Well - I celebrated this most satisfying of wins by drinking 9% stout somewhere in London. I feel as rough as Phil Brown must look before his monthly spray tan session.
Haven't seen any highlights yet, or seen any other match reports than the Beebs but I am assuming most people say the result flattered us? Absolute balls - 5-0 may have flattered us, but given Theo put a lob inches wide and Rambo blazed just over the score could easily have been 5. I checked the stats and we had 70% possession, 18 shots of which 9 were on target and scored 3. To my still hazy mind that is a comfortable and deserved win.
We certainly were not dynamic enough in the first half. Passing was measured and half chances created for Nasri, Song and Diaby but we didn't have much menace to our football. Song & Denilson were highly efficient but we could not get Arsh into the game and Diaby could not find the final ball some of his direct running required.
Then up steps Sammy.....onto some Hull players leg. And we have some good old fashioned hand bags. Looking forward to seeing this again as it happened on the far side of the pitch so couldn't see a thing really. However I was certain at the time that someone clocked Nasri in the face in the melée - given that only Hunt (who is in fact a horrible little shit) got a yellow I assume the ref saw nothing. Video panel - you know if Eboue had been the perpretrator it would have been big news. Maybe not given the crazy world that is Premiership football these days. Anyway, Denilson scored a lovely free kick on the strike of half time (can he take themall from now on?) and we're looking comfortable.
Second half and we look a little more pumped up - I think Nasri should be credited for putting some needle into the game. Eddy worked a great chance from a little swivel into the box but his finish looked so short of confidence - a half-hearted stab with his right peg. Still - looking much better and Hull had no thret to our goa. At all. So Bennett gives them a penalty, and I genuinely do not know what for. It was probably the most undeserved penalty I have ever seen live - not a single player appealed, not a single fan thought there had been a foul but the ref thinks otherwise. Up till this point Almunia had been a worry - his kicking now so bad he passed all goal kicks short to Billy G, and when he kicked from hand it looked more like going out of play. He is a concern as the defenders do not trust him - he made one crazy dash of his line in the first half to botch a situation Billyhad under control. Asa defender that is a real worry.
As I say, Manuel us shit. So to prove how wrong i am (I'm not really he should be dropped) he makes a good save on the penalty. And to make it even more beautiful Diaby bursts through the Hull defence and pulls back a lovely ball for Eddy to tap-in. 2-0 and game over - "sit down you orange c@nt" & "tango - what's the score?" & "not worth spitting on" ring around the stadium. I think Briwn actually enjoyed it though, sick little egotist that he is.
From then on we were great. Diaby turned up as a footballer and not a clown, Denilson put in some meaty looking tackles and Song was awesome again. Arsh worked his little Russian nuts off, including some delightful flicks round defenders. A perfect slide rule pass gave Diaby his well deserved goal - keep playing at this level and Diaby will be a handful.
So to my mind a good 3-0 win, some excellent performances and moments (some classic work from the Verminator winning a throw-on deep in Hulls half by clattering their centre back then just standing there looking hard as nails). Also good to see not many players wearing gloves - I bizarrely think that is important. Don't know why, just feel it reflects a determination to win and fight and I like winning.
And it seems foolhardy not to mention Mark Hughes. So there you go. And also Rafa (please Liverpool do not sack him - it is too glorious to watch at the moment) and Fergie. Imagine how we would feel if we had been battered 3-0 by Fulham and looked in a real mess. Yes they have injuries, but so do we and commendably we are coping better. All we need is for the Hammers to get something from today and it will have been a perfect weekend. Apart from the state my brain is currently in - I now know why tramps look so sad.
4 comments:
Loved Nasri's little nibble. Hilarious reaction by Garcia.
It's good to see us have a bit of backbone and stand up to our opponents when the handbags come out.
We've lacked that sort of edginess to our game in recent seasons. I'm not looking for players to sharpen their elbows. But we had enough physicality and presence in the team with Vieira, Keown, Lauren, Nutty, Bergkamp and so on, in the past. We weren't afraid to mix it up and send a message when needed.
And it changed the match yesterday. I swear it appeared like Hull shrunk a bit after that. We need our opponents to fear us for more than our passing ability. They need to know we aren't going to shy away from a little agro if it kicks off.
Good stuff Obs. Hope the head clears soon.
Also agree that it's good to see a bit of fight in this Arsenal side. With Chelski dropping points this afternoon, it's been a great weekend for us.
they played great, even before halftime. diaby was excellent. eduardo had a much better game. hopefully there all breaking out of their slump, almunia included.
agree with the article, nice to see some edginess. get angry arsenal, get angry.
rahul
3-0 is a fair reflection of the game. Arsenal were timid and just pissing around in the first half.
Love that beauty of a freekick by Denilson. Diaby getting stuck in and Song dominating the midfield. Arshavin deserves a lot of praise for soldiering on gamely alone up front. Eboue, Billy, and the Verminator were excellent. Even Sylvestre was playing with energy and confidence. It's good that Eduardo and Diaby both scored; that should help with their confidence in the games to come.
It is amazing to me that this Arsenal team, shorn of RVP and Bendtner, still could threaten to score 5 a game. Not many teams can even think that.
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