Legend immortalised as Sunderland play like statues!

In this review of the Premier League action, I was at the Emirates as the Arsenal took on Capital One Cup finalists Sunderland, it was a one-sided and classy performance from Wenger's men who are in-fact STILL in the title race.

Arsene Wenger had suffered a depressing evening here on Tuesday as his side valiantly fell 2-0 against Bayern Munich in the Champions League round of 16 first leg.  The game turned on a crucial missed Mesut Ozil penalty, the German was clearly tired and low on confidence on Tuesday, so I was glad he was rested for the game on Saturday and Tomas Rosicky given the chance to show his quality.  Kieran Gibbs was also missing from Tuesday's starting line-up injured and Yaya Sanogo was given a rest after his exertions and highly profiled Olivier Giroud.  Giroud has been due a rest, but the media attention he's received recently hasn't helped his rest period.  It's been pictured that Giroud was with a model in the morning before Arsenal's meeting with Crystal Palace, the married Frenchman has been accused of adultery but denies it and vows to earn the respect of fans, family and friends back with performances on the pitch.  So when he was recalled I was very happy, Giroud is a player I will always like and back, I believe he has talent and would not have French Ligue 1 winners medal and be a French international for nothing.  He has played so much football this season and I not used to this amount of games and with Rio in the summer, he needs to prove his quality from now till May.  But today was all about Dennis Bergkhamp.  The legend who played for Arsenal from 1998 to 2006 was immortalised before the game as his statue was unveiled to go with the living legends Tony Adams and Thierry Henry.  Bergkhamp unveiled it himself and was rather pleased with the accuracy of the statue and himself, with the chosen pose being a leap to control the ball against Newcastle United, epitomising the class and elegancy of the Dutchman.   Bergkhamp greeted the Emirates crowd at half time to a rapturous greeting from both home and away fans.  Bergkhamp spoke of many things:

The statue, "I believe the most important thing is the first touch, it's important for your development as without a good first touch you cannot improve in other aspects, it allows you to do more things with the ball and become a better player, I'm honoured to be recognised as part of this great clubs history."
Role at Ajax, "I'm currently an assistant coach and learning my trade, some of the players over there are very good, maybe they could play here some day!  I enjoy working over there and love working with the young players helping them improve."
Arsenal, "I do not need to say much as I think it's obvious, I love this club and is my dream to come back and work here some day as a coach.  I love this club and will always remember the great players and good times I had here."

It was great to see him, now for the current crop.  A Sunderland without Wes Brown looked very poor and especially Santiago Vergini.  A signing in January made himself look like a amateur footballer with some of the stuff he was doing.  We never looked out of control in the game, within six minutes Giroud got a well needed goal after good work from Jack Wilshere and a helping hand from Vergini.  A driving run from Jack was stopped briefly by Vergini, but his tackle carried the ball to Giroud who cooly slid it past Vito Mannone.  The former Arsenal keeper was well received by the home fans and I was glad to see him in good form this season after frustrating times at Arsenal, he had always shown promise.  Giroud then received another Vergini assist as he made a blind pass to Mannone, sold him short and it was brilliantly finished by Giroud who slotted it between the legs of Mannone.  It was proving to be a very good day for Giroud who then played a part in certainly Arsenal's goal of the season, a superb sweeping one-touch move as Rosicky found Cazorla who in turn played it to Wilshere, Rosicky then Giroud, through to Rosicky and a elegant chip over Vito, a wonderful moment to witness.  Arsenal were unstoppable and looking irresistible, this team is full of team spirit and is definitely the underdog of the title race.

The second half was less of a spectacle, Arsenal were not at the same high tempo, Sunderland were happy to play the ball around with a lot of the ball being seen by Liam Bridcutt.  The young midfielder from Brighton looked very calm, composed and assured on the ball, a very good talent.  However, Vergini again was the centre of just awful football, a cross from Monreal was sliced just past his own post by Vergini.  The following corner was deliciously centred by Cazorla as Koscielny had all the time in the world to pick his spot and find it as Phil Bardsley seemed to forget about marking.  Sunderland were still well below par as Gus Poyet was giving players a chance to prove their places ahead of the final against Manchester City next week, Vergini certainly couldn't prove his worth.  Sunderland though did get a consolation, a good punch from Woijiech Szczesny reached Emmanuele Giaccherini who brilliantly lashed the ball past the Pole, certainly showing his quality off the bench.  It finished 4-1, a great performance, a convincing win and some wonderful football, don't write us off yet.

The Rest
Chelsea 1-0 Everton: It was gritty and less than convincing, but Mourinho's men showed their resilience and determination to break down a stout Everton team who fell to a typical Frank Lampard free kick which was parried in by Tim Howard.  It could've gone either way and both had chances but John Terry's pressure and Lampard's dipping strike did it.
Liverpool 4-3 Swansea: A game which for some reason was not on TV, ended up being a thriller.  Another double for man in form Daniel Sturridge, 31 in 39 Liverpool games.  Old scouse man Jonjo Shelvey bent in a wonder strike making it 2-1, when Wilfried Bony matched Sturridge's double and a Jordan Henderson strike set it up at 3-3 after 60 minutes.  Then a fortuitous Henderson rebound ended being the crucial goal for Liverpool, whilst Mr. Luis Suarez's goal drought continues, only 5 games without a goal now.

