2-0 to Arsenal, Wiltord and Henry

Good: Stuart Taylor kept his clean sheet. Cygan was solid as a rock for the most part, he even made an enourmus save. Ray Parlour got as shutout as skipper. Wonderful Henry freekick, great Wiltord goal.

Bad: Cole twisted his ankle, Yellow on Henry, Ljungberg had the crap beat out of him the whole game.

How far away was the Henry freekick? I can't wait to see it on the Prem along with Lewingski's (sp?) goal for Fulham and Okocha's for Bolton:rockman: .

Just outside the box, Cole got hurt on thats what drew it.

You are all going to come around on Cygan eventually.
Only Brown looks better on the ball as a centre-half.

By the way, did you see the elbow on Ljungberg?
Ljungberg just got up, the referee gave him a foul and that was it; as it should be.
Funny thing is it looks more dangerous than Campbell's.

Yep, Freddie got hit right in the nose.

Originally posted by antithesis
You are all going to come around on Cygan eventually.
Only Brown looks better on the ball as a centre-half.

By the way, did you see the elbow on Ljungberg?
Ljungberg just got up, the referee gave him a foul and that was it; as it should be.
Funny thing is it looks more dangerous than Campbell's.

C'mon anti i'm glad he played well lets just hope he can continue like that till the end since sol will be out for the season but lets not overdo it.

Heard about the elbow as well,it'll be interesting to see ppls reaction to that over the coming days.
Btw cant wait to see okocha's goal this evening heard it was brilliant

well I am a Cygan fan.
I have never had a bad word to say about him.

And he is good on the ball, rarely makes a bad pass, and remember he was pretty good against Chelsea.

Take your point though.

Have heart Arsenal fans, all our matches are winnable (if Ashley Cole is fit).

Picture this, the points are level, and Arsenal have a two or three goal difference advantage.
Arsenal are away to Sunderland, and they are at Everton.
I'd take that scenario!

This would be even better, after the results the goal difference is level and Arsenal win having scored more goals.
I'd luv it, luv it, just luv it, if they got that close and lost.

What part of Trinidad you from fella??...Cygan is utter crap!!!!:rolleyes: ...Wenger have no choice but to play him cause he stupidly let Upson go,and the only reason he got a game today was cause Keown was being protected.Personally most of those French players just overated.Arsenal just isn't a British team anymore,they got too many prima donnas who just want to walk the ball into the damn goal.All Pires was concerned bout today was fixing his hair lol,Gilberto was just non-existent too and he left Parlour to do all the work..All in all Arsneal need a real striker like Wrighty to put the chances away,a right back( possibly Carr),another centreback (maybe Dawson) and maybe another box to box midfielder.Right now it looks like Man U could win the league on goal difference cause their offence is firing quite good at present...but I still want the Gunners to win though!!!! :rockman:

It's a wonder they are in line to defend both titles after that review.

I am in Goodwood Park. That's close to Carenage, ah know allyuh southboys eh know up here.

Man U has the edge if they win their next game(Tottenham) because they can open a six point gap, thereafter, at home to Charlton, and Arsenal would have to win two games in 4 days.

Why did it have to be spurs? They have a habit of screwing up.

Originally posted by tonytobas1
Cygan is utter crap

nah - cygan is gd on the ball. luzhny and stepanovs always sh!t themselves wenever they get the ball but cygan has a cool head. he should be good wen hes settled

he makes good clearances on the line as well - i remember at roma he make a great clearance at 1-1

Cygan saved Taylor a few times.

Originally posted by antithesis
It's a wonder they are in line to defend both titles after that review.

I am in Goodwood Park. That's close to Carenage, ah know allyuh southboys eh know up here.

Man U has the edge if they win their next game(Tottenham) because they can open a six point gap, thereafter, at home to Charlton, and Arsenal would have to win two games in 4 days.

