Arsenal5s

1.        VAR Points out the Obvious Watford’s game plan is in tatters after just five minutes. Our opponents today really need the win, so this early goal leaves it nicely poised for an enjoyable 90 minutes if we can punish them on the break. For Aubameyang to claim the Golden Boot, he needs to score a hat-trick without reply from his rivals today. Lacazette won a penalty after being clearly clattered in the box. Aubameyang put the cross in and a Watford defender bulldozers into the Frenchman as he waits to collect the ball. Typically, Mike Dean doesn’t want to give it, and there’s not much of an appeal from the Arsenal players. VAR steps in and awards the penalty, while Lacazette is still laying on the floor. Aubameyang steps up, sends the keeper the wrong when and put the ball low into the corner. A well-taken penalty. 2.        First Arsenal Goal for The Club Playing from the back is really effective when...

What’s better? Giving a team a good old thrashing or going behind only to overcome the odds and come out on top? Deciding the best comebacks take into accounting the strength of the opposition, the rivalry, the occasion and the score-line overturned.   5.   Bolton 2-3 Arsenal, Premiership, 2008. An away to trip to Bolton was rarely enjoyed by Arsenal. Ever since their promotion, Sam Allardyce and his band of aging bruisers, with their ‘they don’t like it up em’ philosophy, had quickly become our bogey team. By half time, the wet and windy game at the Reebok Stadium looked like it was going to be our most embarrassing and frustrating slip-up to date. Arsenal were losing two-nil and down to ten men after Diaby got a straight red for an ugly, late lunge. Luckily, Arsenal kicked into gear with around 30 minutes left. Goals from Gallas, a penalty from Van Persie and a deflected Fabregas shot in the 90 th minute, were enough to secure the three points. Allowing us some relief...

A Fluid Rock-Like Consistency Arsenal fans have craved consistency- it’s been a good few years since the gunners have had a predictable line-up or even formation. However, the first eleven games of the restart have seen Arsenal play in a 3-4-3 structure, and it would be a shock if that changed in the last two games of the season. It appears to be a more defensively focused formation, but on its own; it doesn’t confirm a team’s mind-set. The attitudes of the players have a far greater impact. Having said that, our defence looks more comfortable and is conceding less goals than previously.   Bee’s Around a Honey Pot Oh, dear. It’s not been the most entertaining match and to make it worse, Arsenal are now losing. A casual bumbling of the ball from Arsenal players sees us concede a corner. It was like you’d given a ball to three aliens; they look at it, look at each other and then kick it away. The out swinging corner nodded on by Mings at the near post and went straight ou...

  1. The Gaffer Appointing Arteta was a huge gamble. He has only ever been Guardiola’s assistant manager. Admittedly, you can learn to be one of the best from a manager as successful as Guardiola, but some might have expected him to be a cheap imitation. Any comparisons made between the two are natural and also massively unfair. They both have their own personalities and experiences that they take with them into their management. Arteta has shown a variety of skills already. He’s got the best out of his players, he’s rotated the squad without damaging the team’s performance or moral and he’s made successful game plans to defeat some of the best teams in the world. Fans are excited now, not because of Josh (or whoever buys the players), but because of Arteta. The man loves the club. Trust him. It’s time for Kroenke to give him the keys to the treasury.   2. A World-Class Tap-In Just a few days from beating Liverpool, there would have been some forgiveness if we had ...

  Arsenals top goal scorer and one of the best strikers in history, Thierry Henry’s illustrious career saw him win everything worth winning in the game. He scored 338 professional goals, but his game was about far more than scoring. His adaptability saw him play in a pair of strikers, alone up front and on the left of three forwards. Far more than just a poacher, his creativity even saw him create the most assists ever in one single season. Picking Thierry’s goal top 5 goals was always going to be difficult. This list has been made to show the versatility of his goals; the fact he could, and did, score any and every type of goal. Long range belters, dancing round a host of defenders, scoring from impossible angles and deft little touches, he’s done them all. Unfortunately, some of these goals were scored when Thierry Henry was playing for other teams, but he is an Arsenal man and this article is a celebration of his goals. So with that in mind, here are Thierry Henry’s top 5 g...

