5-7……Let it sit and simmer for a while…..5-7….Like Arsene (AW) said in his post match interview – “First set to us”…..Absolute madness, school boy stuff wasn’t it?
I missed the whole of the first half, opting to stick to my Tuesday night cardio session down the gym. Fitness First usually have some form of coverage of the game on their numerous TV’s over head. I was hoping it was the actual game but instead I had to make do with watching Tony Cottee or Robbie Fowler (can’t remember which one!) commentating on the Gilette Soccer special show instead.
Between sets of 20 push ups on the power plate, I wandered inquisitively back and forth the muted TV’s and on each occasion the scoreline changed,1-0 Roberts. Jason f***ing Roberts. Any Arsenal fan in their teens upwards will remember how much of pain Roberts has been to us from his Wigan and Blackburn days. Not quite a Dider Drogba of course but he has always done just enough to unsettle past Arsenal defenders into a mistake here and there and who can forget his last minute away goal at Highbury in the League cup semi of 06?
what is it about Kos and OG’s? He sees that Arsenal net exposed in some way, starts salivating as the ball drifts in – next thing you know its 2-0!!!! I was accepting our 2-0 position as I knew AW would have put an under strength side out full of young players, first teamers who can’t get a game in the first team, players short of match fitness etc. but when the third and fourth goals went in I thought something is very wrong here – has AW finally lost it??
Just as I thought “Well there goes the chance of enjoying another unexpected cup run for another year” our want away would be striker gave us a lifeline. And At 4-1 I felt confident that this wasn’t over (Wish I had put money on it now! Doh!). I wrapped up my work out, got home, showered, grabbed a bowl of Weetabix, booted up Twitter, put the TV on just in time for the start of the second half.
Theo has been as good as he has been bad for us since he signed just 4 days before Roberts was knocking us out of the League cup. I have to say that I’ve not been his biggest fan but I do believe that for the last 6 months or so AW and the boards treatment of Theo (From what I can gather) has been pretty woeful. He wants to play up front, the boy can finish, ok he’s got no finesse yet BUT the boy can finish!!!! And what does Arsenal need more than anything right now? That’s right, so Theo haters (And I would include myself in that too) need to recognise that if Arsenal let this boy go without giving him a chance up top – and I do mean a good run of games (Just like AW has done with Bendtner, Adebayor, Aliadere, Arshavin etc.) – he could be the next TH14 but for Fulham or Villa and not for us. I shudder at that thought……
Finishing off my Weetabix, I was enjoying the frantic end to end spectacle this was becoming and at 64 minutes a sumptuous guided header from substitute Giroud gave me real hope that we could do this BUT there it stayed until the 89th minute. During that spell and in fact for most of the second half one young man shone for me. Sure Ignassi Miquel was having a decent game out on the flanks, covering off the centre backs here and there and Jenks looks so much stronger now than he did 12 months ago but Thomas Eisfeld looked sharp, even visionary at times. Connecting well with Coquelin (Who was playing pretty bunk and is beginning to make me question his talent) and not being scared to get stuck in when it was needed, I was very impressed with this kids performance. So to it seemed were fellow Tweeters with a couple referring to him as a young Ljungberg!
Fair play, as it ticked down toward the 90th minute things were getting crazy on Twitter. People condemning AW’s tactics and “where has our Arsenal gone?” was another one that seemed to get tossed around like a limp salad but for me the game wasn’t about winning, I couldn’t care less about the Capital One cup (Yes I’m one of those!), it was about not giving it everything we had. When I see Arsenal dregs like AA23, Djourou, Chamakh and Frimpong getting centre stage it always gets me worried that we’ll get a hiding of sorts. Indeed AW’s lunacy at handing the captaincy to Djourou was bizarre to say the least but like every season when the League Cup starts, I look forward to games like this and see them as an add on to the rest of the season’s fixtures not “must wins”. When Kos struck (In the right net this time!) in the 89th minute though I did get excited.
I just don’t understand the goal line technology argument. If a team gets awarded that goal they shouldn’t have got – I’m thinking Garcia for Liverpool in the Champions League semi – or a team gets denied when the should have been awarded – The Spuds @ Old Trafford? – then the circumstances are potentially catastrophic. In Liverpool’s case it meant they could go on and lift that beautiful trophy in Istanbul (When maybe they shouldn’t have?) or for another team it could mean relegation. Bring it in now! What are FIFA waiting for? Football can afford it and it wouldn’t hold up the game any more than it does now. What am I missing? Because for a spooky second when Theo grabbed the equaliser and it got cleared, I thought the goal was going to be scratched off and that would have ruined everything – even if you benefit from it. Thankfully Jenks was there to follow up only for it to be awarded to Theo later on. Extra time beckoned, it was time for a quick drink and by now even the wife was watching!
Marouane Chamakh. WTF???? Where has this guy been? When he arrived he shot out of the blocks didn’t he, goals all over the place, including the fastest ever goal scored in Arsenal’s league history (After 37 seconds away to Wolves, over taking TH14’s goal after 58 seconds scored against Reading in 2006) but following a goal scored against Villa in 2010 he has been out in the wilderness ever since – until yesterday! And what a quality contribution it was – lovely little back flick, give and go between him and AA23 which set up his first (Our fifth) before converting a confident lob (Our seventh) in the dying embers of extra time. Could this be a turning point for him? I doubt it. His inhibition is there for everyone to see, either that or his lack of fitness and it does come across as dare I say it, cowardly, at times. No, Chams has a long way to go if he wants to get ahead in this team. With “ten-head” Gervinho out injured he may get a glimpse but he won’t get in over Giroud and maybe now not before Theo and he shouldn’t expect to either. Poor lad, I wanted success for him but is it too late?
Theo gave all Arsenal fans and the Arsenal board something to think about after converting AA23’s parried shot in the 120th minute but the main issue that hangs around still in the aftermath of last night is when are “our Arsenal” going to realistically challenge for honours again? When are the board going to stop hiking up prices?? When are the board going to stop selling off our best players and then go scavenging around the French second division for cheap alternatives?? When are the board going to realise that its not just a business? And when is Hill Wood going to f***ing retire, sell his stake and stop taunting the fans with his derogatory comments?
There are too many questions to be answered but immediately we need to get rid of the surplus players and buy in a couple of goal getters. Easier said than done I know but Fergie does it and Man U’s shareholders aren’t as rich as ours. I don’t blame AW for everything but the man gets more eccentric every season and I’m fed up with his arrogance. On Arsenal.com he says “We can take inspiration from last nights result” FFS we shouldn’t NEED to. Cazorla, Giroud & Podoloski? When we’ve just sold the third best player on the planet to a close rival? Sorry I don’t get that. I don’t expect us to win everything every year but we are a club in decline on the pitch (Ok I’m being a bit dramatic) and the only thing that may save us is the financial fair play rules that are due to come in very soon. But what if they don’t, what then? 4th in the Prem without ever looking like you’re going to win honours is not something that excites me, especially when you get shredded by the likes of Barcelona, Man U, AC Milan etc. and teams like Celtic and Chelsea go to the same places and come away with their heads held high.
For now though I’ll just remember last night for what it was – a thrilling cup tie.
Blaze on,
Skazza
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