Flash Past - Arsenal v Napoli (CL)

Morning lads!

Tonight, Its gonna be champions league night and full of Champions league action coming our way. We play Napoli tonight and after all the research I have done, It was evident that we never faced Napoli in an European competition ever before. We managed to play against them at Emirates not long ago in the Emirates cup this season. Lets flash past to the game for a while.

Lineup Then:

Arsenal

Starting XI : Fabianski, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Ramsey, Wilshere, Rosicky, Podolski, Gnabry, Giroud

Subs : Martinez, Sagna, Arteta, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Akpom, Miquel, Zelalem

Napoli

Starting XI: Reina, Behrami, Britos, Cannavaro(C), Mesto, Pablo Armero, Inler, Insigne, Pandev, Hamsik, Jose Callejon

Subs : Rafael, Maggio, Juan Zuniga, Radosevic, Albiol, Dzemaili, Fernandez, Higuain, Mertens, Calaio, Dossena

Blast from the Past:

Arsenal had a really good pre season in the Asian Tour with Giroud on hot form along with Ramsey’s terrific performance and Zelalem’s blissful through balls before meeting Napoli in the Emirates Cup. Arsenal drew against Napoli with the scoreline 2-2. Arsenal were quick to concede the first goal courtesy Insigne which was actually a mistake from our Jenko. In another 20 minutes, Arsenal conceded their 2^nd goal and this time it was a mistake by Fabianski. Arsenal were not in the form in first half which they were expected to be. After half time, Arsenal came back with a laudable performance and the French duo scored the goals to level the game. Higuain got booed by the home fans every time he involved in the play cause he moved to Napoli before he was linked with an Arsenal move. The same could happen all over again tonight.

Watch the match highlights here..

Current Mood:

Arsenal have been in a prolific form and are at the top of the Premier League even after the loss against Aston Villa in the first game of the season at Home. And the first game against Marseille in CL also earned a good result for Arsenal with neat performances in second half from the team and as usual the highlight being Aaron Ramsey. Arsenal are also in a 9-game winning run considering West Brom in COC was a win in penalties.

Napoli on the other hand have also been successful in Serie A winning 5 and drawing 1 of the 6 games they have played in the league. In CL, they have beaten one of the title favorites Borussia Dortmund who were down to 10 men before Half Time.

While both the teams have played well in their leagues, both the teams haven’t faced a top 4 side except for Tottenham and Milan. For Arsenal, their opponent were a side of new look and they didn’t have enough time to gel together while for Napoli, Milan had much of a depleted side with full of injuries.

Predicted Lineup:

Arsenal

This time around Vermaelen is expected to start ahead of Mertesacker as he needs from rest after playing continuous football week in week out. Arsène could also rest Flamini and Gibbs. Arteta will step in for the Italian-French Midfielder while Monreal will fill in for Gibbs. Rozza returns to action but most probably he will start from bench.

Napoli

Napoli rested Higuain and Hamsik in their last game. So they will return to the team to start against Arsenal along with Maggio and Zuniga, the full backs.

Talismen:

Arsenal : Napoli will visit Emirates with a mindset of getting a point at least. They won’t go all out attack and they will prefer to play deep and hit on counter attack. Özil will be the key man for Arsenal this time to find players in the pocket of holes and create chances for the team. Özil will also have a reunion with his ex teammates Albiol, Callejon and Higuain.

Napoli : Like I said, Napoli will try to defend heavily and so Reina will be the key for them. He is in hot form for them keeping clean sheets and saving penalties. Remember, he denied the mighty Balotelli, the Penalty Specialist, from scoring the penalty when the two sides met a couple of weeks ago.

  

Scoreline Prediction:

It is going to be a difficult game for both teams. Advantage will be with Arsenal as they play at Home. I predict a 2-1 to Arsenal. Ramsey to appear on score sheet along with Giroud.

Come on you Gunners!

See ya next time with a win against Napoli. Yeah! I’m quite confident about it.

Cheers!

My Reactions After : Swansea vs Arsenal (EPL)

Arsenal's 2-1 victory at Swansea on Saturday means they are now at the summit of the Barclays Premier League table with 15 points, 8 clear of champions Man United. After opening day fiasco against Villa, Arsenal has bounced back strongly answering the critics in style with 5 consecutive wins.

The match expectancy was to be a treat for the viewers as both the teams enjoy the possession and passing. Though Swans enjoyed the majority of the possession and had kept Arsenal at bay. It was a lackluster first half. Both had quite decent chances, which weren’t threatening enough for either of the keepers. Almost at the end of half time, Arsenal looked a bit alive with Gnabry taking on a couple of players and fed Giroud with a neat pass, which was only to be shot wide. But that build-up play, did say something about Arsenal, who looked mostly torpid and slow during the first 45 minutes. That Arsenal could hurt you very quickly, if you let them loose. The game ended goalless at half time.

