Arsenal kept their unbeaten run going against Fulham at the Grove this evening but only took a point in a 1-1 draw.
The first half. Well, what can you say? Perhaps a Champions League hangover describes the essence of it, but watching it was like watching paint dry whilst having to listen to someone read their own poetry.
To say it was dull would be an understatement. We did have a couple of moments, a Ramsey chance saved by Schwarzer, an Arshavin goal rightly disallowed for offside, and some hint of sparkle down the right from Theo Walcott who was involved in all of the (few) good things we managed to produce.
In fact, having come out of the vague coma I was lulled into, I remember a fantastic Walcott run down the right which created a decent chance for Aaron Ramsey. Sadly he splonked it over the bar from just inside the box.
Up the other end Fulham looked ok but probably scarier to us than any watching neutral. Wojciech Szczesny was forced to make one good save late in the half from Dembele but other than that was untroubled.
In the final minute of the half Mertesacker flicked on an Arteta free-kick only to see it fizz a couple of feet wide.
The second half saw a bit more urgency from Arsenal but again it was fairly dull stuff. When Robin van Persie did manage to fashion a shooting chance it beat Schwarzer but Chris Baird cleared off the line.
Just a couple of moments later Fulham scored. A ball over the top found John Arne Riise who looked to handle it as he controlled it, it ran across goal and I’m not quite sure what Vermaelen was doing it but he ended up shanking it into the bottom corner at about 2mph. A real trickler. 1-0 Fulham.
Arsene Wenger made changes, bringing on Diaby and Gervinho for Mertesacker and Ramsey, and Johan Djourou (who had an oustanding game in my opinion) forced a great save from Schwarzer after a corner. Chamakh came on to replace Arshavin, who showed why he hasn’t been starting many games, as Arsenal pressed for an equaliser.
It came in the 82nd minute, we worked the ball wide to Walcott, he crossed it and again, I have no idea why it was Vermaelen who was there, but I’m glad he was. He headed it down into the ground to make up for his earlier mistake. 1-1.
We might have scored another but really didn’t have a clear cut chance. In the final seconds, Djourou made a brilliant tackle to prevent Dempsey going clean through but we couldn’t find a winner.
The legs were heavy after Wednesday night and if we’re going to give the team props for working so hard to win that game we can’t ignore the fact it had an obvious physical effect. Maybe a few more changes to the starting line-up might not have been a bad thing but do that and fail to win and the manager’s a big bollix again. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Overall, it was important not to lose and we did that, showed some good character to get back into and while not winning is disappointing it’s not the worst result in the world.
Time to rest some legs ahead of next week’s trip to Wigan.
Djourou looked very good. Loved seeing Diaby dribble again just felt Ramsey was on the backfoot on a couple of occasions anywayz good result.
I suppose this shows us just how important and effective the Gervinho/Van Persie/walcott dynamic is to us.
A good point though especially when you think that six months ago (playing months) after the first goal we’d have probably collapsed.
Completely agree, especially with the timing of their goal, halfway through the second half – towards the end of last season we’d have struggled to come back into it. I think TV5 looked a little off today(like almost everybody else) until their goal but after that he was back to being the monster that he is. I’m glad that he’s gotten his ordinary game out of the way and we’ve still managed to get a point out of it!
Maybe leaving Ramsey on and taking Arteta off instead would have worked better as Mikel seemed to be tiring even more as the game went on? Anyway, it’s a good point to take and the team fought back well, even though they were as blogs says evidently nursing a footballing hangover from midweek! Props to Djourou for being solid and I thought Chamakh did quite well considering all the stick he’s deservedly had. He had more of an impact in the 15 minutes he played than Arshavin did in the first 75~. Maybe them two only sparkle as subs? Not… Read more »
concordo con il tuo commento per non vero che su “trova sul wii il megilo di se” perch anche sulle altre console escono giochi su binari con in bundle la pistola poi non me ne frega assolutamente niente se il gioco sar alla portata di un pubblico piu’ vasto anche perch il porting di re4 ha venduto di piu’ di umbrella chronicles
10 games unbeaten.
we got 1 point.
