EPL Fixture Preview: Arsenal vs. Portsmouth

Ground: Emirates Stadium (Arsenal)

Arsenal Injuries: Theo Walcott, Abou Diaby, Thomas Rosicky, Samir Nasri, Lusakz Fabianski

Portsmouth Injuries: Steven Finnan, Linvoy Primus, Hermann Hreidarsson

Arsenal are coming into this game on a high after recording two quality wins over Everton and Celtic on opposing grounds. Arsene Wenger’s men have only conceded one goal so far, and have powered 7 past their opponents. Vermaelen seems to have settled very well into the squad and provides an excellent spine alongside Almunia, Gallas and the increasingly impressive Song. With the new 4-3-3 formation, the team is pressuring well high up the pitch, which creates great counter attacks opportunities.

Portsmouth have lost their first two games; both 1-0 losses to Fulham and Birmingham. They are expected to struggle heavily this season, as they are selling players to service their debt. They have let go of the like of Glen Johnson, Peter Crouch, Sean Davis and Sol Campbell and the squad now struggles to score goals.

Arsenal should fancy their chances against a weak Portsmouth that is low on confidence and lacking a cutting edge. I think they are going to stick with their current 4-3-3 formation and play their regulars, considering they have pretty much wrapped up the Champions League tie.

Formation (4-3-3)

---------------------Almunia-----------------------
Sagna--------Gallas---Vermaelen--------Clichy
----------------Song---Denilson-----------------
---------------------Fabregas---------------------
Bendtner----------------------------------Arshavin
--------------------Van Persie----------------------

I am predicting a 3-0 win for Arsenal.

Game Recap: Arsenal vs. Everton

Arsenal players are in a celebratory mood after Gallas scores the opening goal in the 43' minute.

Score:

Arsenal 2 - 0 Celtic

Scoring Summary:

Gallas 43'

Caldwell (OG) 70'

Good performance by the Gunners yesterday against a very tricky opponent. Arsenal lined up in the same 4-3-3 formation that was used in the Everton game, and luckily Cesc Fabregas was fit for the game. Both goals had a measure of luck, the first much more so than the latter, but Arsenal seemed good value for the win. At the beginning of the game, Arsenal dominated possession but Celtic were pressuring well and no quarter was being asked or given. Much of the game was being played in the midfield in the early going and the pressing was working effectively for both teams.

Around the quarter hour mark, Andrei Arshavin fired in a shot after a deflection off the Celtic player but he was rightfully called offside. Arshavin was largely anonymous in the game, but did have some good moments of running and kept possession well. The game really opened up when Arsenal scored their first goal. A Gary Caldwell foul led to a free-kick opportunity from about 30 yards out. Robin Van Persie rolled it for Fabregas who whipped in a shot. Arthur Boruc seemed to have had it covered had it not been for a lucky deflection off the back of Gallas into the far post. That is two goals for him in two games, and if Arsenal continue to get goals from unlikely sources and from set plays, it will go a long way to beating negative opponents.

Celtic played a formation with Aiden McGready as a long striker and he played well in that role, but it seemed like manager Tony Mowbry played too defensive a lineup at home. Celtic have had success against top European sides in this competition, but the atmosphere at Parkhead was not enough to boost this side. Scott Brown and Georgios Samaras played wide for width and Celtic had some success playing through ball behind our full-backs, but there was not enough pressure for a sustained attack.

Possibly the closest moment when Celtic came to scoring was on the counter after a broken set play. McGeady skipped around an Arsenal defender on the left side and played a wonderful chip over last man Clichy to the onrushing Brown who seemed to have a wide open volley from 5 feet but Thomas Vermaelen sprinted the entire pitch and manage to break up the play at the critical moment. I can not be more impressed with how Vermaelen has adapted to this Arsenal squad. His attacking of the first ball seems to be an ideal complement to William Gallas' method of sweeping up the mess. Also, Arsene Wenger metioned Vermaelen in his post-game chat, saying:

'I believe he has a good mix of the physical and technical for a centre-back and
it is interesting to have a left-footed player because he gives you angles for
the pass which are very important for the midfielder."

