Porto’s late thoughts: Yes, the Portuguese side are nothing special, but Arsenal are
Apologies, the day-after thoughts again become late thoughts as I didn’t find time to write on Wednesday but anyway, Tuesday’s game will surely go down as one of the best games of the season and clearly, it sent a strong signal on what Arsenal’s intentions will be from now until the end of the season: the double. Many archived this 5-0 win by saying it came against a very weak Porto side, which is true, but those who followed the Gunners closely this season like you and I know that it was more than just that.
Because without going much back in time, Sunderland was a game where we created a lot of goal opportunities but converted very little. On Tuesday this was not the case as whenever we made our way into Porto’s half, the outcome was almost always a positive one and this is what really impressed me as in a way, that was what was missing lately in this Arsenal side: taking chances.
After Stoke, this team looks different, transformed and I know it’s sad to say it but it was Aaron’s injury which injected something in the squad, making all players more hungry and more determined for success, reason why it’s no surprise everybody’s voice was raised as one single choir after the injury: “Do it for Aaron”.
To conclude this introduction, make no mistake, there were some lack of concentration moments in the game like being exposed to counter attacks which Porto didn’t take advantage of, but as I always say, this Arsenal team should focus on scoring one more goal than the opposition and based on what we’ve seen against Porto, this is now more than possible.
Nicklas Bendtner
Three days. That is all Nicklas needed to reflect on the Burnley missed chances, recompose himself and show that Saturday was just a bad day at the office. Seriously, you’ve got to admire the tenacity of the kid who is not shy to say he wants to become Arsenal’s number one striker and not shy to put behind him a shocking performance in front of goal and hit a hat-trick immediately after.
Whether Nick can produce more Porto-like performances and less Burnley-like ones from now until the end of the season is all to be seen but in the mean time, the Dane joins the likes of Thierry Henry and Alan Smith in the table of players who found the net three times in the same game in Europe for the Gunners. Easy tap-ins or not, it’s quite impressive.
Waiting For The Draw
There’s been some discussion going on about whether Arsene Wenger really meant what he said when he declared it would be good for us to face Manchester United or Chelsea. Well first of all, Chelsea are yet to qualify and I believe Jose Mourinho will cause a major upset when he goes back to Stamford Bridge next week.
Two, regardless of what Wenger meant, I personally would love an all-English tie. What I believe is missing this season is indeed a win against the other top teams in England and having learned from past mistakes, I firmly believe that if we are to face the Red Devils or the Blues in the next round, the outcome will not be the same as the one in the Premiership.
To see Arsenal ease past Porto without Robin, Cesc and Theo – who let’s face it, was on fire against Burnley – means that one, the squad is capable of putting excellent performances without Cesc and two, of course, it means that when these players will be back – some sooner than others – we’ll have incredible depth and plenty of options to choose from so whoever we will face next is warned.
Some Individual Performances
Of all the players on the pitch, Andrey Arshavin is the one who impressed me the most. I wasn’t fully convinced with the Russian before his break for injury but Porto was exactly what I expect from him. I accused him of selfishness in more than one occasion this season but on Tuesday he worked for the team, setting Nicklas Bendtner first and Emmanuel Eboue then to show how important he can be as a team player.
Alex Song and Abou Diaby also did incredibly well but Samir Nasri is the one who stole the show in midfield. Clearly, one of the major “problems” Arsene is facing and will face next season is the traffic jam building up in midfield when players are to be chosen and this sometimes means that players are not used in their natural position. Now I’m not saying that Samir is officially a central midfielder but it seems he enjoys it more than the wing. Let’s just say it’s a nice traffic jam to be stuck into.
Looking Forward
Watching Real Madrid crash out of the Champions League was a joy to see. They signed half of Europe and are out. We only signed two defenders and still fighting for it. But this is history now, we should focus back on the Premiership and Hull City.
That’s a Saturday late kick off so we will know Chelsea’s result against West Ham before the game. As always, I will provide a preview for that one on Friday and starting Saturday, the other usual articles will follow.
So until Friday, take care friends and let’s go for the double!