Results
Cardiff 0-4 Hull
Crystal Palace 0-2 Manchester United
Mancheste City 1-0 Stoke
Newcastle 1-0 Aston Villa
Norwich 1-0 Spurs
West Brom 1-1 Fulham
West Ham 3-1 Southampton

 

 

 

Who wants to win the League?

Since there hasn't been a blog lately, there has been a lot of football played, the table has got tighter and there have been a couple of sackings too.  Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal have all had chances to top the table but don't seem like they want to as all have slipped up in this period, so who really wants to win the league?  I still believe it'll be City, but it seems between 4 and there is still yet to be a clear leader of the pack. 

The Good

So over the last 5 games, the form side has been the reds from Mersyside and the blues from South London.  Both have gone unbeaten and both have picked up impressive victories along the way playing some fantastic football.  First off, Brendan Rodgers' men are slowly becoming the season's dark-horses and as the teams above are stuttering, they are making up ground and with teams including Chelsea and City to play, they could well be in the title picture.  As Daniel Sturridge has been reunited with Luis Suarez, the pair have been devastating. In the last 6 games they've featured in since Sturridge's return, at least one of them has scored as both top the goal scoring charts, Suarez with 23 and Sturridge with 16.  The tika-taka football has torn teams apart, notably Everton and Arsenal.  The Mersyside Derby in October was the game of the season in a six goal thriller, however this one was a one sided onslaught by the reds.  Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and a double from Sturridge sent Martinez' men down the road with an injured Lukaku and pride dented.  Whereas, Arsenal's demolition was more of a quick job.  With four goals in the first 20 minutes and Sturridge doing his dance again, Arsenal's title hopes were severely blown by a Mersyside mauling.  A couple of cameo errors from Kolo Toure have been a comedic downside, but Rodgers and Liverpool are ramping up the pressure.

One of the teams the pressure is on, is Jose's Chelsea.  A master class at the Etihad and a coast past Manchester United a Stamford Bridge have proved Chelsea are able to deliver in big games and are yet to lose to a team in top 5 so far this season and maintain Mourinho's incredible undefeated home record.  The player of the month for me has definitely been Eden Hazard who has been different class, particularly since the turn of the year.  Scoring his first hat-trick for the club against Newcastle shows how much progress he's made under Mourinho and is a front runner for player of the year and could even have a first Premier League medal to boot.  Mourinho is the master of mind games and has started to wind up his title rivals Pellegrini and Wenger, calling Wenger a 'specialist in failure' and saying City have been 'lucky' with decisions this season, as he constantly dismisses his side from the title race calling them the 'little horse'.  Yet the 'little horse' have done the double over the so called favourites for the title. 

The Bad

Where there are the form teams, there are the falling teams and there is no side more in free-fall than Fulham.  Sitting bottom of the pile, 4 points from safety, they need to improve and fast.  Rene Meulensteen is a well known coach an very successful as a coach, so when he has the job of saving a sinking ship as a manager, he is clearly out of his depth.  Meulensteen lasted two weeks in charge of Russian outfit Anzhi (whatever its name is) and today has now been SACKED as Fulham boss.  Despite the fact it's the right decision, it comes after two of Fulham's best performances of the season.  A gutsy and well earned point at Old Trafford was followed by a hard working display against Liverpool.  If he was to be sacked, why not after embarrassment at home to Sunderland in a 4-1 defeat, or a poor away defeat at another relegation candidate Crystal Palace, not after battling well against two top sides?!?!  Despite this, Rene made good signings in the window which has added quality and should see Fulham get to safety, like Lewis Holtby and Konstantin Mitroglu.  New manager Felix Magath has a hard job on his hand, but with experience at the likes of Bayern Munich and VFL Wolfsburg, he should guide Fulham to safety.

Another side and the peril of the drop is Norwich City.  Chris Hughton's side are 16th and a point in from the relegation zone, with the lack of goals at Carrow Road they are in the mix of a battle at the bottom.  New signings Gary Hooper, Johan Elmander and Ricky Van Wolfswinkel have managed to muster 9 goals between them in the league, with Van Wolfswinkel's only one coming on the opening day.  There defence leaked 7 in at City but managed to keep a clean sheet at home to the big spenders but losing to relegation contenders West Ham United will not help Hughton.  Hughton has been ordered to quickly improve Norwich's position, but if they continue to lose to other sides in and around them, Hughton won't see the end of the season in May. 

Arsenal

As an Arsenal fan I'd thought I would summarise my views as we head to a pivotal point of the season.  So far I'd say we've gone above expectations overall this season, getting through a tough Champions League group, chasing the title, a chance of an FA Cup and signing a player like Mesut Ozil along with some eye-catching results.  However, recently performances have been under-par and topped with the thrashing at Anfield, a win in the FA Cup is a must.  Our best chance of a trophy is the FA Cup as City and Chelsea face each other and with victory over Liverpool and avoiding either City/Chelsea in the next draw, it looks a possibility.  Liverpool will be no means easy and neither will the small test only by the reigning European champions and treble winners Bayern Munich.  With a small amount of firepower upfront thanks to no additions in January and injuries to compound it with Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott missing.  It's time for players like Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere, Olivier Giroud and Ozil to step up and play for the shirt as a chance of ending the trophy drought is here and they need to realise this, kick on and do it, hopefully they will!

Thanks for reading!