He rounds off a very good defense, but depth in central defense remains a concern. We may need one more player who can play central and right back in case of injury and when Eboue goes off to the ACN.

The second half began with Arsenal controlling the ball with more space, as Celtic opened up to find that second goal. Celtic changed their formation by introducing striker Scott McDonald 15 minutes into the second half, but it proved be ineffective. It was obvious when watching the game that Arsenal's class was far above that of Celtic and Celtic didn't really have a life-line back in the game.

Arsenal sealed the game and likely the tie with a goal in the 71th minute. Fresh substitute Abou Diaby made a good run in central midfield before finding Clichy on the left. Clichy played a good low cross which Caldwell poled into his own net. The Celtic skipper had a very poor game with both of his mistakes directly attributed for the goals.

Arsenal just passed the ball around and the final ten minutes became a training exercise. Song played a very good game, intercepting passes and making intelligent tackles. What impressed me the most was his passing, where he really did spring a few attacks. If Song is able to improve on his ball control and passing, he could become a very good defensive midfielder for Arsenal.

African Cup of Nations

This, however, brings a concern for Arsenal as he is going to leave for the ACN this winter. I am expecting Wenger not to buy any additional players for midfield and I think that he is going to play a middle three of:

Nasri-----Cesc

----Denilson---

with Rosicky another option for the front two. This formation is more aggressive than the one being used right now, but I think Wenger is modelling the central part of the pitch after Barcelona's three and having two creative and good dribbling midfielders with one ball-winning defensive midfielder.

Rosicky may also replace Bendtner on the right giving a formation of (during the ACN):

-----------------Almunia-----------------------

Sagna-------Gallas---Vermaelen---------Clichy

----------------Denilson-----------------------

-------------Cesc-------Nasri------------------

Rosicky-------------------------------Arshavin

-----------------Van Persie--------------------

which is a fantastic lineup. Substitute Denilson with Song and that would be my preferred lineup for the 4-3-3 formation.

Even though we have won two games, I still feel that the 4-4-2 would be more effective for this Arsenal team. Most of our goals have come of set-plays and the 4-3-3 really dampers the ability of the top three to roam into their favourable positions. Arshavin and Van Persie have been largely non-existent in the first two games, and this will have to change in the upcoming weeks.

Champions League Fixture Preview: Arsenal vs. Celtic

Ground: Celtic Park (Parkhead)
Arsenal Injuries: Theo Walcott, Abou Diaby, Samir Nasri, Thomas Rosicky, Johan Djoruru, Lukasz Fabianski
Celtic Injuries: Glenn Loovens, Shaun Maloneym, Stephen McManus

Arsenal travel north to Glasgow today to face Celtic, one of the two teams in the Scottish Old Firm. Celtic have just started their season and are up against a in-form Arsenal, who have just destroyed Everton 6-1 and are surely brimming with confidence. Apparently the manager of Celtic has a “cunning plan” to try to stop Arsenal, but he must feel that a tie or even a small loss would be an ideal outcome in this match.

Some notable players at Celtic include: Samaras (formerly of Man City), Scott Brown (a promising talent), Aiden McGeady, and goaltender Artur Boruc. They have some talent on the team, but I doubt it would be enough to seriously threaten Arsenal.

Arsenal still have a large number of injuries and there have been reports that Fabregas may have picked up a knock last game. He is important to provide the creativity to break down negative opponents and hopefully be fit for the game.

Although the game is important, I think Wenger may play some of the younger players because of injury concerns and to provide experience. I think Wenger may stick with the 4-3-3, and my predicted line-up would be:

-------------------------Almunia--------------------------
Sagna----------Vermaelen----Gallas-----------Clichy
-----------------------------Song-------------------------
---------------------Denilson—Ramsey----------------
Arshavin-----------------------------------------Bendtner
-------------------------------RVP-------------------------

I am predicting a 2-0 for the Gunners.