Negative twats will start to appreciate Gervinho
Djourou and Santos had good games
Gervinho was rested.
and Players won’t be complacent ,they’ll need to bounce back from this awful display
I can understand most of the boys being a bit jaded after Wednesday,no real probslemwith that…
but Arshavin?No excuses,waste of a shirt today,Gerv did more in 15 mins than the little Russian in 75…
Must try harder…
No wonder we couldn’t win today- Andy Murray was in the stadium. He’s like Arsenal’s Tennis twin- always at the top, never wins anything and constantly loses to obnoxious assholes (where do you think Nadal learned to fake an injury every time he loses? I mean, seriously, is it mandatory in Spanish sport? “Right lads, today we’ll have an hour at the gym, then a practice match and later a pretended injury session, including tests in front of a live referee!”)…
The Arsenal back at their worst. No pace, no power, no passion, no nothing until the last ten minutes. Still it`s a point and life goes on but Arshavin needs a new challenge (a new club) and we need to replace him first thing in januari. He`s just not good enough. But I like him. For some strange reason I really like him and I feel for him. I also have a request to mr Wenger. Please use two strikers against teams like Fulham. We dont need a holding midfielder against at home against a team like that. Put a… Read more »
PS. Great to see diaby back. He looks good and I hope he can furfill his potential.
Sometimes you get games like that. Defence played well but we were lacking that bit of spark until gerv came on. Almost wanted fulham to score as I thought we would come alive and eventually win the game.
No scapegoats but arshavin added nothing again, he passed ok ran ok but created nothing and was never the threat that gerv was and has been. Time for him to move on I think, maybe best for both parties. He just can’t or won’t do it for us and i for one have had enough of him.
It was crying out for subs much earlier. It’s (one of) Wenger’s achilles heal, always has been.
Well, it certainly sucked that we couldn’t get 3 points out of this encounter, but I guess that were it not for some last-minute heroics it would have been worse.
To give props to Fulham, they played a gritty defense and, in that regard, deserved the point.
On the bright side, the oft-criticized Djourou played a hell of a game.
We looked tired today so can’t really complain. We got the point and we’re still undefeated in 10 games. By the way who thinks we should buy Moussa Dembele in January? Could be a good addition to our squad.
Can someone please tell me when Arsene Wenger will finally realise that Arshavin is just a useless piece of shit who has no right to play in an Arsenal shirt? The one decision that Wenger had to make he got wrong: replacing Gervinho with the hopeless Russian was just plain fucking stupid. We only came to life after the African crossed the white line. By the way: did the players all visit Dr Conrad Murray before kick-off? If not then why did they play like each of them had just swallowed a gallon of propofol? By the time they woke… Read more »
Corners – go to near post to flick on and not flick on and it’s a shit corner that didn’t beat the first man. Fine margin. Plus Djourou had a great header on target from a corner. Fulham – aren’t crap, not great but very well organised and defended solidly as a team. Arshavin – not good but you can say someone is not good without calling them a useless piece of shit. Conrad Murray – 9 of the 11 played against Dortmund in midweek. It obviously had an effect. If you look for more changes and we don’t win,… Read more »
Arsenal are crap on corners and set peices. It`s this teams biggest failure.
Didn’t we score from a corner against Dortmund fatty?
Yes! And how did we score? By a flick-on at the near post – the sort of goal that we used to specialise in during the George Graham days. So why don’t we do it more often? Also why is Van Persie taking the corners? I want to see the best striker in the world in the penalty area during set pieces.
Fatmo: Sorry to hear you missed out on on winning a ton today. Just hearing that has ruined my evening.
I agree. What a fucking irritating evening…since I read your post.
When are people going to realise, this isn’t FIFA 12 or Football Manager, and we’re not gonna win every game?
So stop fuckin bitching, stop slagging off our players and manager, grow up and join the real world.
I believe the players were very very tired today.belaboured runs and passes,but i still believe we could have gotten 3 points if arteta and ramsey had passed the ball more to walcott.he was electric on that right flank today.i remember a real madrid player once saying if they were in a quagmire during a match,they just passed to zidane.theo was our zidane today,but the midfielders failed to utilize him maximally.but still i’m not taking anything from arteta and ramsey.
Dude get off your ass you lazy bum. Where you wearing blinkers the whole game. The lads did well. They played a fulham team that was well rested. Get over yourself man. You re getting too fat.
