Gallas 81 – Divers: none

ZZZZzzzzzz… snort… drool… ZZZZZZzzzzz… huh, wha? sniff… Hey, look! We won a match. Back in the top… fourrr… ZZZZZZzzzzzz….

Have I made my point? What a fucking boring piece of football that business was. The three points are very much appreciated, but my god were we ever playing on dead legs. Nice effort by William Gallas at 81′ to head one in while simultaneously getting the French punched out of him by David James. It was about time too. Opting for the 8-1-1, Portsmouth played a very closed match. Every time we got the ball down field it was a passing exhibit trying to find a crack to get in. But, Ol’ Tony Adams visit back to his old club sent him packing without a point to show for it when we finally got in on a corner. Now hopefully Hull can eviscerate Aston Villa in two days and we’ll keep our spot in 4th.

Next up, Plymouth visits The Grove for our first FA Cup tie for the season. Not sure what to make of that one. We’ve got a break until the following week with the Prem, so Arsène may play a pretty full squad. Well, as full as it can get with all the injuries. After that, it’s back to Prem action with Bolton and then another reaming by match against Hull City. If that can be considered a lull in the action, then we’ll take it. We need it to catch our breath and take stock.

Denilson 40, Diaby 48 – Divers: Eboue, Agbonlahor

So, I’m in the friggin’ Toys R Us getting my kids some toys with the gift cards they got from some friends/family over the holidays and this fellow who works there sees my Walcott shirt and says “Yeah Gunners… they tied the other day.” But, I haven’t seen the game yet and I say to my wife “I knew I shouldn’t have worn this fucking shirt today…” But I’m thinking to myself, “Ah, he’s an American. He’s probably talking about the Liverpool result or some match that happened weeks ago, not the Villa match from just yesterday.” So I go home and put my recording of the match on hoping this kid didn’t know what he was talking about. He did.

But, for 92 minutes I thought maybe he didn’t. Despite having most of the possession for the first half and only 2 shots on goal, we went into the tunnel up 0-1. Villa had piled on the pressure, rattling the woodwork three times and stretching Almunia left and right with nothing to show for it. But at 40′ a scramble in the area saw Denilson get to the ball before Friedel. Good Ol’ Yankee Brad gets nutmegged by the Brazilian and it’s one nil to the Arsenal.

Man of the Match for me has to be Bacary Sagna. At around 44′ a chip comes in and Almunia is off his line. Sagna simply flies in and makes a lovely reverse bicycle kick to clear it just before the line. It’s probably the  most gorgeous save by a defender I’ve ever seen. Bac made probably four or five other spectacular saves this match. He’s priceless, I’m telling you. Whatever he wants when the contract is up, give it to him.

So we come out for the second half, and three minutes in Abou Diaby struggles up the right, passes off to Emmanuel Eboue who then flicks off back to Diaby who buries it… 0-2 Arsenal. It’s at this point that I’m thinking, “The kid in the toy store had to be talking about the Liverpool match. Fucking plebe.” But he wasn’t. Gallas gave up a PK around 64′ when he cut down Agbonlahor. In real time it looked to be a clear penalty. The replay showed it to be a close call, but if I were the ref I would have given it. 1-2 after Barry buries. FFS.

Lots and lots of back and forth with Villa piling the pressure on all along. The 90th minute comes and goes and I get this feeling in the pit of my gut, I shit you not. I say to my sleeping wife and dog, “We’re going to get this one fucking nicked in the last few minutes.” And 30 seconds later, some claret and blue twat equalizes for the Birminghamininians. Whistle. Draw. Fuck.

And at said whistle, Martin O’Neill was heard to say, “Sweet sufferin’ Jesus! Orange stars, yellow moons, green clovers and blue diamonds! That was a great fookin’ match!” To which Arsène Wenger replied, “Get out of my sight, you fucking myopic leprechaun.” I always thought those two got on just fine, but it appeared at one point that Martin was trying to take a large bite out of The Professors’ ass. For one, I’m not sure that would taste very good, and two that there’d be very much left after the Arsenal board gets done with ol’ AW on recent numbers.

