Great result for Cameroon and other random rambling

At last Cameroon are out of the African Cup of Nations, Egypt beat them 3-1, and we all know what that means, Alex Song is coming home. Hopefully he'll be available for selection against Manu at the weekend. The Ivory Coast are also out, it will be useful to have the versatility of Emmanuel Eboue back in the squad too.

Apparently Jay-Z is a Gooner and his favourite player is Cesc Fabregas, I'm not sure if the lure of backstage passes for a Jay-Z gig will help motivate our players towards title success, but there you go. The Galindo deal is not as done as some would 'exclusively' have us beleive, while there are some more baseless rumours linking us with a French striker. Phil Senderos has gone out on loan to Everton for the remainder of the season, I have never understood how big Phil has never got a run out while the hapless Silvestre seems to be ahead of him in the pecking order, bizarre, something funny must have gone on behind the scenes.

Arsene has revealed that quite a few of the players that were rested could not have played against Stoke even if had wanted them to. Clichy, Vermaelen and Sagna were not fully fit, and could well have missed the Villa game if it had not been for the weekend off. Having had another 24hrs to calm down, it was a tight game overall and we weren't far off getting a result, Sol did well, Eastmond impressed me again.

The one thing we really lacked was a cutting edge up front, JET is not a leader of the line and Theo had an absolute shocker. I really think that if we are to challenge on two fronts in the Premiership and Champions League then we need three strikers, Eduardo and a fit Bendtner is not enough. I don't think Fabianski was that bad but he doesn't look like a future world beater to me, the only young keeper on our books who looks to have this potential is the young Szczesny. Mannone has just signed a new deal and wants to push for the no1 slot, fat chance in my opinion, he doesn't look good enough to me, maybe he'll prove me wrong with time. At least we're going to have a strong back four back for the visit of Villa, maybe Diaby will be fit, then we can bring in a whole fresh front three, come on you Gunners.

Stoke bullying overcomes Arsenal second string

A few rather unexpected names are on the team sheet today. As expected Fabianski in goal and the back four of Coquelin-Sol-Silvestre-Traore, not a defense that will have ever played together before and that will be properly tested against a very physical Stoke assault. Eastmond is holding in midfield with Cesc and Denilson alongside him. Then a front three of Walcott-Vela-JET, I reckon Vela will be given the more central role but it may well be a more fluid system allowing the three to swap around a bit. Stoke line up with a robust 4-4-2 formation and the power of Fuller and Sidibe up top. A big test for Sol in his return, no doubt, but some real quality is on the bench if we need it in form of Rosicky, Ramsey, Arshavin and Eduardo.

Fabianski
Coquelin - Sol - Silvestre - Traore
Eastmond
Denilson - Cesc
Walcott - Vela - JET

Unfortunately the game did not start well, a long throw from Delap on the right wing saw a very pacey ball hurled in at a a low trajectory, Fuller nipped in and head it in at the near post, one nil to Stoke. Some people will blame Fabianski but it was a very tricky ball for him to attack given its height, it was more disappointing that none of our defenders managed to attack the ball or block Fuller's run.

There was little flow to the game early on, Stoke relying on some rather ugly direct football as usual. Sol made a few good interceptions, Eastmond was tidying things up nicely in front of the back four and winning a fair few aerial challenges. Our moves broke down too frequently from some rather loose touches and casual passes. Silvestre was lucky not to give away a penalty when Silvestre took his leg away in the box, we then broke excellently but it was wasted by a very poor final delivery from Walcott on the right, it was typical of much we had done over the half.

Typically the referee was letting far too much go. Cesc was chopped down at least three times well after he had moved the ball on, the ref played on, did nothing about the dangerous fouls and then never brought the play back for the fouls as no advantage had come. I simply cannot understand how a referee can allow players to slide in very late, get nothing of the ball and then escape without even a warning. As we grew into the game and our passing looked a tad crisper, another dangerous tackle was left unpunished by the referee Martin Atkinson. The rather uncultured Shawcross went in very late on Cesc with his studs dangerously raised, not much different in nature to the Gallas tackle in midweek which resulted in the hysterical media reaction. Atkinson's reaction? Not even a verbal warning for Shawcross, truly pathetic. The time being wasted by Delap taking thirty seconds before every throw in was also something the referee should have done more about.

