It was back to the business of football yesterday after a week of boardroom turmoil. Arsenal will be bitterly disappointed to take only a point away from White Hart Lane after allowing Jermaine Jenas to put away a long range strike in injury time.
I only managed to catch the second-half*, and that was in a pub surrounded by Liverpool and Manchester United supporters so if you want to read a decent match report, trek on through to Arseblog.
*Ed. - After getting a sarky comment on this yesterday, I better clarify that I had college that morning!
The only thing I would have to add to the Arseblog match report is my dismay at the pub-team football decision that Wenger made in injury time. I always feel that bringing an extra defender -Senderos- on for a midfielder that late in the game does nothing else but unsettle the defence.
In the good old days, we would have brought on Kanu, or in later years - Bergkamp- to intelligently hold up the ball; or Grimandi to kick lumps out of anybody who looked creative. Yesterday we threw on a centre-half and nobody, including himself, seemed to know where he was playing. A central defensive partnership does not need tinkering with at such a late stage in the game. To me, that was a contributing factor in not getting all three points.
Having said that, there were a lot of positives to be taken from the game, not least Diaby's performance, so if we can keep the boardroom turmoil to an absolute minimum and bring in a few fresh faces, we'll have a good season ahead of us.
Anyhow, back to the turmoil: there's an excellent piece by Amy Lawrence in today's Observer in which she suggests some very interesting replacements for David Dein. I don't want to ruin the surprise, so go and read it!
And finally, there was a interesting article on the Arsenal website about what players, if any, will be departing the club during the close season.
“We have no basic situation where players would be free to transfer,” said Wenger. “That is apart from Jens Lehmann, who of course has his own
destiny in his hands, and Julio Baptista. But apart from that, all the
other players are under contract. The only other one who can move out
is Mathieu Flamini, but that is it. We have only three players where
they have a situation to decide about.”
So where does that leave Jeremie Aliadiere, who wasn't even in yesterday's match day squad? Surely he'll be allowed leave? Or is Arsene only alluding to players who have a say in the matter? Confusing to say the least... unless Aliadiere is getting Dein's job!!!!! CUE: DRAMATIC MUSIC
That's enough for today. I have to shave my back or something...
I only managed to catch the second-half*, and that was in a pub surrounded by Liverpool and Manchester United supporters so if you want to read a decent match report, trek on through to Arseblog.
*Ed. - After getting a sarky comment on this yesterday, I better clarify that I had college that morning!
The only thing I would have to add to the Arseblog match report is my dismay at the pub-team football decision that Wenger made in injury time. I always feel that bringing an extra defender -Senderos- on for a midfielder that late in the game does nothing else but unsettle the defence.
In the good old days, we would have brought on Kanu, or in later years - Bergkamp- to intelligently hold up the ball; or Grimandi to kick lumps out of anybody who looked creative. Yesterday we threw on a centre-half and nobody, including himself, seemed to know where he was playing. A central defensive partnership does not need tinkering with at such a late stage in the game. To me, that was a contributing factor in not getting all three points.
Having said that, there were a lot of positives to be taken from the game, not least Diaby's performance, so if we can keep the boardroom turmoil to an absolute minimum and bring in a few fresh faces, we'll have a good season ahead of us.
Anyhow, back to the turmoil: there's an excellent piece by Amy Lawrence in today's Observer in which she suggests some very interesting replacements for David Dein. I don't want to ruin the surprise, so go and read it!
And finally, there was a interesting article on the Arsenal website about what players, if any, will be departing the club during the close season.
“We have no basic situation where players would be free to transfer,” said Wenger. “That is apart from Jens Lehmann, who of course has his own
destiny in his hands, and Julio Baptista. But apart from that, all the
other players are under contract. The only other one who can move out
is Mathieu Flamini, but that is it. We have only three players where
they have a situation to decide about.”
So where does that leave Jeremie Aliadiere, who wasn't even in yesterday's match day squad? Surely he'll be allowed leave? Or is Arsene only alluding to players who have a say in the matter? Confusing to say the least... unless Aliadiere is getting Dein's job!!!!! CUE: DRAMATIC MUSIC
That's enough for today. I have to shave my back or something...
3 comments:
Easy with hindsight is'nt it? Just exactly how did the Senderos substituion lead to the goal? If the referee added the requisite minutes on then how do you know they would not have scored in the same minutes had play continued? Was Senderos not marking his man? Did he lose the ball in a key position? Man in the pub told you did he?
Hindsight?
I've never agreed with bringing a centrehalf on in injury time...
I'm also not blaming Senderos on the goal, more the change in tactics.
When I say 'bringing on a centrehalf', I am referring to the change of a centre-half for a midfielder and altering the shape of the defence in the process...
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