Mikes Trip to the Emirates: Arsenal 5-0 Villa

On Sunday the 1st of February 2015 I headed down to the Emirates to watch a rejuvenated

Arsenal take on a struggling Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium.

Here is my view on the game

I headed down to London with my other half and a mate of ours ready for the Game, in good spirits, we were all confident on the back of the last 2 results against Stoke and Manchester City in the Premier League and the confidence was to pay off.

For those of you that have listened to me on Pitch Talk shows you would have heard me say a number of times when results were against us that it was time for a change in manager, but on the back of the last few results I will admit to being proven wrong and the more that Arsene Wenger does that the happier I will be as it will see us improving as a squad and heading in the right direction.

Onto the game itself I thought it was a dominant and clinical performance from Arsenal with players such as Coquelin, Ozil, Walcott and Cazorla impressing. They showed that even without Alexis we are still a strong side with lots of attacking options.

The first moment of note was when striker Olivier Giroud was through on Goal set up by a world class flick from Mesut Ozil whose excellent back flick set Giroud away and he slotted calmly under Keeper Brad Guzan right in front of the home fans including myself in the Clock End.

Not long after this it could and perhaps should have been 2-0 to the Arsenal with some excellent build up play leading to a shot from Santi Cazorla whose shot came back off the post, and it remained 1-0 until the second half.

Aston Villa themselves did have a good 5 minute spell just before the break and David Ospina had to be alert to keep up his excellent record of clean sheets since replacing Szczesny in the Arsenal goal by saving down low from Andreas Weimann just before the break.

In the second half Aston Villa came out with the same mentality that they ended the first half with, Christian Benteke had two half chances but after those scares Arsenal got themselves together and went on to record their biggest win since 2012 which was a 7-1 victory against Blackburn Rovers, and the second half had more interesting statistics to come out of it after that.

It was soon 2-0 to the Arsenal in the 55th minute when Giroud returned the favour to Mesut Ozil to show low into the bottom right corner and out of the reach of Brad Guzan who could do nothing about it.

After this there was only ever going to be one winner and the third Arsenal goal was again scored by another player coming back from a long layoff and with something to prove to manager Arsene Wenger who without Alexis must have been delighted to see the Englishman find his goal scoring touch in the 62nd minute after an excellent lay off from Santi Cazola.

Arsene Wenger saw that the game was won and with one eye on the North London Derby on Saturday brought on Tomas Rosicky and Chuba Akpom to replace Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud and it was the latter in Akpom who was involved almost straight away, he went on one of his clever runs into the box and looked like he had taken one too many touches but although he had gone away from Brad Guzan the young Arsenal front man got to the ball first and referee Anthony Taylor was quick to point to the spot.

Up stepped Santi Cazorla who has been in red hot form of late scoring 4 out of his last 5 penalties and although the penalty was straight at Guzan the ball squirmed in off the keepers hands leaving the Villa keeper frustrated and taking it out on the post as the Gunners went 4-0 up.

Just after this Arsene Wenger decided to make the 3rd Arsenal change and it was Aaron Ramsey who was replaced by Flamini leaving new signing Gabriel on the bench.

Arsenal created a couple more chances before the last real moment in the game and Monreal and Akpom both went close with the Arsenal teenager showing his talent and quality that Arsenal fans have seen in the reserves and capital one cup games in past seasons.

It was another teenager who was to complete the rout and this time the goal was a memorable one for Spanish right back Hector Bellerin who was set up by that man Santi Cazorla once again to fire and placed low shot in off the post to cap a perfect day with his first ever career goal and to become the 3rd Arsenal right back to score this season.

The Drama was not quite finished and as the game went in to the closing stages of injury time, Aston Villa had another chance of their own, substitute Ashley Westwood came close with a 25 yarder which Ospina was right behind to make a brilliant save and to direct the ball out for a corner to the massive cheers of the Aston Villa fans that were still in the stadium, which resulted in chants of let’s pretend we scored a goal from their fans next to us which was met by a chorus of cheers by the Arsenal fans in the Clock End.

Arsene Wenger can be extremely pleased with 3 more home points, another clean sheet and 5 different goal scorers without Alexis, Welbeck and Oxlade Chamberlain as well as long term absentees Wilshire and Debuchy.

With Alexis looking likely to be fit for the game on Saturday, it is going to make for an interesting North London Derby with Kane and Erikson on form for Spurs and the Attacking options at Arsenal who are all in good form.

