Arsenal v Blackburn

well a bit of a bummer this match after the excitement of the Bolton game , Blackburn seemed to come for the draw and hardly troubled us during the match . We were not playing our usual game and had several players out but Henry was back and he nearly scored at the end .....good save ! We really should have had a penalty though ....referee was right in front and never gave it ..

Well we were rubbish and Blackburn's tactics were depressing, per usual. So the game was rubbish too.

Negatives:
- Henry was rubbish whilst flopping around & going down too easily.
- Cesc wasn't much interested.
- Walcott was rubbish AGAIN, whilst Rosický was sitting on the bench alongside Adebayor.
- We created enough opportunities to win the game, but Henry couldn't finish his dinner nor Hoyte.
- Blackburn's tactics were terrible in terms of game quality/football quality & entertainment. There was no match, it was a training exercise for us to see how we could break down their 10 Defenders.
- We have to play ANOTHER replay.

Positives:
- Freddie is back & playing well just after scoring a cracker against Bolton - good news for us because we've lacked wingers & Walcott has been a waste of space.
- Senderos did really well when called upon - looked calm, collected & went about his job very comfortably.
- Gallas is back! He did OK after being out for around 3months and almost scored a curler after cutting in from the left.
- Aliadičre was excellent again, showing pace, strength, great skill & determination. Working the ball well, working off the ball well & making great use of it. Should have had a penalty & almost scored the winner if Friedel didn't pull off a magic save. He was better than Monsieur Henry for sures.
- Almunia was very good again. Good saves, good communication & confidence - he's really firing himself up at the right time to fill Lehmann's boots when he's gone.
- Rosický changed everything when he came on & in 20mins set up some great opportunities, changed the pace of the game & almost scored the winner. A good performance from the Czech.

Agree wit the above. Seems like everyone is now trying to shut up shop against us now.

How can you support a team that parks it's bus infront of the goal. It's boring. But as Wenger said it's up to us to find a way to break them down.

This is why I like playing teams like Chelsea and United cause at least you know they might come at you a little more.

We can break down teams, we'd improved over the course of the season. This tactic employed by the weaker teams was becoming less of a problem. For example look how we broke down Blackburn after they took the lead in the League, came back to score 6 past them. Or Wigan who took the lead at the Grove, we came back to beat them.

Blackburn did OK, but we were generally just rubbish too. Walcott was a waste of space, everytime he got the ball he gave it away, by either trying too much or just being sloppy. Cesc wasn't too hot either & Henry was a shambles, so breaking them down was always going to be hard.

Rosický came on & changed things dramatically, suddenly we had about 3-4 clear chances to win it and Adebayor made a slight difference despite not getting enough service. What can you do? You put the ball on the plate for the "best Striker in the World" and he scuffs it & tries to lift it over the Keeper instead of just blasting it first time. Really frustrating.

Aliadičre was the only real attacker with an idea. Worked hard, showed for the ball well & showed skill to create opportunities. A great example is when he fights for the ball, skins a player, plays the ball to Walcott, runs through on goal for the return pass (one-two) and Walcott decides to be greedy & ignores Jeremie whilst putting the ball wide.

To break down teams who sit & wait, your interplay around the box has to be fast & neat. Fast it wasn't and it was far from neat, until Rosický came on when it was too late.

You did, but only because of the referee. You play lovely attractive football, but it's not as varied as United or Chelsea. They find more ways to score, even if it's "uglier". I know you've scored some ugly goals this season, but not enough.

Of course we haven't done it "enough". If we did, we would be higher than 4th.

But this is a majorly inexperienced side, with bags of youth. You can see the growth, the gelling & the quality shining through. The team of 04' took a while to grow & even them boys weren't built from scratch. Most of them were well experienced as Arsenal players & Professional footballers anyway - many of whom won the double in 2002.

We don't deserve special criticism for not being able to score enough ugly goals. Although I still think we should be at least better than 4th.

You're just repeating what I just said, geezer. So you've got youth. Teach them to win ugly. If not, then expect some flak for not winning matches.

PS - what do you mean "special criticism"? You regard my opinion as special?

I can understand that, as my opinion is highly informative

No. Other teams have problems, but Arsenal are picked on constantly in the majority of threads you post in these days, even if the original topic has nothing to do with them.

I expect flak for not winning. And we've got youth & they are learning - you can see that, unless you're blind. We have won ugly & we've improved on our game in that sense.

How much flak did you give Man United for not being able to finish off Reading then?

I gave Man United zero flak, and do you know why? Because none of their players or supporters have come out crying about Reading defending all the time. Simple as that. They understand that the onus is on Man United to break them down, especially at home. When Sunderland "locked up" last season at OT, no United players confronted their manager. No fans complained about their tactics. It's part and parcel of the game. They have every right to play that way.

Unfortunately, you have trouble registering that. Hence, your mates Cesc and Wenger resort to criticising opposition's tactics because they struggle to deal with it.

Cesc's frustration was well overdue.

Reading didn't lock up. Sunderland did, but that was a one off.

But you've criticised Arsenal in every game they don't win because of teams locking up. Not just the one time Cesc whinges about it.

I'll criticise Arsenal's failure to break these teams down because that is where the problem lies for Arsenal. Simple. It doesn't lie with opposing teams needing to come out and play more. Because they won't change if they're successful with this tactic.
The problem won't go away, so Arsenal must solve it. I know they have solved it here and there, but not enough.

I have dished out enough criticism on United where I feel it is warranted. Likewise with Arsenal, Chelsea and whoever else. I'm one of the few Spurs fans on here who continually praise Arsenal for their football, check through my posts if you don't believe me. Biased, I am definitely not.

Yeah, I have read your posts regarding Arsenal and I've never called you biased.

I'm just sick of hearing opposition fans complain constantly repeating the same stuff in after any game we don't win. Yet, the other 'bigger boys' struggle to breakdown teams too - and the complaints aren't beaming around like they are with Arsenal.

Especially when those 'bigger boys' like Chelsea & Man United are automatically considered as better teams. Surely when they fail, criticism should be heavier? It's not the case, which is somewhat sickening.

Arsenal threads are funny bc next year this is gonna be hilarious to look back on..all im gonna say, could put 15 guys behind the ball most people will be better off not takin the field

What goes around comes around, isn't that right Axey?

Blackburn failed to break down a Leverkusen side that came for the draw and got it. No doubt that brought a smile to your face

Yup, that was quite funny.

Negative football will come back to haunt you as I've said. And we'll sort'em out in the replay.

Football in general can come back to haunt you. Negative or positive.
When is the replay?

Wednesday the 28th.

We should have a very strong team ready & most of them rested because of the Carling Cup final on Sunday. Although Cesc & Touré will be likely to start against Chelsea.

OK, so the big game tonight. I fear it'll be much tougher than the first. We have so many players missing tonight, but still field a strong team and a team good enough to beat Blackburn.

Injured:

Thierry Henry (foot), Tomas Rosický (groin), Abou Diaby (foot), Justin Hoyte (hamstring), Johan Djourou (ankle), Mathieu Flamini (foot) and Robin van Persie (foot), Theo Walcott (shoulder).

Suspended:

Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Touré.

Rested:

Cesc Fŕbregas.

Doubtful:

Gaël Clichy (foot).

-------------Almunia
Eboué, Senderos, Gallas, Traoré
Hleb, Denílson, Gilberto, Ljungberg
--------Aliadičre, Baptista

Still with around twelve First team players missing, we can beat this Blackburn side. Blackburn will probably take a defensive approach again for most of the game and come at us when they can. Possibly playing for extra-time & penalties - going by the previous game. But I hope they underestimate this weakened Arsenal side, like Bolton did at the Reebok.

Burn these motherfuhers down!

I'm going to watch this one. I'll go for an Arsenal 2-0 victory.

with all the injured and banned players, Arsenal still have a strong team out. im going for a 1-0 Arsenal