Well, that was angry, breathless, and, purely as a football game, a bit bollocks wasn’t it?
You all saw the key incidents, I’m sure.
An explosive goal of rare grace and ingenuity from Van Persie. The sort of goal only he can score. The kind of footballing brilliance where you pretty much punch the ceiling as the net bulges, your mouth hangs open and your guts jump for joy, but part of you can’t help thinking “why can’t he do that all the time?” Probably because it’s really really hard to do – even for him.
Liverpool hit back with their first decent attack of the game - a high-bouncing hoof caught out Djourou as Keane snuck in front of him and finished magnificently. The guy’s a pillock, but what a well taken goal. I won’t blame Djourou or Almunia. Keane hit it so early that there was little they could do from their starting positions, where normally a touch or an extra bounce would have allowed them to recover.
Cesc hobbled off and will be a major concern. The TV cameras showed him holding his shirt to his face and the great man looked very frustrated. Let’s hope it was just a heavy knock and he hasn’t sustained a profound injury. His frustration could simply have been because he knew he wouldn’t be able to play the second half, not necessarily anything longer. Fingers crossed. We need him.
In the first half Arsenal had a surprising amount of joy playing high, direct balls for Adebayor whose knock-downs into the midfield gave us several decent attacking platforms in an advanced area of the pitch. This seemed to dry up in the second half as the reshaped midfield struggled a bit without their injured General.
Adebayor had been looking pretty pissed off all game and put in a really stupid challenge considering he was on a yellow. Of course the Liverpool prat made a meal out of it so big you could have added a few sprouts and called it a Christmas Dinner, and our fans were rightly outraged (as was Arsene). Still, a silly thing for Adebayor to do when he’s on a yellow card. Very silly in such a big game which looked there for the taking with 11 men. The boy needs a rocket up him if you ask me, and fast.
From then on the game got even scrappier, the moronic Howard Webb booking our players at every possible opportunity and Liverpool showing the kind of lack of ambition which could well deny them the title. Pretty much 35 minutes against 10 men missing their captain and heartbeat. A chance, you’d think, to kill off a rival’s fading title hopes and compound their Christmas lead. No attacking substitutions until Babel on 70 minutes and still no real thrust to their attack. !Rafa, no me jodas! Donde esta los cojones?
Finally, a word on the performances of Song and Denilson, two players much maligned who will doubtless have to face all kinds of misguided criticism after this result. Rarely has there been such a gap between Arsene’s belief in a player and the fans’ suspicion of them as there currently is with these two.
Well, I’ve got news for their haters. I’m not saying that they have both been consistently outstanding this season or anything like that, nor am I saying I’d want them in a first-choice midfield every week. But today they played superbly against a vastly more experienced Liverpool midfield and both of them out of their natural position. Where was Stevie G? Song had him.
For once, let’s just stand up and give them a bit of credit, shall we. Two battling performances (not perfect, by any means) but certainly well worthy of the shirt in my opinion.
What did you think of the match then? Post your views underneath and we’ll have a right old chinwag.
Tags: Alex Song, Arsenal, Denilson, Emmanuel Adebayor, Liverpool, Rafael Benitez, Robin van Persie
December 21st, 2008 at 7:02 pm
fuckin shitty piece of a blog. No doubt now that you can congratulate yourself for that jinxing match prediction of “6-0″.
December 21st, 2008 at 7:04 pm
of course, samson, we accept full responsibility. now, how about you give us your opinion on arsenal, i’m sure it’s very good.
December 21st, 2008 at 7:10 pm
I’m growing rather fond of Samson. I hope he sticks around.
Good post – completely agreed re Song and Denilson, and tbh even Diaby had patches there at the end.
The feeling in the ground was entirely anti-referee and pro-Ade. Interesting that you’re cross with him…
December 21st, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Yeah, it’s great to have samson around in case we get too full of ourselves. The kind of bracing lessons in humility he offers us on such a regular basis are invaluable. I do wish he’d express an opinion of his own, though.
I agree that the red card was soft, that Arbeloa reacted ludicrously and that Webb was atrocious all day. I just think Adebayor was really asking for it, with his reckless challenge, his arm flung out and his petulant reaction to the award of the free kick which definitely encouraged a retaliatory Webb power-trip. He was already on a yellow for exactly the same kind of challenge.
