agreed, his fitness levels are out of sight this season - he's all over the pitch, i was watching the game with a friend who knows very little about footy, but asked what position Song played b/c he's everywhere. those blocks he made at the end were brilliant further echoing his performances this season both offensively and defensively.
No it is not the rule. The rule is deny an obvious goal scoring opportunity which considering the ball was going straight at clichy and not the goal it obviously wasn't a red card. Just because a commentator bleats on about the last man back does not change the laws of the game to make it so.
the Denilson unbeaten streak continues that was actually a surprise sub by Wenger, Jack wasnt playing well and Wenger made the move at half Djourou is looking really good too
I thought Denilson was also excellent when he came on today. They did not trouble us at all until the very end of the game when I think we actually tired out a bit. I thought Walcott should have come on instead of Rosicky just to exploit the counter attack late on but Rosicky is better defensively than Walcott so it is a bit of a toss up i guess.
squillaci's card was borderline red/yellow imo. it could have been either. fortunately the ref seen it as a yellow. by the way, anyone else notice just how close it is between 5th and a relegation spot?
Didn't get a chance to see the game today. Looks like it was another hard-fought win. Nice to see our away record improve from last year, now if only we could fix our home record. Also nice to gain some ground on Chelsea (props to Sunderland), and leap-frog Man Utd. It's been a successful week for us Gooners. The league is quickly separating into partitions of the title chasers, the midpack, and those trying to avoid relegation. It's insane how closely packed the 5th - 18th placed teams are. No one in that pack is safe at the moment, IMO. No Bendtner today, even on the bench? Also I'd like to see Rosicky starting over Arshavin for a while, at least until he gets over this dry spell. Three points to the Arsenal. EDIT: Another quick point, I much prefer seeing the maroon shorts paired up with the away jersey rather than the yellow shorts. Looks much nicer. And nice miss, Chamakh.
i am so comfortable in my corner of no rosicky or denilson. just have better players in the side than either. shame, cuz i want each to do well. does vela play for us anymore?
Opportunity...Saha would have got a shot away, that in itself is an opportunity. We went on to put the ball in the back of the net but didn't get the advantage. So uh, what you going on about, clearly a lot was denied there wasn't it you chief. Also I don't listen to the pundits, If I'd have done what Squillaci and Ivanovic in the Chelsea game did, I'd fully expect to walk for it.
Yep. The only beef I ever have with Arshavin (including during this bullshit 'Arshavin should be shipped because he doesn't care about Arsenal' period) is when he isn't attacking goal at every opportunity. He's been doing that the last three games, so he's good by me. It could have been a red, but only because refs sometimes make insane decisions that have nothing to do with the laws of the game. By any objective measure, this play should never result in a red card. And this is why all the bitching and moaning about Arsenal is so misguided. It's just a flat out different league than it was even three years ago. There's lots of soccer to be played before anything is decided for this team.
I totally disagree with your assessment of the situation, but with regards to the bold portion, that only happened after Clichy stopped running due to the whistle being blown. There's no way Coleman gets to that ball if the call hadn't happened. And, btw, you've moved the goalposts from "last man is the rule" to "Saha would have got a shot away." So which is it, chief?
I'm no particular lover of Denilson but he was great today. Fabianski of course. And if things continue on their current course for too much longer this is going to be Nasri's team.
Much props to Denilson. He was terrific the second half. Props to Wenger for the sub too...JW was looking a little ragged (esp. after his blow to his noggin).