PL: Arsenal vs Newcastle United | 14/08/05

[jester]

anyone see that tackle kolo made. he stormed back in first half, and came sliding through to take the ball when it looked shearer would score. he was great today
senderos was awesome, as was cole, lauren, cesc, freddie, gilberto and the subs.
good to get a win.
thought the crowd was excellent, especially when we looked like we wouldnt score.

 

[Gooner_Girl]

That's why they stopped. Didn't know it was a streaker, anyway great win was getting a bit worried how we were still drawing at like 70 mins.

 

[jasonlohkh]

am i the only one who think we need another striker?

 

[lee1001]

I think people are being a little harsh here.

Arsenal play such a high tempo game that requires every player to be on top of their game and sharp.
It was our first game of the season against a team with 10 men behind the ball in a narrow pitch and our play lacked that sharpness we usually epect from one touch football.

As Wenger said, Newcastle's season started before ours and we will need a few games to get to our best.

Pires and Bergkamp are struggling, thought they were equaly uneffective in the Community Shield as they were today. They're places are really in jeopardy now. I can see RVP especialy getting in the team and keeping Dennis out. Same for Pires who has both Reyes and Hleb on his shoulder.

Oh and in case you didn't know APPARENTLY, it was Gilberto's fault Jenas tried to break his leg because he took two touches inviting the tackle.

 

[1970*Gooner]

I find it very frustrating when they try to walk the ball into the net I wish they would shoot more, they have the fire power why don't they use it. Pires had another quiet game as did TH and Dennis. I thought the back 4 played well as did the rest of the team however, Hleb and Van Persie made the difference for me. Hleb showed some great promise and looks like he will fit into the team nicely, good times to come.

 

[lee1001]

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Everybody go here for some fun!

I had so much fun on your website...thanks!

 

[Spike]

Just got back from the game, and what a game.

I sat in the North Bank, behind the goal so I got a great view. Anyways, in the first half, it was so fustrating to watch as we couldn't penetrate Newcastle's defence, and it didn't go well at all for us. Second half was pretty much the same, and we constantly kept trying fancy flicks and passing the ball into the net. On so many occasions, we lost the ball because of that, and was very fustrating to watch...until Freddie was bought down and Henry's penalty was a sigh of relief around the ground. After we scored, Newcastle started to attack, which created more room for us to pass the ball around and thus resulted in our second goal, a superb flick by Van Persie. After conceding two goals, Newcastle didn't look motivated and it surely didn't stop Henry taking the piss out of one of their players during a corner, and we had an encouraging attacking period towards the end with the likes of Cole, Henry, Hleb looking very dangerous on the attack.

Overall, it was a decent result, however, I don't know if you pick this up on TV, but the way we pass is so suspect, we tend to pass around the penalty box and all the opposition has to do it sit deep and we're locked out with no where to go. The atmosphere was decent, quite a few funny chants aimed at the Magpies, and good day

 

[GoonerGurjit]

hleb's skills and technique are mesmerizing , what a great shot from van persie , the angle is so tight

He's very creative and you can tell that he has an excellent final ball.

 

[9Reyes]

Pires is to old know....no pace, can't dribble and to chicken!!
But he is an importen player whos scores importen goals!!
But I think that Reyes is more dangerous than Pires....Maybe Reyes do some stupid choises some time, but at least he can dribble and do some incredible stuff!!

Hleb looked great today, nice passes, nice dribbles and a great pace!!
Gonna be great this season!!

My man of the match: Ashley COLE

 

[awooga83]

Great result from what was a tough game, agree about the ref thought the sending off was harsh. Thought bergkamp was a bit off today everything he attempted didn't quite come off. Was glad Van Persie scored looked really sharp when he came on and took his goal really well hopefully he'll play an important role this season if he can keep that performance up. All in all a good result ahead of the Chelsea game.

 

[GoonerGurjit]

Very impressed with Boumsong, Carr and to some extent Parker.

Parker was excellent. I don't think there is much chance of Jenas joining us now.

 

[GoonerGurjit]

Arsène not interested in Jenas 'at the moment':

"He is a good player and I know him well, but at the moment, I'm not interested. I wanted to watch him play today! I already have four midfielders as I have signed Alexandre Song."