Idiotic.
December 21st, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Grabs (wonder what the difference between you and “Grabber” is…similar poster or same exact person) – if you want to know what I thought of today’s outcome, it’s right here
arsenalspot.wordpress.com
Thanks for asking…I was just sick of the “6-0″ shit
December 21st, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Well, the main difference between grabber and I is that we’re different people who write pretty much alternate posts, the two heads of the UpForGrabsNow monster, or “blog of shit”, if you really prefer.
December 21st, 2008 at 8:16 pm
grabs, i think what your saying about adebayor is a bit harsh, he only had eyes for the ball and I can’t even say it was clumsy because he ensured he made no contact with arbeloa, ade isnt a malicious player and hardly gets a red, unless it’s unjust like v chelsea in the carling and now today.
He did come in over the top with the boot but there was no intent and no contact – two big, big reasons why it shouldn’t have been a red. Like I said on my blog i’d rather talk about an unbelivable show of spirit once the big man departed today, and it was the crowd who spurred them on. Hopefully it’ll carry on.
http://arsenalheat.blogspot.com
December 21st, 2008 at 8:28 pm
thanks Evo – nice positive spin on your blog too, always refreshing to see amongst the gloom-mongers.
again, though, i’m not really saying that ade deserved to get sent off, just that what he did was really really stupid and, as wenger admitted, cost us 2 more points today.
it reminded me a bit of the penalty toure conceded at anfield and the one clichy gave away at birmingham last season – and way way back, campbell’s challenge on rooney at old trafford in oct 2004. All these decisions were absolutely wrong, but they were made because of really foolish play from the arsenal players involved.
sometimes in football you need to be a bit clever, and i thought ade’s challenge was really idiotic under the circumstances.
December 21st, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Sorry grabs/grabber I didn’t read all the post just because the headline was so infuriating. I think you bias towards Ade may have clouded your judgment. He made a successful attempt at shielding the ball, any decent player with a will to win would have done the same, it was not reckless.
Unfortunately as Ade turned away with the ball the player got caught with a flailing arm, purely accidental. If Ade step over the ball action (the only way to shield the ball in that situation) was deemed as dangerous then all he should have got was a free kick against him as it was obviously not malicious and caused no injury.
Now I have got that off my chest I will probably read the rest of the post
December 21st, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Still haven’t read the rest of your post yet Grabs, but all those instances you quoted were unjustified decisions against us only the Clichy one could be deemed”idiotic”.
Toure had to put pressure on his man, that can be all that is needed to put him off, he made no challenge at all. It is a contact sport therefore inevitably there will be contact, however that was not a foul and not foolish at all. If he had let him go and he scored everyone would have complained that he did not put any pressure on him or make a challenge
As for Sol if he hadn’t pulled out of the challenge and had actually caught Rooney I would agree with you. However far from being foolish he used his head after being led by his instinct as a defender and pulled out of the challenge. I would not call that foolish, but to the contrary, wise. What was foolish was the referee’s decision as in all the aforementioned cases.
December 21st, 2008 at 9:08 pm
3sheds – good to have you back on the blog mate.
i agree with most of what you’re saying about the challenges i cited. but i was NOT arguing that any of them were correct refereeing decisions or in any way “justified” nor did i argue that of ade’s red today.
i don’t have any prejudice against ade, i really like him (though the summer was a testing time for my affection) but i think his attitude of late leaves a lot to be desired.
we’re never going to see his tackle the same way. i stand by what i said – whether or not it was a yellow card it was a bloody stupid thing to do in the context of the game, especially as he was already on a yellow and webb was obviously keen to get a headline.
December 21st, 2008 at 9:10 pm
oh, and he’d been booked for a virtually identical challenge in the first half. it was also a very harsh decision but in such a key match you just can’t go around getting yourself sent off for exactly the same offence.
December 21st, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Ok, first of all, Grabs, I was enraged at Howard Webb (the bald-headed, doesn’t-even-know-how-to-hide-a-bald-spot-properly cunt). That was NEVER a red card, and there was no way Ade could have known that the twat was going to send him off for shielding a ball.
