From the Norwich match report:
Norwich’s answer to going behind was to send on a really, really fat bloke to fall over and win free kicks, which he did quite well in fairness to him. However, when Holt threw himself to the ground in the box while Mertesacker looked on he rightly got a yellow card. Which he probably tried to eat because he thought it was made out of custard.
Originally Posted by Master Splinter
From the Norwich match report:
Norwich’s answer to going behind was to send on a really, really fat bloke to fall over and win free kicks, which he did quite well in fairness to him. However, when Holt threw himself to the ground in the box while Mertesacker looked on he rightly got a yellow card. Which he probably tried to eat because he thought it was made out of custard.
It was a functional performance, you'd say, but bar one or two moments (which you get in every game really) I thought we were defensively very solid. And you could see the team effort at times. Andre Santos had his best game yet, he looks fitter and sharper, able to get up and down and his composure on the ball is fantastic.
Arseblog about Mikel
Mikel is an extremely important player in our team because he has both sides that make a team good. He is consistent going forward, technically fantastic and he works very hard for the team. He is an organiser too and does the job defensively in vital parts. We look solid at the moment and he has to take a big part of the credit because he does both jobs offensively and defensively - with quality.
I've spoken about him before, I know, but I've been really impressed with Arteta's influence on the team and the consistency of his performances. He's not flashy, he's had to curb a more natural instinct to get forward – something he did at Everton because he was probably the most creative player in that team – and he has added such calmness and composure to the midfield as well as positional intelligence.
There was one moment in the second half against Dortmund when it looked initially as if Song had been left to mark two players as they came into our half. As it happened Song won the ball back but Arteta had dropped back, in front of the back four to cover and provide a defensive option had they managed to work the ball back inside. And it's things like that which go unnoticed but which have played a big part in our increased defensive solidity. A canny signing and one I wish Arsene had made two seasons ago. Better late than never though.
You should nick that and post it on another thread.
Interesting!
There's a lot of talk about us being over-reliant on van Persie's goals and it's easy to see why. However, since the Sp*rs game we've scored 20 league goals, Robin has 11 of them, so while that's certainly a healthy percentage it's not as high as you might think and probably as high as you'd expect from a world class striker.
What's even more interesting is that on the creative side we're definitely spreading things around. This from the always fantastic 'By the numbers <http://news.arseblog.com/2011/12/wigan-0-4-arsenal-by-the-numbers/>
' on Arseblog News (from 7amkickoff <http://www.7amkickoff.com/>
):
*5 – *Number of Arsenal players with four or more Premier League assists
*5 – *Number of Man City players with four or more Premier League
assists*
2 – *Number of players from each of Man U, Tottenham, and Chelsea with four or more Premier League assists
So as much as not being reliant on one player to take chances is important, so it is with creating them. Of course Robin is a big part of that too but overall we've got a front three that really seems to be gelling in the same way our midfield trio has. While Gervinho has still to convince some – and there's no doubt he can improve on certain parts of his game – thus far he has 3 goals and 6 assists to his name. When you look at who might be playing in his place, and what they've contributed in recent times, then despite his frustrating moments he's been a good signing (remembering as well he's only a few months into his career in English football).
What does this mean (from yesterday's match report)?
Does he mean the Caldwell sending off at the Arsenal home fixture last season?Match report (with goal clips)
I think that’s what you’d call back on track. A solid, unspectacular performance, not aided and abetted by a ridiculous, bought sending off early in the game, and a display that showed lessons have been learned from away days at Wigan before.
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
Yeah, I didn't get that bit yesterday :D
Dunno whether he was referring to the Sperz match?
It's better to burn out, than to fade away.
Yeah definitely a dig at the spuds. Interesting stats on the goals/assists. Has to be said that walcotts playing very well right now. And vermaelen is prolific.
Ah yes - all clear now! Must have been a comment on Sp*rs. (BTW how fecking flukey are those arseholes ATM). Pleeeeeease start dropping points, t*ssers! They are being helped big stylee by no CL and throwing the Europa league, BTW.
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
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