Game Recap: Arsenal vs. Everton

The players celebrating Eduardo's goal

Score:
Arsenal 6 - 1 Everton

Scoring Summary:
Denilson 26'
Vermaelen 37'
Gallas 41'
Fabregas 48'
Fabregas 70'
Eduardo 89'


What an impressive win for Arsenal! I had predicted a 2-1 win for the Gunners, and I felt that might have been pushing luck as Everton at Goodison are tough to beat. However, that was not the case as the team came out and gave a masterful performance and fully deserved the 6-1 win. The team had 18 shots and bossed the game with 54% possession. The team played with great fluidity, passed extremely well and finished with great precision. Thomas Vermaelen made his debut and fit in like he has play playing with this team for ages.

Arsene Wenger surprised me and actually decided to play the 4-3-3 formation. This is probably because of the number of injuries to our midfielders and its success in the preseason. The formation for Arsenal was:

----------------Almunia-----------------
Sagna----Gallas---Vermaelen----Clichy
----------Denilson--Song--------------
------------------Cesc-----------------
Arshavin---------------------Bendtner
----------------Van Persie-------------

which was what Arsene was toying with in pre-season. The game started a bit tentatively and both teams were a bit careless. However just after the 20 minute mark, Bendtner juked by a couple of defenders on the left side and laid it square to Fabregas who played a square touch pass to Denilson who curled a sweet 20 yarder into the top left corner. Denilson was playing a bit shaky before the goal and this seemed to settle him.

The team started to play with a bit more style but the subsequent goal was one of the most un-Arsenal like in recent memory. Van Persie curled a sweet free kick and Vermaelen scored a free-header at the far post. 2-0 up and Arsenal are cruising. If Arsenal are able to add proficiency at set plays as a successful way method to score, then we may be able to break open games where the opponents are content to sit 10 behind the ball. The third goal was similar to the second, this time Fabregas whipping it in and Gallas giving it a bit of a touch past a hapless Everton. Their defending on set pieces - usually very strong - was lacklustre.

The fourth and fifth goals were scored by Fabregas drifting up from midfield and drilling shots from range. The fourth goal was beautifully set up from RVP as he nut-megged a defender and Fabregas scored through Howard's legs. The fifth goal was on the counter as Almunia threw it out to Fabregas who ran the entire pitch, evaded the half-hearted Fellanini tackle and scored from 20 yards out. Great goal and if we are able to supply goals from midfield this upcoming season, it will put less pressure on the forwards and the loss of Toure and Adebayor will not be as severely felt as some predicted.

The sixth goal was a cheeky rebound goal by Eduardo after Arshavin toyed around with the Everton defense and toe-poked a shot off the post. Eduardo made his first league debut since his awful injury and looked sharp. His finishing will be important this upcoming season off the bench to break down negative opponents.

Arsene Wenger was very satisfied with the result saying:

'It strikes me the team are maturing at just the right time, and when you look at the players who could still come in, it is clear we are not short of firepower,' he said.

'We were ruled out as title contenders before the game, but now everyone will have us down as super favourites.

This is a very good result for the opening fixture and will give the team belief and strength for the upcoming Champions League match against Celtic on Tueday. It will be interesting to see if Arsene will stick with the 4-3-3 or adjust to a more defensive 4-5-1 or traditional 4-4-2.

Match preview of Arsenal - Celtic tomorrow!

EPL Fixture Preview: Arsenal vs. Everton

Ground: Goodison Park (Everton's)
Arsenal Injuries: Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Thomas Rosicky, Abou Diaby, Johan Djororu, Lukasz Fabianski
Everton Injuries: Jo, Mikel Arteta, Phil Jagielka, Yakubu

Oh the new season is beginning tomorrow and I, for one, am very excited for it. With Ronaldo and Tevez leaving Old Trafford, Alsono leaving Anfield and Man City spending like mad, this season promises to be one of the most competitive in recently memory. Arsenal have lost a couple of first-team members (Toure and Adebayor) but have strengthened their defense with the addition of Thomas Vermaelen.