In the second half, Arsenal utilized the chances created and lacerated the Swansea defence. Experience and technical ability played the prolific role for Arsenal. The beautiful football was back. The game got all the spices it needed. Arsenal scored two goals and conceded one. Among the goal scorers were Gnabry, and Ramsey for Arsenal and Davies for Swansea.

Gnabry’s first ever goal for Arsenal, and of the evening. It all started with Ozil cutting in from the right flank making two of the Swansea players get committed to stop him, which allowed Arsenal with enough space to play one touch passes between Ozil, Giroud, Wilshere. Ramsey rushed forward to accompany them. It was when Swansea defenders were busy trying to stop one touch football, they forgot to mark Gnabry. Ramsey assisted with a neat through-ball. Beautiful first touch by Gnabry to control and place the right footed shot from the centre of the box in the bottom left corner.

Soon after the first goal, the game opened up a bit. Swansea wanted to respond to the goal they had conceded and were beginning to attack quickly. Flamini, who tried to slow down the Swansea build-up play, committed a bad foul on Michu and was shown a yellow card. Swansea were building pressure, it almost paid off when Jordi Amat gave a neat pass with Dyer in perfect position to shoot. Dyer shot was comfortably saved by Scczesny.

It was Arsenal who took advantage of Swansea’s high pressing game and started a counterattack. Again, the German wizard Ozil from the right flank fed the ball to Ramsey in the mid amongst four Swansea players. Ramsey made a back heel pass so that Wilshere could make a pass to Giroud who was waiting in the attacking third against two defenders. But Wilshere had to overcome the back tracking Swansea fullback to get the possession of the ball. Wilshere won the battle, and they took advantage of their quick feet to punish Swansea with the second goal. Arsenal trio Giroud, Ramsey and Wilshere combined very well with very quick passing during which Giroud set up Ramsey with a back pass. He had enough time on his watch to strike the ball with a thunderous right foot and guided it to the back of the net safely.

Swansea had to hurry, they started pushing more and more as the clock wouldn’t stay still. A number of efforts were defended by Arsenal very well. Swans full back Davies started to run into the heart of Arsenal’s defence, Davies took on two Arsenal players and made a quick pass to Bony which led two more players in Arsenal colours to get committed to stop Bony. This left enough space for Davies to continue the run and he was expecting a return pass, which Davies did get a perfectly lobbed pass from Bony. Davies had put Mertesacker behind, the goal was much certain to appear on the score-sheet. Davies did score a goal which Szczęsny couldn’t have done much to stop him.

The goal by Davies rekindled Swansea’s hope for an equalizer, which had made the game very interesting. Arsenal had to defend the lead for another 8+ minute. Arsenal introduced two full backs as substitutes, to help team defending the lead which worked very well. It was full-time whistle from the ref. Arsenal continued their good form by beating Swansea.

Overall, a very good match, Both Arsenal and Swansea were strong at finishing. Both the teams attacked through the middle and favoured short passing. It was Arsenal who had the upper hand in creating goal scoring opportunities through individual skill and through balls. Ramsey had an outstanding game and certainly the man of the match with a goal and an assist. Routledge of Swansea who was subbed at around hour mark had a below par game contrasting the performance by his teammates.

Arsenal has a pile of tough fixtures in coming months. It was a much needed victory which sets them with all positives as they host Napoli in a few days’ time at home in a UCL fixture. Arsenal looks like a very good side with good technical ability, composure, and scintillating form. The team has the mixture of experienced players and young talents which is a perfect blend. Hope they carry on their good run and get the result that could produce something special this season.

BOB Up With...Aben

Hello All,

My guest for this week’s series is an AKB* himself right from his birth J.

I was referring to my friend and fellow Gooner Aben Kochattu Benz [AB] J.

He has taken some time out to discuss about his take on Arsenal’s current form, their current crop of youngsters, The awakening of TGSTEL**, WBA game, Best Game which has witnessed at Emirates, His experiences of watching football in London and much more [Phew…that was one lengthy interview indeed J]

*AKB –  Arsene Knows Best…Typical term used by Arsenal fans who support & back Arsene Wenger.

**TGSTEL – The Greatest Striker That Ever Lived…none other than Mr. Nicklas Bendtner J

   














Please find our predictions below

	BOB	Aben	Actual
SATURDAY
Tottenham v Chelsea	2-1	2-2
Aston Villa v Man City	0-3	1-3
Fulham v Cardiff	2-1	1-1
Hull v West Ham	1-2	2-1
Man Utd v West Brom	3-0	2-0
Southampton v Crystal Palace	2-1	2-0
Swansea v Arsenal	0-2	1-3
SUNDAY
Stoke v Norwich	2-1	1-1
Sunderland v Liverpool	1-2	1-2
MONDAY
Everton v Newcastle	2-1	2-1

BOB: Your Take on the current progress of Arsenal this season?

