Arsenal's first win of their Champions League campaign sees them move up to second place in Group F, behind Marseille, who defeated Borussia Dortmund by three goals.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Watch: Chamberlain & Santos Goals vs Olympiacos
Arsenal defeated the Greek side Olympiacos in their second Champions League group game thanks to goals from two of Arsene Wenger's summer signings, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andre Santos.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Careless Manchester United Lose Lead
Luckily for all involved with Manchester United, late goals are the clubs speciality, and sure enough, a beautiful cross from Nani met Ashley Young's head perfectly, ending up in the bottom corner of the Base net to secure United's second point in the far harder than expected group stages. Improvement is absolutely needed, with this performance containing a number of very undesirable traits in the teams play which no United fan will enjoy seeing repeated.
Basel began very brightly, catching a United side which may or may not have underestimated their opposition, off-guard. The travelling side were able to create a number of extremely good chances, and United were lucky that they were being bombarded by shots from misfiring and woefully inefficient strikers for much of the game rather than ruthless, clinical finishers which a better side will have possessed.
Danny Welbeck settled the home crowds nerves in the 16th minute, and did so again just sixty seconds later with a very quick double strike to set United on their way to an easy victory. It was the ideal remedy for a shaky start, but apparently did little to cure the problem at the heart of the performance. United were dangerous going forward, most notably in the first half, with the wing play being as cutting and dangerous as ever. This is highlighted by the fact that all of the goals United scored originated from out wide, but attacking was never an issue with the likes of Young, Valencia, Welbeck and Giggs in the side.
The defending was proving to be the real issue. Ferdinand and Evra were poor, with Jones not up to his very high introductory standard, probably because he was left to help out for others mistakes. They did not get close enough to Basel, and the midfield were sloppy in their defensive play too, even when the opposition got in and around the box, they were allowed too much space to pass, move and create problems.
United are not known for conceding a lot of goals, so three in just one game is certainly out of the ordinary. Of course one must allow for injuries to key players, but this team is a very capable and talented one, and certainly should not be letting three goals escape them.
Hopefully, this is simply a one-off performance - a lapse in concentration - a momentary defensive blip on a road to success. The players acknowledge it was a performance out of the ordinary. Michael Carrick said:
"It was a bit of a shock to find ourselves 3-2 down after being 2-0 up. We’ve no excuses, we threw it away. It’s not like us at all."
"Tonight we'll take a draw yet it still feels a bit like a defeat. But we’ll not get too down about it, we’ll move on and bounce back. We have to."While the contest provided much entertainment, with goals galore, slip-ups, penalties and a referee who constantly found himself in the way of play, it will not be something Manchester United want to make a habit of. Tightening the defence will have to be a priority, as well as getting the complacency and sloppiness out of their play.
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Watch: Manchester United 3 - 3 Basel
What an unusual game. Manchester United rarely lose a two goal lead, but a mixture of complacency, poor defending and all round sloppy play led to an almighty scare in their second Champions League group game against FC Basel.
Danny Welbeck fired United ahead with a pair of goals within just two minutes, and Sir Alex Ferguson's side were lucky to still have that lead in tact at half time with the amount of chances the Swiss side created. However, the luck soon ran out, with Basel's persistence finally paying off with three goals in relatively quick succession, including a penalty conceded by Antonio Valencia.
Nani came on and provided a beautiful cross to assist Ashley Young in heading into the bottom corner to save a point. Manchester United are third in their group with two points, with only FC Otelul Gatali who are yet to record a point.
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Monday, September 26, 2011
Wilshere's "Stress Fracture" - Out for 5 Months
Wilshere has not played any competitive games for Arsenal this season, having realized the injury in a pre season friendly against the New York Red Bulls late in July. His absence from the team as well as the departure of Nasri and Fabregas can be put down as one of the main reasons that the club has started the season so badly against sides who have stronger depth and energy in their squads.
Wilshere's injury is a "stress fracture", and if you have never heard of such an injury before, allow me to explain as best I can with the help of my trusty friend Wikipedia. It is caused by "unusual or repeated stress" and also heavy continuous weight on the ankle or leg - in Wilshere's case, the ankle. Unlike Aaron Ramsey and Eduardo's injuries in recent times at Arsenal, Wilshere's "stress fracture" will not have appeared suddenly, but over time through repeated traumas, which when added together, week in, week out of playing football, were enough to cause severe pain to the ankle.
The argument of Wilshere being "overplayed" in Arsenal's long season last year may be brought into the equation, and considering his young age of just 19 and the 49 games he played under Wenger in the 2010-11 season, there is certainly some weight behind it. The player is constantly on the move around the field, is naturally aggressive in his play and is never afraid of committing to a strong tackle a few times a game. A combination of his style of play and number of appearances may have unfortunately led to this injury.
Arsenal have their star in good hands however, with a club statement revealing that Wilshere is under the care of two world renowned surgeons. It read:
"Jack Wilshere has this morning undergone ankle surgery at a central London hospital. Under the care of two world-renowned surgeons, Jack has had the stress fracture of his right ankle repaired."
"The initial indications are that the surgery has been successful and Jack will now undergo a prolonged period of rehabilitation. It is envisaged that Jack's rehabilitation will take a period of four to five months."We wish Wilshere the best of luck in his rehabilitation process.
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Sunday, September 25, 2011
Arsenal's £2.75 million Success Story
The Arsenal manager said after Robin van Persie's double strike against Bolton on Saturday in which his second goal was his 100th for Arsenal, that it would be "difficult to imagine our team without him." It is a sentiment which will no doubt be echoed by every Arsenal supporter, with the 28 year-old Dutchman not only being a massive presence in the squad as the new captain, but also a fan favourite with mutual respect between himself and the fans.
