PL: Blackburn Rovers vs Arsenal | 13/09/08

[vin de guerre]

Re: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 13-09-08 15:00 GMT

What are you apologising for, saying he had a bad game I mean he was ok but bar the penalty didn't do much and on looking at the penalty I thought it was a dive fair enough having seen it again there was minimal contact but ontact none the less still not sure he wasn't going down anyway but I guess its immaterial this time.

I really dont understand where you are coming from here! Eboue was pretty busy over the game and to say he was OK or didnt do much is to say you havent taken your anti-Eboue blinkers off yet!
His positioning was good, his passing was far better,his tackling was ok, he was unlucky not to score a scorcher of a goal, yes he was in the right place at the right time and doing the right thing to earn the penalty and he ran his socks off!

What more do you want from him? You Eboue bashers remind me of the same lot who couldnt see beyond their noses when appraising Gilberto's contribution to the team effort! :bash

 

[vin de guerre]

Re: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 13-09-08 15:00 GMT

By the way. What about Eboue's positioning when Walcott decided to sky a shot from outside the are when a great opportunity for Eboue to walk the ball into the net was infront of him begging for a simple through ball?

 

[Anzac]

Re: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 13-09-08 15:00 GMT

By the way. What about Eboue's positioning when Walcott decided to sky a shot from outside the are when a great opportunity for Eboue to walk the ball into the net was infront of him begging for a simple through ball?

If memory serves Eboue was ahead of Walcott = possibly offside???
Further to that I didn't think Eboue was faster than Walcott, so where was he defending the corner? I can understand Ade & Walcott being forward but not someone who is a converted FB at a dead ball situation.

 

[vin de guerre]

Re: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 13-09-08 15:00 GMT

By the way. What about Eboue's positioning when Walcott decided to sky a shot from outside the are when a great opportunity for Eboue to walk the ball into the net was infront of him begging for a simple through ball?

If memory serves Eboue was ahead of Walcott = possibly offside???
Further to that I didn't think Eboue was faster than Walcott, so where was he defending the corner? I can understand Ade & Walcott being forward but not someone who is a converted FB at a dead ball situation.

Your memory serves you poorly since he was marking a midflield player standing deep and once the ball fell to us he wasw one of three who broke from the corner and was most definitely on side through out the move since there were at least two defenders putting them all onside through out the rust up forward. Theo had the ball and after moving out to the wing cut back in and so both Ade and Eboue were in perfect positions for an easy lay off.
It is about time people stopped nit-picking and gave a little credit!

 

[tactica442]

Re: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 13-09-08 15:00 GMT

Alan Hansen eating his words regarding Walcott. ;D

Wanted to add -

Alan Hansen
"Traditionally, when Arsenal come to the north-west they have a bit of a nosebleed. Teams like Blackburn, Everton and Bolton get men behind the ball, get into them, stifle them and stop them playing" - Alan Hansen, Match of the Day.

Total number of goals scored by Arsenal last season in matches at Blackburn, Everton and Bolton: 13.

The Premiership Weekend Winners And Losers

c**t.

Hansen must find Arsenal's away shirt this season an eyesore. :mrgreen: MOtd should allow viewers to call in. Hansen's ego needs to be taught a lesson.

 

[RocktheCasbah]

Re: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 13-09-08 15:00 GMT

What are you apologising for, saying he had a bad game I mean he was ok but bar the penalty didn't do much and on looking at the penalty I thought it was a dive fair enough having seen it again there was minimal contact but ontact none the less still not sure he wasn't going down anyway but I guess its immaterial this time.

To get the anti anti Eboue police off my back, mainly.

:wink:

 

[General]

Re: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 13-09-08 15:00 GMT

I’m sure this has been debated to depth and it’s refreshing to see that despite conceding only one goal so far this season many fans realise this has been mostly down to luck and we have looked far from assured at the back.