I like Arsenal but i'm always kinda critical of them maybe cause i like the old Graham days lol...but with the talent they have now they should be doing a whole lot better...before the side was mostly scrappers...now we have skilled players with lots of vision..but they tend to overdo it and are not always consistent..sometimes i wonder if wenger lost the plot...there was the last couple crucial european games where he should have tightened things up and played Parlour...by the way of course i know where Goodwood Park is lol...i used to party a lot up on the peninsula plus do some contract blasting up there too...now i live in boring Minnesota lol....you up in the Oval this weekend or at the beach?...laters:rockman:

nah i believe Luzhny(don;t forget he used to play with one of the top teams during the mid 90's,Dynamo Kiev that is) is way better than Cygan,he looks bad sometimes cause he plays out of positon most of the time,alo Stephanovs performences at the end of last season were far more convincing than Cygan this season.

I agree Cygan looks awkward at times, but when he has the ball he plays like a midfielder.
And he's 6ft 5, so he will always look slower than he really is, but no one seems to run past him.

It will take a disaster for arsenal to lose on goal difference because they are one ahead of manu and have a goal in hand. The only way manu will win the EPL is if Arsenal slip up.
________
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Well, with losing Campbell beielive or not, we lose a Goal Scorer, he's dangerous on set peices, but i think Cygan can cover that at 6'5" he's a big guy, surely he can get a head in.

yes
Arsenal win with a cleansheet as well for Taylor...
hope the gunners keep winning...
the only game which i think would be really tough for them is game against Southampton

Yeah the southampton matches at highbury are usually tight, they know how to defend on a smaller pitch, we have sunderland on the last day, so if we need goals then that should come in abundance..

I have also said that Gilberto gets carried in most of the matches, parlour was the man yesterday, while gilberto looked out of his depth. maybe he needs time to adjust, and next season he will be fitter an ready.

CYgan played well. We still need a couple of young centre backs.
Pires seems concious of his knee injury, every time he gets taken out he checks his knee. I think next season pires will be back to best, depending if he plays in confederations cup

notice how we only win if ogsimon doesnt post 10000 preview threads on how we will thrash the opposition. just jk mate ;)

Originally posted by bk146
notice how we only win if ogsimon doesnt post 10000 preview threads on how we will thrash the opposition. just jk mate ;)
Now you know what to do ogsimon;)

ogsimon.. keep up the good work.. i would like to see u post more preview threads on how arsenal can beat the crap out of your oppositon.. jk...:crazyboy:

I dont do that. all i do is give my opinion on how the game turns out and what positions are most important. i aint psycic and i dont post thousands of post pretending to be. I posted once about Romavs Arsenal and it didnt happen.

i know yall r jokin but i dont want this rep cus of one prediction. im sure yall have predicted before

Originally posted by ogsimon
I dont do that. all i do is give my opinion on how the game turns out and what positions are most important. i aint psycic and i dont post thousands of post pretending to be. I posted once about Romavs Arsenal and it didnt happen.

i know yall r jokin but i dont want this rep cus of one prediction. im sure yall have predicted before

sorry mate.. we all did predicted before.. just that ur prediction on roma that curse arsenal to crash out of the CL.. and for that all ur arsenal mates in the forum remember u for that..;)

Ok from now on i am gonna have my own segment on these forums, and it will be called, OG predicts, LOL.
So far it is 0-1

you predicted a victory over ManU, SO ADD THAT TO YOUR LIST.

And lay off Gilberto.
And what you saw in Parlour, i'll never know.
Praising Parlour is like congratulating a tailender when he scores twenty.
Parlour benefits from low expectation.

I can't believe an Arsenal fan is criticising Ray Parlour after his performance yesterday.

Gilberto is a flair player who can't get down to scrap. Parlour can.

When Vieira is missing Arsenal misses his bite in midfield, and neither Edu nor Gilberto can give Arsenal that. Parlour did.