AB: Last year this time around, our squad was pretty raw. Players like Carzola, Giroud and Podolski were just trying to get adapted to the English game.

But now things have changed very much. We have been getting the results which we want so far.

The main reason being the fact that this squad is almost the same with that of last season also with excellent additions in the form of Ozil and Flamini.

I think our resurgence started right from our win against Munich last  season, and this has been continuing since then [Incidentally Arsenal played Swansea right after the Munich game and came out victorious with goals from Monreal and Gervinho].

Fortunately for us, many of our players have hit form with Giroud, Ramsey and Sagna in particular and they have been performing very well so far.

One should not forget the forget the Energy and influence which Ozil has given this team.

BOB: Do you concede the fact that we’re“Lucky” at times?

AB: Yes of course…but we need them. Notable incidents include Altidore’s disallowed goal [against sunderland], Morgan Amalfitano’s shot hitting the woodwork during the dying minutes of extra time [against W.B.A in COC] etc but as the famous saying goes, we have been braver in all these situations and luck has indeed favoured us [*touchwood*].

BOB: Your take on the young Guns’ performance in the COC midweek?

AB: We all know that Wenger has this habit of giving them a chance during cup games and it became very evident on Wednesday that they lacked experience.

It also showed the fact that they have not been playing together long enough to know each other’s strengths and weakness.

To be honest, I felt none among them showed the skills or talents as much as what Wilshere or Fabregas showed during the same age.

Gnabry might come somewhat closer with Zelalem behind him but you never know.

I was also impressed with the performances of Ballerin, Olsson and Akpom. They made a very positive impact once they came on from bench; composed and very much comfortable with the ball procession.

Expecting them to knock the doors of the first team very often going forward.

BOB: Key Performers and disappointments from W.B.A Game?

AB: Apart from the Defensive Rock of Mertasacker, I was delighted with Jenkinson’s performance. He was terrific going forward, not to forget his crossing and his primary defensive abilities.

Among the young guns, I would pick Gnabry although the fact that he was bit jaded after playing 3 games in a span of 7 days.

Biggest let down from the game has to be Eisfeld and Miyaichi. Whilst the former was totally Invisible till the goal he scored, the latter was guilty of giving away balls very easily. I was expecting an strong performance from Eisfeld in particular as I thought he has this habit of scoring beautiful goals as per what I have seen from many youth fixtures although he’s not that authoritative in terms of ball procession. Ryo had a few good crosses but lacked fitness to play 90 min. IMO, Gnabry has overtaken him both in performance and pecking order.

BOB: Thoughts on the TGSTEL**?

AB: He started pretty slowly and was goal shy which was quite obvious considering his match fitness. After a while it became much better as he started winning air duels n all. Not to forget the pass which gave us the goal. He made some good run-ins like Giroud and I believe he will definitely come good if given more opportunities and who knows, he could prove to be a wonderful second striker for us.[Note: All the above will be applicable only if remains grounded].

BOB: The signing of Viviano?

AB: Frankly, I don’t have any idea on why Wenger signed him. Although I have heard of his name being linked to us when Aluminia was at Helm. But at the end of the day, we needed one too.

There was a time during last season, when both Szczesny and Fabianski were injured and Mannone was put in goal, so he could be very necessary backup. He had a very decent season at Florence last year and also the fact is, he is right behind Gigi [Buffon] in Italy’s squad. Arsene might have some plans for him IMO, as I remember reading that Fabianski is the last year of his contract and Wenger would want Viviano to step up as No.2 once Lukasz leaves [ Consider it as a wild theory from my side].

BOB: Thoughts on the Swansea game at the weekend?

AB: I think it is going to be a very tricky game. Could be very similar to the Sunderland game but expecting an even tougher opposition. I believe they will try and keep more procession of the ball as they would like to penetrate us more rather than sitting back and defending stuff. Thought they put up a strong performance against Liverpool & Valencia, but was very surprised to see them lose against Birmingham [ having won the cup just the year before] which might give an indication that they are looking forward to progress in Europe and perform well in the league.

Would be very interesting to see how we line-up against them and I think we would miss Walcott very much as all our current midfielders [Ramsey and Wilshere playing on the wings] would tend to cut inside making our play bit narrow as compared to Theo. I am also sceptical about the involvement of Ryo and Gnabry has both of them played 120 min of gruelling football just couple of days back.

All we need is to maintain is our defensive discipline as I am convinced that Ozil will try and create at least 2-3 goal-scoring chances and with the form Giroud is in, He is bound to convert them into goals.

I am backing Arsenal to Win the game 3-1 with our talisman Ramsey to score one.