So, we’re ten points off the league leaders on Boxing Day. I’m no statisticianarian, but correct me if I’m wrong when I say that sort of mountain ain’t yet been climbed. It’s now a fight for the Champions League, get as close to the top four in the Prem and the FA Cup… in that order. And, there’s no room left in the injury room. Alex Song came off at the half bitching about an injury and they pretty much just sent him home. Good times.

Well, as I mentioned yesterday, it’s now been confirmed that Cesc Fabregas will be out for four months due to medial ligament damage to his right knee. This is, in effect, an end to his season. I hope I’m wrong, but I think it’s optimistic to suggest that our physio staff will have him back in the first team before the very end of the season. Cesc tells us the injury will not require surgery. And knowing him, he’ll be pushing to get back in ASAP. And while that would certainly be welcome, I’m not sure how fast even a young fellow can get back to 100% from an injury like this. All I can hope is that he tries to put this out of his head as best as he can, enjoy some holiday time with his friends and family and rest up.

And of course, this situation has sparked the finest in transfer window gossip this season. Even Arsène Wenger has admitted that this changes his approach to the transfer window, saying “Yes [I am more likely to buy], but we also have internal solutions so we are not desperate because of that.” Which, for him, is akin to saying something along the lines of “Oh boy howdy, are we ever fucked now if we don’t snap us up some talent.” At least, that’s how I read it.

But… who? There are the usual names being tossed about: Alonso, Arteta, Arshavin, et al. But that’s never been Wenger’s MO, has it? He almost always brings in the lesser knowns from unknown clubs. You can’t deny he has a knack for spotting upspotted talent. But will he, in this time of need, abandon that approach for the big name signing? Many blogs are calling for two to put in central midfield. Some suggest he’ll bring in another winger and slot Nasri in for Cesc until he’s better. I’m not sure that’s the way to go, but I have to admit it’s interesting. Nasri is quite the talent, and I’m willing to bet he’d do some pretty interesting things as an attacking central midfielder. He certainly has an eye for goal and can be quite creative. But what’s Wenger to do? One thing we know he’ll do is be coy with the media throughout the window and probably (although hopefully not) wait until last second. I’m going to guess that he goes with one fairly big name, although not as big as most would like, and another lesser known player. I think the blockbuster pair signing is a bit too rich for Arsène.  But one thing is for sure… this transfer window is sure to be more interesting than any we’ve seen in the recent past.

Finally, from everyone here at The Scurvy Syndicate (read: me), I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah or whatever holiday you might be celebrating this season and a Happy New Year. COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

van Persie 23 – Divers: van Persie, Arbeloa

Wow… where to begin with this mess, huh? First off, I’m pretty disappointed with the result but at the same time, pretty damn proud of the effort Arsenal put in to salvage that point with just 10 men on the field. At the same, time I feel gut-punched and fucking robbed by the miserable prick that is Howard Webb. But I’ll get to that later.

We started the match looking pretty sharp, I thought. Although, I didn’t get my wish in midfield. Once again, we saw Denilson and Song start, but unlike some past performances, they both did pretty well. Even more so once we went down a man. Samir Nasri was back and it made a big difference. At 23′ he launched a beautiful ball from left midfield into the center near the edge of the area and Robin van Persie scored one hell of a gorgeous goal. He took the ball on his chest between two defenders, brought it down to his left foot and immediately flicking it off to the right to create space and then pouncing on it with his right foot to smash it past Reina, who was really just getting his arm up when this shot was already rippling the nylon. The commentator invoked the name Bergkamp when describing the goal later on. Well put.

Near the half, Robbie Keane equalized with an admittedly nice shot after a long ball up from one his fellow twats caught our defenders off guard. You get the feeling Robbie’s not a very popular guy around The Grove, eh? This goal didn’t improve his standing. To make matters much worse, Cesc Fabregas joined his pals on the injury list after a collision with Xabi Alonso, of all fucking people. It was a fair tackle that either of them could have taken the knock from, but just our luck it was Cesc who came away with knee ligament damage. Scans will tell us more tomorrow. Get well soon, Cesc.

