Arsenal showed their resurgence in the month of October but it started with a 2-1 reverse to their bitter rivals Tottenham. Robin van Persie stole the show when Arsenal hosted Sunderland. Aaron Ramsey’s late strike was enough to hand the Gunners all three points against Marseille and it was followed by another van Persie inspired 3-1 win against Stoke.
Park Chu-Young bent it like Beckham when Arsenal played Bolton in the Carling Cup before Robin van Persie burnt Stamford Bridge with a Van-tastic hattrick in the incredible 5-3 victory.
Like previous months before this, a voting sequence took place for some special Gooner Daily awards and the winners have emerged.
SAVE OF THE MONTH
Arsenal played six games in the month of October and conceded eight goals. In terms of goalkeeping personnel, Lukasz Fabianski was reduced to just one Carling Cup game while Wojciech Szczesny kept in the remaining five.
The nominated saves Wojciech Szczesny’s save from Frank Lampard’s free kick when Arsenal visited Stamford Bridge, Wojciech Szczesny’s save from Lee Cattermole’s header when Arsenal played Sunderland and Lukasz Fabianski’s save from Gael Kakuta’s free kick when Arsenal beat Bolton.
The results were:
Szczesny’s save from Lee Cattermole’s header (Sunderland, 16.10.11): 78.92% – 161 votes
Szczesny’s save from Frank Lampard’s free kick (Chelsea, 29.10.11): 16.67% – 34 votes
Fabianski’s save from Gael Kakuta’s free kick (Bolton, 25.10.11): 4.41% – 9 votes
“…..an error by Jenkinson allowed Sessegnon to send a cross to the Szczesny’s far post with Lee Cattermole set for the kill. Sunderland’s captain headed the ball towards goal but Arsenal’s goalie developed the reflexes of a cat to make an unbelievable save.”
Culled from Arsenal 2 Sunderland 1: The Flying Dutchman Spares Arsenal’s Blushes
ASSIST OF THE MONTH
Arsenal smashed in 13 goals in September and went one better with 14 goals last month. The nominated assists were Johan Djourou’s cross for Aaron Ramsey when Arsenal visited Stade Velodrome, Gervinho’s pass for Robin van Persie when Arsenal hosted Stoke and Ramsey’s pass for Gervinho in the same match.
The results were:
Aaron Ramsey’s pass to Gervinho (Stoke, 23.10.11): 65.82% – 129 votes
Gervinho’s pass to Robin van Persie (Stoke, 23.10.11): 17.35% – 34 votes
Johan Djourou’s cross to Aaron Ramsey (Marseille, 19.10.11): 16.84% – 33 votes
“As Arsenal continued to press and probe Stoke’s defense, the breakthrough arrived when Ramsey cleverly chipped the ball over the defense to Gervinho who timed his run to perfection. The Ivorian brought the ball under control before finishing emphatically with his left foot.”
Culled from Arsenal 3 Stoke 1: Robin van Persie proves his worth to Arsenal in gold
GOAL OF THE MONTH
Arsenal banged in 14 goals in six matches in October averaging two goals a game but there were three goals that stood out. The nominations were Robin van Persie’s third swerving shot when Arsenal visited Stamford Bridge, Park Chu-Young’s curler when Arsenal beat Bolton and van Persie’s free kick when Arsenal played Sunderland.
The results were:
Robin van Persie’s free kick against (Sunderland, 16.10.11): 53.88% – 111 votes
Park Chu-Young’s goal against (Bolton, 25.10.11): 26.7% – 55 votes
Robin van Persie’s 3rd goal against (Chelsea, 29.10.11): 19.42% – 40 votes
“When it all seemed as if all hope was lost and Arsenal was heading for another disappointing draw, Benayoun passed the ball to RVP but the striker was impeded by the rugged Wes Brown. Like Seb Larsson in the first half, van Persie took his time and let out a few bursts of air before curling the ball over the wall to Mignolet’s net”
Culled from Arsenal 2 Sunderland 1: The Flying Dutchman Spares Arsenal’s Blushes
MATCH OF THE MONTH
October was one hell of a month for the Gunners as they won five of the six games played in October. However, there were three games that stood out from the rest.
The nominations were Arsenal’s 3-1 victory against Stoke , Arsenal’s 5-3 thriller against Chelsea and Arsenal’s late winner against Marseille
The results were:
Chelsea 3 Arsenal 5 (29.10.11): 96.52% – 194 votes
Marseille 0 Arsenal 1 (19.10.11): 2.49% – 5 votes
Arsenal 3 Stoke 1 (23.09.11): 1% – 2 votes
“HEY CH3L5EA! WHAT’S D MATA? U LOOK TERRYFIED. DID U CECH THE TIME? IT SAYS 3 PAST 5!”
Culled from C-h-3-l-5-e-a (3) A-r-5-3-n-a-l (5): Captain Van-tastic burns the Bridge
WORST MATCH OF THE MONTH
In a very happy month for Arsenal, the 2-1 loss against rivals Tottenham stands out as Arsenal’s worst match for October.
“While the club’s from Manchester have secured six wins and a draw in their first seven games, Arsenal has secured its fourth loss in the same amount of games.
The media Vultures will start flying around Arsenal and I’m pretty sure that more talk of crisis will dominate the headlines. I’m not going to defend Wenger or his club with the “early days” joke because we already in October and Arsenal is 12 points off the pace.”
Culled from Tottenham 2 Arsenal 1: Arsenal gets Walker-ed on derby day
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE MONTH
October has been a month were many Gunners stepped up the plate but three Gunners improved more than the rest in October.
The nominations were Andre Santos, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott and the results were:
Aaron Ramsey: 85.13% – 166 votes
Andre Santos: 10.26% – 20 votes
Theo Walcott: 4.62% – 9 votes
Ramsey had a 5.5 rating against Tottenham, was absent against Sunderland, 7.5 against Marseille, 7.5 against Stoke and 8.5 against Chelsea thereby earning a Gooner Daily average rating of 7.25.
MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER
The usual suspect Andrey Arshavin was nominated again for a place in this position but he was partnered by Johan Djourou and Per Mertesacker.
However, the results were:
Johan Djourou: 42.78% – 83 votes
Per Mertesacker: 30.93% – 60 votes
Andrey Arshavin: 26.29% – 51 votes
PLAYER OF THE MONTH
My pick of the bunch, the prestigious award given to the best Gunner of October. Three Gunners were in blistering form last month but a certain Gunner was the best by a far mile.
The nominations were Laurent Koscielny, Robin van Persie and Gervinho and the results were:
Robin van Persie: 81.16% – 168 votes
Laurent Koscielny: 16.91% – 35 votes
Gervinho: 1.93% – 4 votes.
I want to reserve special thanks to everyone that participated in this exercise. I believe that my end of the season review as well as season awards will be fun to write knowing fully that my esteemed readers had a hand in it.
You can see the awards for the previous months of August and September in the Awards category of this blog and you can also knock yourself out with last season’s review and end of the season awards.
Let’s do this again at the end of November.
Sayonara