im still pissed you guys didnt get Schwarzer

Edited by zimbos_05: 25/9/2010 09:11:46 AM

So are we :(

Report: Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

By Richard Clarke

Arsenal went down 2-0 in disappointing fashion at Chelsea on Sunday.

Didier Drogba swept home a shot just before half time and, in 85th minute, Alex planted a rocket of a free-kick past Lukasz Fabianski from long range.

Those are the bare facts of the game and, ultimately, what matters. But inbetween Arsenal were on top for significant periods this afternoon at Stamford Bridge.

Marouane Chamakh and Laurent Koscielny might have scored in the opening seconds and the visitors chased the game in admirable fashion at the start of the second half.

Ultimately they were undone by Drogba’s deadly nature and a wonder strike. It was difficult to take given the shift they put in this afternoon.Arsenal drop to fourth place in the table as a result of a game that had been built up as an indicator of their title ambitions.

However, on the strength of this afternoon, they will still be involved in the shake up.

Wenger’s team was pretty much chosen for him this afternoon. With Cesc Fabregas (hamstring), Manuel Almunia (elbow), Robin van Persie (ankle), Nicklas Bendtner (groin) and Theo Walcott (ankle) all out, the manager only had a couple of decisions to make.

Perhaps with this game in mind, he had shuffled his side against West Brom and Partizan Belgrade in the past week with only partial success.

But there was nothing held back this afternoon.

Compared to the game in Serbia, Wenger brought back Abou Diaby for Denilson, Gael Clichy for Kieran Gibbs and Laurent Koscielny for Johan Djourou.

The manager had been in ebullient form at his pre-match press conference. Injuries, shminjuiries. He thought his side could and would win this game.

In the first two minutes, they nearly did.

Straight from the kick-off, Bacary Sagna curled a cross into the centre and the diving Chamakh steered a header just inches wide of the far post. The ball must have flicked off his marker en route because referee Mike Dean indicated a corner. Nasri took it, Sebastien Squillaci nodded on and the unmarked Koscielny headed over at the far post.

The game was barely 100 seconds yet Arsenal might have scored twice.

Chelsea responded with urgency. Drogba’s shot was blocked by Song and then the striker fired over from a free-kick. In the sixth minute, Florant Malouda captialised on Squillaci’s error and drifted an effort just over the bar.

The game had started like the last five minutes of an FA Cup tie not the first major meeting of this year’s title contenders.

In the eighth minute, Arshavin cut inside and fired powerfully at Petr Cech. The Chelsea keeper beat the ball away superbly.

After that, the game drew breath as Chelsea gradually gathered themselves. Malouda had a shot blocked at the far post and an unmarked Michael Essien powered a header wide from eight yards when he should have hit the target.

As the half-hour approached, the game had evened out and the sides started to swap chances.

In the 32nd minute, Nasri weaved through and planted a left-foot shot just beyond the far post. Three minutes later, Drogba burst through but Fabianski parried away his shot at the near post.

By now, there was an ominous look about Chelsea. For the first half-hour Arsenal had created but not scored. If and when the home side carved out similar opportunities would they fail to convert?

The answer came six minutes before the break.

Ramires sent Cole free on the left. He scuttled to the byline and sent in a low cross to Drogba at the near post. The ball was just behind the striker but he swept a shot goalwards with his trailing leg. The ball hit inside the post and nestled into the far side of the net.

It was a familiar feeling for the vocal visiting fans. This was Drogba’s 13th goal in his last 11 League and Cup games against Arsenal.

After a very decent first-half display, the visiting players looked a little crest-fallen as they went into the tunnel at the break.

But they shrugged it off in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. Arsenal peppered the Chelsea area with crosses and, gradually, they began to lead to chances.

Chamakh nudged a header wide then, in the 56th minute, Diaby’s shot bounced over Cech but bobbled wide.

Arshavin reached the left-hand byline and his low cross eluded Wilshere in the middle to find Chamakh just inside the area. The Moroccan weaved inside Ramires and was brought down. A certain penalty was only prevented by the fact the Brazilian clipped the ball in the act of sweeping away the legs of the Arsenal striker.

The visitors were on top but then that is when Chelsea tend to score. And, sure enough, they nearly did.

Arsenal had their own penalty scare when Koscielny won the ball through the legs of Drogba.