The day itself was completed by a trip to the Gunners pub to watch the famous Arsenal Away Boyz live with lots of singing and dancing and lots of extremely happy Gunners after a fantastic win, all looking forward to the Derby on Saturday at White Hart Lane, personally I have a good feeling for Saturday, if we play like we did against Manchester City I think we can come away with all the points and possibly even leap Southampton and Manchester United depending on results and goals scored. Come on you Gunners!

Here are the two line-ups from Sunday’s game

Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielney, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey (Flamini 77), Cazorla, Ozil, Walcott (Rosicky 70) Giroud (Akpom 70) Subs not used Sczczesny, Chambers, Gabriel, Gibbs

Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Okore, Clark, Richardson, Cleverely (Agbonlahor 66) Delph, Sanchez (Westwood 76) Gill, Benteke, Weimann (Sinclair 66), Subs not used. Given, Cissokho, Bacuna, Baker.

Mike Harniman
(One very happy Gooner)

STEVENAGE VS WATFORD Blog/Report

Tuesday the 12th of August saw Watford make the small journey across Hertfordshire to Face Stevenage FC in the Capital 1 Cup First Round. Stevenage made one change from the opening day victory over Hartlepool with Jerome Okimo coming in for former Captain Jon Ashton who dropped to the bench,  as for Watford they made 9 changes from their opening day victory over Bolton with only Tamas and Pudil retaining their positions in the starting line up.

Just past the 10 minute mark and Stevenage came inches away from breaking the deadlock. Charlie Lee ran onto a Darius Charles pass and hit a screamer of a shot which rebounded off the far post and behind with the Stevenage fans on the Edge of their seats.

Minutes after Watford themselves came close after a well worked free kick which left Lloyd Dyer unmarked in space after catching out the Stevenage defence and beating Boro Keeper Sam Beasant to the ball only for his diving header to end up just wide of the post in a first half which was end to end with Stevenage pushing forward in numbers and Watford trying their very best to catch their Hertfordshire neighbours out on the Counter attack.

Stevenage began the second half as they’d finished the first, pushing forward and creating chances in the aim of getting that all important goal of the game but unfortunately for the hosts it was the visitors who took the lead in the 51st minute when ‘The Hornets’ pushed forward and a through ball found Forreisteri who squared to Fabbrini who unselfishly squared to Dyer to slot home past Boro Keeper Sam Beasant to give the Hornets the lead.

In the 64th Minute Stevenage thought that they had equalised after a Bira Dembele low cross was met by the Head of striker Darius Charles whose header was somehow saved by Watford keeper Jonathan Bond as The Boro pushed for an equaliser when everyone in the ground thought it was a certain goal.

Stevenage continued to push for the equaliser right up until the final minute of the game but was thwarted by the experience in their championship opponent’s side.

In the Final Minutes of Stoppage time Stevenage won a corner and up came goalkeeper Sam Beasant who out jumped everyone and just headed wide of the post and Watford Progress through to the second round although Stevenage can be very proud of their performance against a very strong Watford side who will be very pleased that they have got through a difficult game against their Hertfordshire Rivals.

For the Boro now it’s A trip to the seaside to Face Southend United as they look to bounce back from their defeat in the competition but with such a small squad and players out injured still to come back it looks extremely positive for the season and the coming weeks and months ahead.

Mike Harniman (Stevenage Fan) 

MIKE HARNIMAN ARSENAL FC WEEKLY ROUND UP #3

Hello Friends and Readers, Mike back with another edition of the Arsenal Round up for you wonder people of Pitch Talk, apologises for the long delay in blogging but I have been extremely busy with my other passion Storm FM (The Online Radio station that I Run), hope everyone is doing well and is enjoying the season so far.

My Views on Arsenal FC.

Back in 2012 Myself alongside most Arsenal fans were fearing the worst for the club, no trophy in 8 seasons, selling a number of our star individuals and losing the bigger games, this even continued into the start of the 2013-14 season with a shock 1-3 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa which may have been the final straw for Arsene Wenger.

With the transfer window drawing to a close and only Yaya Sanogo signing for us Arsenal fans would have been forgiven for thinking that it was going to be another long season.