We became more dominant as the half wore on, Stoke could not keep up their high pressing game and we were allowed a bit more time to knock the ball around. Just as the half had almost drawn to a close, a goal came when it did not appear that likely. A dubious free kick was given, although the arm was hanging away to the side of the body as it blocked Cesc's flick on, and Denilson took full advantage, it was cut back to him, his low right footed effort was heading low into the bottom corner, it was deflected but this didn't affect its direction much, into the bottom corner it went. A bit of pressure now built, a series of corners ensued in between another couple of late Stoke tackles from behind. Strangely only two minutes of injury time were played, even though Delap had wasted about five minutes all on his own. One one at half time it was, fair on the balance of the game but more sharpness was needed for the second half.

The aerial bombardment continued in the second half, it was certainly not an easy game for a goalkeeper to come in for, on the whole Fabianski dealt well with some very tricky situations. It was a pretty even contest, Atkinson continued to let some Stoke filth go unpunished, one thigh high lunge from Huth's studs on Vela somehow escaped a booking, numerous sliding tackles from behind continued to go unpunished. Cesc and Denilson were trying to get things going, a bit of joy came down the left, Vela and Traore gave us some pace and width which did cause some trouble at times. Walcott was having a stinker, ineffective, sloppy in possession and not probing the right channels. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas had a pretty solid game, of note he helped out in a few tricky defensive situations to good effect. Little was created, the only goal threat a belting Cesc thirty yarder that forced a Sorensen tip over.

A triple substitution came with twenty minutes to play, Walcott, Coquelin and JET were replaced by Arshavin, Ramsey and Eduardo. Coquelin had done well after a nervy first twenty minutes, especially given he was playing out of position. It looked worrying when Silvestre was hacked late (what a surprise) by Delap and went down holding his knee, luckily he recovered quickly. Vela was almost played in, just denied by a well times Higginbotham sliding tackle. Against the run of play Stoke went ahead again, the defensively dodgy Denilson was left on his heels by Sidibe, his excellent cross found Fuller's head which did the rest, to be fair this was a very well worked goal. A deflected Cesc free kick flashed wide, Ramsey's left footed drive blazed well over. Then Stoke scored again, Eastmond was wrestled over with some shirt tugging, Etherington broke and crossed expertly for the marginally offside Whitehead to slot home. Then a what would have been a fourth was disallowed for a clear Tuncay handball. Another cynical Stoke lunge from behind saw another dangerous freekick given, Cesc's effort hit the wall. Three one and the game was over, no FA Cup glory for at least another year.

Almunia, Eboue, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Gibbs, Song, Nasri, Ramsey, Diaby, Rosicky, Arshavin, RVP, Bendtner, Eduardo- these are the 16 players who did not start this game for various reasons, it shows that this Arsenal side was well below a second string eleven. Overall it was a very even game, the real difference was the fact that we lacked a proper striker to lead the line and that Stoke showed more quality than us in the final third. The referee Marin Atkinson's incompetent leniency made the game much easier for Stoke, they were allowed to tackle from behind all day without even one yellow card being shown, the fact that Shawcross' stamp down Cesc's calf escaped even a verbal warning symptomatic of the way in which Atkinson's incompetence allowed thuggery to prosper. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas worked hard but it was a big ask for him to lead the line, if we had had a recognised striker the outcome could have been very different.

Fair play to Stoke, you can't blame them for playing the dire negative over-physical football that they do, they are a small club and would be killed if they tried to play pretty stuff against us. I can't say I like the way they play but it is effective, especially when catalysed by lenient refereeing that allows their largely illegal pressing game to work. Stoke committed 20 fouls (that Atkinson spotted) to our 8, some of which were rather cynical and/or nasty, they got not one booking. Our squad has not been quite strong enough to maintain the challenge on this front, with the Villa game coming up on Wednesday Arsene obviously didn't want to gamble with the fitness of a few key players, some of whom are fatigued and others only just back from injury. Stoke away is a tough game, most of the youngsters gave a good account of themselves, Eastmond in particular, Sol had a pretty solid afternoon given his recent lack of competitive action. On the negative Theo Walcott had another afternoon to forget, he would do well to take a long hard look at himself rather than being so aggressive towards the officials at times, the manager's patience with Theo should not be infinite. Our eggs appear to be amassing in one basket, whether resting so many key men today was the right decision remains to be seen.