Then, on the hour, Anelka caught Squillaci in possession and went one-on-one with Fabianski. The Chelsea striker was completely clear and the Arsenal keeper did well to usher him wide.

The Frenchman skipped past and planted a first-time shot into the sidenetting when he had time to control the ball and pick his spot.

Chelsea had the ball in the net after 69 minutes but Ashley Cole was flagged offside before he fired home his cross-shot.

But the tide was still with Arsenal. Wenger brought on Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and put him alongside Chamakh. The visitors kept throwing in crosses but they were now becoming more desperate. Chelsea were looking lethal on the break and, despite everything, Arsenal had still not really tested Cech.

With five minutes left, the home side killed the game. Koscielny hauled down Anelka as he went through and, for once, Drogba left free-kick duties to Alex. From 25 yards, the Brazilian stepped up and sent a howitzer of a shot beyond Fabianski and into top corner.

The keeper made a fine stop from Essien few seconds later as Arsenal struggled to recover. And then another from Cole in the final minute.

Chelsea ended on top and had taken the points but that was not the full story this afternoon.
http://www.arsenal.com/match-menu/3293521/first-team/chelsea-v-arsenal?tab=report

I'm not. He's not a massive improvement on what we have. I'd much rather see us spend some money and go for someone like Akinfeev. That being said Fabianski is giving us no reason to not trust him at the moment.

The problem is, all three of our goal keepers (I've not seen the fourth play yet) are all extremely good goal keepers. However, they are not consistant. Schwartzer is a great goallie, consistantly.

As long as Fabianski keeps playing like this I can't complain.

Sol was signed because we had an injury crisis at the back at the time, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Pires sign on for a season to add some depth. He knows he won't be playing much, but might be worth a look in.

Also just think of the advantage it would bring to the younger guys having a legend like Pires around the club.

Sol was training with us for 6 odd months before he signed and no one would have seen his signing coming. The fact that Pires is French and Wenger has always regretted letting him go it really wouldn't surprise me if he signed him.

But Wenger also has a policy which does not include 36 year olds.

I agree he would be brilliant for the squad.

I also agree he's softening on his over 30 stance. Not that much though :d

Jack Wilshere is EA SPORTS Player of the Month

Jack Wilshere has won his first EA SPORTS Player of the Month award.

The 18-year-old had a sensational September and earned more than 40 per cent of the votes in our official Club poll.

Jack played six games last month and, although he has yet to break his duck for the season, he was hugely influential in a deeper midfield role.

Cute backheels from Jack set up goals for Marouane Chamakh and Andrey Arshavin in Europe but he saved his finest display for the Carling Cup, pulling the strings in a 4-1 win at Tottenham.

Samir Nasri, who scored twice at White Hart Lane, finished second in our poll with 30 per cent of the vote. And Marouane Chamakh registered his second successive third place with 12.9 per cent.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wilshere-is-ea-sports-player-of-the-month

[size=6]Has Squillaci broken an Arsenal record?[/size]

Sebastien Squillaci became the latest man to captain Arsenal when he led the Gunners out for their London derby at Chelsea on Sunday.

But did the French defender break a Club record in the process?

Squillaci, a summer signing from Sevilla, captained Arsenal in only his sixth appearance for the first team.

We're trawling the record books to find a player who achieved that honour in fewer games for the Club - with the exception of Arsenal's first ever captain.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/has-squillaci-broken-an-arsenal-record-

[size=6]Chamakh wins September Goal of the Month[/size]

Arsenal fans have voted Marouane Chamakh's strike against Braga as our September Goal of the Month.

The Moroccan star exchanged passes with Jack Wilshere before finishing expertly to give Arsenal a three-goal lead in their opening Champions League match in Group H. They went on to win 6-0.

Marouane's first European strike for the Club received 19 per cent of the votes to win our monthly award.

It was a close run thing though. Carlos Vela's goal against Bolton, following a marathon build-up, claimed 16 per cent of the votes while Cesc Fabregas' freakish strike at Sunderland was just behind in third.

Click the PLAY button on the image above to watch all of Arsenal's goals from September.