But Then Mr Wenger pulls out a couple of stops which both could equally be as good pieces of business as each other, firstly resigning Matthieu Flamini and then dipping into the transfer market to sign Mesut Ozil. both players have made an impact in their time at the club us Arsenal fans are already familiar with the work Flamini does for the cause he is a rock in front of the back 4 and a great organiser and when we signed him I was expecting the same and so far he hasn't disappointed at all, as for Ozil he has some great touches, hes a wonderful passer of the ball and he can score goals and is definitely the man who opposition will need to play close attention to as he has the ability to make something out of nothing.

There was no doubt that these signings played a big part in the run that was to follow alongside the magnificent form of Aaron Ramsey who himself looks like a brand new signing on the back of finally returning to his best after his long term injury suffered at Stoke back in 2010.

Arsenal fans were crying out for that Big name signing all the way through the transfer window and when Ozil Signed it straight away brought a buzz back into everyone associated with Arsenal Football Club, Could this be the season that Arsene Wenger wins that illusive silverware that he has let slip so often of late, could he bring success to Arsenal in what could be his final season, these are all questions that will get answered in my blogs over the next couple of weeks and months.

At this present moment in time as I am writing this blog we are currently sitting in top spot in the Premier League after a 4-1 home victory over Norwich City with Ozil scoring 2 of the goals, Wilshire scoring the first and another Goal from the On Fire Man Aaron Ramsey with Jonny Howson pulling a goal back for Norwich with the score at 2-0 to the Arsenal.

Some Arsenal fans might say in response to this We might be top of the league but the only Big Team we have played in the league is Tottenham and to be fair to them I'd have to say I agree, but its also about consistency something that this Arsenal side have shown by collectively picking up 19 points from 21 in the League after the defeat by Aston Villa on the opening day, off course bigger tests are to come but in my opinion this is like watching the Arsenal of old, I Am feeling the confidence from this team and with each result the confidence is only going to get stronger.

I will though wait to reserve my final Judgement until the End of May but at this present moment in time the future is looking much more rosy than this time on Saturday 17th of August, Maybe that's the kind of result that the players needed to really kick start their season and go on to win trophies. Lets hope so!

Altogether Now
We're Top of The League!!!!!
Onwards and Upwards

Mike Harniman
(One very happy Gooner)

MIKE HARNIMAN ARSENAL FC WEEKLY ROUND UP #2

(Champs League Special)

Arsenals second game of the season saw them return to the qualifying stages in the Champions League agains't Turkish side Fenerbahce, who have players formerly of the English Premier League Dirk Kuyt and Raul Meireles.

Arsenal were looking to bounce back from the surprise defeat at the Emirates against AstonVilla in their opening game, of which i dissected in my previous blog entry (http://goo.gl/zTc7PE ). Arsenal went into the game knowing that a win would be vital to the fans as well as the teams morale.

Arsenal dominated the match but went in 0-0 at the break, the second half saw an increase in tempo and Arsenal deservedly took the lead with A goal from Kieran Gibbs after a well worked passage of play which saw the ball played in to Theo Walcott who’s cross was then headed in by Gibbs. Arsene would have been pleased with the score at that and keen to take that into into the second leg at the Emirates, however Arsenal continued to look for a second goal to kill the game off and it came via the ever improving Aaron Ramsey just after the hour mark and Arsenal were cruising. IF Arsene Wenger was happy going back to the Emirates with a 2-0 lead he would have been even more pleased when his lads went 3-0 up before the Final whistle. The goal coming from a  Kadlec foul of Theo Walcott in the area and up stepped Oliver Giroud to slot home the resulting penalty for his second goal of the season and this topped off a much better performance by the Arsenal Side.

The second leg barring a miracle always looked as if Arsenal were always going to qualify after such a professional first leg performance, so it was to no surprise to anyone when Arsenal recorded a further 2 goals on the night, which ultimately meant they won 5-0 overall on aggregate.

Once Again it was Aaron Ramsey who was the stand out man for Arsenal, he scored 2 goals adding to the goal he scored in the first leg in Turkey, his first goal came from a through ball from Podolski who was later substituted. It has since been revealed Podolski will miss 10 weeks of the season which could prompt Wenger into the transfer Market for another attacker. Ramsey second came on the end of a fine move, which saw him finish it off with the finest of touches and that was that Arsenal were safe.

So on Thursday the Champions league draw saw Arsenal given a tricky group with Marseille, Borussia Dortmund and Napoli a group where they will have to be at our best to qualify and when looking at previous results, like that of Bayern Munich, Inter and AC Milan where arsenal gave as good as they got then anything is possible. However they still have to be weary and very careful in the way they approach these matches.  


