EPL – Arsenal vs Aston Villa – 3:00pm – 24/03/12

[ebouenolike]

Just got back from the game, very very enjoyable.

Biggest difference since my last game (Wolves) was the crowd. Everyone was supportive even when Villa had us for periods, the bond between fans and players seems to have been mended. Much, much, much more singing.

RvP had a bit of an off game, Gervinho wasn't great, and Djourou had a few shaky moments, but on the whole it was comfortable. Great finish from Theo, and was chuffed to be there for Gibbs' first Premier League goal.

8 points clear of Chelsea, 3 points clear of the ****, and better GD. Not a bad day to be a Gooner.

 

[SomGooner]

Congrats and Welcome to both GG8 and AK47. Great to have you on board lads.

 

[kopzilla]

So we're 12 points off the top..would be 15 by tomorrow.

I hope we manage to get as close as possible.Unfortunately I can't see where Utd would lose.

They even won the games where they looked ordinary.

 

[KY]

Arteta deserves a call up to be honest, quality player

Agree but its very hard spain are have a really golden midfielder players, but why not if spain call up arteta for their olympic team as i know any team can call up 3 players who are above 23 years old.

:shock: oh please no. with wilshere, ox, gibbs, ramsey all likely to be called up, we can't really afford another midfielder to be there as well and cost us another start-of-season run.

 

[Invincible]

Great win. On wards and upwards.

Btw, RVP failed to score AGAIN. Sell him now, clearly past it.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Great win. On wards and upwards.

Btw, RVP failed to score AGAIN. Sell him now, clearly past it.

yeah and lets buy Heskey to replace rvp.

 

[fabo]

Agree with Rich on Gibbs tbh. Think we've been going downhill at LB since Cole but that's another topic.

Superb win, dead after 25 minutes and a clean-sheet to boot. Was dying for RVP to score though, always want your CF scoring in games like this but there's always next week.

Lovely day for us again, gifs to come aswell.

 

[ebouenolike]

Brilliant game to go to, sunshine and fantastic football.

Like I said, the crowd is now MASSIVELY onside with the team, and the team responds to it.

 

[kofigunner]

The Arteta goal was like something from 'Angry Birds'. The ball seemed to go faster at some point kinda like those yellow birds, for those who've seen that game .

 

[Anzac]

Another good day for us - not only our result & performance but also the results of our direct competition.

Was surprised at the team selection with only 2 changes from mid-week (1 forced just before kick-off).

TV was great at the back;
Rosicky is crucial at AMC in attack;
I thought Walcott's movement & control was better today that in the NLD,
and I'm convinced the LESS he has to do outside the final 3rd & the less time to think the better - as such he's more poacher than WF;
RVP is looking tired when things don't come off for him;
Rambo offers little out wide & constantly looks to come inside as soon as he gets the ball;
Great strike by Arteta for the 3rd;
thought the crowd went quiet after 35 mins when we were 2-0 up = more applause than chants.
Congrats to Gibbs on his 1st PL goal;

 

[David Smith]

I don't think RVP was tired or bad in any way. Would've had a goal if not for a brave goal line clearance and he contributed to the overall attacking play in most attacking moves. Sure he'd be frustrated not to score in 2 matches but he'll score in the next one.

 

[Spork]

Btw, RVP failed to score AGAIN. Sell him now, clearly past it.

Yea, he has been absolute gash recently, he is riding off of the better players in our team like Rosicky, Gibbs and Walcott.

 

[Anzac]

I don't think RVP was tired or bad in any way. Would've had a goal if not for a brave goal line clearance and he contributed to the overall attacking play in most attacking moves. Sure he'd be frustrated not to score in 2 matches but he'll score in the next one.

I didn't mean it in a bad/poor way - as you say he was playing without 'luck' more than anything.
And it's pleasing to see us have a comfortable performance & result WITHOUT him on the score sheet as opposed to scraping home by the odd goal.

 

[SomGooner]

Surprise Surprise MOTD completely ignored us AGAIN and WTF does the geordie donkey got against us? He couldn't bring himself to admit that 'Pool are bowl of sh!te but instead chose to fanny about Arsenal not winning a thing in 7 years. .

Dixon should've asked him when was the last time Newcastle won anything?