Everton come into this season with high hopes of trying to break into the top-4 and achieving a Champions League spot. They have come 5th the last couple of years and under their manager Moyes, have managed to even qualify for the Champions League four years ago. They are a very hard working team and scoring goals from set plays is a major plus for them because of Fellaini, Cahill and Lescott. They never give up and this is evident with them scoring 15 of their 55 goals in the last 15 minutes of a game. The team is more pragmatic than offensively minded with 14 of their 17 wins coming by 1 or 2 goal margins. The leading scorers last year for the team were both midfielders; Cahill and Fellaini with 8 apiece.

Arsenal are coming into the season with many pundits writing them off, but they have the potential to challenge for trophies on all fronts. The loss of Toure was replaced with Vermaelen and Adebayor will be covered with Eduardo coming back and the promotion of Bendtner. There are some injury concerns, but the team seems well-stocked to compete even with all of the players out. Arsenal had a relatively poor season, where they were never really Premier League title contenders, but more-so competiting with Aston-Villa for the final Champions League spot. Arsenal was very strong going forward, scoring 68 goals in the EPL (the same as Manchester United), but was often poor on the defensive end, allowing 38 goals, much higher than EPL winning Manchester United’s 24. Improving our defensive record would go a long way towards making a strong push for the title.

This game will likely have Arsenal controlling most of the possession with Everton trying to nick a goal on the counter or on a set piece. It is going to be a feisty affair, and I am predicting that the score will end 2-1 for Arsenal.

Predicted Arsenal Line-up

-----------------Almunia------------------
Sagna----Gallas----Vermaelen------Clichy
Arshavin—Cesc---Denilson--------Eboue
-----------Bendtner—RVP----------------


Predicted Everton Line-up

------------------Howard--------------
Hibbert—Lescott------Yobo ----------Neville
Pienaar—Cahill-----Rodwell----------Osman
---------------Fellaini-----------------------
---------------------Saha--------------------

Evaluating Arsenal's Off-season Transfers

Arsenal had several significant changes this off-season by selling some of their key players and adding one big money signing. The purpose of this article is to examine the incoming signings and how it affects their position and give it a grade and also looking at the players leaving and rationalizing if it was the right time to sell. This article will also look briefly at formations but a more in-depth article concerning that will be coming in the near future.

Signings

Thomas Vermaelen – from Ajax - 10 – 12 million pounds.

Arsenal’s lone signing of this transfer window was Vermaelen of Ajax. The Ajax’s captain is a Belgium international and is a 5’10 central defense man who is 23 years old. He has played in Europe every year so far, so he has some experience in the Champions League. I have not seen him play, so I do not think it would be fair to comment on him, but he is an international and captain and apparently has good aerial ability despite his height. He will probably replace the outgoing Kolo Toure and form a partnership with William Gallas.

Grade: C+

I can not rate this player too highly considering that I have never seen him play, has yet to adjust to the Premier League and is quite pricey for a defenseman. Arsene Wenger is usually very astute at spotting talent, but his record with purchasing defense is mediocre at best (some notable bad buys include Cygan, Senderos Silvestre)

Outgoing

Adebayor – Man City - 25 million pounds.

Adebayor must have been one of the most-hated players at Arsenal last year after courting the services of AC Milan last year. When he arrived in 2005 winter transfer window, he was a raw attacking player who seemed willing to work on improving his skills. He scored 4 goals in 12 Premier League game that season, 12 in all competitions the next season play with Henry, scored 29 goals the year after and finally scoring 20 goals in all competition last season. He has flashes of brilliance (the volley against Totenham last year and the half-bicycle against Villareal spring to mind) but more often than not, he likes to stray offside and his goal record is very poor for the service he receives. He was a good target man with a terrible first touch and opinions were always divided with him. His workrate decreased when he signed his last Arsenal contract and he always did seem out of place around the tight ball-control midfielders.

Grade: A –

This is a great price for Adebayor as I don’t think he was ever worth this much. Also, with Ade going off to the ACN this season, it made sense to sell now. If we start to play Arshavin in the second striker role and RVP as the lead forward, it may lead to better ball control and finishing. However, Wenger’s insistence on selling his first team squad every year brings about discontinuity and it will take time for Arsenal to adjust to the new playing style and formation.

