The Soccer Blog: Everton - Arsenal Match Thread

Sunday, 14 November 2010

Everton - Arsenal Match Thread

Everton – Arsenal Match Thread - - The Offside - Arsenal Football Club Blog

« Everton – Arsenal Preview; + Bendtner Mouths Off | Home | Everton 1 – Arsenal 2: Efficient Gunners Do Enough to See Off Toffees (UPDATED with Player Ratings) »Everton – Arsenal Match ThreadBy: Martin | November 14th, 2010

Lineups are in:

Everton: Starters: Howard, Baines, Distin, Heitinga, Jagielka, Neville, Coleman, Arteta, Cahill, Pienaar, Saha Bench: Mucha, Hibbert, Bilyaletdinov, Beckford, Gueye, Yakubu, Rodwell

Arsenal: Starters: Flaps, Clichy, Sagna, Djourou, Squillaci, Song, Wilshere, Cesc, Arshavin, Nasri, Chamakh Bench: Wojo, Eboue, Gibbs, Denilson, van Persie, Rosicky, Theo

A couple of notable things — there aren’t any real surprises in there. I had thought Theo would get a start over Arshavin, given Theo’s great form this season and the fact that Arshavin’s on his longest goalless drought since joining the club. But Arshavin certainly showed some signs of life against Wolves, so I certainly can’t say it’s unjustified.

And the other big story, for me the biggest story, is the complete omission of Bendtner from the team — not even a spot on the bench for St. Nick today. You’d have to be pretty thick to think this wasn’t directly connected to Bendtner’s comments to the press last week. Seems pretty clear to me that Wenger is exercising his authority here, showing Bendtner that the way he handled things is unacceptable.

And you can certainly understand why he’d do it. Bendtner was way out of line. But I do wonder if this was the best way to handle it. I trust Wenger, he’s always been a very good man-manager, and I’m sure he has his reasons. But it seems to me that this could escalate Bendtner’s frustration and thoughts of leaving. Seems like if Wenger had just had a private chat with Bendtner along the lines of explaining to him why his first-team options are limited, but assuring him that he is definitely in the club’s future plans, and then followed that up by giving him 20 minutes as a substitute option in this game would have done a lot more to assure Nicky and de-escalate the situation. But I don’t know the ins and outs of the situation, obviously, and like I said, Wenger generally knows the right course of action and I’ll defer to him and trust that he’s handling this the right way. I just hope it doesn’t backfire.

(UPDATE: Apparently Wenger is saying that Bendtner has some sort of injury, and may not play for Denmark in midweek, either. Given Wenger’s (alleged? I guess? Although I’m pretty sure) history of using injuries as convenient excuses for not having to explain why a player has been left out of the team, count me suspicious. Although if Bendtner is in fact ruled medically unable to play for Denmark this week, perhaps there’s something to it and this is all overreaction on my part. We shall see.)

Anyway, hopefully it’ll be good enough to get those 3 points and pop us up into second place. Come on Arsenal.

Some Related Stories:Everton – Arsenal Preview; + Bendtner Mouths OffWolves – Arsenal Match ThreadArsenal – West Ham Match ThreadArsenal – Blackpool Match ThreadManchester City – Arsenal Match Thread

Category: Arsenal News, Everton, Fixtures, Premiership

Tags: Arsenal News, Everton, Fixtures, Premiership
« Everton – Arsenal Preview; + Bendtner Mouths Off | Home | Everton 1 – Arsenal 2: Efficient Gunners Do Enough to See Off Toffees (UPDATED with Player Ratings) »KennSunderland scored an amazing goal. Let's get behind them for the next 45 mins!!! Ivanovic should have been sent off.Kenn2-0 Sunderland!!!!JGChelsea and Sunderland currently 0-0. but would be 0-3 for the Black Cats if it wasn't from a MOTM performance from Cech.SairaxOnouha with a brilliant goal just now. Fantastic!third eyeAt least Arsenal won. Fabregas is slowly elevating his level of performance. Soon, he'll be where he left.

Denilson played well in the first half and made an important break up play during the second half.

Song is a little bit too adventurous if you ask me...

Chamakh is a great finisher with his feet ?

Nasri and Arshavin are provoking defenders and this is good.

Clichy made an interception and let the opponent have the better of him. Then, he went forward and tried, but was anonymous throughout the game.

Anyway, this is the typical Arsenal performance of November as you said it except that we had more healthy players on the squad and we actually won.

Oh ,yeah, Fabianski for the futur?
AlexinhoJust a minute or two left in the game, and I'd have to say if Everton draws as I type this, it's about what we deserve.

Pretty good first half, and in the second half, Arsenal were strong. However, after we had those two chances that should have made it 0-4, we began to sleepwalk. Arsenal played the game for seventy minutes, and then they began to play like Chelsea without counterattacks. Disgusting.