![[Video] Blackburn vs Arsenal highlights: Big win as we go second in the table!](http://www.thegunninghawk.com/wp-content/themes/arthemia-premium/scripts/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/video.jpg&w=80&h=80&zc=1)
“Of all the players on the pitch, Andrey Arshavin is the one who impressed me the most. I wasn’t fully convinced with the Russian before his break for injury but Porto was exactly what I expect from him. I accused him of selfishness in more than one occasion this season but on Tuesday he worked for the team, setting Nicklas Bendtner first and Emmanuel Eboue then to show how important he can be as a team player.”
Chris…. your ability to come out and write this for me is highly appreciated. This makes the blog have much objectivity which some Arsenal fans don’t quite possess. I was wrong about Eboue at some point last season…. but i’ve come to realize by the end of how merciless a club supporter can be and how fans really are player #12 or even 1…. its amazing how we affect the team…
I was mesmerized by the sound of Arsenal fans against Porto the other night…. it’s been a while since i felt this vibe
Thanks
Cheers mate
really? i mean i can’t claim to know how the emirates should sound because i’m not a londoner
but i don’t think i heard a chant all game on the television
How could you not hear the song in the 10th minute on television. It was RESONATING!
I agree Arshavin had some moments of brilliance in the offensive 3rd, but he was also very sloppy with the ball in the middle third with many uncharacteristic turnovers, some without much pressure. However, I know he is just coming back after some time off and chalk it up to rustiness, he did work hard defensively. My favorite play of the night was his winning the header on the long ball (I think it was a goal kick) with a central defender all over his back and perfectly knocking it down to Nasri which led to our first goal.
well to answer you in simplest form chris, Nasri’s original position is CM, he use to play there all the time at Marseille, so Im never surprised really mate. Next season Him, Cesc, Ramsey and Diaby are going to give Arsene a big headache, but when all are fit its clear, the midfield will be:
_____________Song_______________
______Cesc____________Diaby______
Just because of the balance putting Nasri on the right arhsavin on the left…. the difficult thing is what do you do chris when and (IF, a big IF) all players are fit…..thats the problem
you’ve got song, cesc, diaby, ramsey, nasri, arshavin, rosicky, denilson, what happens if all are fit an raring to go, surely some will rest at home lol
Add Theo, Vela and Jack(if he comes back from loan) to the list
you know what i mean mate its really gonna be difficult then upfront too, we have bendtner, eduardo, van persie, chamakh 90% on his way too. But i think with campbell and silvestre looking like they will leave this summer we need a CB, senderos isn’t up for it djourou is too injury prone, I can see 1 or even 2 CBs coming this summer.
wenger is among the many who want Mamadou Sakho, I think he costs about 17m, he could be a GREAT cb for us, young, tall, strong, and ofcourse—french
For once we agree vlatko…in france he is tipped to be the next marcel desailly! The only problem is that he is left footed, so unless arsene is planning on playing 2 leftys in cb, he and vermaelen won’t be paired together. I think it would work as thomas seems to be about as versatile as they come. Neven subotic from dortmund would be a smart buy in my opinion.
i think we will see gallas stay for another year and he will help djourou transition into the position. Arsene is very keen on johan and i can understand why. He is big and athletic with a sweet touch and passing ability from playing as a cm during his career. I am personally very excited to see djourou and vermaelen paired together and playing football out of the back. We will most likely sign a no-name future superstar per usual of the Boss.
What you do is rotate the squad with the goal to win 4 competitons as do the Manure and the Chelsk!!
We are still too small to take on chelski or man utd, they will roll us again, if we play them.
hull city is a very very important game…crucial to win…man and chelsky will not drop points..
we lost song and cesc and sagna with rosicky are not certain to start cause they have problems..
hull is playing home and home are hard to beat..they snatch a draw with chelsky and a win with city..and another thing…they are rested..they haven’t played from some time..if we manage to beat them we will have only 3 tough games left…with birmingham,spuds and city..
yes bogdan , i totally agree with you. We have to be 100 percent concentrated. we must not throw away what we have done in the last few games. afterunited’s game yesterday i am convinced that sir alex’s team will not drop anymore points and so we have to win stay with them. to be honest i am a bit worried re next saturday cos hull will be fighting for their lives after conceding five at everton.
yes…they will fight like mad…that’s what i’m afraid of…hope we wil beat them
Every team fights as if they are fighting for their life when they face Arsenal.