And when Stevie MBE (apologies to The Fiver) produced the kind of dive that would fetch a 10.9 at the Olympics, he never got booked for it. Lucas repeatedly fouled our players without getting booked. I could go on and on and on.
Yes, Ade’s first challenge definitely deserved a yellow, but the second was, I say again, NOT a yellow card. For fuck’s sake it wasn’t even a free kick. There was ZERO contact, and Arbeloa went down like he’d just taken a bullet.
On another note, I will say that the crowd was magnificent today. Though I only watched on TV, the noise level was deafening, and I think the players drew on that energy. It was the best performance I’ve seen from the in-stadium supporters all season.
I just hope we can push on from here, though my hopes have been dashed before.
Come on you REDS!!!!
December 21st, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Youre the one thats stupid mate .. and no I havent read anything other than your stupid headline. The second yellow wasnt even a freekick we had a good chance too create something, Arbeola should have got a yellow for diving. So how can Ade be stupid ?? Maybe he was stupid not to realise that Webb is the “12th player”.
Ok I read your article and I actually agree on a few things you wrote.
True Song Had Stevie in his pocket again(!).. remeber that carling cup game when a midfield consisting of Song and Denilson dominated Liverpool.
December 21st, 2008 at 11:41 pm
With all due respect Grabs, it was nothing like the same offense, however that may well be how the ref saw it as he probably was not a experienced enough footballer to know the difference between a tackle and a legitimate attempt to shield the ball.
You may not have noticed, but you should have, Ade made no contact with the player with his feet, there was no need to. The other player did not have to ball and Ade like any striker with half a brain would have known that there was no way that player was going to get the ball if Ade did as he done which is step in front of the player and the ball.
That maneuver is known as shielding the ball, the first maneuver which earned Ade a yellow card is called a tackle, very different.
The only similarity between the two instances is the raising of the boot, but did you know to run you have to raise your boot too? I suppose that means that Ade running anywhere near an opponent is also exactly the same offence.
Anyway reasonable post despite the “foolish” headline.
By the way I have never posted if I have ever read this blog the “3sheds” you know of is an imposter
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:54 am
3sheds – again, i will not defend the ref or his decision to send off ade. webb was atrocious. i’ve watched the incident over and over again now and i also think arbeloa should be fined or suspended or something. it was just cheating.
your analysis of ade’s challenges is wholly fair. i’d maintain that in real time they really did look pretty similar and while his intention on the second was to shield the ball, he did so with an exaggeratedly high foot and swung his arm towards arbeloa’s face. if there was any contact, it was minimal, but my point is that ade should have known to be bloody bloody careful, and he just wasn’t.
i sometimes get the sense that, (mainly because we almost always play better football than everyone else and because wenger is so fiercely protective of his players,) we gooners enjoy moral victories a bit too much, rather than asking for that bit extra from our players, like not getting needlessly sent off, which would get us actual victories.
as regarding your previous, or lack of it, there must be an imposter at work:
“”arthur3sheds Says:
November 9th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Nice articles, I read a few. Should get yourself on arsenal/goonernews to get some more hits. Your posts
are too good to receive a single comment, like the one above.
Keep up the good work. Added to my favourites.”"
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:16 am
diaby was a pile of toss – no confidence on the ball, sluggish and out of position.
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Perhaps I’m biased but I didn’t see a thing wrong with either challenge.
The first one, sure he was nibbling a little, but that’s football.
The second was ridiculous. I don’t think it was even a foul! Sure he looked a little clumsy (as gangly 6′4” sportsmen often do), but he didn’t touch the guy.
But anyway, none of this can take away from the fact that Liverpool utterly stifled us, and our performance was poor.
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:29 pm
LOL! I remember that. There is only one 3sheds
. I should visit more often 
I can’t remember the article but it was a well written and received only one undeserved derogatory comment before I posted. seem like ages ago though, I’m surprised it was only last month.
Keep up the good work, stay away from over the top headlines… well…. I suppose it will get you more hits
July 4th, 2011 at 6:41 pm
rticle – Mr Putin judges the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact which, following a s