That kind of play is precisely what Lee Dixon was talking about in that article you posted recently, Sairax. Nobody pumps up that team when they need it. Most telling is Fabregas' performance. Around 65-70 minutes, he looked the most casual of them all, and gave away not too few balls. His team followed, and I would be surprised if we had more than 35% possession.

But full time has come, and we're just a tad lucky to get 1-2. On the bright side, at least Fabianski turned it into a showcase by the end of the game. And, Sagna scored, showing the value of SHOOTING. We were zinging in shots in the first half, and after Nasri unsettled Tim Howard, it comes to Arshavin, to Sagna...and I just know that Howard was thinking "protect the cross" because he definitely wasn't prepared for that kind of shot from an Arsenal full-back.

Pretty silky second goal as well, though we were lucky to get that many nutmegs between Fab and Nas. Great finish!

Nasri deserved the kind of goal he ran all the way down the field and powered his way past Heitinga? to score. And Chamakh...boy, what a miss.

Jack Wilshere will have better games...SairaxHere's that Theo and Cesc video where they are asked about getting 'pumped up' (I forgot to post it when I mentioned it the other day)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/9181696.stmIsabel_GPhew! An important victory.JGYES!!SJGgumbyAnd...Everton score a rugby goal so that we can all suffer a few minutes of heartburn - and quite possibly some dropped points.JGFabianski does not deserve to be beaten... :/Fred JacobWho say kill off this game way boy they playing the foolFred Jacob20 mininute has gone and we haven't had a shot on goalFred Jacobthe last shot we got on goal was the miss by Chamahk so we went 34 mininutes just passing the ball around, how are we suppose to ever have confidense when we can kill a game offSJGgumbyI must say, I'm a bit confused as to what constitutes a yellow card at this point. Not really complaining, since it applies to both teams, just confused.JGTwo Everton mids coming off for two Everton forwards. Awesome. Let's get two more, boys.JGI have to say, Sairax is justified in her reasoning that Arsenal is the most targeted team in the league. Every time an Arsenal player fouls the opposition everyone, from the fans to the bloody commentators, are asking for a red card. Terrible.MartinCesc opens the second half about as well as we could have hoped, with a goal to double our lead. Then gets an ankle injury and a very, very harsh yellow. Completely unjustified. He looks to be up and walking okay now, though.SairaxA goal we're always trying to pull off, but it doesn't always work. It was wonderful :D 2-0JGAlso: Wilshere came off for Denilson. Is the Peacemaker injured?JGFAB FAB FABREGAS IS SO FAB!!MartinDenilson on for Wilshere at the break. I hope it's not injury-related. It has to be said that Wilshere hasn't had his best game, and Wenger said in the press that Wilshere has been playing a lot and needs a rest. Hopefully he just decided that that rest should come now.SairaxSo kind of an iffy performance eh? Not as dominant as we would like. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say we're more of a second half team and come out with lots of chances. Gotta be positive right? Need to keep an eye on Cahill though. And will Yakubu come on? That's another one we need to look out for!SairaxYou know I don't think our backline is so bad. I think the problem is that we let the opposition through the midfield a bit too easily. Djourou is looking better now. Much sharper. Playing so much recently has definitely help improve his match fitness. Everton defending very well, not letting us penetrate often. Cesc looking like he's coming out of his slump, which is good to see. Was worried how long it was going to last but he seems to be slowly getting back in form.MartinI was thinking the exact same thing about Djourou. Thought he looked really good in the first half.

Now let's go grab a second early in the second half and get those 3 points.JGanyone with a link??Sairaxtry atdhe.netJGyeah but one requires veetle and the other doesn't work :/Sairaxhmm....
www.channelsurfing.net/indexSairaxOHHHHHHH!!! SAGNAAAAAA!!!! BEAUTY!!!!!SairaxWhy can't Song just sit and break up play? Why?AlexinhoWhat the hell is up with Song? And Clichy? I hope this is just an off-season for them, and they'll be back next year. The most talented players have times in their careers like these. And yes, I do believe this is the situation! They can't snap out of their poor play. Song can't seem to enter into play without a foul or a ridonkulous pass out of play.Fred JacobDawn Theo on the bench, i have in my Fantasy Side, who you guys feel will score the most goals in the league this season Theo or NasriSairaxOh and...

COME ON ARSENAL!!SairaxHappy Birthday Vermaelen! Please come back soon!SairaxBendtner out, damn! Either Wenger's trying to send a message or there's just no room for him on the bench. Isn't it nice to have such a full and fit squad available? Anyway, let the speculation begin!
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Sunday, 14 November 2010

Everton - Arsenal Match Thread

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