1.        Mane Goal Arsenal have been camped in their own half throughout the first 20 minutes or so. Liverpool were dominating play, but fans might have hoped the gunners could hold out and wait for their own moments. There have been games in the past where Liverpool have been two or three goals up by this point. So, being a goal down at 20 minutes in could be called progress. Liverpool have the right side to themselves as Firmino, Robinson and Wijnaldum shuffle the ball around between one another before releasing Robinson to the by-line. He cuts the ball back for Mane, who’s at the six-yard box for a simple tap-in. A well-worked goal that felt pretty inevitable.   2.        Three in Three for Lacazette! Apparently Arsenal need to buy their own Van Dijk. Based on this goal, we already have quite a few of them in the squad. Before the goal, Arsenal had begun to create at least some half chances. Lacazette gets ...

                                            1 . Rocket from Lacazette The games been fairly even so far, but it’s Arsenal that take the lead. Lacazette position in the squad has been under question in recent months. But if he can produce more moments like this, he could be around for quite a bit longer. It’s a goal from nothing, really. Xhaka does well to win a 50/50 after a Spuds interception. The ball rolls to Laca , who takes a couple of touches and smashes the ball into the near post top corner from two yards outside the box. It was an unstoppable thunderbolt with his right boot.   2. Son's Equaliser .. . And three minutes later, we’re level again. There had been some sloppy defensive plays already from Arsenal. Luiz, Mustafi and Kolasinac have formed the back thr...

1. Nearly Caught Out on a Corner Again! The Arteta revolution has seen improvements in our structure and the defensive responsibilities, although it would seem corners might not yet have been covered in training. Tonight, the players were using a mix of zonal and man-marking (no problems there). However, they were caught out by a short corner. What makes it so disappointing is that Arsenal were punished by a similar incident at Brighton, only weeks earlier.   You would think the lack of crowd noise would help players, and even staff, communicate clear and present dangers like these. This one happened in slow motion. There were two Leicester players at the corner and only Saka within close range. The Arsenal man looked around as if to plead for help, but no one came. A simple 1-2 left him helplessly bypassed. Albrighton cut back to an unmarked Iheanacho around the penalty spot. He hits the ball low and hard, it goes through mustafi’s legs but Martinez drops down and makes the save...

 1.Saka’s Reward!  Saka’s undoubtedly been a bright spark in our otherwise dull season. He has shown of both his ability and his flexibility. Today the youngster looks to star at right wing, probably due to Pepe’s absence. The Ivorian had found some good recent form but misses the game to see the birth of his first child. Enough of an excuse? Maybe. Arsenal's youngster has been outstanding, and it’s great to see him rewarded with a goal. The ball is switched out to Tierney on the left of the penalty box; he puts a cross in, but it’s deflected and bounces up to Saka. Side on, he swings his leg at it and casually guides the ball into the top corner. A lovely bicycle kick on the half-volley, which he made look so simple.   2. Pleasantly Surprised by Tierney Although most Arsenal fans will pretend they knew Tierney’s qualities the very second he signed for the club, others will admit they had only heard opinions. We are now in game week 33, and the Scotsman has started just n...

  1. Kruelly Robbed   Fans will have plenty of memories of Tim Krul and his antics. The experienced Premiership keeper has been a nuisance to Arsenal, not necessarily for performance, but in terms of his relentless gamesmanship. Everything from time wasting, jiggling on the goal line and inciting handbags. He loves it. So, who better to get embarrassed tonight at the Emirates? Absolutely no one.   Aubameyamg chases down a back-pass to the goalie. The Dutch keeper mistakes himself for Johan Cruyff as he attempts a cut back, showing the agility of a 10-ton lorry. He’s fooling nobody. The striker pokes the ball clear, runs on to it and kicks it into an empty net. He’s now scored 50 goals in 79 games, which makes him the faster Arsenal player to reach the target in Arsenal’s Premier League history.     2. A Full Moon? Xhaka divides opinion. His range of passing is his strength. It opens up the fields and gives us structure. He does, however, misplace the odd pass...