The Soccer Blog: Leyton Orient 1 - Arsenal 1: Arsenal Provide Comforting Reminder That We Are Still Arsenal (UPDATED with Player Ratings)

Sunday, 20 February 2011

Leyton Orient 1 - Arsenal 1: Arsenal Provide Comforting Reminder That We Are Still Arsenal (UPDATED with Player Ratings)

Leyton Orient 1 – Arsenal 1: Arsenal Provide Comforting Reminder That We Are Still Arsenal (UPDATED with Player Ratings) - The Offside - Arsenal blog

« Leyton Orient – Arsenal Match Thread | Home | Leyton Orient 1 – Arsenal 1: Arsenal Provide Comforting Reminder That We Are Still Arsenal (UPDATED with Player Ratings)By: Martin | February 20th, 2011
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It just all seemed so inevitable, didn’t it? At least it did to me. If you read the preview you’ll know that I noted that this just felt like a let-down game. Leyton Orient haven’t lost since January 1, have been very good at home, we’ve been pretty much shit against lower-division sides in the cup competitions this season, and we’re making wholesale changes from the team that beat Barcelona. People on Twitter were brazenly talking about how we were “due” (whatever that means) for a comfortable win and predicting we’d win by 4 or 5. There’s always one surprising result each round, which hadn’t happened yet, which meant that it was probably going to be us. And when the draw was made (right before our match), which said that the winner of this match would play Manchester United at Old Trafford in the quarterfinals, most Arsenal fans were immediately talking about the repercussions of that match, completely ignoring the fact that we had to win this match first. It just seemed for all the world that we needed a karmic punch in the stomach, and that’s exactly what we got.

Let me just say to start that I am weirdly unbothered by this. Maybe it’s because I really did feel like something like this was probably going to happen, or maybe because I just don’t think it’s that bad a result for us, but I think it’s probably fine. I don’t share Sairax’s hatred of replays, and would certainly have preferred a draw to a loss. The way Wenger is using his lineups at the moment, I actually don’t think fixture congestion is that big of an issue, since the guys who will play in the replay are, I suspect, pretty much the guys who played today, and those guys generally need more, not less, playing time. And I think we should really be able to handle them pretty comfortably at the Emirates. So it’s an extra game for guys that need an extra game, it’s a home match which brings in a couple million pounds of revenue, and it’s an extra couple of hours of my life I can spend watching Arsenal instead of facing reality. Not so bad, really. (NOTE: I would have said something like “and maybe it will teach us not to take teams for granted, but FFS, if we haven’t learned that yet, we’re just not going to, so I’ve given up on writing things like that”)

On to the match. Regular readers know that I almost never do this, and I hate to come off as classless, but . . . honestly, I thought this was a bit of a mugging. I really wasn’t that impressed with Orient, and while they showed a lot of never say die spirit in the last half-hour, I would rank them well below any of the other lower division sides we’ve played in the cup competitions this season. I really do think this is a case of us giving it away rather than them taking it from us, although the bit of skill on the goal was rather nice.

I thought this really was a vintage Arsenal performance in all the wrong ways. We were way too content to dominate possession, way too complacent about conceding corners and set pieces, showed no killer instinct in the final third, and suffered a vintage defensive/goalkeeping lapse late in the match to give away a result in a match we should have had well in hand much earlier in the match. We had 72% of the possession, outshot them 22-8, and looked comfortable all match long — they really created very little, whereas we seemed to have the ball in and around their box over and over again only to see it come to nothing.

Anyway, as for the match itself, I told MLSF 10 minutes or so in — “We’re not taking this team seriously, I don’t have a good feeling about this.” Pretty much the whole team looked so disinterested, and it’s a cliche, but it really did seem like Arsenal felt like if they just kept passing it around, Leyton Orient would just part like the Red Sea and let us walk one in. No one, except Arshavin, who for me was the lone player today to have preserved or enhanced his reputation, really looked like they were hungry for a goal.