Come on the Gunners!

MIKE HARNIMAN ARSENAL FC WEEKLY ROUND UP #1

It's Saturday the 17th of August a day that only means one thing in any football fans calendar, the start of the premier league season, we started with a winnable game in my opinion; a home tie against Aston Villa so therefore I felt relatively positive in the build up to the game, even with the lack of signings made by Mr Wenger, the main topic on everyone’s lips before kick off.

We started the game on the front foot and took the lead via Olivier Giroud’s first goal of the season, it only took the Frenchmen 6 minutes to find the net and from that moment on when the goal went in all Arsenal fans could have been forgiven for thinking the team was about to kick on and go and win by a decent margin. Without underestimating Aston Villa even their most die hard of fans probably couldn't have expected what was to happen next.

First of all a moment of madness by Gunners keeper Szczesny who upended the on running Villa forward Gabriel Agbonlahor, which saw Villa awarded the first of what was to be two penalties given to them by referee Taylor. The Arsenal keeper was awarded a yellow card for his mistimed challenged although some would say he was lucky to stay on the pitch, up stepped Christian Benteke one of Arsenal’s summer transfer targets fresh from signing a new contract to take the penalty kick for Villa which was well saved by the Arsenal keeper and with some of the Arsenal fans already starting to celebrate the save up Jumped Benteke to head the rebound over Scczesny to level the game up at 1-1.

Things then went from bad for worse for the Arsenal as Lambert’s Boys took a surprise 2-1 lead and it was the referee Taylor once again who was playing centre stage, this time it was defender Laurent Koscielney who some might say was Harshly Punished for a foul on Andreas Weimann although replays show that the Arsenal defender was unlucky to give away the penalty and in my own person opinion even more unlucky to reserve the yellow card which proved to be costly in more way than one.

This time Benteke stepped up once again to convert the penalty this time without the aid of a rebound and Villa were ahead 2-1. A result that would have surprised many people but looking at the lack of quality in the Arsenal back line it was clear that both goals could have been stopped and that we are a long way away from our old selves defensively as proved in a number of seasons now, we had conceded 2 very sloppy penalties and the villa forwards were getting their way into the box unchallenged.

For the Arsenal fans who thought that was bad then there was worse to come first a silly challenge by Koscielney who already being on a yellow card should have known better than to lunge in and there was only ever going to be one outcome as referee Taylor reached into his pocket to pull out the second yellow card for Koscielney and Our task was made even harder. 2-1 down at home with 10 men something that really started to annoy the fans as chants of spend some money were ringing around the emirates something that on this performance needs to be done and quickly if we are to have any chance of challenging for champions league qualification again this season.

A main area for strengthening for me would have to be in defence as shown by the 3rd goal it was clear that we have a lot of work to do when from a corner which everyone was up for bar Szczesny we were caught out by a routine counter attack there was no Arsenal player anywhere to be seen as Villa came forward, the defence were far to slow getting back and any one of 3 villa players could have killed the game off, in the end it was their new boy Luna on his debut who hit a low show to the Arsenal keepers near post and complete a 3-1 victory for Aston Villa.

Take nothing away from the performance by Villa they could tell we were out of form we aren’t the team that everyone once knew us as and on the early showing its going to take an awful lot for Wenger to get the fans back on side with a tricky champions league tie to come away to Fenebahce on Wednesday Night, without 3 or 4 regular first choice defenders,

A result that had Manager Arsene Wenger apologising to the Arsenal fans for the performance on the day but only time will tell what happens with the Arsenal this season.

In my opinion the next few weeks are going to have to be very busy in the transfer market if we are to stand any chance of having a successful season because on this showing there is an awful lot of work to be done and on the back of that result it’s going to be even harder for Wenger to attract the players he wants out there because let’s face it who would want to come to a club in such turmoil,

We have lost our passion we have lost our fight and we have lost our belief, something that is going to take time to get back, it won’t happen overnight by any stretch of imagination but something that Wenger and the Board need to sit down and talk about because it is clear that We have the money to spend and it is clear to most Arsenal fans that there are players out there that we have lost out on in the transfer window who would have made a huge difference to this team already.

On to Wednesday now and lets all hope for a better Performance and hopefully a sneaky result to boot.,Wenger will have them working extra hard in training to sort out their mistakes and let’s face it things can’t get much worse.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!