Its always good for the boss to have a selection headache, watching gunners dismantle porto without CESC is amazing which makes me to a kind of being happy when i heard he is not availlable on saturday. That gives one joy when if a player is missing you know some one else can come in and do the job even BETTER. Lets hope NASRI Continues his marvelous work in middle of the pack. And BENDTNER had another hattrick on sat. Till then keep GUNNING 4 THE TITLE. ONOWU In lagos nig
Nasri is really starting to show his best form I think. When he was marseille he was considered one of europe’s most promising talents, and if he can keep this form up, he could be one of the best players around. Comparisons with zidane have started to look more realistic recently.
He’s actually a bit like cesc with pace. The only difference really is that fabregas matured faster and has proven himself to be an extremely consistent performer and has now added goalscoring to his game, which nasri hasn’t done yet. However, I think his extra pace can make him an even more exciting player than fabregas.
It’s amazing the talent we have in this squad. Honestly, no one could have stopped us going forward against porto, our attack would have been too much for Utd or chelsea on that form. Just wish we could sort the defence out, then we really would be good side!
On tuesday i wrote that Arsenal is not a team depending on a single player like most of other teams! and what they shown on that particular day was just a prove of may words!
I am happy for bendtner he will be a legend with arsenal the only erea that he have to increase is his pace a friend told me his goals are just tapin that even he could score wich i agree but what he will never do is to be on the position that bendtner alway found himself
The longer we are in the CL and EPL title race the stronger our team will get. We cannot drop little points at Hull. Ruthlessness is needed.
Why do people type “is” when it should be “are”? I can see it at least twice in some of these posts. Is it coz i am fik?
Where exactly?
Against Hull, Song should sit at his position and protect the back four…
If we play that way we will have no problem maintaining the physical challenge presented by Hull…
Technically it is clear that Arsenal are a mile above so chances will come and be concretised…
song isnt playing so denilson diaby and nasri will be the midfield
Song is on another match suspension.He’ll be playing at home against WHU next.
if we play an english team i would much rather it was later like if we reached the final. there is NO DOUBT that with a fully fit and sharp rvp in the team we have an extra 20% or anything we currently have, even as well as we are playing now.
i think we’d have a genuine chance of winning right now, but seriously missing rvp is the only reason we aren’t waltzing to the league title this year. literally he is THAT good for us. when he played this season we averaged 3.4 goals a game, without him we averaged about 1.8. that says it all. goals, assists, clever build up play, amazing technique, fighting spirit, working tirelessly for the team. rvp is the most talented player in the entire team in my opinion when he is sharp from regular games and i think if you took rooney out of utd for example they couldn’t cope half as well as we have without rvp.
but yeah with him in the team and sharp i would be SURE of us winning. without him i’d believe we could do it but i’d be fucking anxious about it. i am clearly not so confident as some of you other guys and wenger.
it’s worth remembering that having rvp back clutters out team sheet even more because he’s undroppable and has to play. with him in the team that now leaves two spaces out wide between nasri, rosicky, arshavin, vela, walcott, bendtner. presumably wenger considers our very best midfield song diaby and cesc. arshavin would be very likely to play left so i think you can probably narrow rw down to nasri, rosicky and bendtner as the 3 best options. rosicky is class but i prefer nasri slightly. that said at the start of the season niklas did great on the right and worked so hard for the team. if he can keep being a goal threat as well then with his height and power he would be very hard to leave out. that’s why for me it would be a toss up between going for height and power with niklas to counter arshavin’s small size or nasri who is clearly better technically but is far less likely to be dominant in the air and compete in physical situations.
what a headache to have and i can only guess what the best answer is. other people would make a case for theo too. i like theo but he’s less consistent at the moment. if he were to be a bit more physical and be more consistent over the next month then i will reconsider. that truly WOULD be a headache for a selection.