Orient had the first good chance of the match off a corner (of course) when full-back Charlie Daniels launched a long-range missile of a shot from a corner of the box that was just over the crossbar. In the 34th minute, Arsenal blew a golden chance — Gibbs did well to get by his man and put a fantastic low ball in, and Chamakh couldn’t get enough of a foot on it to redirect it into the goal from about 6-8 yards out, instead just glancing the ball wide for a corner kick. Would have been easier to score, honestly, and disappoint from a guy who looks like he really needs a goal. It was our best chance of the first-half, and it went in scoreless.

But we opened our account pretty early in the second-half, and it looked like it might save the day. It was a great goal for a guy who hasn’t had one in a while. Bendtner got the ball out to the right of the box, put a nice little ball into the box, and Rosicky found some space in the center of the box, and placed an inch-perfect header just inside the far post to make it 1-0. They were laughing during the celebration, because I believe it’s Rosicky’s first goal (for Arsenal) since the equalizer against Everton, which I think was last January. You couldn’t help but feel happy for him.

We really could, and probably should, have doubled our lead about 15 minutes later. Arshavin made a very good move to cut it back from the endline to Rosicky in the box, who forced a very good double save from the Orient keeper. It was well-done by the keeper, although Rosicky probably could have done better with the shot.

In the next minute, though, Orient almost tied it up, after a cross was played to star striker Alex Ravell just outside the box, but his well-taken one-time shot was hooked wide.

The next big incident came in the 82nd minute when a ball was played in to the edge of the box for Orient, and Revell took a very hard shot, which was blocked by Squillaci. Orient players and fans went nuts asking for a penalty because Squillaci handled it, and I have to say, watching it at real time, that’s what it looked like to me, too. The ref was having none of it. And replays showed that he got it exactly right — while Squillaci was waving his arms around a bit squarely, the ball hit him flush in the face, and he was pretty shaken up. Refs take so much flak when they get it wrong, but that was a tough, unpopular call to make and he got it right, so credit to Kevin Friend for making the right call there.

Arsenal came very, very close to doubling our lead and putting the game away in the 85th minute. Arshavin was played through on the counter — he did well to get by his man and get through on the keeper, but the angle was very tough, and although he did very well to get his shot by the keeper, but it glanced off the far post and out for a goal kick. It was bad luck, and it would come back to bite us.

And of course, you never feel comfortable with this Arsenal team up 1-0, and they reminded us why. The ball came into Jonathan Tehoue, who did a nice bit of footwork and somehow split Gibbs and Miquel. It was poor defending — Gibbs for some reason just fell down, and Miquel didn’t cover for Gibbs enough, and Tehoue went between them and uncorked a very good low shot. Almunia was slow to react, the ball went under him, it was 1-1, and the crowd went wild. And that’s how it would stay. 1-1, final.

We just weren’t good enough, and I have to say, it’s baffling. Looking at our second team, it’s full of seasoned internationals who have played important matches at high levels. And it’s not like they’re old or over the hill. I don’t think anyone expects them to be as good as the first XI, but the problem is that they don’t seem capable of beating lower-division opposition. Being able to rotate your squad is necessary when you’re competing in 4 competitions, and due in no small part to all these replays, we appear to be trying to set some kind of record for most matches played over the course of a year. We have to be able to rely on these guys to put in a decent shift, which we can’t at the moment, and that, more than anything, is the depressing thing.

To me, the problem isn’t so much with the overall standard of play as it is one thing I specifically think we lack, which is finishing. Our second unit just doesn’t have a guy who really has a finisher’s instinct. Even a guy like Vela or Eduardo would make a huge difference in this unit. Denilson and Song are are more holders — Rosicky obviously has lost his goal-scoring touch, although it would be fantastic if he could regain it. Chamakh is more of a hold-up player than a goal-scorer, and other than his heading ability, is not a pure finisher. Bendtner has a knack for getting himself in good positions, but his finishing is shockingly bad at times. Arshavin might be the best, but honestly, he’s more of a #10 type than a goal-scorer. In a game like this, we just need a guy with the willingness and ability to really pepper the goal with some shots. We didn’t have that today, and it cost us.

