Arsenal 4 – Norwich 1
Now that is what I am talking about. You have to love wins like this one. Domination, for the most part, and a healthy mix of goals. I’ll be honest, it is a bit hard to write when things are going so swimmingly well for our Gunners right now. There isn’t a whole lot to keep tabs on, complain about, etc. etc. Now, that being said, we are still catching some difficulties in the injury department but first let’s chat about the game.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t much impressed with the lineup. I didn’t think we had enough firepower out there to do more than our usual passing around the box that has plagued us in seasons past. The big change came when Flamini went down and we ratcheted up the response. Have to admit, I was surprised Flamini wasn’t immediately carted off. When that boy was hit you could tell from the way he fell it was not good. Coming from an American Football society you get used to nasty hits like that but my instant reaction was he was knocked out on impact (a concussion to be sure). Glad to hear that the news has him on a 5 day rest but we’ll have wait and see how he recovers. Concussions are serious shit here in the States right now and while I’m not sure how they are viewed across the pond there are a plethora of examples here in the States where the injury lingers on and on (particularly in baseball and American football where the boys even don helmets!).
Right, getting down off my horse, I was yet again impressed with the manner in which Arsenal took control and just dominated the match after we lost Flamini. I think we are witnessing a very dialed in team that knows just when to put foot to accelerator and you have to credit Ramsey and Ozil for that. Those boys just look absolutely fantastic and I am sure their recent form has put just about everyone on notice that Arsenal is not to be taken lightly this year.
Lots has been made over Ramsey in the years past but it is a joy to watch him play right now. I understand that the pressure is there with him but maybe my American upbringing and familiarity with sports teams utilizing drafts to farm talent doesn’t have me overly concerned with him or any other “prodigal” player. Here in the States we watch countless “can’t miss” projects do just that. Hell, call up a Raiders fan and ask them how they have enjoyed watching the owner spend millions with nothing to show for it (seriously, just google Jamarcus Russell and enjoy). I guarantee you the agony is much, much greater than with any project Arsenal has developed. Patience is a virtue and Arsene’s patience has Ramsey playing like a beast right now. He is pulling the kind of video game moves that had me out of my seat multiple times cheering and scaring my child with giddy screams of joy. All my wife, who spent the afternoon upstairs away from me, got that day was muffled giggle sounds and grunts as I watched with kid like joy. The cut backs in front of goal followed by the clinical finish was fantastic; a real cheer worthy sequence. Hell, I loved that he wasn’t afraid to pull the trigger throughout the entire match and was calling for the ball multiple times. For a guy who seem goal adverse he is sure as hell preparing a worthy batch of crow.
And then there was maud. I mean Ozil. First off, Giroud chipped in two assists. The guy is paying off big right now with the way he is playing in front of goal. And now comes in our golden boy signing and he adds the much needed level of class and play that Wenger must be having wet dreams about right now. Another solid effort from our record breaking signing saw him contributing two (2) beautiful goals. But alas, neither were quite as pretty as Ramsey’s video game moves or Jack’s ticky tack heel flick boomer in traffic. I had to watch the replay twice just to make sure I saw that nifty little back heel move. Just flat out classy. If that is the Jack I am supposed to expect well… yeah… I get why people see him as England’s next white hype. Just pretty.
What a really fun game to watch. This is the kind of result and play I feel like history has drilled in me to expect. Great link up play, beautiful football and a wonderful result to boot. We’re by far the greatest team the world has ever seen indeed.
Now, there is still much to worry about when it comes to our attacking depth. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching our mids bang the back of the net. But we lose Giroud to any injury and who the hell do we put there. Poldi is still on the mend. Now we have Theo being pushed back a few weeks. AOX is a ways off. Diaby just can’t catch a break (poor choice of words). We are T H I N in striking options and I really hope that come January we sign someone, anyone, to add some depth to the striking options. Now don’t get me wrong, we have Bendtner. Greatest Striker Ever. Yeah, yeah. I get he has issues. But I think most would appreciate that lay off he played leading to the late goal. Really a solid move on his part. Maybe he isn’t quite the douche everyone makes him out to be? Meh, let’s hope a winter signing sees him off into the sunset…
Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell on the sidelines during a home game against the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons won 24-0. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Seriously… we could have this guy rocking our bench… Not even Bendtner is this bad… (sorry Raiders fans).