Our defensive shortcomings form a very complicated conundrum and I believe this largely stems from our lack of height at the back. Playing with two barely six foot centre backs is a fundamental flaw in a PL where aerial balls are part and parcel of the game. Yes, our midfield is sometime culpable for not staying compact enough but more often than not the long ball game simply bypasses the midfield in the hope of exposing our aerial shortcomings. Tactically, we cannot defend as deep as United and Chelsea because they have height and can deal with the aerial balls. We on the other hand resort to a high defensive line and rely on the recovery pace of Toure/Gallas. It allows us to keep danger within the recovery zone in the often likely scenario of losing the aerial battle. The deeper we play, the more exposed we become aerially and this has been proven time and time again.

I also fail to understand people can accuse our wide men of staying out wide. Kel is asking for our wide men to drift inwards and leave us more exposed to the in-swinging aerial balls from wide area? This is ridiculous. See our first goal against Derby (away) and second goal at Chelsea – Both in-swingers, albeit from a dead ball situation, to which we simply had no answer. The only way we are going to succeed playing with two short centre backs like Toure and Gallas is by keeping the width and stop the aerial balls from coming in from wide areas. As for the long punt from the back that often bypasses our midfield, we simply have to live with it as long as we insist on pairing two relatively short CBs.

On the game itself, Blackburn went 4-4-2 like us, naively tried to play our game and got punished. The afforded us space and we exploited it but we also laid on a few opportunities for them and luckily they didn’t take them. The main worry is how Wenger is already creaming over our defensive stability, judging by his comments after the game, when we all know we’ve simply been lucky. Like Hansen said, it could’ve easily been 5-5 in the first half. It would be interesting to see whether he (Wenger) drops either Toure or Gallas when we face Pompey. For me they are almost guaranteed a goal with Crouch upfront. How this guy put a hattrick past us at Anfield two seasons ago is anyone’s guess. We all know he has no such luck against our main competitors, who seem to be adequately equipped to dealing with his aerial threat.

Our lack of height at the back and our defensive record are closely linked and this is a fact.

 

[asajoseph]

Re: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 13-09-08 15:00 GMT

Lot of **** going on in my personal life at the moment, but if I get a spare half hour in the next couple of days, I'll try to do a 'View from the Stands' thread...

 

[ricky1985]

Re: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 13-09-08 15:00 GMT

Lot of s**t going on in my personal life at the moment, but if I get a spare half hour in the next couple of days, I'll try to do a 'View from the Stands' thread...

Wondered where you had got to Asa, the place aint the same without you.

Hope everything turns out alright.

 

[scruzgooner]

Re: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 13-09-08 15:00 GMT

just looked again at the play that led up to our second (ade's header).

denilson's pass to ade was the *27th* pass of the move. it started on the edge of our box, and i believe every arsenal player (bar almunia) touched the ball as it made its way up the right side, back around, inside, across, back, up, across, and in. blackburn did not come *close* to taking the ball during the 27 passes.

i LOVE arsenal football.

when it works like that.............as opposed to a call for off side :wink:

i don't even mind the offside calls, if ade's banging in three...

 

[kel varnsen]

Re: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 13-09-08 15:00 GMT

By the way. What about Eboue's positioning when Walcott decided to sky a shot from outside the are when a great opportunity for Eboue to walk the ball into the net was infront of him begging for a simple through ball?

If memory serves Eboue was ahead of Walcott = possibly offside???
Further to that I didn't think Eboue was faster than Walcott, so where was he defending the corner? I can understand Ade & Walcott being forward but not someone who is a converted FB at a dead ball situation.

problem would have been the angle of the pass. the defender closest to the situation might have intercepted a pass, if not hit inch perfect. walcott did the right thing to take the shot himself...

nevermind the fact that it would have been bloody eboue on the receiving end of the pass. a sure way to waste a goal chance...

 

[True Gooner]

Re: Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 13-09-08 15:00 GMT

Our second goal was possession football at its very best. Goal of the season contender!