I will defend Wenger on the lineup selection. With the matches we’ve had, and the matches we have coming up, I don’t think he had much of a choice as to lineup selection. And one interesting statistical anomaly was that this was the first time in 2 years that Arsenal have not used a substitution. While there’s no doubt not using a substitution was overly complacent, and bringing on fresh guys could have helped kill off the match, Wenger decided to roll the dice with the players he had and to keep the players he was resting completely rested. And it would have worked great if they hadn’t gotten that goal. On the bright side, the guys should be plenty well-rested for Stoke on Wednesday.

But that’s about it. It’s a disappointing result, but I think the disappointment arises more from the performance. But it brings us back down to earth, which is probably where we need to be at this point, and I still think we can get past them at the Emirates and get to the quarterfinal round. The replay will be on Wednesday, March 2. IF we win that, we’ll play at Old Trafford on March 12 or March 13, which is just a few days after the Barcelona second-leg. Apparently Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes has hurt his knee, and could be out up to 6 weeks, which means he could miss the second leg. I’m told there is a pretty significant drop-off between Valdes and his back-up, and between his possible absence, Pique’s suspension, and the possible absence of Puyol (although Puyol will probably be back), Barca could be fairly vulnerable. But uh . . . we’re not talking about that on this site, etc.

Next up is Stoke, and we know what that will be like. Preview for that one coming up on Tuesday.

On to the player ratings:

Almunia 5 He didn’t have that much to do, because Orient rarely troubled him. The one save he had to make, he didn’t make. While I’m not saying he’s solely at fault, because the defense really left him out to dry on the shot and the shot was pretty good, I do feel fairly confident that Flaps or Wojo could have at least parried it wide. Which is why they have a future at the club, and he doesn’t.

Sagna 6.5 Pretty solid, although he didn’t have a great game by his standards. But covered his area pretty well, supported the attack, and did okay.

Gibbs 6 Was at fault for Orient’s goal, and it really was a pretty shocking piece of defending. Other than that, though, I thought he was quite solid, and really should have had an assist when a great low cross set up Chamakh with what was little more than a tap-in.

Miquel 6.5 Should have covered for Gibbs more on the goal. He bears a lot of the fault for it. But other than that, I actually thought his debut was pretty solid, he should feel pretty good about it. Granted, he didn’t have a great deal to do, but I think it’s something to build on. Will be interesting to see if he sees any more game time this season — I would think that if it’s going to happen, it will be in the replay.

Squillaci 6.5 Thought he was pretty solid, too. Wasn’t at fault for the goal, dealt with aerial balls well, looked like a safe pair of hands at the back, and really gave up his body by throwing himself into the path of a hard shot and taking a hard one off the noggin.

Song 6 Sloppy and disappointing. Gave the ball away too much, wasn’t breaking them up in midfield as well as he’s capable of doing, never really gave any helpful support to the attack, and generally looked complacent and sluggish. But for all that, he certainly wasn’t shockingly bad, and was solid enough.

Denilson 6.5 I think we pretty much know what we’re going to get from Denilson at this point, and tonight was a pretty good demonstration. The good: he’s very good at holding the ball, a very tidy passer, generally doesn’t get caught out of position, and holds the ball well. The bad: he seems very tentative about going forward or trying to figure out a through ball, and doesn’t offer much more than a safety option to reset the attack from midfield. That’s what we can expect, and that’s what got, so solid enough, I suppose.

Rosicky 7 I actually thought he was relatively poor other than the goal. The problem is that he exhibits too many of the qualities I outlined above with Denilson. And that’s fine in Denilson’s withdrawn role, but in the advanced midfield role, we need someone who is looking to move the ball forward and find guys in dangerous positions, and it really hurts the attack when he have someone not willing or able to do that. I was actually hoping Wenger would just shift him out to the left and move Arshavin in closer. But the goal was brilliant, and hopefully having broken his long drought will give him the confidence to push on and add a few more, because certainly before the injury when he first joined Arsenal, he was capable of scoring some real crackers.