He was the reason why Arsenal won. True, Henry and Wiltord got the goals, but Parlour gave them the platform to do so.

And as for the elbow, Nemeth should certainly have walked. But what do you expect? It was David Elleray the blind schoolmaster as ref. I, for one, will be delighted to see him retire at the end of the season.

Actually i'd pick Cygan as Arsenal's man of the match, he was rock soild.

believe it!!!

Parlour and Bergkamp, can retire in the morning and i'll remember the past, but won't forget the present.

Parlour is awful at the quick passing game Arsenal employs, he can't cross the ball, doesn't score and is incapable of playing a proper pass into space.
I know the newspapers love him, but they love every English player in an Arsenal jersey, because they are like underdogs.
They praised Adams and Dixon, and Winterburn to the very end without recognising they were past it.

I could write the story everytime Parlour plays.

"Once again another hardworking, bustling prformance by the forgotten man of the Arsenal midfield.
Say what you will about the artistry of Pires, the colussus that is Vieria, or the deft passing of Gilberto, it's the tenacity of Parlour that reminds you of what the English game stands for.
He ran his heart out today and found even more when that gave out.
He may not be the first name Wenger pencils in on the teamsheet, but he is the last to be erased."


And what do I think?
He is Paul Scholes without the goals.

This is off point but I have to acknowledge one-hundred goals for Paul Scholes.

That's a great achievement and for that alone I guess he deserves to be rated as one of the best ever.

hmmm...and you call yourself an Arsenal fan Antithesis???:rolleyes: ..well if you want every player on your team to be a genius i suggest you start supporting Real Madrid lol..but i guess you'll start to find fault with Macca..anyways what would happen if there wasn't a battler in the midfield to clean up the mess when the so-called flair players fail or get caught out with their fancy and sometimes unnecessary tricks?...i can't tell you the last time Parlour was played in his right midfield role but he did a damn fine job yesterday holding down the middle...I was so proud to see him walk out with the captain's armband on...i just knew he was going to perform well....Gilberto was apparently still in Brazil and as i said before Pires was thinking bout his next visit to his hair stylist!!

hahaha.
I think Pires and DelPiero have the same stylist.

You wonder when a footballer has the time to ensure his beard is precisely shaved every football match.
If you want to be a battler and play centre-half, then you should apply to WBA and Birmingham, because Arsenal isn't the place for a battler anymore.

Look at Davids, Makalele, Vieria, Hamman, even Butt; they all play that role, and they all have style and defend.

Having said all that, he'l probably score a few goals and set us up to play Sunderland needing a draw or better to win the league.
As I always say, if Arsene is playing him, then he's good enough.

Ray Parlour is no Davids, Keane, or Vieira.

He isn't even Nicky Butt or Steven Gerrard.

But in tough away games you need somebody to win you the ball. Neither Gilberto or Edu has shown me anything in recent games to suggest that they can do that. And if Keown is out as well then you can rattle Arsenal quite easily by playing the physical game.

What Parlour can add is that toughness that is needed in English football. He hasn't got much skill, or flair, or perhaps anything, but he has grit and determination, and every team needs that.

I dare say that Arsenal would have lost if they have not had Ray Parlour in their team on Saturday.

you all but convinced me, but why is it that Edu would have played before him, but for injury?

Arsenal didn't play very good this game. I don't think they have any chances in winning the league. They might win the FA cup though, w'll see.

Edu is better than Parlour, Parlour is good, but Edu is better, and Edu is nowhere near Vieria.

The reason why arsenal has faded in the past couple of games is because gilberto has faded. he leaves his partner to carry the ball and he is just there to collect the ball from the defenders when there is no pressure and pass it to the full backs and viera.