Kolo Toure – Man City - 16 million pounds.

Kolo Toure was our last remaining player of our “invincible” season and he was often considered the heart of Arsenal. He always gave everything to the team and was loved by the supporters of the club. Bought from the African team AESC for only 250,000 pounds, he started as a utility player and was slowly groomed to the central defense position. He was very raw at first, but extremely hungry and that desire translated all over the pitch in the form of tough tackling and wild shots. Always volunteering to take the 40 yard free-kicks, he exemplified the youthful enthusiasm of his Arsenal teams. However, coming into the last few seasons, he started to suffer from a loss of form, injuries and illnesses. He had disagreements with his central partner Gallas and allegedly submitted a transfer request last January. Man City has been trying to find a defensive anchor and they found a pretty good one in Toure.

Grade: B

This is good business again for an unhappy player who is arguably not even first choice anymore. However, for sentimental and leadership reasons, this should’ve not been a sale. Toure provides that winning experience and Arsenal clearly was defined by him. Also, he would have provided quality depth at both the backup central and right defense position.

Quick Thoughts on Formations

I think Wenger will experiment with the 4-3-3 because it allows for more creative players and some central midfield solidarity but will stick to his traditional 4-4-2. Arsenal’s pass and move style is perfectly suited to the 4-2-2 because of the interchangability of the positions. The 4-3-3 is more rigid and has more defined roles by the formation because each position would have very specific responsibilities. Another reason why the 4-3-3 would not work is because the wingers need to stay wide to provide width and all of Arsenal’s wide players (beside Walcott) like to drift inside.

Tentative Arsenal Fixtures for Next Year

The Daily Mail has released Arsenal's next season schedule and there are some interesting aspects to it.


The first thing that popped out at me was that we start away at Everton and finish at home to Fulham. I think its always nice to finish the season at home, but its unfortunate that we have to start away.

Another thing I noticed was a brutal end of January scheduling where we face Man United (H), then Chelsea (A) then Liverpool (H). This will probably be the make-or-break part of the season and could go a long way in determining who is the champion. Afterwards, though, our schedule looks very light and there is serious potential to run the table after those three fixtures.

In general, our schedule looks fairly balanced bar those three fixtures but it definately looks like January-Feburary will be our toughest months. It is important that we have (somewhat) easier fixtures near the end if we are involved in other competitions, but early matches verses United, City and Everton could prove tough while also trying to qualify for the Champions League.

What should Arsene Wenger's targets be this transfer window and at what price?

Arsenal are currently lying in fifth place in the standings, three points behind Villa for the fourth spot. They are six point behind first place United and have played one more game. This season has been very up-and-down and reinforcement is neccessary to help try to obtain a champions league spot and win the FA cup.

It is clearly obvious that we need a defensive midfielder. Song and Denilson may have potential for the future (which I doubt) but Song is crap and Denilson is too offensively minded and does not have the physical and mental attributes to be a defensive midfielder for Arsenal.

Another problem that has sprung up is the lack of creativity because of injury to our first team players. Rosicky and Eduardo have been out long term because of freak accidents, and recently Theo, and Cesc have been out for a while now. This lack of creativity, especially in our midfield, makes it difficult to break down teams that have 10 behind the ball. It would be good to get another quality player for the sake of competition, as some players on the squad have been complacent in their place. Considering how young some of these players are, this should not be the case.

Note: These are potential targets Arsene should consider, I am not endorsing that he should get every target, but pick one or two.

1. Andrei Arshavin

My favourite picture of him

Possibly the biggest newspaper story around was Arsenal's pursuit for the Zenit St. Petersburg player. The 27 year old player has won a ton of accolades in Russia including the Russian player of the year in 2006, included on the Euro 2008 team of the tournement and was voted the 6th best player in the Balon D'Or voting this year. His has willed his team to the UEFA cup last year, including beating Bayern Munich 3-0 on aggregate.