I agree with u but RVP will be lucky if he will catch the last 2 or 3 games of the season with city (24 april) blackburn and fulham…and he needs time to reach a good form…if we reach the final he has a chance to play…but that depends of his form also..
lol i actually forgot to mention eboue as a candidate! i actually take him very seriously these days and think he really deserve to be considered very seriously for regular games on the right wing and rb. he’s been quality this year, especially recently and i currently think he’s not just a bit part player. he has the directness of walcott but more power and height and also more end product. recently i’ve been considering ioncluding him sometimes in my ideal starting 11 in some games. vs the physical teams like hull i really think he’s a very valuable option as unlike some of our smaller players he has the power to compete (when he doesn’t decide to fall over =[) and has enough end product to be really important. gotta keep him next season i think because he’s different from a lot of our similar players in the squad and quality-wise he’s easily holding his own. as much as his ability i think it’s that he’s different which makes him important. with him int he team he provides a less predictable outlet than teams expect from us as he beats players for fun with direct runs and is a dangerous crosser. those are qualities which not many in our team have.
i heard Sagna has a knock so i would hope Eboue would get the start this weekend
good thoughts Chris. Since Ramsey went down this team has been absolutely inspired! Enough cant be said about the last 2 1/2 weeks of Arsenal football. This appears to be a team that, at least on the attack, can match any side in the world. I have a few thoughts that keep buzzing in my head here they are… firstly, seeing Arshavin and especially Nasri pick up the reins in the absence of Fabulous Fabregas was incredible. and it lended me to the theory that without Cesc to constantly target, we played more cohesively as a unit. im not saying No. 4 shouldnt play, it was just good to see everyone stand up and not shy away from the responsibility. they could just as easily folded up and given in and no one would especially fault them because the skipper was missing.
Secondly, is there anyone here who could have seen a thrillride of a season as this has been? if you would have told me at the start that we would lose RVP for the majority of the year, play most weeks without an established target man at striker, and lose virtually everyone at one point or another, i would have told you we would be in Liverpools current position, with 4th a distant target. Tremendous kudos are in order to Arsene and the players for holding it together this season, and now we find ourselves with a workable run-in and a chance at the title. AMAZING! thats all for me, my first comment on here so i wanted a good one. UP the Arsenal!
Hey seattle…shout out from spokane!
Hey Chris, love the enthusiasm as usual.. I liked the article too.. My favorate part:
“Watching Real Madrid crash out of the Champions League was a joy to see. They signed half of Europe and are out. We only signed two defenders and still fighting for it.”
lol.. Amen to that!
Gunner 4 Life!
Haha agree completely!
Great post Arsenal play a great game we really deserve to win but i dont like that madrid get out i would love to watch a final arsenal vs madrid and im looking foward to hull city game but i would love that barcelona get out of the champions league and if u think well u will do it to instead of madrid maybe because they try to steal all of our stars frist with henry that we lost the champions final with them then hleb without counting that they try to steal rvp and cesc and eboue and made a big fool of them because they didnt sign arshavin that for me its more completed than messi!!!!
so think about it madrid didnt do nothing to us i hate more barca and hope they get out!!!!!
Come gunners lets win the league for aaron and the champions league i hope we play against lyon or barca just to demostrate that we are good and not a so called small team we love you arsenal!!!
I just realised one thing. Arshavin started to show his magic last season in February just like he did this season,, he shows people what he’s capable of just after his latest injury. That means there is a lot to come from Arshavin this season ! And it’s not too late like last season either,, we’re still very much alive in the Premier League and the Champions League !
I knew Arsenal would fight to the very end
Even you Chris admit it i know you had doughts and said it before the Chelsea game at standford bridge people asked you if we lose this game would we be out of it..
and you were reluctant to say an answer.. basically you were saying unforutnately yes..
Well
It is no secret we are back in the title race because of course those above us dropped a lot of points. When you go -11 from the top and then -8 from the top, you can keep on fighting yes, but at the same time only hope that others drop points, and we were lucky this happened in our case.
As for the Chelsea game, I will still keep on saying that we are not on the same level of Chelsea and United yet. I may believe we are, but until we play them again and beat them, mine will just be words and not facts. And that is why I want us to draw either one of them in the next round to turn words into facts.
we have been taunted by our opponents for not winning a trophy for sometimes,but this season
we’re very near[with the squad we have] we only need to concentrate and be very very positive.
I feel that we’re blessed with a wonderful coach [wenger] ,his brilliance ,decisions and ability
to make wise changes, we’re a threshold away from glory[both premier and chmpions].