I'll be honest and admit that when Arsenal were drawn away to Cardiff I wasn't filled with glee. I thought that the tie could be a potential banana skin for us and defeat would give the Arsenal haters another reason to have a pop.
An away draw in the FA Cup at Cardiff is a very difficult game. Cardiff can cause any team big problems at home, the crowd are very intimidating and this almost acts as an extra player for them.
We've come through a potentially difficult afternoon with a draw. Admittedly a draw isn't the best result because of an already hectic fixture list now becoming even more hectic, but at least our name is in the fifth round and we find out who we will play if we beat Cardiff in the replay.
We have to try and take the positives from this. As I've said, a draw wasn't the best result but we've remained unbeaten for a while now. It's another game undefeated and the side can gain confidence from that.
Arsenal have found clean sheets hard to come by this season and today's was a bonus. It gives the defence a boost and defenders always cherish not conceding as much as strikers score goals.
Song had his best game in an Arsenal shirt but we must remember that it came against a Championside side. He still has to go a long way to convincing me he is Arsenal quality but credit is due where credit is due.
The FA Cup is full of shocks and I'm glad that Arsenal have avoided one. I'll admit that being happy we avoided a shock doesn't show the greatest of ambitions but at least we are in the draw for the fifth round.
Keep it Goonerish.............
17 comments:
A disapointing Arsenal again for me again today. Eboue was more than terrible, you can really see his confidence is shot. Ramsey was terrible and I can't remember him making a successful pass all game.
Bendtner is much better as a sub. When he plays a full 90mins he doesnt look interested.
Arsenal just do not seem to play the way we have become accustomed to. There is no swagger in their play no more and they play like a distinctly average EPL side.
I'm really struggling these days to remain positive :(
I appreciate Cardiff is a tricky fixture away, but I'm sorry, if you have genuine EPL aspirations teams like Arsenal should be winning convincingly.
I don't know, Anon, why do we have to win every match against lower opposition convinicingly. Man Utd haven't been winning convincingly lately, Liverpool definitely haven't, and Chelsea get draws like this at home to lower opposition all the time?
Do any of them have "EPL Aspirations?" I think so, and we do to: to make sure we finish in the top four this season. Drawing away in a tricky fixture is just fine by me as long as we win the replay...
Exactly right Fab4, lets just hope we win the replay now!
Fab4 - yes thank you, said it right
the way some people look at it, we have the worst team of all time, and yet somehow we're 6points off the top of the league (?)
Arsenal has definitely dropped a bit from last season but everybody expects perfection, its crazy
Wenger's a c*nt and Redknapp's a genius!! Go figure?
Do some pople actually think for themselves or do they get their opinions fromblogs and lazy media hacks?
We are unbeaten in the league this year are playing into form and winning games, so wedidnt win today, and a replay is a slight problem, but we should beat cardiff next time and if we beat Everton Wednesday night, then that'll be another positive IMO. And hopefully the memories of the poor results against the likes of hull, Fulham etc will become a bit more hazy!
This was another painful Arsenal performance to watch.
I know we are missing players but we really are lacking that bit of spark or quality to change games.
It was a poor performance, no way around it and our 'advantage over villa' in the fact that they had a replay is now gone because we didn't have the quality to break down Cardiff.
I, like many are very demoralised and we need fresh blood and fresh quality to make this team of top 4 standard.
No signings and thing look grim.
Thankgod, a positive spin on todays game. Theres doom and gloom everywhere else, again.
@Spike,
"unbeaten in the league", what are you smoking? What were those defeats to Hull, Stoke, Manchester City, etc., subliminal fantasy games.
Even without injuries our squad is short by 2-3 experienced players. Our current mid field totally lacks the creativity needed to dominate even some Championship teams, and it shows in the losses we have sustained this year.
Unbeaten this year I meant!
I found it a frustrating game today. Anon 16:51 spot on about Bendtner, Song did well Eboue same old story why is he playing in midfield he is a good right back but a terrible midfielder, Why not put Wilshire or Vela on from the start and give them a run out today was the perfect opportunity to do so.
As you said Spike unbeaten in the league this year....
I agree - 2 or 3 experienced, creative and or dominant players. So we'll be waiting about 6 weeks for Edu, Rosicky, and Cesc, or about 3 years till the younger players earn that experience.
Other than that I watched a good arsenal performance in the second half (missed the first half), good at the back and once Diaby came on through the midfield as well. But it was hard to unlock Cardiff. The reason wasn't personnel as much as it was tactics and creativity in the final third. Plus, Cardiff were very disciplined and always had one if not three extra defenders playing very determined football. They found their outlets and ran the ball up field to relieve the pressure our players were hoping would tell in the end. It didn't. Cardiff kept their nerve and rode their luck and we have never done well bombing it in from afar.
MeteorMonster;
Actually I DID say in the league this year!
What the f*ck you on fella?
agree with the article..but i think we'd be naive to not fight for the title and say our aspirations are the top 4..much in the same way we'd be naive to think that we are guaranteed 4 th place..this is because none of the other top four seem title winners either..chelsea and liverpool are visibly under performing..as for man u they are not exactly on fire but they are gettin the results..as are we..i think if we can beat everton(who've been playing much better than villa) we have a shot at the title..and any additions to the squad will only help our cause..remember we were five points clear at this point last season..and now we are six points back..it not impossible..
up the ARSENAL!!
sorry but the luxurys of having free flowing foortball is out of the window its balout getting the wins and moving onto the next game,the team looks alot detemined than before and look aot more up for the fight.the fact is arsenal are winning that what matters that all that matters.
I was shocked how bad Eboue was. That pathetic dive he did really pissed me off, he had the chance to pass, why didn't he take it? How long is it gonna take him to get over his confidence issues.
Ramsey wasn't terrible, the occasian got to him and he didn't create much, but out of 51 passes he completed something like 35. So the first comment by Anonymous is bull.
Fair play to ya wrighty, I agree with u, a draw wasn't a bad result, the pitch was like a cattle field. Cardiff played well for as long as the players legs let them, so let's not take their performance away from them.
Say what u want about Bendtner, but people seem to have forgotten about Adebayor's miss!
Hi wrighty I have a post about Aston Villa on my blog just wondering if u have any thoughts on it?
Post a Comment