Arsenal v Blackpool, 21/08/10, ATVO, 3PM GMT

[patrick42uk]

nasri doesnt see passes early enough. rosicky plays it quick and forces movement. rozza's form really is encouraging.

will be interesting to see how we look back on this fixture- blackpool could be the new derby. even if they arent they played very open football. are we that good offensively? remember it was only last week we looked poor in the final third v liverpool.

 

[Tourbillion]

nasri doesnt see passes early enough. rosicky plays it quick and forces movement. rozza's form really is encouraging.

will be interesting to see how we look back on this fixture- blackpool could be the new derby. even if they arent they played very open football. are we that good offensively? remember it was only last week we looked poor in the final third v liverpool.

I attribute that to Nasri being incapable of playing the playmaker role.

 

[dreamLord]

And also Arshavin and co being distinctly average? Or was that also Nasri's fault...

 

[Y va marquer]

Finally a scoreline worth looking at and a game that showed that we still have the ability to annihilate weaker teams.

That’ll do for the moment given the current levels of doubt surrounding our squad and our chances of winning the title.

If Theo could produce that kind of a display on a regular basis he’ll go a long way towards quietening his critics. He wasn’t perfect today, he can still improve, which should be a scary thought for any defence.

Delighted with the Chamakh headed goal especially as he had previously missed easier chances.

Rosicky was great today, smart passes aplenty.

I thought Shava was more productive than in the Liverpool game and he was very composed when taking his penalty (the hair is getting worse though, looks like an accident)

I don’t see the point in speaking about the defence as they had very little to do for the majority of the game …phew!

Great to see RVP and Cesc back home

 

[CandysRoom]

Nasri would have had a field day, had he played today. Acres of space and intelligent movement by our attackers made for some great attacking moves.

 

[Humble Rex]

Rosicky is a quality player with a very quick brain, but I think it is unfair to make many comparisons with Nasri based on today´s performance. The time and space we were given today, and the naive defending on Blackpool´s part is, something I feel fairly certain Nasri, Cesc, and Jack could have exploited as well as Rosicky did today.

 

[krengon]

Rosicky's performance was brilliant.. I'm loving the way he's been playing lately. Vela seems to have a lot going for him too, some lovely skills, but needs to become better with his right foot and believe in himself more.

 

[Humble Rex]

If there was anything negative today it was Song for me. He lost Harewood on 3 occasions in the opening 20 minutes when Harewood made good runs in behind him. Better deliveries and we would have been exposed. He was also quite easily dragged out of position towards the flank or up the pitch when it really wasn´t called for.

He hasn´t played in pre-season, which is probably part of the reason, so it was good that he could get a game against weaker opposition. He still has a lot to learn though playing as a CB IMO.

 

[AnthonyG]

If there was anything negative today it was Song for me. He lost Harewood on 3 occasions in the opening 20 minutes when Harewood made good runs in behind him. Better deliveries and we would have been exposed. He was also quite easily dragged out of position towards the flank or up the pitch when it really wasn´t called for.

He hasn´t played in pre-season, which is probably part of the reason, so it was good that he could get a game against weaker opposition. He still has a lot to learn though playing as a CB IMO.

Song's not a CB and as far as I'm concerned never will be. At least, not a good one. For a start, no discipline as you say - even more so than other cavalier defenders in our squad.

 

[Humble Rex]

That´s exactly it. Discipline regarding position. Really is what he needs to improve on at DM as well. When/if he gets it, then I think he can do a good job at CB as well for us against good opposition much like Gilbero was able to when needed.

 

[flobaba]

Happy with the result. Glad we didn't concede. But not totally satisfied, as the scoreline could have been so much more, especially with our man advantage. We need to get ruthless-er.

 

[patrick42uk]

on chamakh, i feel you have to accept that he will be inefficient in front of goal. he isnt a very good striker of the ball which affects even his passes sometimes. wenger described him as effficient and capable of making tge difference in big games with his heading_ i agree 100% with this. his finishing with his head is world class. he attacks it well and his height gives him a big advantage. what he gives you game to game is work rate, hold up play, mobility and versatility. he isnt talented like robin but he is functional_ he produces something tangible in every game

 

[outlaw_member]

Theo was immense, and the funny thing is he could have had a couple more goals and assists His pace and movemnet makes him unstopable and gets him into great positions, if he can fine tune his end product he'll get a **** load of goals and assists.

Arshavin was terrific in the first half too, looked a lot more like his old self.

Rosicky has looked incredibly bright in the first two games. Like I said in the transfer thread, I'd much rather keep him and hope he starts to perform like he has in the last couple of games, than have 4m odd sitting in the bank. Baffled so many seemed to want the latter.

Was good to see Sagna and Clichy making a few more overlapping runs today.

Hard to have a go a Chamakh in front of goal when he works so hard off the ball.

Overall, good win.

Nice to see the usual suspects going out of their way to be a wet blanket even in a 6-0 win.

Theo had acres upon acres of space to run into, and showed exactly how lethal he could have been if he was playing during the Invincibles era. I expect the usual frustration once we face a deep lying team, but give Walcott room to move into and he can be devastating.

 

[outlaw_member]

on chamakh, i feel you have to accept that he will be inefficient in front of goal. he isnt a very good striker of the ball which affects even his passes sometimes. wenger described him as effficient and capable of making tge difference in big games with his heading_ i agree 100% with this. his finishing with his head is world class. he attacks it well and his height gives him a big advantage. what he gives you game to game is work rate, hold up play, mobility and versatility. he isnt talented like robin but he is functional_ he produces something tangible in every game

Yep, I've sort of accepted it. Unlike say Henry or Adebayor who signed at an earlier age and had time to develop their shooting ability. I don't think we can expect the same from a 26 year old, though it's not entirely impossible, of course. His hesistancy inside the box was an all too familiar thing in his Bordeaux days, but he has enough tools to compensate.

Once van Persie came on, you could see the difference in how he and Chamakh operated the front line. The latter likes to keep off the last defender and only joins in when he is brought into play. van Persie on the other hand goes searching for the ball and tends to congest play, somewhat. If Chamakh could finish, I know which one I'd prefer leading the line.

 

[qs]

If Chamakh works hard and gets into the right areas he'll score goals, he'll miss plenty too but that doesn't matter as long as he keeps making loads of chances for himself.

Rosicky was great today, same with Theo. Both deserve loads of credit. However you can't compare their performances today with anyone last week because playing Pool in Anfield is a whole other level to Blackpool at home.

 

[Humble Rex]

Agree qs.

 

[GunneDown]

Well, i looking forward to football first tonight.

 

[Godsend_Gooner]

Nasri dwells on the ball too much and does not look for that quick one two's and run into spaces which Rosicky is quite apt at doing when on form. I am not slating Nasri but if he has to play deeper and not as an AM, he will have to tune his performances to Rosicky's.

Btw, do you guys think its a good idea to play 3 CM's instead of 1 DM and 2 CM's against the lesser teams? Today's game was played at a tempo which I was missing for a long time. Somehow we dont get that tempo when our full team plays.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

chamakh must score a hatrick today he miss alot of chances hope he score vs blackburn

 

[patrick42uk]

i feel we'v switched permanently to playing 2 cms (or dms whichever you prefer) and one am.