Arshavin 8 Man of the Match. As I said above, for me he comes out of this one with the most credit. Worked hard, always lively, very nearly got the goal he deserved late on. MLSF and I were in the pub watching the match, and the following exchange took place:

Me: “Ugh. Terrible. Just give Arshavin the ball.”
MLSF: “I thought you didn’t like Arshavin because he was lazy?”
Me: “Well, I don’t, and he is, but he looks like the only one out there with any idea of what to do with the ball near the goal today.”

And that just about sums it up for me. He was our sole creative force for huge stretches of the match, and I think he would have gotten some kind of end product had he been surrounded with better performers today. He was even tracking back pretty well, too. Really making his case for inclusion in the first XI, but it’s hard to see who he’ll displace with everyone healthy. I’ve said it before, but his response to being booed and dropped from the first XI has been just about perfect.

Bendtner 5.5 I guess I’m prevented from rating him too low because he supplied the cross for Rosicky’s goal, and a very good cross it was. But honestly, apart from that, he had a shocker today for me. Running around where he wasn’t supposed to be (for a while it looked like he was trying to play holding midfielder or something), spraying shots 20 yards wide of the goal, running into traffic with the ball, misplacing simple passes. His confidence makes him an easy target, but maybe it should — for all of us who have said that “hey, you need to be arrogant to be a striker” and excused his attitude, maybe the reality is that he doesn’t understand how much harder he needs to work and how much better he needs to get. Which, based on today’s evidence, is a lot in both cases.

Chamakh 6 I said this when he was left out of the lineup for Barcelona, but I’m genuinely worried about him. He looks a specter of the player who started the season for us so brightly. He doesn’t appear to have any nose for the goal at all, and his play seems pretty sloppy and ineffective. Having a striker who doesn’t seem to have any willingness or ability to go for goal really did present a dead end so many times today. That having been said, he does work hard, and his hold up play is still pretty good even when he’s way off his game. I just don’t know what it’s going to take to bring back the player we had at the beginning of the season — for all the talk about him being exhausted and missing the winter break, he really hasn’t played much at all lately, so I don’t know he can claim exhaustion.

That’s it. Enjoy the dying embers of your weekends.

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Category: Arsenal News, FA Cup, Fixtures, Match Review

Tags: Arsenal News, FA Cup, Fixtures, Match Review
Tweet « Leyton Orient – Arsenal Match Thread | Home | Gigi_manwell i hosted a family day for offfice staff so mised it...oh wait did i miss it? or I aint missing this at all?
man, man, man.
but I have to say that I feel like you Martin, kind of didnt hurt seeing a draw.....dangerous feeling in my person...
Re ths striker issue, i said something several posts ago, that we should go and buy a fox in the box type of guy, and I still think so and now see that I was maybe right.
Glad it was Rosicky, hope he finds the form. Too bad Arsha didnt get his, but completely thrilled that he was MOTM (Perry u c? hehehe our club will get bigger hehe).
I agree now that I read you, that the extra game sint too bad, when i firste read the news and date I thought immediately of the (club not allowed by name ) game :))PeevishPhew - I'm really glad to read that I'm not the only Arsenal fan that had almost no reaction to the result. I watched the game late at night here in Asia, with an Everton fan laughing at me for the last 10 minutes, and I couldn't even muster the effort to point out his club's massive failings, and the failings of the city of Liverpool-upon-Everton and all it's inhabitants. Most unlike me.

I didn't even have much feelings seeing the draw. It's weird - I think I am beginning to see the FA cup as a reserves tournament for us. Its not even got the excitement that previous years' Carling Cups had, in seeing the promise of the youngsters.