 

[godfather]

I just heard that Cisse got sent off for QPR today. Great news for us.

indeed.. straight red as well.. will probably be 3 games

If they dont appeal its four games since its second red after the new year I believe.

If they appeal and it deemed frivilous, It will be five. Disgraceful behaviour from a suppoused professional.

It's will be four games. Can't see they are going to appeal this as it's a stone wall red. big big lose to them.

 

[Freagle]

Been busy for a couple of weeks and I have got to say, it is a good view to come back here and witness a couple of positive, optimistic posts. We have been playing well, loved the game and celebrated like crazy when Arteta scored. Bloody deserves it.

That was as easy as it gets. Next up, QPR with their chicken nugget of a manager. Cisse suspended for this I think as well.

 

[Freagle]

I went to the game today and really it confirmed my views on Kieran Gibbs. I'm not sure why Gibbs' is getting praised from some. Defensively, he is a total liability. The amount of space, in the first half anyway, he left behind him was appalling. The only time Villa ever caused us ANY trouble was by drilling it behind him. He's never in line with the other defenders and, really, he would have cost us a couple of goals had we been playing a better team. He's also got this annoying habit of playing far too close to Vermaelen and leaving room for players to go round. At the moment, he's reminding me of Armand Traore.

Other then that, not too many complaints. Song needs to use the ball a bit better especially when he shows what he's capable of like the assist for Walcorr. And Szczesny needs to stop ******* about with the ball. Our best players were Vermaelen, who was immense, Sagna, Rosicky and Arteta. I don't think we've had an easier three points this season, Villa were pathetic.

you have to give him a break really, he's just back from injury and never really had a progression of games to bed in and learn the game.

to be fair he's no where near Traore in terms of play, I think he offers more going forward and is a better all round defender.

I appreciate he's had a lot of injuries but the mistakes he's making are the same he was when he first broke into the first team. He looks as though he's not learnt anything at all.

I totally agree, he is a liability at the back. With that said, you have got to understand his injury situation, one thing is to appreciate that he got injured on numerous occasions but another would be the simple fact that when a player comes back from an injury it's not like a player who has featured on a consistent basis for the first team. He barely played for the reserves when he came back and needs that sort of experience game-in game-out. What made Clichy reach his peak was when he overcame his injuries and started playing on a regular basis, you cannot point fingers at Gibbs and expect him to learn when he receives various set-backs.

With our system, our main focus for our full-backs is to support our wingers and bombard forward which also doesn't mean neglecting his duty to defend. The way I look at it, the hard part to me (in our system) he is excelling at it which is supporting our wingers and forward and with time many games under his belt, he will come good I believe.

The problem could be the common perception with modern football. The old days might of required full-backs that are there to defend most of the time and attack on a frequent basis but modern football negates that, especially in our style of play. You can be frustrated at his ability to defend but that might not be the main area Arsène is concerned about.

 

[mistaT]

Just about everything has been said - so some random thoughts:

Walcott's 'Cryuff turn' that led to Ireland fouling him was brilliant. Amazing how quickly his form benefited from Sagna returning, honestly I think after Sagna is as valuable to this team as anyone bar RVP.

Like seeing Arteta hungry for a goal/assist....gave him a little flack in a thread the other week because I thought he could be more direct/involved. Really aggressive today and I loved it.

Heskey is a fraud.

 

[kalleTheMan]

Attacking FBs are a big reason why we've improved our general play so much. Gives us width and makes us play at a higher tempo. That requires Gibbs to take up advanced positions regularly, and also for our CMs not to get caught on the ball or give away silly passes when our attacking moves are at their conception. A lot of the time when Gibbs getw caught upfield Song has been the mainculprit imo. There was one incidednt after a corner when Albrighton ran half the pitch without any Arsenal player in sight, think Gibbs was the main culprit there though.

 

[Braydz]

Great result, only got to watch half of it so i didnt see that amazing goal from Arteta untill watching the highlights, judging by what i saw the team was playing brilliantly, Villa hardly ever looked like scoring. Think people are being too harsh on Gibbs also, he gives the team width again and is really exciting going forward. Walcott and Rosicky was great too, but MOTM has to go to Arteta.