BOB: Whom do you think would be Game turner for both Arsenal and Swansea for this weekend?

AB: For  Arsenal, it would be none other than Ramsey and for Swansea , I would pick Michu.

BOB: We know that you have witnessed Arsenal play at the Emirates many times but can you explain the best match you have watched during your short stay there?

AB: It definitely has to be the North London Derby [5Spur2 17 Nov 2012] without a doubt. I woke up in the morning with Goosebumps and had them the entire day till I reached back to my place. As a matter of fact, I as well had that during the game against Aston Villa [2011-12 season], which happens to be my first game there. Words can’t explain how excited I was then. It was totally different from what we see on TV, an experience which can never be shared but has to be witnessed. But my life as a Gooner would never be complete until I watch my team lift the Premier League or Champions League in front of me J.

Me [Left] alongside Aben in front of Emirates before the Tottenham match J.

BOB: On THAT Match [Man Utd 4 – 4 Everton] in Old Trafford?

AB: [Laughs] That would go down as the most difficult match I have been to. Trust me, sitting amidst united supporters that too in United stand and cheering for Everton [from inside] is something very difficult to do. I literally wanted to Jump when Everton equalized then but sadly I couldn’t J. All I could do was to smile sarcastically at my friend sitting next to me who happened to an united supporter.

One couldn’t have witnessed a better match than that as a neutral.

BOB: Experiences of watching a match in London?

AB: Once you come out of the stadium and board any public transport wearing a jersey or a scarf, you will be subjected to so many reactions from the people. Some will cheer you, some will mock & tease you, some will come to you and ask for the score while some will come and talk to you about the game and tactics.

Taxi drivers will honk and wave you to show their support of the team. It was ultimate fun overall.

Cheers,

BOB J

Twitter: Bhuvanesh_SR

Flash Past - Swansea v Arsenal (EPL)

Sunshine Fellas!

Its a fabulous Friday and I always get excited as it is the last day of working days. It is yet another weekend with full of football action and especially Arsenal! I'm writing this after Arsenal scraped through a win against West Brom in 3rd round of COC.. Lucky us :) Let's talk about our upcoming game this weekend against Swansea at Liberty Stadium. But first, lets flash past a season back and remind ourselves of some good things which happened.

Lineup Then:

Swansea

Starting XI : Vorm, Rangel, Williams, Monk, Davies, Britton, de Guzman, Ki, Dyer, Hernandez, Michu

Subs : Tremmel, Bartley, Tiendalli, Lamah, Routledge, Moore, Shechter

Arsenal

Starting XI : Fabianski, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Arteta, Diaby, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Walcott, Giroud

Subs : Szczesny, Gibbs, Vermaelen, Coquelin, Ramsey, Rosicky, Gervinho

Blast from the Past:

Team returned with a win at Allianz arena before meeting the swans at Liberty Stadium. Arsenal managed to win the game 2-0 which marked the first goal for Monreal and a late goal by Gervinho assisted by Ramsey both coming as a sub. It was thought a comeback for Gervinho and he did well indeed with a string of good performances until the end of the season. 

Highlights of the match which covers the important segments that happened in the game is here

Current Mood:

Swansea have been literally in a poor form starting off the league with two successive defeats and managed to get 2 wins in last 3 PL games. And they have lost to a championship side in COC just two nights before and they are yet to win a home game this season in the Premier League.

Arsenal are in a fantastic winning streak in all competitions winning last 8 of them and most importantly the last 11 away games because it is gonna be another away game this weekend. If the team keeps playing the way they have, they can set the field on fire

Predicted Lineup:

Swansea

Swansea were coc title defenders and they made plenty of changes in their last match against Birmingham which could have been a reason for their early exit in the cup competition. They will field a stronger XI as they will try to get the first home win this season in the Premier League and get the momentum running.

Arsenal

Arsène has rested all the first teamers barring Per and Arteta in last match against West Brom which was a necessity. Now, I expect them to feature along with first team players returning to action which means the line up will be something like this

Talismen:

Swansea : Michu is the man. He had a poor start to the season along with his team but he is getting his touch back and could prove vital for the Swans in the upcoming match. He can simply threaten our defense but I still believe our men can get hold of him or we can leave that job to the new bald guy arrived from Merseyside this summer :D

Arsenal : It is gonna be Ramsey with no doubts so ever. People may say Özil will be the key figure but there is reason I chose Ramsey. He is in a sizzling form of scoring goals and not only that but he runs all over the pitch to retrieve the ball back when it is lost, putting in tackles and bossing the midfield.

For a fact, Ramsey has successfully completed 22 tackles this season more than Fellaini and Carrick combined(21)

Scoreline Prediction:

2-1 to The Arsenal!! Giroud to score first and Özil to open his account for the Gunners!

Come on you Gunners!

Wish the team all the luck :)

Adieu!!