Don't bash me for not being a real fan etc etc - I just can't get excited about this competition this season. Maybe I am being blinded by the monster that is Theo Van Nasregas, and any game where the mutant Godzilla of European football is warming a bench seems somehow less valid.brentonAdditionally, it was all so predictable. Was anyone feeling secure? I sure wasn't.Momoneyi hope this reminds people that gibbs is simply not near Clichy's level. i get frustrated by Gaels mistakes too but Gibbs has not proven much yet and does not warrant the overhype he gets...Homey_MillsLooking ahead in the FA Cup a bit, I would assume we'll use an equally weak lineup in the replay. Except with probably Eboue in there at right back. Assuming our backups can actually take care of business, I'm not sure if it would be worth it to put out our strongest lineup at Man Utd. I think I'd rather use our best guys against Barca, and then give them a long rest. That would especially be true if we get past Barca, because then we'd be looking at two more CL games at a minimum, plus all the other important games.
So I guess what I'm saying is I'm not sure I care too much if we get past Orient in the replay. Winning at Man Utd would be tough under even the best circumstances, but especially if we feel a need to rotate. So it doesn't shape up to be our year in the FA Cup, based on that draw.
I dunno... someone can correct me if I'm wrong about it. Just fulfilling my role as pessimist.brentonAnd things are back to normal on the player ratings. Seriously Martin, how does this work? See for instance:

Song 6 Sloppy and disappointing

If you start a game at 6 and your play is sloppy and disappointing, shouldn't you get less than 6 at the end of the game?

Miquel 6.5 Should have covered for Gibbs more on the goal. He bears a lot of the fault for it. But other than that, I actually thought his debut was pretty solid.

Pretty solid is a 6, no? That's what I expect from every player, and if they are just "pretty solid", that's normal. But normal and "a lot of the fault" for the goal is 6.5 somehow?

I don't often like discussions about player ratings, because it's an artificial way to assess performances, so my apologies if this is boring and trite, but I just don't get how you are awarding points to our players.Henrytheo14Alright um "brenton" do you see how much work he puts into this blog????? Countless hours....... and if you don't like how the system is run then instead of whining about it either leave and stop reading or go write/type your own blog and ask your two commenters (your mother and father) to compare your blog to Martin/Sairaxs and watch as your parents tell you how bad your blog and your opinions really are. :)!brentonYou can just use my name without quotations if you want.

I know exactly how much work this takes (try clicking on "brenton"). I appreciate all the work that both Martin and Sairax put into this site, and I think I even have a good relationship with both of them. They don't need your outrage and dismissive shit.

If you'll stop with the knee-jerk reaction, you'll notice that I am more confused than anything else. Some of them don't make sense to me. And last time I checked, this comments section is full of great discussions about how players perform. Discussing the player ratings is one way to do that.

EDIT: And amazingly, most of us do it without resorting to telling others to figuratively fuck off.Homey_MillsAs I recall, about a year ago, someone suggested to Martin that he add player ratings to his reports after games. I bet Martin is cursing that person right about now.

