Peter Hill-Wood will still assume his post as the chairman. The chairman played sweet tunes about the members whose shares went through the Kroenkation process, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith and Danny Frizman. Hill-Wood hailed Frizman for his vital role in our move to the Emirates 5 years ago.
The chairman also had some sweet words for the Kroenkinizer himself. He says that Mr. Kroenke has the interests of the club in his wealthy American heart and is a safe custodian of Arsenal’s future. AW the Alchemist also said that Kroenke understands the club with his heart, spirit and probably his soul. He said that the Kroenkenator wants to continue with our tradition of being Arsenalish in everything we do as a club. He also forgot to tell the media Vultures that Mr. Kroenke has promised Barney dolls to the players anytime we score 7 goals or more no wonder we scored Braga and Blackpool 6 in August without pondering scoring more.
7-0
Arsenal can also be described as a kid who is walking on a straight path with many elders. These elders include Hill-Wood, Kroenke, Usmanov, Lady Nina, Frizman but Mr. Kroenke has decided to hold the kid called Arsenal while walking straight. He doesn’t intend to move to the left or the right; he still wants to walk straight with the club.
Kroenke is not like some rich Arab oiler that doesn’t really know what to do with his funds or some businessman that wants to make a quick hit. He has heads on experience in the World of Sport with MLS champions Colorado Rapids, NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and NFL’s St. Louis Rams. We should also remember that he has been with Arsenal since 2008 so he’s in familiar surroundings.
He has however promised that he won’t interfere with the footballing affairs of the club. He may own a million and one yachts but he won’t invite any player in it or give another player an Audi to think of coming to Arsenal.
It’s time to catch some sleep.
Sayonara
