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  • We like stupid strikers?
    Adebayor vs Bendtner – that’s what we all remember. They squared up against each other against Tottenham in 2008 and never got on after that. Adebayor was finally sold to Man City for £25m in July 2009 as was Kolo Toure for £16m. And that led to the iconic moment of this season – the astonishingly long run of Adebayor after scoring for Man City against Arsenal. I watched open-mouthed in disbelief as he ran and ran and ran. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing. Is he going to run off the pitch? Until finally he stopped at the away Arsenal fans and celebrated in front of them. Poor Adebayor. He was a tremendous talent but obviously not the sharpest knife in the block, as we say. He ended up going around various teams, even, and this proves what I am saying, Tottenham. Of course Bendtner was the same, not the smartest and he also ended up going around many clubs. We attract such strikers maybe. Aubameyang was similar.

    Adebayor could never find a home so he went to the Spuds
    I wasn’t too worried about him going but I was that we didn’t replace him. None of our strikers had many games that season. Van Persie 18, Eduardo 17, Bendtner 21, Carlos Vela 6, all in total. Our top scorer was Cesc Fabregas with 15 goals and 15 assists. He was doing everything for us.
    Attackers who can’t score and no central defenders?
    We did bring in Thomas Vermaelen for £10m to emphasise we were now a selling club and likely to remain so. We also brought the veteran Sol Campbell back as cover but we had a bit of a downgrade since the Invincibles in defence with William Gallas  never becoming a fan favourite. Vermaelen, though was superb and played most matches scoring 8 times. Philipe Senderos and Johan Djourou had appeared but hardly played at all this season. Clichy, Sagna, Eboue and Gibbs meant we had good cover at fullback but central defence was a problem.

    Thomas Vermaelen was a classy player
    It is fair to say that winning the title or Champions League with the players we had would have been a miracle.  All you ASCBers who had come on board around the times of the Invincibles must have been wondering about your choice. Our best time was over. We had a shiny new stadium but no winners. As I said in my last such blog, all we had was hope. I didn’t have a huge amount at the start of this season. But hey!
    Scoring goals for fun and wins
    We jumped out of the blocks with a huge win at Goodison. We had six different scorers and Vermaelen got his first. 6-1. And then we hammered Portsmouth 4-1 at the Emirates. Arsene knows! We are surely going to go on and win the league by the most points and goals ever? We were top of the league, I said we were top of the league. But then Man City and Man Utd spoiled all the fun by beating us away and we dropped to 8th. Despite winning 6, including a nice 3-0 against the Spuds, and drawing one of our next seven we never got back on top. 9 defeats overall meant that we ended up a comfortable third on 75 points with Chelsea on 86 and Man Utd on 85. The Spuds, who beat us late on 2-1 at their ground came 4th on 70 points.

    Fabregas was easily our best player
    We still had the Champions League to negotiate but as I have said, winning that seemed like a distant dream to me. We played a qualifier against Celtic and we won easily 5-1 on aggregate. Add that to the hammerings of Everton and Portsmouth and you can see why I was starting to believe the Prof had done it again, his team were flying at the start.  
    Standard Liege about to destroy us?
    We had an easy group after that which we topped, although we all remember the fright Standard Liege gave us in going 2-0 up after 5 minutes in the first game. But we won that 3-2. AZ Alkmar and Olimpiacos were the other 2 and we topped the group despite Olimpiacos beating us in the last match. We had Porto in the round of 16 and I was a bit gloomy after the first leg in Portugal where they won 2-1. But the wonderful Lord Bendtner scored a hat trick as we won 5-0 at the Emirates. This was what the season was like. Great victories and bad defeats.

    Bendtner - the self proclaimed best striker in the world
    We can’t say the same in the quarterfinals. We had Barcelona and we gave them a fairly good game in the first match at home to draw 2-2. Then Bendtner scored after 18 minutes in the return leg. He shouldn’t have done that as he woke up a young Argentinian who showed us what a wonderful footballer he was in scoring 4 at the Nou Camp. At least our players got to share a pitch with Lionel Messi. Arsene Wenger conceded they were much better than us. That was our reality after the move to the Emirates. We were below the class of winners.
    League Cup? No. FA Cup? No.
    In the League Cup we went out to Man City in the quarterfinals, beaten 3-0. We had beaten Liverpool 2-1 in the previous match and West Brom 2-0 before that but the League Cup was never Wenger’s trophy.