He is a very good player, with two good feet and strong creativity. He makes intelligent runs and can shoot from distance. He would be a welcome addition to Arsenal. Zenit are willing to sell, but are negotiating hard and have not really adjusted from their inflated 20-25 million asking price.

Fee: 16-18 million pounds (Arsene has had bids of 12 and 15 million pounds)

2. Mate Toth

I personally had no idea of who this guy was, but apparently Arsenal has already signed him. He is a 18 year Humgarian who impressed Wenger on trial. The fee is believed to be around 250000 (typical) He is a defender, but I am assuming that he will be one for the future. I went to look for some highlights, but this guy doesn't even have a youtube video!

Fee: 250,000 pounds

3. Miguel Veloso

Veloso is a 23 year old defensive midfielder who plays for Sporting Lisbon. He is a quality defender and can break up attacks. Veloso is also a very technical player and can fit within Arsenal's style of play. He is an integral part of the midfield at Sporting Lisbon, and as a result, it may be difficult to pry him away.

Fee: 12-14 million pounds

4. Joao Moutinho

A personal favourite of mine, this 23 year old is another midfielder playing for Sporting Lisbon. I watched him play for Portugal during Euro 2008 and he is a player who can play any position on a flat midfielder. He is a creative midfielder who preferred position is just behind the forwards. Everton tried to loan him last summer but Sporting refused is also is considered a very important figure at the club. He got serverely injured during the Euro Tournament, but has managed to come back to full fitness

Fee: 18-20 million pounds

Is Arsene Going to Sell?

People were worried that Arsene might decide to sell during this window. He, in fact, got a bid for a player. The funny bit was Arsene categorically rejected the bid but also said that Eboue is going to get an improved offer. An improved offer for what? What has he possibly done to deserve a better contract?

Bendtner recieved a bid from surprise German leaders Hoffenheim, but rejected it and says he wants to stay at Arsenal.

Conclusions

Interesting times at Arsenal. There is just over a week left in the transfer window and it is as likely for Arsene to get three of these targets as he is to get zero. Hopefully some reinforcements come and we can sustain a challenge for the FA cup, Champions League and Premier League in the second half of the season.

A potentially great weekend turns into an indifferent one

Arsenal 3 - Hull 1

Nasri scoring a well taken goal in the 82'

Scoring Tally
Arsenal
Adebayor 30'
Nasri 82'
Bendtner 86'
Hull
Cousin 65'

Arsenal Starting Lineup
-------------------Almunia-------------
Clichy------Djourou---Toure-----Sagna
Nasri------Denilson---Diaby-----Eboue
--------Van Persie--------Adebayor----

I was pretty excited at halftime of the Chelsea / Stoke game I was watching. The scores of the four games I was keeping tabs besides Arsenal/Hull were:

Halftime
Man U 0 - 0 Bolton
Sunderland 1 - 0 Aston Villa
Chelsea 0 - 0 Stoke

If the games were to end at these scores, it would have been a perfect weekend for Arsenal. All of the gunner's major rivals except Liverpool (who play tomorrow) would have dropped points. Unfortunately Man United, Aston Villa and Chelsea all won which made it mandatory that Arsenal win to keep pace.

Hull started off very brightly, creating some pressure through crosses and corners. Mendy was causing some problems for Clichy and Geovanni had a few long range drives on Almunia's net. Arsenal started to get a foot on the game by playing neat passes and keeping possession well.

In the 27' minute Van Persie whipped a free kick which came inches from scoring. Myhill made a fantastic save fingertip save to keep the shot off.

3 minutes later, Adebayor proved to us all of the time practise jumping was worth it as he jumped higher than the Hull defenders to head a looper to the far corner. Quality goal from the Togo hitman and helped settle some nerves. The rest of the half went without incident and Arsenal took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

In the 53' minute Manucho replaced Halmosi as Hull employed a two-striker system to take the game to Arsenal. Manucho, a Man U player on loan, was very involved in the action and had a legitimate penalty appeal shot down when Djourou missed the ball and headed him. He came off with a swollen eye but kept playing, fair play to the lad. Daniel Cousin worked very hard throughout the game and was rewarded in the 65th as Mendy swings a deflected corner in and Cousin powered it past Almunia. Clichy played too far off Mendy due to his pace and the partial deflection took the ball over Toure and Cousin had a free header.