Indeed this marvellous relationship began seven years ago, when Wenger discovered a gifted young left winger with exceptional dribbling skills as well as a superb eye for goal plying his trade with the Dutch club Feyenoord. Arsenal already had a legendary striker from the Netherlands at the club in the form of Dennis Bergkamp, but at a very advanced stage in his career, Wenger wanted a replacement.
A wonderfully inexpensive bargain at £2.75 million, van Persie is now in his eighth season with Arsenal, and having been converted into a striker by Wenger, has reached the incredible 100 goal landmark, assisting an equally impressive 46 goals along the way. He becomes only the 17th player to ever reach the 100 goal mark in Arsenal's history and the only current Gunner inside the top 20 goalscorers for the club.
It is a widely held belief that without his persistent and unfortunate injuries which he has been prone to, he would have far more goals to his name, and would be far higher up the list of top scorers, and closer to another of Wenger's bargain buys, Thierry Henry, at the peak.
Van Persie's personal achievements with Arsenal are slightly overshadowed by the fact that he has only won a single F.A Cup in 2004 and a Community Shield a year later. It is a disappointing and unfortunate record for a man who could have achieved so much more with another club, yet the fact he has stayed loyal to Arsenal for so long, is another reason why he is held in such high regard.
The latest transfer rumours link him with a move to Manchester City for a fee of £30 million, and while it seems incredibly unlikely that van Persie would jump ship now, that price tag emphasises his importance as a player, leader and world-class star.
Wenger is under a lot of pressure for his role in Arsenal's nose-dive towards the bottom half of the table this season as well as the lack of trophies in the last six or so, but a success story such as van Persie's has a lot to do with the French manager. It may be a long term policy, but has proved to have paid dividends, and is one of the main actions that Wenger will be remembered for when he has gone.
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Saturday, September 24, 2011
Penalty Ignorance, But United Remain Top
However, a Crouch header and two ignored blatant penalty claims meant that Sir Alex Ferguson had to settle for just the one point at the Britannia, leaving Manchester United's impressive 100% record this season to drift sorrowfully into the distance. We mourn its passing.
It was an inevitability, and was always a possibility at Stoke considering their record against the big sides at home. A fierce home crowd and extraordinary physicality of the players who get incredibly tight to the opposition, efficiently snuffing out any danger, helped Stoke to restrict United from playing free-flowing football on the floor and creating chances.
Nani's opening goal came from some very patient play on the right hand side for United, passing it well under little pressure when suddenly a burst of pace and quick thinking from Darren Fletcher and the Portuguese winger created some space to smash the ball home. It was the 24 year old's third League goal of a very promising season for him, bringing his goal tally up to 5 in all competitions.
If a penalty had been given as it surely should have been in the third minute when Hernandez was brought down by Woodgate from behind in a one-on-one with Begovic, United would have probably been two goals ahead when Nani struck in the 27th minute. The referee, Peter Walton was not feeling in a generous mood however, and didn't feel that a foul which caused the Mexican striker to limp off with an injury inside the box was a penalty.
Immediately after the United goal, Stoke's Andy Wilkinson did all Manchester United fans and David de Gea defenders a favour by forcing a stunning save from the young Spanish goalkeeper. We had been led to believe that Sir Alex Ferguson had attempted to beef up his goalkeeper throughout the week to prepare him for the physical game, but despite de Gea still resembling a skinny 12 year-old with a suspect beard, he showed every bit of quality with a great reaction save, preventing the shot from tearing the top corner of the net.
Another save was squeezed out of de Gea before half time, as he dived across his goal to push away a Jonathon Walters shot which looked destined for the far corner. But 7 minutes into the second half, United's goalkeeper had been beaten, and his clean sheet disappeared. Etherington's curling cross found Crouch, who had, in turn, lost Phil Jones to head the ball powerfully beyond de Gea, much to the delight of the Stoke fans.
Another Crouch chance straight after the goal was blazed hilariously over, before the official's added to the comedy by denying United another penalty when an Evra shot hit Ryan Shawcross' raised arm in the box.
All in all, while United may feel aggrieved about the penalty decisions which did not go their way, the Stoke chances which were missed could have so easily struck the back of the net. There were a few bum-clenching moments for United fans, so a point will not be badly received at Old Trafford, despite the rare occasion in which Manchester United have been restricted to only the one goal this season.
It wasn't a game in which many players stood out as performing brilliantly, but Sir Alex put this down to the unsettling news of injuries creeping into his players minds and the teams performances. He said:
"In terms of the attacking part we showed some good play and maybe should have scored more. We've always done well here, but all the changes we had to make today [with injuries to Evans, Hernandez and Rooney] maybe just unsettled us a bit for parts of the game."It is one draw among five other incredibly impressive wins. It's nothing to worry about.
Watch Goals: Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton
Arsenal moved up to twelfth in the Premier League table with a 3 - 0 win against Bolton at the Emirates. Two goals from Robin van Persie and a third one from Alex Song saw Arsenal breeze past a team who now sit bottom of the table having lost their last five games.
The Arsenal win will relieve some pressure from the shoulders of Arsene Wenger, who had managed his side to only four points from five games before today. Will this win turn around Arsenal's season? Who knows, but it is a win to build upon as they aim for one of the top four spots.
The Arsenal win will relieve some pressure from the shoulders of Arsene Wenger, who had managed his side to only four points from five games before today. Will this win turn around Arsenal's season? Who knows, but it is a win to build upon as they aim for one of the top four spots.
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