    If Messi had played for us we would have won everything
    In the Fa Cup we beat West Ham away 2-1 but then played a very understrength side against Stoke were we were beaten 3-1. We did have a lot of injuries that season which explains why 41, yes you read that right, players played for us, and we had 20 different goalscorers.
    An Up and Down Year
    It was a strange season for me. Many times we scored lots of goals with 6 against Everton and Blackburn, 5 against Porto, and 4 against Fulham, Portsmouth twice, Wigan, Wolves, Bolton, and AZ Alkmar. But we were beaten by Blackburn, Wigan, Stoke twice, and Sunderland. Apparently,  Arsene told the players to make their own way home from Wigan after that defeat. We didn’t really look like winning a trophy. Third place in the league was good considering the quality of our players and the amount of injuries that season. Wenger was getting the best out of the players but something seemed to be going wrong behind the scenes with so many injuries.

    Walk home, boys
    The fans were getting frustrated. Wenger out chants were growing. I was beginning to wonder if we would ever see Wembley again but we had next season to look forward to. If we could keep our players fit maybe one of the cups could be possible. The league and Champions League didn’t seem feasible. We just didn’t have the players of Chelsea and Man Utd nor, crucially, their money. All we had, once again, was hope. And maybe my belief was starting to wane. Still, it could all go right next season. Up the Arsenal!
    Арсенал допусна загуба с 0:1 у дома от Уест Хям Юнайтед с гол на Джаред Боуен в 44'. По този начин за втора поредна година „чуковете“ се оказват сериозна пречка пред „артилеристите“ по пътя им към титлата.
    Контраатака, подхваната от Аарън Уан-Бисака по дясното крило, хвана защитата на домакините неподготвена. Бившият бранител на Манчестър Юнайтед превзе голяма част от терена и центрира отлично на средна височина в наказателното поле, където вече добре бе позициониран Боуен. Рикардо Калафиори, Деклан Райс и Давид Рая можеха да предотвратят гола при по-добро позициониране, но те не реагираха по възможно най-добрия начин в индивидуалните си задачи.
    През второто полувреме Олександър Зинченко и Майлс Люис-Скели влязоха на терена скоро след подновяването на играта, тъй като видимо креативността при изграждането на атаките от Райс и Калафиори не бе достатъчна. Петнайсетина минути по-късно обаче Люис-Скели бе изгонен с директен червен картон, благодарение на намесата на ВАР. Младокът сгреши при владеенето на топката и в опит да коригира грешката си фаулира Мохамед Кудус. Първоначално Крейг Поусън даде само жълт картон, защото нарушението бе около централната линия, но при преразглеждането бе видимо, че Рая е излязъл на повече от 40-45 метра от вратата си и така Кудус имаше чиста голова възможност, ако не бе съборен на земята.
    В хода на почти целия мач Арсенал владееше кълбото в 2/3 от времето, но без на практика да създава сериозни голови положения. Станахме свидетели на куп центрирания към преквалифицирания в централен нападател Микел Мерино, но нито веднъж той не бе изпуснат от бранителите на съперника. В резултат видяхме само 2 точни удара от „топчиите“ за над 100 минути игра.
    Загубата за Арсенал означава, че Ливърпул отново има преднина от цели 8 точки на върха 12 кръга преди края на кампанията. С всички контузии, наказания и небалансиран състав изглежда, че тимът на Микел Артета е напът да напусне борбата за титлата във Висшата лига още преди настъпването на пролетта.
    За Уест Хям трите точки означават, че клубът се изравнява с Манчестър Юнайтед в подреждането, затвърждава мястото си в елитната дивизия и дори запазва шансове за класиране в средата на таблицата.
    Арсенал приема Уест Хям Юнайтед в 26 кръг от Висшата лига. На хартия трите точки за „артилеристите“ са гарантирани, но по редица обективни и субективни причини срещата може да се окаже много трудна.
    В исторически план двубоят е под №153 във всички турнири. Арсенал има 74 победи, 41 равенства и 37 загуби, което на практика означава, че вероятността клубът да прибере трите точки е също толкова голяма, колкото и да не го стори, от статистическа гледна точка.
    През миналия сезон една от причините „топчиите“ да отстъпят в борбата за титлата във Висшата лига бе загубата на „Емиратс“ от „чуковете“ с 0:2.
    В класирането в момента тимът на Микел Артета е на второ място с актив от 53 точки и голова разлика 51:22. Отборът на Греъм Потър от своя страна е под №16 в подреждането с 27 точки и голова разлика от 29:47. Така на практика ще видим едно от най-слабите нападения до момента в шампионата срещу най-добрата защита.
    Първият мач бе особено резултатен. Арсенал спечели гостуването на „Лондон Стейдиъм“ с 2:5. Голмайстори за домакините тогава бяха Аарън Уан-Бисака и Емерсон Палмиери, а за гостите се разписаха Габриел Магаляеш, Леандро Тросар, Мартин Йодегор и Букайо Сака от дузпи и Кай Хаверц.
    И в двата тима има сериозни кадрови проблеми. За Уест Хям извън сметките са Михаил Антонио, Крисенсио Съмървил и Никлас Фюлкруг. Под въпрос са още Владимир Цуфал и Лукаш Фабиански. За Арсенал с контузии са Такехиро Томиясу, Кай Хаверц, Букайо Сака, Габриел Жесус и Габриел Мартинели.
    Арсенал приема Уест Хям Юнайтед от 17:00 часа българско време. Мачът ще се излъчва пряко по Diema Sport 2.
    No Table of Doom this year
    Liverpool Max 99 points
    Arsenal Max 92 points
    Target 88 points
    As regular readers will know, early on I reckoned that the target this season would be 92 points. I then shifted that down to 88 as virtually no teams could get there some time ago and I can’t have a table of doom without teams in it. And once again, with 13 games to go, I am in the same position. Only Liverpool and Arsenal can get 88 points. I feel that I can’t drop it any more as Liverpool can drop 11 points and reach that and they probably will at least do that. That leaves two teams in the table of doom and only one match at Anfield between them on the third last match. It means that if Arsenal win all Liverpool can still get 96.