Bolton fallout continues and Stoke 'rough up'

Firstly at least one person from Bolton, Owen Coyle their manager, has seen sense and realised that his initial words were over the top regarding the Gallas tackle. The clear media bias can be seen in this Star article as the tackle is called a 'horror' tackle. In reality it was just a foul with studs up and nothing more sensational, as can be seen on video and from the photo above Gallas had his leg bent when he made contact, he did throw his body weight into the tackle, he quickly changed direction and got on with the game, it was just a mistimed clip with the studs up. It is unfortunate that Davies was injured as a result but we see a lot of yellow cards given every week for tackles that are far worse, Robinson's on Sunday for example. The reaction from certain sections of the media and some Bolton supporters has been both hysterical and inconsistent.

Arsene has acted very objectively whilst many around him have been throwing toys around and wetting the nappies that they should have overgrown by now. The Sun has today picked up on Arsene's words and shown the clear malice that was present in Taylor's off the ball efforts on Cesc Fabregas. If the ref could see this on video then I am sure most would have given Taylor a red card, poetic justice was far away though, Taylor was rather happy when he celebrated his penatly at 2-0 on Wednesday, maybe the thug should have saved his gloating for the final whistle. Arsene has also quite rightly nailed Sky for their gutter standards in 'brainwashing' viewers with their lazy sensationalist journalism.

Sky have a long history of highlighting the innocuous while ignoring the much less innocuous. One example of this I could never forget is a Van Nistelrooy off the ball right hook into Freddy Ljungerg's stomach, it was caught on camera and ignored. Sky's intellectually challenged pundits like Andy Gray and Jamie Redknapp are clearly not objective in their analysis of events, they will ignore leg breaking tackles if carried out on teams and players that they do not like, while if Sir Wayne Rooney or Sir Steven Gerrard jump in two footed then it is nothing but a good firm tackle. The hysteria created over Eduardo's dive was utterly ridiculous and was typical of this media brainwashing, an even more blatant dive by Darren Fletcher which the ref punished with a yellow card a few weeks later was completely ignored by our noble objective media.

The Mail's headline "Angry Arsene Wenger hits out: You are all out to get Arsenal!" gives their agenda away, rather than actually looking at their very own slack journalistic standards and useless sensationalist gutter standards, they try to make a joke out of it by portraying Arsene as a paranoid fool. The Guardian covers things in typically more objective fashion, at least not all papers and TV channels rely upon appealing to the lowest common denominator to sell their wares. Some Bolton fans continue to amuse me with their tear jerking whining, a particularly bright spark thought publishing an article entitled ' a visit to the grubbiest club in football' would not create a few rather angry responses. I think this author would do well to refrain from call Arsenal fans 'cerebrally challenged riff-raff ' and 'mentally disadvantaged', it is obviously not going to encourage a reasoned debate. This author clearly realised he cannot win this argument with objective reason, he would rather stir up hatred with his puerile insults, a bit sad really.

The way the media condone teams deliberately fouling and injuring Arsenal players in order to beat them while criticising Arsenal players for relatively mild foul tackles shows their rank bias and hypocrisy. Ricardo Fuller's words in the Star demonstrate this point very nicely for Arsene. I remember the media were strangely quiet last year when Stoke put three of our players out injured with bad tackles, the one on Adebayor by Shawcross was a clear red card tackle and made Gallas' look like a kiss on the cheek. This was probably just good old 'English play' I'd imagine, if we were to do the same to anyone it would be 'dirty Arsenal' cheating their way to victory.