No need for that @stan.was just saying what i thought.i am mortified we lost 2pts at d same time d spuds won.trying to make team wilshere win that cocky bet.wenger should be reading this blog cos the real fans are here
We make it look like we are all alone, but we arent. Chelsea should have had more problem with fatigue: played away on Wedsday and then away today, while we played both matches at home n didnt need to travel. Tottenham played on thursday too. What we should be making noise about, IMO, is that some players should only be rested when they are injured. Gervinho looked lively when he came on, I wish we had him earlier, yet he played on Wedsday. Attacking from both sides would have done us a whole world of good. And Ramsey, whom I… Read more »
Spuds didn’t play Europa League becase Europa League is this Thursday not last one so stop crying the players were very tired and I bet that the spudies after their eropa legaue on Thursday will drop points this weekend , and for us 6 points against wigan away and everton home w’ll put us back in the game for top 4 not to mention that Olympiacos game all our first eleven players will be rested and be ready for Man.city game while they will be fighting for their lives in their last game of CL.
Wasn’t talking to u buki…..was referring to the fat ponce up there…sorry man if I got to you.
Mr Thorough above. You are very funny. Ha Ha. I refer you to Mr Arseblog additionally comment above….. the final sentence. Still travelling after the game…waited for the crowds to die down. Our team won in the CL against an excellent team. Chesea did not. Fulham have an excellent defence. We messed up. Fulham did not score. But Arshavin appears to have lost his mojo. Mike Dean continues to dislike us…. we were the home side yet very little was given. Tuesday will be interesring. I guess Diaby will play with Arshavin in the middle. Ju will play and I… Read more »
On a different note, Senderos looked pretty good defensively.
The spuds are a europa league team at best.When adebayor goes back to city then what? Anyway why are you commenting on an arsenal blog,the spuds forever in arsenals shadow!
kevtheyid
November 26, 2011 at 10:43 pm
Hello young person … hope you are well but it seems that Spurs will be playing on the Europa League on Thursday whilst Arsenal will not be. Get your facts right as I predict a January 2012 implosion due to legal internal and external pressure. Say hello to ‘Arry for me, hope he gets better soon.
kevtheyid
November 27, 2011 at 12:14 am
Dear Kevin… Have you heard of Lord Justice Leveson and his inquiry into the culture, ethics and practices of the media. Well be careful… because they can find you. Be afriad
Ah I love tottenham fans. They really think we give a shit don’t they? Heard it all before mate, we’ll still finish above you, and once Harry leaves you’ll be just as fucked as all the other sides he’s gutted. Where you gunna be in 5 years with no youth coming through? Say hi to your mum x
Our defense is seriously improved. I still think injury free, Santos TV5 Kos/Mert Sagna is our best lineup. Djourou was very good today, however I thought he was at fault for the ball over the top on the goal. Santos had an amazing game today. Ramsey was pretty bad, as was Arteta, but they’ve been great so who cares yet. Arshavin…I’m sorry but he was just downright awful and he has had his chance. I remember a chance when he could have taken off down the left and given Ramsey a passing option, but he just stood there. Our left… Read more »
I’m not angry at the result. Djourou had a fine game, same with Gervinho’s cameo.
I thought Ramsey struggled immensely, I felt he held on to the ball instead of making a pass to a player in a better position. Diaby’s cameo looked promising too. I know Arshavin struggled, but he’s a good fellow.
Am just glad that we didn’t loose.
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I despair at the language of some of the young generation (like Kevin above). So many young children with neither little nor no ability to structure a coherent sentence, yet we give them free access to the WWW to write abuse on opposing fans’ blogs. Kevin when you return to check whether we love you or not …I express in Hebrew especially for you… שיהיה לך יום ראשון הגדול
Apologies for the overnight nonsense, our friend Kev is no longer welcome here.
I’ve removed his comments so some replies might look out of place, but that’s better than having to read his shite.
Thank you. I wish that ESPN would do the same with some of the prepubescent sociopaths who infest their threads.
Fatigue and pressure. We played in mid-week, and the players realised that with City and United playing tough games, they could make up some points, but they crumbled under pressure, and before they knew it, they were 1-0 down.
Any idea as to why they had the quick turnaround and played 48 hours later? Is that because of the forthcoming Carling Cup match? Anything to do with TV? I guess City only have one day to “recover”…