    May or may not be our biggest game this season
    What can we say for now?  Forest can get 86 if they win all 13 matches. They are out, simple as that. They won’t do that and Liverpool won’t lose enough points to get close to Forest’s final tally.
    We play Newcastle at home and Southampton away after Liverpool. Both winnable despite the fact that both teams have caused us blips in recent years. Liverpool play Brighton away and Palace at home, both also winnable. They seem to have a slightly more difficult task but not much more.
    3 matches to decide the title?
    Where I do think they have the harder task is their next 13. They play Villa and City away and Newcastle at home in their next 3. We play West Ham at home and Forest and Man Utd away. Certainly looks easier for us but we need 3 wins.

    This may be our biggest game of the season
    Then Chelsea and Fulham at home and Everton away for us.  If all 3 are at their best it will be difficult but we probably need 3 wins. Liverpool are home to Southampton and Everton and away to Fulham. They could easily win all three.
    Liverpool then have home to West Ham and Tottenham and away to Leicester. We will definitely need Potter, Postecoglou and Van Nistleroy to have their teams firing by then and even so it is hard to see any points dropped. Maybe if the Spuds have all their players back? C’mon you Spurs! We have Brentford and Palace at home and Ipswich away. We can have no excuses, we must win.
    Maybe all games are loseable?
    Then we have Bournemouth at home, Liverpool away, and Newcastle and Southampton as mentioned. They have Chelsea away, then us, Brighton and Palace.

    We must beat them to start the mindgames
    Probably the most crucial for both teams is the next 3 matches. If Liverpool win all 3, then I doubt if we can catch them even if we win 3. If Unai Emery can get Villa playing like they do against us they might just get a point. It is tomorrow so a failure to win gives us a great chance to put a lot of pressure on them before they play City on Sunday. We have West Ham on Saturday. As they have 2 matches we will spend a period with a game in hand.

    Can we get inside Liverpool's heads?
    We have to beat the Hammers. No question. Potter has form against us as have the Hammers sometimes but drop points here and we have lost the chance to get into Slot’s head. Then Liverpool play City away, and last weekend against Newcastle they looked more like the old City. 4 goals and the new players gelling well. That surely is the match we are hoping for something, even a draw. Liverpool will travel all the way to Manchester, if they have dropped anything to Villa and we win against West Ham, knowing that their season could unravel with a defeat. This is the period when mindgames, that the mind plays with itself, is critical. By now, Liverpool’s players, many of whom have never won the league, will feel that it is theirs to lose. They need that cold clinical head to get them over the line. Any blip could devastate their confidence. They would know a defeat would leave them potentially only 2 points ahead.
    Forest away our hardest aside from the big game?
    But we are away to Forest, who are flying most weeks. That will be a pressure game. It seems like the hardest match other than Liverpool on our run in. A midweek win, in the scenario above, would push a hammer blow into the frailty of a team later that night then bracing to play Newcastle at home. Eddie Howe will be desperate to do well after being destroyed by Man City.  They are rarely an easy team to play against.
    Then the following weekend we play Man Utd away and Liverpool play Southampton at home. As long as Utd are still playing rubbish we should win and Southampton scarcely have a chance at Anfield.