And Martin, if it makes your life easier, you could just write your little comments about each player, but omit the rankings. I don't think we'd collectively fire you over that.brentonI recall that as well. I've only done player ratings once or twice for the Vancouver Offside page, as I usually find them, as above, artificial, but also wildly partisan at times. I think they're decent conversation starters at times, no more.JGI personally find the player ratings one of the best parts of the blog. Well thought out, rational opinions on the performance on the player, with a 1-10 (well, 6-10 for almost anyone not named Eboue) value to accompany it.Gigi_manyeah yeah pls dont drop them, its fun and even though we can disagree, it is a point of start to discuss among us the perfs.Andylowe14i agree 100% with your bad feeling about this game, i too was feeling like an upset was a very real possibility. It always happens after a big important game for us, when meanwhile for orient this IS this their big important game, so you can see why the motivation is with them to give everything in the game. Also, the added feeling of everything to lose, nothing to gain on arsenal. I'm also not too bothered with the result, infact im sort of glad we didnt lose it because I could see that disapointing post-barcelona-win-getting-knocked-out-of-the-FA-cup result on the cards. That would have been aweful. ultimately its to be expected this happens once in a while, it doesnt fully make sense but sometimes you just have to put it down to the magic of the FA cup! thats what makes the cup so cool that these matches take place, orient got their joy from the equaliser and will have a good trip to emirates, but ultimately we are still able to win 4/4 trophies so lets just win the replay and keep on going stronglyJGUpon getting the chance to watch the match on my nice, big TV (as opposed to a crappy stream), I think Gibbs' role in the 1-1 was trivial compared to Almunia's, frankly, howler on the shot. It went STRAIGHT through him. Now, the mistake wasn't as flashy as Flaps' last season, but man, I bet Martin could have saved that just by getting to the ground. Can't believe I'm saying this... I miss Flaps.TomI can't believe you gave Bendtner a lower rating than Chamakh, at least B52 tries to get into the game, and tried to make someting happen, Chamakh has gone downhill so quickly it really worries me, he was anonymous for the whole match apart from missing Gibbs centre.brentonPerhaps in general, but Bendtner was worse than useless (excepting the cross) against Barca. Wenger has to stop playing him on the wing.ChrisYes, Bentner does seem out of sorts on the wing. His ball back in was great for the goal, but it wasn't so much a wingers' cross, but more of a CF knock back. When he plays out on the right he seems to lose his purpose, drifiting about all over the place; he's much more effective in an old-fashioned CForward role when he can impose himself physically right in the heart of the opp. defence.
Miquel deserves credit as for a decent debut + thought he looked overall solid, confident and in control. Unfortunate lapse for the goal, but the ball should have been cleared before it even came near him and Gibbs (they were both at fault in being too hesitant). Was Almunia unsighted, because he should have fallen on that ball quicker ?brentonNo, he should have seen that the whole way. It was a pretty hard shot, to be fair. I think it's a weakness in some keepers, that they think they have to save with their bodies and hands. He probably could have just kicked it rather than trying to fall on it.Fred JacobAtleast we broke the Barca jinks with a the side always losing when they beat BarcaSJGgumbyI'd really like to see Nicky B get a run out up top in the replay. Let him focus on getting into good spots, and see if things really click with him playing his natural position. And, of course, drop Chamakh to the bench. That might be giving up on him for this season, but not sure there's an alternative. Not sure who takes his place in the midfield, would have loved to slot in JET, Ramsey or Ryo, but unfortunately not an option. Perhaps drop one more first-teamer in (Nasri to spearhead the attack?).Chamakh's Friend"What it is going to take to bring back the player we had at the beginning of the season"?

Well Wenger and the rest of you Van Persie apologists destroyed him. Here is how. Prior to January, Chamakh was spectacular b/c he was playing with the A-Team consisting of the likes "Theo Nasregas". When Van Persie came back from injury, Chamakh was benched b/c Wenger's tactics could not accomodate both. So Van Persie was eventually given the opportunity to regain his best form while Chamakh was allowed to rust on the bench and occasionally play in the FA CUP or Carling Cup with the worst offensive players of Arsenal (Bendtner, Rosicky, Lazy Arshavin, Denilson).
Benching Chamakh for Van Persie was the worst decision Wenger could make and it has taken a psychological toll on him, especially in a new country and environment. Now he is playing lost, b/c he has lost the confidence needed to play at that position which is crucial.
I am sure if you were to reverse the process i.e bench Van Persie for Chamakh, and allow Chamakh to play with Arsenal's best starting line-up i.e"Theo Nasregas" , while regaining form, he will eventually be back to his old self and be the game winner he was early in the season.Gigi_mandont agree much, but anyone is ntitled to opinions.
But, question: didnt Chamakh know exactly his position whenn he came over? mraning that it was behind RvP?MartinYou make "van Persie apologists" sound so pejorative. On current form, he is as good a striker as there in the world, so I will proudly claim to be an apologist for him. I am also an "apologist" for delicious food, the Beatles, and swimsuit models.

I do agree somewhat with the rest of your point, though, to an extent. I do think playing irregularly, and surrounded by lesser players, hasn't done him any favors. But it doesn't fully explain why his headers have gotten softer and less accurate, he's been misplacing more passes, and his shot has gotten tamer. And his comments don't seem to back up your theory, because he's talked about how he's been "jaded" by his transition to the English game and how he's really missed the winter break. It does sound like it's something at least partly physical.

