fastidium

We’re playing the rest of the season for Aaron Ramsey. Its such a stroke of bad luck to lose the young Welshman at this point in the season, but this tragedy-turned-motivation may just be the extra push to get us some hardware. Its all about character and how much you want it at this stage. It was enduring to see all the players wearing “Get Well Soon Aaron” t-shirts prior to kickoff.

Coming into this match against Burnley tonight, we needed to win by 4 goals in order to go level with Chelsea on points but beat them in goal differential. Chelsea were going to have a game in hand after this weekend because they were playing an FA Cup match. Man United were playing Wolves later in the day.

This match would be a coming-out party of sorts for Theo Walcott. He has these games every now and again. He was fantastic. I’m sure I join all Arsenal supporters in wanting these performances to become expected behavior from Walcott. Too often this season, his sprints down the right-hand side fizzle out and result in nothing.

If Nicholas Bendtner had been on his game, the scoreline would have been a lot more. I’m not sure what happened to the Dane. He and Walcott linked up numerous times, only to see his shots go over the crossbar or just wide of the post. You could see the frustration in everyone’s faces by the fourth or fifth attempt.

But, Bendtner’s flubs aside, Arsenal pulled out the 3-1 win. The first goal (34th minute) will probably win goal of the week honors. Samir Nasri floated the perfect ball over the defensive line and Cesc Fabregas ran onto the ball just in time to nutmeg the keeper.

Burnley would pull one back just after half-time.

The second Arsenal goal (60th minute) was Walcott – man of the match himself – finally pulling inside from a run down the right-hand side, and placing the ball ever so nicely in the far corner of the goal. Theo has a tendency to stay outside even though he may outrun a defender and try to cross the ball to another player. It was nice to see him change his normal routine.

The final Arsenal goal, by Andrei Arshavin, was in extra time and an end to frustrations, I’m sure, for the Russian striker. He had numerous chances prior to this. From a short corner kick, he intercepted a loose ball from Eduardo and cut inside. With only a small fraction of the goal open, Arshavin was able to slot the ball just inside the near post.

There was concern with Cesc coming off just before half. Turns out he’s got a hamstring problem and will hopefully be back soon.

Moving on, we’ve got a tough game against Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday. Its at the Emirates but we’ve got a 2-1 deficit to overcome. Then, next Saturday, we’ve got an away match at Hull City, who got blitzed by Everton today.

The first ten minutes. That’s the only time in this match that Portsmouth really showed any kind of fight. They really gave up after about the 20th minute. Arsenal took over and Pompey lost their drive. Such is the way of teams who are ready for relegation or administration or whatever’s going to happen to them.

The first goal, due to a deflection from an Eduardo free kick in the 28th minute, was a sign of things to come. You can’t stay in the Premiership without the fight to overcome bad luck and, while there were several individual efforts at scoring, Pompey’s team spirit was gone.

The man of the match, for me, was Samir Nasri. He orchestrated much of the play and got the second goal in the 42nd minute. He was tireless and looked as fresh in the end as he did at the beginning.

Aaron Ramsey’s individual effort in the 69th minute was beautiful. He strips the ball, makes a gigantic redirection to get around the defender, and rips the ball into the top right corner. No goalkeeper has a chance when its hit that cleanly. Arsenal 3, Portsmouth 0.

We should have done better against a team like Portsmouth. They should not have had the chances that we gave them and certainly not the goal we gave up. Nadir Belhadj pulled one back in the 74th minute. Arsenal 3, Portsmouth 1.

Sounding like a broken record, Almunia just doesn’t have what Arsenal needs. We need a goalkeeper that’s willing to to come strong in the air and take charge. Almunia does not have that killer instinct to knock but not get knocked. He’s too often thrown off balance because an opposing player gets to the ball at the same time. Any goalie in the English league needs to be able to do damage while clearing out loose balls.

The last goal came from a Nasri cross that found an unmarked Alex Song in front of the goal. Using as much strength he could muster, Song redirected and gave the ball enough power as he headed the ball into the back of the net. Arsenal 4, Portsmouth 1.

Arsenal continue an impressive start to the season with a 4 to 1 thrashing of Portsmouth. Two goals scored by Diaby in the 18th (a beautiful flick by Eduardo around the defender to the end line and pass back into the box) and 21st minutes (Eboue break and pass to unmarked goalscorer) were really enough to seal the win. After letting in a Pompey goal by Kaboul in the 37th minute (Almunia should have done better), Gallas (51st minute) and Ramsey (68th minute) put two more past goalkeeper David James. James had to be substituted soon after, certainly because of being shell-shocked by the Arsenal attack.

When Abou Diaby is playing well, I have to remind myself that he’s not Patrick Vieira. His wide gate and prowling maneuvers in midfield sure give the impression that Vieira has returned in prime form. In the post match press conference, Arsene Wenger highlighted his Vieira-like ability to move from box to box very quickly. With Denilson playing the defensive mid role, along with Diaby, there will not be many midfields we do not control by the fact that both have such an awareness of space and positioning.

The troubling thought during the match however was that, even with a 3 to 1 lead, the game was still questionable. We are great at going forward and attacking. The problem seems to be with shutting down oppositions and being able to hold the ball when we’re not going forward. Pompey’s attacks were sporadic but, every time they went forward, its worth asking how they were getting through our defense. These are the mistakes we tend to make when the win becomes too easy.

It’s also time to start asking questions of Almunia. I think its time for a better decision maker between the posts. That Pompey goal should never happen and its one of the reasons why the game never seemed out of reach for them.

After two Premiership games, Arsenal 10, opposition 2.

By finishing off Rangers 3-0 on Sunday, Arsenal won their first hardware of the new season, the 2009 Emirates Cup. Yes, its only a preseason tournament and it was on our home ground, but let’s celebrate it and look forward to good things to come.

Here are some notes that I jotted down while watching. The highlight reel from Youtube is below.

• Andrey Arshavin is so aware of things going on around him. He had several dummies and its hard to see how he knew that another player was behind him. I’m looking forward to some more magical moments from Arshavin. He might be my favorite current Arsenal player right now … no, that’s not true; although, he’s probably a close second to Cesc Fabregas.
• The last goal is a showcase of the young, young guns coming through at Arsenal. Sanchez Watt doesn’t give up and manages to get the ball off the endline where the defender should have been able to shepherd it out. The ball comes to Aaron Ramsey who has the foresight to not blast the ball at an impossible angle. He patiently waits and sees a running Jack Wilshere through a crowd of players. Then, he manages to dink it over everyone to the opposite side of the goal where Wilshere has the composure to place a well hit ball into the far corner. Its a thing of beauty. Watch the highlights below.
• Jack Wilshere!
• The biggest problem for Arsenal is the ability to clear the ball on corners or set pieces. The ball bounced around too much in the box and luckily Rangers didn’t jump on their chances. Hopefully, having Thomas Vermaelen in there will help to remedy those situations.