Diaby and Eboue were having their usual game, not really contributing and I do not know what Wenger sees in these two. Maybe because of the lack of options due to injury or because he has a fetish for Africans, Wenger stubbornly keeps on choosing those two to play. Eboue was replaced by Bendtner and the Dane instantly brought attacking options. Wenger decided to employ a three striker system and the pressue was turning in Arsenal's favour.

Nasri scored a fine goal in the 82' minute from some nice work from Bendtner and Van Persie. Van Persie recieved the ball just outside the 18 yard box and drew three Hull defenders towards him. He slid it on the ground towards Nasri on the left and the Frenchmen cooly slotted the finish to the far corner.

Just 4 minutes later Bendtner sealed the game with some nice inter-play between himself and Van Persie. Persie was marginally offside when he recieved the pass but the flag was not raised and he played a square ball to Bendtner, who finished it strong. Bendtner has fully grasped the role of super-sub for the team which we need now considering the lack of craft we are playing with. Song came on, but frankly I dont care about him at all.

The last few minutes were very nervy as Hull tried to score and looked close to doing so. Arsenal held firm and escaped with a 3-1 victory. Arsenal had 62% of possession throughout the game which lead to 14 goal attempts; 7 on target. Hull had 7 attempts on goal and 2 hit the target.

The Gunners had a very tough time recently grinding out results and some reinforcements are needed to be purchased in this transfer window if we want a chance of competiting for the FA cup and securing a champions league spot.

You can catch all of the goals at Arsenalist's, thanks mate!

What's the Upcoming Plans?

This post is going to give a taste of what to expect from the blog the upcoming week in additional to Toronto Raptors and Arsenal pre and post game posts.

Arsenal
1. What should Arsene Wenger's targets be this transfer window and at what price?
2. What system is best to maximize Arsenal's player, now and with an injury-free squad
3. How has Arsene Wenger's philosophy affected Arsenal, the Premier League and football in general?
4. A look back at some player Arsenal has let go over the years
5. Arsenal's future kids, a dawn brighter than now?

Raptors
1. The state of the Raptors: what can be done now, and what must be done to start and ensure continual success
2. The optons for the Raptors during the trade deadline
3. The rationale on why Kapono could not fit with the Raptors
4. An in-depth look at the system Jay Triano is implementing and how different is it from Sam Mitchell's

These are all topics which are of great interest to me and hopefully they will be for you. Keep checking this blog as I will try to post a new article a day and answer some of the topics I just rainsed. If you have any suggestions on any topics I should write; post it in the comment section.

Arsenal Game Recap

Arsenal 1 - Sunderland 1

Arsenal's recent yo-yo form continued with a 1-1 draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light Stadium up North. Arsenal was very un-imaginative with few penetrating passes and decent scoring attempts. Sunderland followed Hull and Fulham's example of parking 10 men behind the ball and, as usual, it worked against Arsenal.

The starting line-up was:
Aluminia
Clichy Toure Gallas Sagna
Denilson Fab Song Walcott
Ade Van P.
with Nasri, Bendtner and Vela coming on in the latter stages.

Arsenal had a goal wrongly disallowed as the linesman ruled Theo out-of-bounds at the touchline as he passed it to an unmarked Van Persie for a goal in the 57th minute. Silly, silly official call as Walcott did well to keep the ball in play and pass it to Van Persie.

Amazingly their substitute scored in the 86th minute with a lucky goal from poor marking from Adebayor. The little baby run to the sidelines and started crying afterwards. In the third minute of extra time Fab powered home a header with Craig Gordon doing his best Paul Robinson routine to salvage a point.

This is a poor result, and now having played one more game than the majority of the team around us, we are in a poisition to fall down the 7th or 8th if the results of the other games go against us. We cannot keep on dropping points on games like this or it will be another year without the English Premiership silverware and I don't want that.