Look out for our October Goal of the Month clip at the end of this month.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/free-video-september-goal-of-the-month

[size=6]Henry Watch: Red Bulls clinch playoff spot[/size]

New York Red Bulls 1-0 kansaS city wizards
Saturday, October 2
Red Bull Arena – Harrison, NJ

After a knee injury forced him to miss the Red Bulls’ 2-0 victory at LA Galaxy last week, Thierry Henry was rested and ready to go when the Kansas City Wizards visited Red Bull Arena on Saturday. It was a key game for New York, as a win or draw against the Wizards would secure them a spot in the MLS playoffs.

The game got off to a fast start for New York with Dane Richards’ sixth minute goal – his fourth in the last five league matches. Kansas City responded by attacking throughout the first half and put up 14 shots on goal.

But the Red Bulls came close to adding a second late in the first half when Henry set up Juan Pablo Angel in the area, but the Colombian striker’s right-footed effort was saved by the Wizards’ Jimmy Nielsen.

The Wizards came out for the second half looking for a quick equalizer, and came close on a Kei Kamara free-kick. Kansas City continued to dominate the game, and again piled on more pressure in the 56th minute, but New York keeper Bouna Coundoul managed to make the key save.

Henry had one more opportunity a few minutes later, when he broke forward into the Wizards area. He dodged Kansas City’s Jimmy Conrad with a quick cut-back from his left foot, but his shot sailed wide of the mark.

That would be about it for both Henry, who was substituted in the 74th minute, and for the Wizards, who had only more scoring opportunity in the game.

The win lifts the Red Bulls above Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference, and more importantly guarantees them a spot in the MLS playoffs. Only three games remain in the regular season.
http://www.arsenal.com/usa/news/news-archive/henry-watch-red-bulls-clinch-playoff-spot

[size=6]International Watch: Eleven Gunners on duty[/size]

Eleven members of the Arsenal first team have been called up by their countries for the upcoming international fixtures and Arsenal.com will bring you a digest of all the games featuring the Gunners.
Player Profile - Bacary SagnaPlayer Profile - Abou Diaby

Bacary Sagna, Abou Diaby, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy
France v Romania, October 9
France Luxembourg. October 12
The Arsenal trio have been called up by French coach Laurent Blanc for two Euro 2012 Group D qualifiers against Romania and Luxembourg. Romania visit Paris on Saturday night before Luxembourg travel to Metz on Tuesday.
Player Profile - Tomas RosickyCzech Republic

Tomas Rosicky
Czech Republic v Scotland, October 8
Liechtenstein v Czech Republic, October 12
Tomas has been called up by Michal Bílek for Czech Republic's Euro 2012 Group I qualifiers against Scotland and Liechtenstein. They welcome Scotland to Prague on Friday night before travelling to face Liechtenstein in Vaduz on Tuesday.
Player Profile - Jack WilshereEngland

Jack Wilshere
England v Montenegro, October 12
Jack has again been called up to Fabio Capello's England squad for the Euro 2012 Group G qualifier against Montenegro on Tuesday.
Player Profile - Andrey ArshavinRussia

Andrey Arshavin
Ireland v Russia, October 8
Macedonia v Russia, Octber 12
Andrey has been called up by Russian manager Dick Advocaat for the upcoming Euro 2012 Group B qualifiers. Russia face away trips to both Dublin and Skopje where they will face Ireland and Macedonia.

Player Profile - Emmanuel EboueIvory Coast

Emmanuel Eboue
Burundi v Ivory Coast, October 8
Emmanuel has been called up by manager François Zahoui for an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi in Bujumbura on Friday.
Player Profile - Marouane ChamakhMorocco

Marouane Chamakh
Tanzania v Morocco, October 9
Marouane has been called up for an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania in Dar Es Saalam on Saturday.
Player Profile - Henri LansburyEngland

Henri Lansbury
England Under-21s v Romania Under-21s, October 8
Romania Under-21s v England Under-21s, October 12
Henri has been called up by Stuart Pearce for England's European Championship play offs against Romania. The first game of the two legged tie takes place at Carrow Road, Norwich on Friday night before the return leg in Botosani on Tuesday.

Player Profile - Wojciech SzczesnyPoland

Wojciech Szczesny
Poland Under-20s v Germany Under-20s, October 10
Wojciech has been called up to the Poland Under-20 squad for a friendly against Germany on Sunday.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/34863/international-watch-

...so arsenal are still playing despite the international break, romania on the weekend then luxembourg midweek...

:p

A bit random this is