But I do hope you're right, because if he can get back to what he was at the beginning of the season and what he was at Bordeaux, he really is a fantastic player and great asset to the team.GunnerlurkerCan I agree with everything you said and still admit Wegner made the correct decision? Chamakh was good but Van Persie has been the best striker in the Premier league for the past month. The results suggest that the lone striker set is working well and I have a hard time imagining improvement with both Chamakh and RVP in the starting 11. Of course, it has ruined Chamakh's confidence and I am glad he has friend's like you there for him and really hope he finds his success again. I too am a big Chamakh fan. Of course, Bendtner does have a great goals to games ratio simply because it seems impossible to take away his confidence.
Homey_MillsGenerally some decent suggestions, although I differ on a couple. First, it seems to me that Arshavin has been better lately than he's been this season. And Chamakh and Arshavin had a pretty good partnership earlier this year. So if Chamakh is playing with AA again, there shouldn't be an excuse that Nasri or Walcott should be better for him.
Second, I'll give you a chance to clarify the following statement: "Benching Chamakh for Van Persie was the worst decision Wenger could make." Surely you mean it's the worst decision Wenger could make for Chamakh, not the team overall. Because it's impossible to argue that Chamakh would be doing better than RvP at the moment, or that the team would be better off either.Fred Jacobnah that is crap, Chamahk does not have a good touch as Persie, if you remember at the start he was getting goals but taking like 4 to five shots just to get one goal how many shot does van take to get one goal hmm probably one shot you feel Chamahk would sore a goal like what Persie score at Barca? he can even score from 6 yards infront of goalFred Jacobwe were just bad lucky today that one of the reason i dont like Almunia one good shot on goal and they equalize, we had alot of shot on Oreient's goal the the keeper only conceded oneSairaxI'm not getting email notices anymore when someone replies to me on disqus. Used to get emails when people replied to Martin and those have gone too. Hm.MartinOh. About that. I forgot to tell you that you're fired.Gigi_manhire her back! hire her back!( hey we should get a "dislike" option for comments hahaha)SairaxMaybe Chamakh is homesick. Sometimes we forget how lonely and depressing it can be in a new country and sometimes it doesn't hit right away, especially when you have a great start. So, while he enjoyed the first half of the season, we totally wore him out in a new intense league and then he got some winter blues. ?MartinAlso in a day of missed opportunities, perhaps the biggest one for me is that Gunnersaurus missed a chance to fist-fight an opposing mascot. That dragon thing looks pretty soft, I think Gunnersaurus could have taken him.GunnersonUh, Martin... it had frakking wings, a hooked beak, and judging by the color it could probably breathe fire, no joke. Gunnersaurus may have some height but is very overweight, and collared like my house cat. I would put my money on Red. Not to mention it was at home!Homey_MillsThat reminds me of a story. Yours truly was a HS mascot in Granbury, TX. I was the Pirate. I had this giant pirate head that went way over my head and down to my stomach area. So I'd velcro it to the rest of the outfit, and off I'd go. Well there were also these straps that were supposed to go under my arms, to keep the head secure and not wobbly. But the straps were broken. Usually that was no big deal. Anyway, before a football game one night, I met the Brewer Bear on the field. And as mascots are prone to do, we did some play fighting. Except that the Bear really caught me with a good shot to the head, just above my real head. So my Pirate head swung back, and I was temporarily blinded, because I couldn't see out of the little eyeholes. Then when I got my head back situated again where I could see, the Bear would hit me like that again. So I briefly weighed two options. Either I run and tackle the Bear and pound on him, or I get out of there like a wuss. And since I'd be suspended from school and maybe arrested for wailing on the Bear, I left like a wuss.
Ok, so maybe Gunnersaurus was having underarm strap issues, and that prevented him from fighting the dragon thing. You never know what's going on with mascots and their issues.MartinYeah. I was never a mascot for a team, but my first job in high school was as a bagger and stock boy for that estimable Southern grocery store chain, Piggly Wiggly. As a "bonus," occasionally I would have to dress up and be "the pig" for corporate and community events. Never got into any fights with other mascots, I just remember it was really hard if you were at events with small children to see them because you have such bad tunnel vision in that mask and they are below your line of sight (plus, there's always one little shit kid that thinks it would be funny to kick the pig in the nuts. And, to be fair, if I hadn't been the pig, I would have thought that it was, in fact, pretty funny). And also the heat -- my god, the heat. South Carolina in summertime is brutal even without a giant plush head and mittens on, but with them, it's like an awful, smelly, portable sauna.