Arsenal with an impressive display

First off, this blog deals with the ups and downs of my two favourite teams: the Toronto Raptors and Arsenal Gunners (of England). You may be wondering why I am supporting two teams in completely different countries, but I assure you I am not a bandwagoner. I live in Toronto and have followed the Raptors since I was 7 or something. Arsenal came as a result of my increasing passion for soccer. I have played house league soccer since I was very young and started to appreciate watching this truly delightful sport. I wanted to support a EPL team and luckily I was born in Northish / East London and it has been a treat to watch these gunners. I have been supporting the team since the year after the invincibles (yeah, lucky me) witnessing no league titles and watching the final in paris for the champions league was painful.

I promise to be as objective as possible when bringing out my thoughts and kinda understand how this thing works after reading dozens of arsenal blogs for the last 2 years or so.

Now onto more important stuff, Arsenal had a very nice bounce-back game against FC Porto today after that miserable display against Hull. (Hull played very well tactically and scored a truly wonderful goal from Geovanni to be fair) This was one of the most scantilizing displays of football I have seen from Wenger's men. The first twenty or so minutes were scary with good attacks from Porto but Van Persie opened up the scoring from a good ball from Adebayor. After this the team settled down quite nicely and Adebayor followed up with a goal from a corner ( I know its unbelievable but it happened) powering a header into the ground which bounced over the goalie and a Porto defender.

The second half began and this was one of the best attacking halfs I have EVER seen. Porto were under almost constant pressure the whole half. Van Persie scored his second goal with some strength and Adebayor finished up with a penalty goal from a foul on Bendtner.

It was a good display but we could have realistically scored 3 more goals easily. Walcott and Nasri both missed sitters from 6 yards out and there were countless other chances by the attacking players. It was a breathtaking display.

Now onto the thoughts of the players. Aluminia had a quiet game and didnt really get challenged much. I had my doubts when he was instilled as the goalie from Mad Jens, but he has proved to be a good solid player who rarely get beaten. Gail Clichy is one of my favourite players on the team with strong defensive positioning and the ability to get forward with ease. Sagna played well today, helping the attack. Gallas and Toure are both great players and played well today but I cannot see them working well together. This is an issue that Wenger will need to resolve as we constantly get beat by the high ball. Theo had a good game today with very direct running and generally good decisions. There was an incident where it looked like he was going to be muscled off the ball but remained composed and further shows his development as a player. However, he must figure out his decision earlier than he does, he possess all of the physical attributes but now must hone the mental aspect of the game. Fab had an okay game, alot of his passes were going astray at the end but we were 4-0 up.

Personally, I like the balance of the team with Nasri and Walcott on the wings, both offer good skill and speed which really gives us an element which we didnt have last year. Coupled with the attacking instincts of Clichy and Sagna, the attacks down the flanks are a major strength this year. Denilson is coming into his own as a make-shift defensive mid but still gives away too many cheap fouls.

The forwards were good in the sense that they both scored two goals, but there are times where I think that Vela and Bendtner are better options. I am going to wait and see but Vela has amazing skill and Bendtner has good link-up play but some of his touches are poor sometimes. Ade works hard but I def dont see him as a Wenger type of player, he is a good all-around player but in my opinion, I think Wenger prefers forwards with excellent skills and ball control and Ade's is just average. RVP is more of a Wenger player but he seems very detached with the team at times and that could be troublesome with a quick passing teamwork team that we have.

One final note to Eboue, who is possibly the funniest player i've seen. Capable of good skills one moment, doing 8 crossovers the next and losing possession, he is a frustrating player. It's all good when we are 4-0 up though.

So overall good result, good win.

Dino Gunners is a blog which specializes in Arsenal and Toronto Raptors analysis.' Arsenal, ARSENAL, Raptors, RAPTORS, gunners, raps, gooners, arsenal.com, blog, arsenal blog, raptors blog, arsenal analysis, raptors analysis, toronto, highbury, dinos'