    Can Ramsdale do us a favour at Liverpool?
    So they will have 4 matches to our 3 at this point. After this point, while there are games Liverpool can lose, they can also probably afford to lose them if they win these 3 plus a banker against Southampton.
    Everything is already decided?
    So that is where we are. Liverpool seem to have a tougher run in. They absolutely must drop points soon or we are only scrapping for second place. Yes, Champions league looks certain at this point. There could well be a scrap for the rest of the places as even Brighton on 37 points might feel that a strong run gets them up there. I have a feeling that the points total for Champions League may not be too high as lots of teams are dropping points. I suspect the current top four of Liverpool, Arsenal, Forest and City could well make it. I will be surprised if the current top two do not remain the top 2. They are pulling away and a win for Arsenal against Forest would put them further behind.

    It is almost decided already?
    At the bottom, Southampton look doomed leaving Ipswich, Leicester and Wolves to fight it out for one spot. So in the middle of February, it looks like the bottom four are obvious as is the top two. I can’t really remember it being like this before.
    Sadly, no table of doom
    It is disappointing for me not to have a table of doom this season but unless both Arsenal and Liverpool drop a few points soon and the chasing pack start winning there is no point. Nobody believes that anyone other than Liverpool and Arsenal can win this time so there would be no tension.
    I will suggest that February 26th could be the marker for this season. We play Forest away and Liverpool play Newcastle at home. The league at that point could well indicate whether we can have a tight end to the season. And Arsenal will have to compete with none of our first choice forward line for that period!
    Did I ever say that it is tough to be an Arsenal fan?
     
    Арсенал гостува на Лестър в мач от 25-ти кръг на Висшата лига. Лондончани посрещнаха уикенда на 2-та позиция във временното класиране с 50 точки на сметката си. Лидера Ливърпул вече е със същия брой изиграни мачове и 7 точки преднина. Лестър от своя страна е в зоната на изпадащите и заема 18-то място с едва 17-точков актив. Арсенал вече победи този опонент след трудно достигнатия резултат тогава 4:2. През седмицата отбора на Арсенал бе на тренировъчен лагер в Дубай, което бе очаквано на фона на отпадането от ФА Къп и почивката през миналия уикенд. Отбора обаче загуби и Кай Хаверц до края на сезона, след като сухожилието на германеца направо бе разкъсано по време на тренировка. По този начин двамата с Габриел Жезус ще облекат отново червено-бялата фланелка в някоя контрола без лятото, като за Жезус разбира се това е условност, тъй като е твърде вероятно това да бе последния му сезон в Северен Лондон. Несъмнено тази кампания е от онези, в които не си сигурен с колко играча ще я завършиш. Е, най-доброто предстои и след дъжд винаги изгрява слънце...
    Още подробности преди мача:

    Кога: Днес, от 14:30ч. българско време;

    Стадион: Кинг Пауър, Лестър Сити;

    Телевизия: Диема Спорт 2;

    Рефер на двубоя: Самюел Барът;

    Новините в отбора на Арсенал: Срещата пропускат контузените Такехиро Томиясу, Кай Хаверц, Габриел Мартинели, Букайо Сака и Габриел Жезус. Определено най-близо до своето завръщане в игра е Уайт, който вече тренира с отбора. Все пак присъствието му в групата за мача остава под въпрос до последно. При всички положения интеграцията му обратно на терена ще бъде с предпазливи крачки. Според информацията, Букайо Сака ще се завърне в периода около средата на март месец. Всички останали имена в отбора са на разположение за селекция.



    Микел Артета преди мача: ''Предстоят ни трудни и важни седмици. Както знаете, някои от най-важните фигури в отбора не са на разположение и това определено е огромно предизвикателство за самите нас. Ще трябва да се справяме с това, с което разполагаме. Нямаме друг избор пред себе си. Смятам, че лагера в Дубай ни се отрази добре. За съжаление загубихме и Кай. Той е страхотна личност и знам, че ще се справи.
    Имахме нужда от това разнообразяване. Възползвахме се от няколкото свободни дни и се завърнахме по-позитивни. Гледаме напред. При всички положения не сме се отказали от амбициите си. Няма логика да го правим. Аз самият ако го направя, то по-добре да се прибера вкъщи.
    Лестър е сложен опонент. Играят пред тяхната публика и се намират в трудна ситуация. Това определено ще ги мотивира. Знаем какво да очакваме. Познавам Рууд достатъчно добре и знам, че ни чака труден мач. Но ние отиваме там, за да го спечелим. Това е.''



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