Nicklas Bendtner... scoring at Camp Nou
The week that was - April 2010
April 21, 2010
I’ve been trying to think what single word would best describe this past week from an Arsenal perspective. The best I can come up with is ‘blarg’, but I’m not sure that actually qualifies as a word.
After losing to Tottenham in the league for the first time since two presidents ago, I remained oddly optimistic. Yes, our hopes for lifting the Premier League trophy fell precipitously, but when I did the math the next day I realized something rather uplifting. With a little bit of help from some other teams, we could very realistically go into the final match of the season at home to Fulham with a chance, however remote, of winning the title.
Talk about noticeable improvement! Staying in the title race until the last day of the season? Fighting to the end even though more than half of our starting XI were missing for several of the final games? Not a bad consolation prize!
And all we needed to do was win all of our remaining games.
Blarg.
At least Robin van Persie made his much-anticipated return to the squad, and it didn’t take long for him to make an impact.
But the injury carousel continued its agonizing spin again. Thomas Vermaelen is out for the rest of the season with a calf injury he picked up against Spurs. Between him, Gallas and Arshavin, I’m starting to think bird flu and swine flu have a new companion. Enter calf flu! The cable news networks and tabloids should be on this one momentarily.
In all seriousness though, when you examine who else was missing from the squad that played against Wigan, you see something remarkable. Arsenal could have put together a pretty amazing squad in the treatment room: Almunia, Djourou, Vermaelen, Gallas, Gibbs, Fabregas, Song, Ramsey, Arshavin and Eduardo. Throw in Robin van Persie for good measure as he only played the final few minutes and I don’t think that is a line-up that would have upset many Arsenal fans at the start of the season.
Of course, injuries are no excuse and for most of the game things seemed okay if not quite up to par. Goals from Theo Walcott and Mikael Silvestre gave Arsenal a comfortable two goal cushion which we held for 80 minutes. Ben Watson score what seemed to be Wigan’s consolation goal, but then things got worse. Taking a page out of Arsenal’s playbook this season, Wigan kept fighting and scored two more goals in the closing minutes to steal both the three points and any remaining hopes for Arsenal to lift the trophy.
After the gut-wrenching loss, Arsène Wenger was not pleased. "At the end of the day we conceded three goals against a team that has struggled to score,” he said. “We can only think about ourselves and our own mistakes."
When asked what he said to the team following the match he said simply, "I will keep that for myself."
Silvestre talked about what the team needs to do over the remaining three games, telling Arsenal TV Online, "We have to work harder because all the teams in the championship are fighting for their lives.” And Arsenal is one of those teams as we still don’t have a lock on third place.
So while we focus on the rest of this season, much of the football world is already looking ahead to next season. Many of the questions put to Wenger at Friday’s press conference involved potential off-season moves. Among the subjects discussed, the Boss did not want to talk specifics about goalkeepers, but doubts that one oft-mentioned target, Hugo Lloris, will move away from Lyon. Meanwhile, he did concede that the squad needs some help defensively and made what seems to be a weekly commentary on rumors about Cesc’s future.
But he also talked about what a strong position the Club is in right now and hinted that he aims to strengthen the squad significantly during the summer transfer window. He said that there is “a good chance” that Bordeaux’s Maroune Chamakh will sign for us over the summer, but that was as far as he would go. When pressed he responded with, "we will announce the deals after the league [finishes].”
This weekend’s game against Manchester City is as far as he wants to look right now, and with good reason. They come to town desperate to get back into the last Champions League spot after being supplanted by Tottenham last weekend. For us, a win would be a huge confidence booster and the three points would put us on the brink of securing third in the league. Plus, revenge would be nice.
Come on you Gunners!
Until next week...
- Kevin Mooney
April 14, 2010
Today’s latest installment of ‘Arsenal’s biggest game of the year’ is really extra special. Unlike some of our recent matches, this one is more than simply needing three points. This one adds passion, history and a player’s long-awaited return into the mix. It’s the kind of match that can define our season no matter what else happens.
It’s derby time!
Arsenal travel up the road to White Hart Lane in just a few hours and the excitement is brewing. Normally, the game itself is reason enough to bring excitement. But this is one of the most important North London derbies in recent memory. Arsenal need a win to stay in the title race. Spurs need a win to keep their Champions League aspirations intact. It’s not an easy place to play, and Tottenham’s home form has been pretty impressive.
But there are also some alluring sub-plots. After five months out, Robin van Persie is back in the line-up. Arsène Wenger raved about his form this week, saying that in training he “looks like he has never been out."
For those concerned that the Boss is rushing Van Persie back too soon, Wenger insisted the Club has been very cautious with the striker. Besides, unlike the injuries to William Gallas and Cesc Fabregas, the Dutchman has had plenty of time to get healthy and all he needs is a bit of match fitness.
Wenger says that if had been healthy all season, his name would be mentioned in the same breath as Messi and Rooney. And based on how well he had been playing before the injury, maybe we would be a few points in front of Chelsea and Manchester United, rather than a few points behind.