Now many of u may think i am wrong but i also think that arsenal are lightweight in attack, wiltord and ljunberg just dont go in the same, team, they are both goal scorers that battle for the ball but in essence lack any type of creativity, both ljunberg and wiltord cannot cross ( doubt there would be anyone in the box anyways) now this may sound weird for the best attack in the premiership but, they could get a lot more goals. it is the pace of henry that scares most teams, and i dont know what the stats are but most of their goals must be from capatalising on slight mistakes.

Henry is basically the deep striker who drifts, therefore, where is our other striker, bergkamp is deep when he plays aswell. Jeffers is lightweight and needs more time. I think aliadiere will be good for next season, he is tall, go technically and is in the area

what do you mean by faded?
don't let the media fool you.

Arsenal have lost fewer games than any other team in 2003.

And this idea of Arsenal being able to score more goals is just smoking mirrors.
And to your point about crosses and no one in the box, up to a few weeks ago Arsenal had more headed goals than ANY other team in the EPL.
Would be interesting to know the latest figures.

Instead of stressing about an old-school attack, maybe you should write about how Arsenal has changed attacking football with playing without a classic centre-forward.
Maybe you should write about how they practically stole the idea from Nationwide teams to use two defensive midfielders and deploy their right and left side midifielders to score goals.

And returning to your faded assertion.
Arsenal are undefeated in their last six games.
Arsenal have lost ONE league game in their last SEVENTEEN games.


I don't want to belabour the point, but Arsenal are ten points clear of the third place team with a game in hand.

There is no fade, no crisis of tactics.
The simple fact is that Manchester United have had a superb run of winning matches, and they erased a five point lead in the last month.

Have a look at the stats I gave and maybe you'll rethink

The simple fact is that Manchester United have had a superb run of winning matches, and they erased a five point lead in the last month.

That maybe the thing that gets Manchester United over the line and win the premiership. Of course Arsenal have the better goal difference but the other thing is both sides can't afford to make anymore mistakes. Scholes is in great form and so is RVN its gonna b hard for Arsenal to get the top spot back hereon in.;)

Originally posted by antithesis
you all but convinced me, but why is it that Edu would have played before him, but for injury?

Edu wouldn't have played in front of Parlour for me, that's for sure.

But I think Parlour is a battling midfielder who doesn't have much creativity, so is useful in tough away fixtures. Edu can play the home games.

Edu was never going to play in that game anyway...it was the media who said he had an impressive game against Man U....and under the circumstances and the type of team they needed to put on the field...the most he was going to be used as was probably a sub!!!...by the way who scored all them headers?...the only headers i remember Arsenal scoring recently was by Campbell,Cygan and a real rarity by Henry,the earlier ones in the season were probably scored by Campbell also lol....and if your facts happen to be correct,I still cant belive Newcastle with Shearer,Bellamy,Solano and Speed scoring less headers.
The best example of seeing an English team with 2 defensive midfielders was in Euro96 when Venables had both Batty and Ince roughing up Holland in the middle with Gazza and McManaman roaming all over.

what makes you think Edu wasn't going to play.
Don't you think using him against ManU is a reasonable presage.

How many headers do you think are scored by teams this year.
You might be surprised how infrequently, headers are scored in the EPL.

Last I looked 1 out of every 6.
So any team with twelve headed goals might be at the top.
Arsenal have probably got about ten.

I can recall headers by Pires, Vieria, Henry, Campbell, Wiltord, Cygan, Bergkamp, and maybe Kanu.

I noticed you don't think we have faded again.

Man Utd has got at least ten. I'm not sure whether Giggs' against Middlesbrough or Solskjær's against West Brom are and so if they are it'll be 12.

Hey the only reason Edu came on as a sub in that game was because Parlour wasn't fit and no other midfielder was there,unless you wanted to see van Bronckhorst in the middle of the park lol...and on those stats...i'll go check OPTA Stats out before i come back and argue lol...i admit i misinterpreted you on your 'headers' count...thought you was talking bout the last couple months lol

gio is more of a left sided defensive midfielder. strange combination. :crazyboy: