Maddy’s Note: Early Christmas present for all you BigFourZa regulars. The Man from the Emirates; Felipe is back. I don’t agree with everything he’s said here today. But I sure am glad that we have him back .
One thing is for sure; this is the weakest Arsenal squad I have ever seen in my entire life.
A freezing evening in north London. And here I congratulate all the Gooners who attended the game even in such painful cold. As I stepped outside the tube station, even the warm breeze coming from the hot dogs and fish & chips stands could not even make things a bit more tolerable. And then I realised I had to head to the Emirates as fast as I could so I could protect myself from the low temperature.
As soon as the game kicked off, however, all I saw was an Arsenal side completely frozen. Our fluency and tempo was low. The lack of incisiveness and ruthlessness since the injury of van Persie was even more blatant now that Fabregas was also out. We were all expecting Nasri to fill de void left by the captain, and yet, Wenger surprised us by preferring Diaby over Samir in the middle. Eduardo was once again in the starting XI, leaving Walcott on the bench – which was not surprising given his recent poor perfomances.
Despite of the changes, the first half was very disappointing. Arsenal lacked sharpness and the connection between our midfield and our attack was poor. Diaby was not doing his job as a playmaker and that left us with only one option; the aerial balls. And what is the point of crossing balls when our centre forward is a 5 ft. 4 Russian? I must say, however, that even with that lack of sharpness, Hull City were still unable to do us any harm. They played a completely coward game, always defending and stopping the plays with fouls. When things started to get tense, we got a foul on the right edge of their box. The distance was considerable, indeed, but Denilson stepped up to take it following a similar chance spoiled by Nasri. And suprisingly, the Brazilian found the back of the nets through a beautiful curling ball just before half time.
The second half was more intense – as it is getting common now. I wonder what kind of speech Wenger made inside the dressing room following that mediocre perfomance from the Gunners, but it did work once again as we looked sharper. Eduardo looked more dangerous and things started to work up front and we were never in trouble. However, in a completely pointless cross by the Tigers, Silvestre pulled Fagan by his shirt, allowing the ref to give them a penalty. Everything they wanted, but not what they played for. Geovanni stepped up to take the penalty kick, and do not ask me why, but I was so confident he would miss the chance that it ended up really happening. Almunia saved what could have been the turning point of the game. And I am sure of that, too. Had Geo netted that ball, the outcome of the game would have been another. This Arsenal side struggles to win against defensive minded teams and Hull would have sit deep had they scored the equaliser, affecting our morale and confidence. Luckily Almunia was there. And football is bloody funny, is not it? After a stupid mistake against Liverpool, Manuel saves us in the same day Man United were trashed by the Cottagers. Following that, Hull City realised they were killed already, allowing Arsenal to make the most of their chances. Diaby passed the ball to Song before having it back on his feet inside the box. The Frenchman looked up, found an unmarked Eduardo and assisted him with brilliance, making it 2-0. Minutes after that, Diaby was once again under the spotlight after receiving a gift from Arshavin. Abou cleared the defender off before tapping the ball to the net, killing the game off once and for all. Subs Walcott and Vela fired up the game during the final minutes, but it was already done.
Despite the scoreline I must admit I was not convinced by that team. Our midfield without Fabregas was pathetic as we simply could not break a poor defensive line like theirs. Silvestre looked good on the left flank but where the hell was all his experience when he made that penalty on Fagan? Eboue looked good on the right. I would play him more often there, definitely. Gallas and Vermaelen were once again brilliant. The defensive duo and Song are, for me, our best and most vital players at this moment. Three absolutely solid players whose strenght and consistence are saving our season so far. Despite of his goal, Denilson is still someone who looks lost in our midfield. He does not defend properly and he does not attack either. Diaby had a lucky night, despite of everything. But I am proud of him and here is to him playing like that from now on. Nasri and Arshavin were absolutely quiet during the entire game, something intolerable as both are inteligent players who can win us games from nowhere. Play them where they produce the most instead of wasting them on the flanks where they look hopeless. I say that because, for me, Eduardo was our centre forward today, place in which he delivered – though only in the second half – having a great game after all.
3-0. The result could not have been any better following the Man United loss at west London. But what worries me is our football. Somehow I do not trust this team as they do not have the due winning mentality. We beat Liverpool playing bad football, were once again poor at Turf Moor and now we won again, following one more pathetic overall perfomance. This squad just can not match the bigger teams. And here I am not referring to the big four, I am referring to Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Barcelona. This squad will not win the Champions League, not in a million years. We lack a world class player, a target man like Van Persie was before that bloody friendly match against Italy. We need victorious players, we need a solid mentality and players that can win us the title, and not players for profit making.
We are in desperate need of reinforcements. We need a centre forward. We need a decent centre back in case we need. We need a playmaker in case we need. We need to strenghten our squad so we can avoid the same reason why we have not lifted any silverware during these years: the injuries. Differently from Liverpool, by the way, we now the reason why we can not win the title. So why on earth do not the Arsenal board splash some cash on January and save our season? Even without countless important players we are managing to win some vital points – and here is something a winning team have: luck. So for the good of our club, do not mess things up, people. Spend so we can beat Porto – because if we do not, that would be a massive catastrophe – and thanks to the craziness of this season we might end up overachieving and winning something – which would be unbelieavable.
A victory against Aston Villa next weekend will kind of guarantee us a top four position. A massive, massive game we just have to win. The Villans are on red hot form, following victories at Old Trafford and everything. And these are the difference-maker games. Fabregas will be back and fingers crossed the same luck that have been with us will be our star man on Sunday.
And finally, it is massive not to be carried away by the loss of Man United, the sack of Hughes nor anything.
The only thing I care is about Arsenal Football Club. I do not care if we can go to second should we win our game in hand. I think high, I have true ambitions and a Champions League spot should not be our target. The Champions League is, in fact, the least a Gunner can hope for. Winning against Hull City is our obligation as a traditional and victorious club, hence the importance of thinking high and admitting I do not see this team beating Porto at Estadio do Dragao. And with that being put, it is vital to be ambitious, to swallow our pride and to spend some money before it is too late.
There was a lot of debate as to whether we deserved to win or not. Hull city did not attack and were prepared only to draw. Diaby played well and yesterdays win should be credited to him.