Anyway away from the hysterical nonsense and onto the business that is Stoke away on Sunday. Stoke are struggling to score goals this season and if we can defend the aerial balls well then I think we will come away with a result. It seems that Eastmond or Coquelin will replace Sagna who has a dodgy shoulder. I'd guess that Fabianski will play in goal, Traore may give Clichy a break as he has only just returned from injury, we may see Silvestre and Bartley at centre back. Injuries and absentees (Song, Diaby, Ramsey, Nasri) may well force Arsene's hand in midfield, Denilson, Eastmond and a.n.other might well make up the three. Then I'd chance my hand that Vela, Eduardo and Walcott will play up top. Given our injuries and the number of key games we have coming up I think Arsene has no choice but to rest the key players, it will be a big test for the young lads though. Elsewhere William Gallas' contract talks are going well, Big Phil is set to join Everton on loan (does anyone know when his contract runs out by the way?) and Bolton fans are still indulging in a lot of hypocritical whining.

Unfortunate Gibbs, Smalling and Bolton's war crimes

Kieran Gibbs' run of bad luck has continued with the news that he is to undergo surgery on the first metatarsal fracture that he sustained against Standard Liege in the Champions League back in November. From a medical perspective it is slightly strange that he has a non healing first metatarsal fracture, given that it was operated on initially. If the fracture was bad enough to need surgery initially then one would have expected the fracture to have been fixed at that point to improve the chances of it healing. Either way it is very unlucky for Gibbs as 1st metatarsal fractures rarely have problems healing and the the surgery that he now requires is a much bigger deal involving bone graft and several months waiting for it to heal. There is a small chance that the fracture will in fact have healed when it is opened up for the surgery, this can sometime happen, stranger things have happened.

The above interview with Arsene Wenger is well worth a viewing, his comments about the infamous and rather nothingy Gallas tackle are full of sense and perspective, the exact opposite of Bolton's manager's, players' and supporters' comments since the game. If Gallas' tackle was an assault then I think Bolton should be put on trial in Le Hague for the war crimes that they have committed in previous seasons against us. Rather interestingly Arsene was very coy when asked if he had made enquiries about Chris Smalling, the young and powerful Fulham defender, Arsene said it was important that nothing came out until a player had been signed, he had a rather large grin on his face, so watch this space. There is some good injury news in that Abou Diaby's calf injury is only minor, so he shouldn't be out for too long, Bacary Sagna has a dodgy shoulder so he will also miss at least the Stoke game, who on earth will play at right back against Stoke is anyone's guess?

Finally in Africa Cameroon have drawn their final game against Zambia, while Gabon have lost to Zambia, this leaves three teams on four points: Cameroon, Zambia and Gabon. All these sides have won and drawn one amongst themselves, and all three sides have a balanced goal difference of zero. I presume Gabon will go out based on their lower goals scored, damn that means Cameroon squeeze through to fight another day.

Hysteria exposes media's partiality and Bolton's ridiculous whining

Firstly Mark Davies has not sustained a serious injury, and obviously every Arsenal fan would wish him a quick recovery to footballing action. I am not surprised it is not as serious as some people feared, as it really wasn't that bad a tackle from Gallas. Paul Robinson, a Bolton player who did far worse to Cesc at the weekend, called it 'disgusting', obviously this man doesn't possess a mirror or television, a mirror to look at his own ugly face and a television to see how his tackles are routinely worse than Gallas'. The frenzied Owen Coyle likened the tackle to an 'assault', bizarre words given how mild Gallas' tackle was compared to what we see dished out in the Premiership week in week out.

The way in which Arsene Wenger has behaved has been rather brilliant, he has even apologised 'if it was a foul', something that no Bolton manager has ever done despite some of the quite brutish violent things that their players have done over the years. Various Bolton supporters have been quick to jump on the moral high ground, strange given their team's and players' history of kicking lumps off anything that has a pulse for the past decade or two. Any Bolton fan may wish to remember this game as one of just numerous examples of how their thuggish cloggers got away with numerous red card tackles injuring several of our players in the process, Ljungberg and Lauren were taken out for several weeks on this occasion with far worse tackles that the Gallas one.

The 'Gallas furore' is a creation of the media and Bolton's, it is not based on the reality of Gallas' mildly dangerous tackle, fact and evidence have been ignored, the hysterical reaction based on emotional bias has begun. I have watched the tackle several times today in the cold light of day and it is a yellow card offense at worse. He goes in for the ball, he has his studs up dangerously, however his leg is never straight, he is never out of control with his body weight, it is a definite foul and a yellow card for the studs up, that's it, it is never a red card, it is certainly no 'assault' and it is certainly not 'disgusting'. One of the most objective Arsenal commentators around is firm with his assessment and feels it is a yellow card, no more. Nigel Winterburn has also commented in the media today stating that it is a massive over reaction from Bolton and that it is more of a yellow card tackle.

The media's and Bolton's reaction have been nothing but an embarrassment. The media routinely ignore far worse tackles on players without even commenting, they have just decided to sell a few extra papers by sensationalising a pretty unexciting story. Bolton's reaction has also been an absolute disgrace. They have been hypocritical in the extreme. In the past they have been guilty of numerous offences far worse than Gallas' tackle, they have never apologised for some truly reckless violent play, they have never tried to play football fairly, there has always been an underlying cynical, aggressive and unpleasant edge to their game. Take Matt Taylor's off the ball attack on Cesc last weekend or Knight's manhandling of Carlos Vela as he attacked him by the scruff of the neck.

Bolton had a little bad luck last night but overall the better side won the game, why not get on with things and stop trying to sensationalise the mundane? I am sure the ridiculous whining emanating from up north will continue for a little while yet, I am quite enjoying it though, it shows Bolton in the true colours, a bunch of hypocrites who are very happy to dish it out, but when something relatively little is dished back to them, they go crying for their mummies.

Bolton stun Emirates and Arsenal respond

The line up saw Clichy and Denilson return for Traore and Eastmond. The game started very much a la Everton, there just wasn't the drive and tempo in the Arsenal game that should be present in a side going for the top of the table spot.

Bolton took a shock lead, some hashed defending led to an up in the air Clichy clearance being diverted towards Cahill by Davies, Cahill put it home firmly. We then had a few chances, Eduardo fired just over, Arshavin just wide. A shocking bit of tackling from Denilson that gave Bolton their second via the penalty spot, Denilson getting nowhere near the ball and chopping down Lee in the box, Taylor converted, two nil down with only around half an hour gone.

Thus far it had been a performance that has lacked all the ingredients needed for winning the title. Our defending has been shabby, our attacking play has been too laboured and in front of Bolton's banks of four. There was a real lack of pace in our play and I hate to say it but at at 2-0, the word complacency sprang to mind.

After the second Bolton goal we finally started playing. The tempo was upped, we started playing with more directness and desire. Eduardo missed a great chance twelve yards out with the goal at his mercy after fantastic Fabregas work. Knight almost flicked a header into his own net, it bounced back off the bar and away to Bolton's great relief. Finally the pressure paid off, Rosicky drove towards goal in the inside right position, he then unleashed an unstoppable rasping drive into the top right. Half time couldn't come too soon for Bolton, 2-1 it was at the break and how important it was to get this goal back so that we were within touching distance.

It didn't take long for the scores to become level. Gallas won the ball in midfield, the Bolton man went down and stayed down, the ref played on quite rightly, it broke to Cesc on the edge of the box who took it on and slipped the ball home brilliantly from a tight angle, 2-2 the score. Cesc had been by far our best player on the night, he almost got our third, forcing a fantastic Jaaskelainen top over.

The best goal came third, the ball broke to Thomas Vermaelen who belted it in off a post with the outside of his left peg, a cracking half volley, 3-2 and we led for the first time. Unfortunately Abou Diaby then went down injured and stayed down, the treatment came and he then went off, very worrying indeed given our ever increasing number of midfielder injuries. For the third time this week Fabregas was denied a stone wall penalty as he edged the ball past Jaaskelainen, and he was clearly brought down, the ref bottled it and gave a goal kick. The goal that allowed a little bit of relaxation before the whistle came after an attempted one two between Arshavin and Eduardo, the ball broke to the Russian who slammed it home from six yards out, 4-2. A majestic fifth almost followed as a fabulous dribble from almost half way by Arshavin, he beat Knight and was through on the keeper, a good low save kept him at bay for once.

This was a roller coaster of a football match and we are now top of the league. I don't think we'll stay there that long if we start games as we did tonight though. The man of the match was undoubtedly Cesc Fabregas, inspirational and at the heart of everything good we did, Arshavin was also more involved, Almunia also dealt well with the aerial challenge that Bolton pose. On the negative Diaby's injury is potentially a massive blow, hopefully he'll be back soon, while Denilson is clearly not capable of filling the central defensive midfield slot. If Arsene needs to provide the team with any motivation in future months then he should make the team watch their performance for the first half an hour today over and over again. I shouldn't whinge when we have three points though.

Finally there is a beautiful poetic justice about today's win. I am sure the media will be full of pathetic whinging about Gallas' tackle that led to our equalising goal, it was a yellow card in my eyes, nothing more. Given all the horrendous tackles and injuries that Bolton have inflicted upon us over recent years they have no right to complain. They are a dire footballing side that has been characterised by long balls and cynical thuggery, they deserve no luck from the beautiful game, I feel no sympathy for Bolton.

Speaking manure, common in football

It's really quite amazing how a lot of people open their mouths without engaging the brain. I was just listening to the radio last night and heard fat Sam Allardyce talking ahead of their second leg match against Villa. Obviously fat Sam has an average set of cloggers playing for him at Blackburn and he wants to reduce expectations but he went a little far in his interview. He said that Villa on top form would beat anyone in the Premiership, now it would be reasonable to say that Villa on top form would be a good match for any side, or that Villa on top form would wipe the floor with Blackburn, but to say that Villa on top form are the best around is utter manure. Why the journalist didn't pick him up on this I have no idea.

Then I heard George Gillette, Liverpool's co-owner, on the radio today. Obviously he wants to pretend that all is not quite as bad as it appears at Anfield, however the level to which he stooped with his propaganda was ridiculous. Apparently Liverpool's form is just a 'blip' and this is all the fault of lady luck who has dealt them a 'curved ball' portion of it. Gillette went on to cite Sunderland's beach ball goal as a turning point, ignoring the fact that Sunderland were by far the better side over the ninety that day. He then talked of Torres as the best striker in the world, well that's not a bad claim, then he started taking the michael by claiming Gerrard was the best midfielder in Europe, maybe the best at beating the shit out of people for no decent reason. Liverpool get a couple of injuries to their key players and they are left with a squad of mediocrity. Look at the injuries Arsenal and Manu have had this season, our seasons are not crumbing as Liverpool's is, they have do depth, simple as that.

There have been some good Manu games recently, the Leeds cup game was a good one, Fergie's face a joy to behold at the final whistle, then last night watching them fall at City was a good way to spend an evening. The stories coming out concerning the Glazer's borrowing and Manu's debts make for some very scary reading indeed, personally I don't think they should have been allowed to do what they have done to a football club.

Meanwhile UEFA have felt the need to produce a team of the year, unsurprisingly the strongest league in Europe only has two players in this mighty team. It's a bit like the world player of the year award, it always goes to a glamorous name from a glamorous club, how well they have played comes secondary in terms of importance. UEFA's team contains a right back who can't defend, Alves, a centre back who looks distinctly average against a good striker, Puyol, and a goalkeeper whose side did nothing of note last year, Casillas. The world and European governing bodies have always been biased towards the Italian and Spanish leagues, players like Vidic, Rooney and Torres are far better than some of those in UEFA's side.

Onto Bolton tonight, we need another three points, Walcott and Denilson are back but Nasri, Merida and Ramsey are all out. I'd imagine Denilson will start ahead of Eastmond, while Rosicky may well make way for Walcot and Traore for Clichy. I can't see too many other changes to the side. It will be key that we defend well, as conceding first will play into Bolton's hands, I hope Denilson can up his defensive game and prove me wrong.