Marching on
Really a tough fought game over the weekend. After a truly brilliant win against Napoli, which saw another fantastic Ramsey performance and Ozil’s first ‘wow that was awesome’ goal, the team took a bit of a dip against a team high off their Man U away win (boy did Fergie read the writing on the wall or what?!). West Brom is not a team to take lightly and we knew we had a tough one ahead of us. Had we won, this post would be much different. After watching the DOMINATING performance mid week, I really figured we would take 3 away from Albion. After watching the pressure they put on us though, I was happy to see us walk away (literally) with no major (?) injuries and at least salvaging a point.
Up until the tie, I wanted to right a post about how this team is playing at one of those levels that has them not losing games but just taking them over when needed in order to pull out a win. I know what that is like. Back when I played baseball I was on a division team that rolled through tournaments to first place on a rather consistent basis (up until State… where we took 2nd). We would constantly get behind and then all of a sudden turn up the juice and walk away with a dominating win. It is a weird but exciting feeling. You are losing for most of the game but your confidence is so high that you know it doesn’t matter the score because you are just going to come back and win it all in the end. That is what I felt like I was watching during that Napoli game. All of a sudden Arsenal just jumped to a level and Napoli looked completely out gunned (yep, on purpose).
So, all things aside, I really felt like that was going to happen over the weekend. I wasn’t thrilled with our choice of lineup but I guess rotation is a must at some point. I like Jack but the lad just hasn’t been up to snuff for most of this short year. Outside of that goal (remember, he is not a goal scorer for us) I though he played a shitty first half. He just seems to get bullied of balls at times and loses his vision. I want to see him rise up and accept that if the entire team is healthy he may not be a straight starter and that means playing better, smarter, and faster football (see Ramsey as a recent example). That said, I was happy to see him step up in the second half and notch the equalizing goal; hopefully a start to something of the run King Ramsey has enjoyed recently.
Speaking of which, Ramsey ended up putting in a so-so game but he took a knock that had him out much earlier than I would imagine he would have liked. You have to wonder if that played a role in his play (hell yeah it did the lad basically had his leg shatter in pieces by the Orcs of Stoke City!!!). Here is hoping that the break (ouch, wrong word to use) will serve him well. Ahh, the break (sorry, did it again). This is where we could come back stronger or like thin mints. Bacary was a late scratch that could put his return a week later than the conclusion of the international break. And here I was thinking our backline was a potential area of depth with Monreal, Jenks, and TV5 all serviceable when needed.
The loss of Sagna doesn’t strip us of our depth (ha! we have that?!) but makes me a wee bit woozy in the event we lose another. Arteta looks back to health and of serviceable form. Flamini has been a beast so we have to be happy about that penny pinching signing at this point in the season. Wojciech made some incredible saves at WBA and it’s good to see him playing so well and so early in the season. Rosicky made another appearance and I’m glad to have him back. Happier still that he is left off international waters… er, rosters and so that means the time off should = health (at least theoretically). What seemed to kill us in the WBA game (at least IMHO) was pace. We lacked it. We need that speedy pace that compliments our possession game. When we don’t have it we tend to turn into a pass happy fest. And when lads give the ball away that space we enjoy so much turns into our weakness (yes, looking at you Jack). This was really a game that were we obviously missed Theo and the Ox in the lineup. Come to think of it, I believe even Gnabry could have made a difference in this one. And boy, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I almost shat myself when Bendtner stepped on the pitch. Had to have left a few new shitmarks, i mean followers, wondering who the hell that fashionista was… World’s Greatest Striker my friends (extra thick sarcasm there folks). Enjoy the ride crazy boy. Oh man, I just shivered thinking of Giroud going down and having to start that boy…
AmericanArse 