After the equalizer, Liverpool poured it on. They made attack after attack, and continued after the restart. Then at 62′ Emmanuel Adebayor was shown his second yellow card after a bullshit dive by Arbeloa. There was contact to be sure, but Arbeloa made as though Adebayor kung fu chopped him all Emma Peele style right in the fucking larynx and went down like a steaming sack of shit. Howard Webb, who was consistently shit all night, saw fit to throw Adebayor off the pitch. How this fuckhead still has a job officiating is beyond me. How many points has he cost various teams this year? Our total may be as much as 5 by Boxing Day. Think on that.

But, with all that, our remaining 10 men toughened up right quick. Denilson and Song played better than I think I’ve seen them play ever, and RvP was still threatening. Toward the end it looked as though we were pretty much on the back foot, but we hung in there tough. That can’t be ignored. If I were a Liverpool fan, I’m not sure what I’d think about my side not coming away with all three when a third of that match Arsenal were down a man and without their talisman. It’s definitely not league-leading stuff. I think their days in that spot are well and truly numbered.

So, now we’re off to Villa Park for Boxing Day in what is now a much more vital match for us than I would have thought yesterday. And it will not be easy. We’ll be limping in there, but if the 10 men show up who finished the match against Liverpool, it might just be all we need. COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

Update: Most news outlets this morning are reporting that Cesc will be out for four months. FOUR. MONTHS. He’ll be back in time to help us fight back to the top half of the table, is how they’re making it seem. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Another Update: I forgot to mention this… I thought it was a great reception Emannuel Eboue received from the Emirates faithful at the end of the match. After The Ebooing, it was nice to hear them cheer him onto the field, even though he only played a few minutes. It was as if to say, “Yeah, you fucked up… but you still wear our shirt. All forgiven.” He did alright too… you could sense he felt the urgency of the side as well.

This is a big one for us. Very big. Our slim hopes of having a decent shot at the title this season require a win over Liverpool. Nothing less.

Samir Nasri may return to the sqaud for this match, but we won’t know until tomorrow. Hopefully he’s not just fit, but well enough to play a full 90. We’ll need him. Walcott, Rosicky, Da Silva, Toure and Bendtner are all unavailable. I sometimes wonder if this is the most injury plagued Arsenal side of all time. I wonder how that can be found out.

Although I know it won’t happen, part of me would like to see Wilshere or Ramsey start this match. They’re typically brought in to get minutes near the end, but I’m getting weary of Denilson and Song starting in midfield. Could it hurt to try Nasri and Ramsey on the wings, with Fabregas and Diaby in the mdidle? And bring Wilshere on for Diaby for the final third. In the back, I would imagine Sagna and Clichy on the right and left as usual, with Gallas and Djourou in the center. I like the way Johann is looking so far. He’s on track to becoming quite the Center Back.

As for Liverpool, they are without Fernando Torres and Yurtle the Skrtel. So, they’re nearly full strength… and will be up for this match. A win at The Grove is essential for them to keep their edge on Chelsea. United is still 6 points adrift, but it seems only a matter of time before they close that gap. They’ve traditionally been a tough match for Arsenal, although I can remember a few good thumpings over the years, both received and given. So, without further bullshit, the Scurvy Prognostication of The Match is:

Arsenal 3-2 Liverpool

We’ll need RvP and Adebayor to step up for this one, so one each from them, and Nasri to open the scoring. An OG from Gallas and one good, solid cock-up by Almunia will round out my prediction. Trust me.

Now for a topic I don’t typically touch on this blog. It seems there’s been a bit of a dust up in the boardroom. Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith has either left or been asked to leave the board, and has taken her 15.something% shares along with her. This also leaves her the option of selling said shares. There’s some speculation as to whether or not she would sell them to the hated Alisher Usmanov, or if ol’ Alisher’s even in a position to buy them at this point. I’m sure he’s got the jing laying around somewhere, but that would put him over 40%, which would force him to make a takeover bid. And it’s unclear if that’s something he’s prepared to do. There’s also the possibility that she sells to Stan Kroenke or keeps them herself. What does all this mean to the fans? I haven’t the foggiest clue. Hopefully nothing. Something in my non-English gut tell me that Arsenal should remain an English club, and not become the next Chelski. Why, I’m not entirely sure. It’s not as though we’re fielding 8 English players of 11 each week. But who plays for the club and who owns the club are two different things. Arsenal transcends the individuals who make it up. Hopefully things will turn out for the best for the club.