 

[OneProudGooner]

He doesn't seem to be ruling him out still and doesn't seem to give too much away.. :roll:

 

[Tegh]

A nail-biting game, i was finding myself increasingly frustrated with Newcastle putting all their players behind the ball. I'm extremely glad we won it in the end, as we were the better team on the day.

Hleb looked promising indeed, some good passing, quick feet, and pace. It's a shame his poor touch let him down on one opportunity, but nevertheless, his fresh legs gave us another dimension.

Van Persie's finish? Awesome.

Chelsea? Lucky sons of *****es. They didn't deserve that at all, and i was swearing at my television set. That swedish **** Wigan brought on that wasted two chances, and the chance they had that hit the bar...

Chelsea have proven they're far from unbeatable, and once again a very f*cking lucky side. They were crap, and luck was as ever, on their side. After watching them on TV, i was far from impressed. We have a great chance of winning it this season, and it will be us and United as the top two, Chelsea as third.

 

[Canuck]

...at times i'd be watching the likes of Pires, Bergkamp and Henry and wondering just what they were doing on the pitch. Dennis for all of the shadow striker in him really isn't halping us, with him and Thierry trying to be shadow strikers we're f*d because Dennis plays even Deeper...

...Senderos seems to have returned home and i'm more than happy about that, thought it could be a different story when the ball's on the ground, in the air he's definately not to be f*d with...

... Lauren helped to make Freddie's game what it wasl, he played that strong and hard game and i'm grateful for that. Cole was straight up amazing but towards the end simmered down, but he's trying to let his football do the talking in his fight to win over the fans.

Then we approach the substitutes and how they changed the game, i felt they were left a bit late in their introduction, but Hleb and van Persie made that game for us, it made a huge difference to have them here, while with the way that van Persie plays he's not as involved in the game as Bergkamp is, he makes it harder to say that he's having a good or bad game without him scoring but you honestly he had a good game, he was running finding space, drifting, nodding ball's through, i just feawr that in arsenal's spirit of the game and the way it's played, he'll be villianised for not doing enough, which i think it quite sad, i hope he does well and the fans embrace a new form of arsenal attack.

Some good points there Sabre. Especially about RVP being under appreciated if he doesn't score. Remember that bit you Gooners.

I've always thought that Arsène waits far too long to bring in subs. One of his few habits that ticks me off sometimes.

From what I've been able to gather reading reports and such, Jenas' sending off was due to a crack down on dangerous tackles that's supposed to be a major point for refs this season so expect Lauren to get a couple reds soon as well. :wink:

All said and done - 3 points in the bag. Bring on Cheslki!

 

[kel varnsen]

Pires and Bergkamp are struggling, thought they were equaly uneffective in the Community Shield as they were today. They're places are really in jeopardy now. I can see RVP especialy getting in the team and keeping Dennis out. Same for Pires who has both Reyes and Hleb on his shoulder.

Oh and in case you didn't know APPARENTLY, it was Gilberto's fault Jenas tried to break his leg because he took two touches inviting the tackle.

couldn't agree more. hleb or reyes and van persie need to be in the starting eleven at stamford bridge next weekend. both pires and bergkamp have struggled in the last two matches. they don't look sharp at the moment...

as for jenas' red card; absolutely correct. jenas tried to break gilberto's leg. insane tackle...

 

[efurze]

Ugly, frustrating game. Sure it's only the first game of the season, but you'd think that by now AW would have figured out that trying to pass the ball into the net against a packed defense isn't the best idea - this being the 1000th team to play that way against us and all. Why is Van Persie the only player who seems to realize that actually shooting from outside (what a thought!) will help keep defenses honest?

Hleb looked great, Senderos still has a long way to go, and RVP should be starting every game once he's fit. Freddie clearly MOTM for me.

 

[kel varnsen]

one more thing, what's up with our set pieces? absolutely useless. our corners are ridicilous...

 

[sabret00the]

am i the only one who think we need another striker?

what are you on about? to replace who? RVP should be starting? and Dennis is a striker, if you're talking need then i expect you're talking about starting? who would you drop?

 

[Spike]

one more thing, what's up with our set pieces? absolutely useless. our corners are ridicilous...

Exactly, the first 4/5 corners didn't even go past the first defender. The guy next to me was joking around saying the training ground pitch must be smaller than the one at Highbury. Is Arsène instructing them to do this or something, because it doesn't take a superstar to loft the ball into the 6 yard box.