Speaking of injuries, both teams are missing key players. Arsenal fans are painfully aware of our injury problems, and Alex Song has just joined that list. Colin Lewin, Arsenal’s physiotherapist, spoke to Arsenal.com last week to shed some light on the injury situation and why this season has been the worst for traumatic injuries. But Spurs are also missing some important players to injury and suspension among them Aaron Lennon and former Arsenal trialist Wilson Palacios.
But one player who is healthy is Arsenal’s Sol Campbell, who will likely start against his old team. He moved across North London in 2001 on a free transfer and the bad feelings still linger. Arsène Wenger knows that the Tottenham fans are sure to let him have it, but is hopeful that they keep it clean and not repeat some of the abuse they dished out when he played for Portsmouth.
Tottenham also may be dealing with a little extra fatigue tonight. They played 120 minutes on the infamously bad Wembley Stadium pitch in their weekend FA Cup loss to Pompey. Arsenal, meanwhile, have had eight days to recover physically and mentally since the Barcelona match. Mix some heavy legs with Theo Walcott’s speed toward the end of the game, and it’s a delicious prospect.
Contract talk was also on people’s minds this week. Wenger said there are no developments in talks with William Gallas. Nothing good, but nothing bad, so we’ll just have to sit back and wait. The Boss also said he hasn’t decided yet on whether or not to offer a new deal to Sol. The 35-year-old has played more than Wenger anticipated, and probably better too.
The biggest contract news, of course, is relating to Cesc. He was once again linked to a move to Barcelona this weekend, but Wenger not only denied the rumor, but also listed reasons why he thinks Cesc isn’t going anywhere.
Congratulations go out to Samir Nasri for landing the Goal of the Month award for his incredible shot against Porto. And Nicklas Bendter managed to wrestle away the EA SPORTS Player of the Month award from Cesc after netting four times in March. The big Dane says that his move to the center of the pitch is a big reason for his improvement.
Looking ahead… oh never mind. The only thing that matters right now is beating Spurs. Come on you Gunners!
Until next week…
- Kevin Mooney
April 7, 2010
Our Champions League run may be over and the aggregate score may look pretty lopsided, but no one can accuse us of giving up. And I for one am incredibly proud to be a Gooner.
In the first leg, we conceded twice at home and after an hour we had been outplayed and outmatched by the defending European champions. That would break the back of just about anyone.
But we came back. Theo Walcott scored the first almost immediately after coming off the bench and Cesc Fabregas equalized on a penalty kick with a broken fibula. I defy anyone to suggest this team lacks desire.
Unfortunately, there was something the team lacked for the second leg: players. As we have grown accustomed to, Arsenal went to Camp Nou for Tuesday’s second-leg match devastated by injuries. We were missing our top three attacking options, a holding midfielder and a central defender. And that’s just from the starting XI.
Despite those injuries, one thing was never broken: the spirit of this team.
After 18 minutes, Walcott centered the ball to Nicklas Bendter, who managed to get off a shot despite pressure from Victor Valdes. Barcelona’s keeper made the save, but the big Dane kept his focus and managed to knock in the rebound. Arsenal had the lead, the momentum, and more than just a little bit of hope. It was exactly the situation that Arsène Wenger was hoping for.
And then things got Messi.
Lionel Messi scored the next four goals and secured his status as the best player in the world. Describing the Argentine’s performance, Wenger said, “It looks impossible but he makes it possible.” Meanwhile, Thomas Vermaelen refused to blame Arsenal’s injury problems saying that Barcelona were simply too good over the span of the two games.
It’s never easy to watch your team lose, especially by a score line of 4-1. But at least we can say that we were beaten by a better team and a truly remarkable player. Best of luck to Barcelona in their semi-final against Inter.
Understandably, the Barcelona games overshadowed Arsenal’s other match this week. Sitting just on the safe side of the relegation zone, Wolverhampton was always going to put up a good fight. And for 94 minutes Wolves, and especially goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, managed to keep Arsenal at bay. Even while down to 10 men, after Karl Henry was sent off for a tackle from behind on Tomas Rosicky, it looked like Arsenal would drop two points and lose all hope of taking the Premiership title.
But then Bendtner respectfully disagreed and headed in the winner deep into stoppage time. Commenting on another example of how this team never gives up, Bendtner said "We kept creating chance after chance and got what we deserved in the end, which was a victory." And with Chelsea beating Manchester United earlier in the day, it was three key points for Arsenal, and more reason to believe the title race is far from over.
So five games are left, and all of them are in the league. Arsenal lays three points behind Chelsea and one behind Manchester United. As it has been for the last few weeks, every remaining game is now the biggest game of the season. And next up is certainly no exception. On Wednesday, we head up the road to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham in arguably the most important North London derby in years. Simply put, we need to win each and every game in order to win the title, and they need the win to keep their Champions League aspirations alive. Between that and the 3-0 drubbing Spurs suffered in October at Emirates Stadium, it’s safe to assume they will be up for this one.
There is only one trophy left to win, and it’s a biggie. Come on you Gunners!
Until next week…
- Kevin Mooney
Print this page Email to a friend