FYI -- I looked like this guy:

http://www.google.com/imgres?i...Homey_MillsAh yes, I remember all of that well. The limited vision, the kids punching you, the oppressive heat, etc. (Texas isn't exactly in Canada either.) And I didn't even get paid. I bet you were raking in the money for Piggly Wiggly.
So I wonder who looked cooler... Homey the Pirate or Martin the Pig.MartinOr who would have won in a fight?

I'm sure you would win at least the "who looked cooler" contest -- not much cool about happy, anthropromorphic swine.Homey_MillsYou'd have won the fight. I'm five foot nothin, a hundred and nothin. Haha.SairaxI was surprised to see Gunnersaurus travels with the team!SKJust noticed that no subs were used. man, chamak's not getting the touch, pass are being intercepted, ohh god. could have been 3 up.Patoux21I think Wojo would have probably stopped the shot. It was right in the middle where Almunia was standing and he reacted very late. But the rest of the team was extremely poor as well. We only had a few goal chances against a very weak opposition.SairaxBtw, last season Fulham had a ridiculous number of games they played due to cup runs, Europa League plus having to qualify for Europa league, so we'd have to beat them. Hey, as long as we're trying to win everything and break records, let's go for this one too!SKthats how roy got the award in july, when fulham beat juventus, an to the finals.Squash2034After Squillaci got hit in the face, I was sure they would score and fast-forwarded to the end.
But I guess you're right. Now Bendtner gets more playing time, should keep him happy.
Btw, I just saw Jose Pinto make a great save to deny Llorente. Busi and Abidal are sharing the 2nd CB role. Barca machine rolls on. I am feeling so low.SairaxBut I don't wanna replay waaaaahh!

Actually, I'm kinda laughing right now. Our 2nd string has now struggled against Ipswich, Huddersfield, Leeds, and Leyton Orient. Sad, but I can't stop laughing right now. I know, I'm terrible!

Ok, well Stoke, CC Final Brum, Sunderland, Orient, Barca, ManUtd (possibly), WBA. Let's hope no injuries (honestly, every week I'm waiting for an avalanche of injuries lol)

Rosicky scored. With his head. Don't even think Rohan Ricketts could've predicted that one.BioAre you the most cynical commenter here? You are wishing a rash of injuries on the team?SairaxI see my humour has failed on you.

I guess you don't come here often since I am the secondary writer on this blog and not just a commenterGigi_manyou go girl!MartinTwo things:

(a) that is a dramatic misreading of Sairax's comment.

(b) I am the most cynical commenter here, and no one is going to take that title from me on my watch.Homey_MillsI'm generally with Martin on the issue of the replay being good for our backup guys to get some playing time. But that theory only really works if we stay pretty healthy. If, heaven forbid, Nasri or Walcott get injured, then Arshavin would be expected to start all the time, I assume.MartinYeah -- honestly, on the drive home from the pub watching the match, I was thinking -- "our second XI is full of seasoned internationals, but based on their form as a unit this season, I think they'd get relegated . . . from the Championship."SairaxStop it! I'm already laughing too much! lolJGSpeaking of Vela, the lad scored a last minute goal to secure West Brom a point against Wolves, the first time Vela has scored a goal of any real value.MartinYeah. It really is good for him, and supposedly it was pretty deserved, too -- from what I hear he came on and changed the game. Hopefully it was good enough to get him some starts, because I think that's what he needs.WolffyChamakh really needs to step up his finishing. He does not shoot the ball well at all. I was so pissed when he just casually side footed the ball to the Orient goalkeeper from the just inside the 18 when he had a chance to rip a screamer. No confidence, no conviction, and no goals, pretty much sums up how his recent form has been.Fred Jacobdude he is 26 that not part of his game and he is not going to add to itZidane's headbuttArshavin changed his game at 30. Whats to stop Chamakh from doing the same? Its all down to how much he wants it.Perry S.Arshavin did not change his game at 30, he's been playing this way for years (I've been following him well before his Arsenal days), but your underlying point is valid.blog comments powered by Disqus