Saturday 21 February 2009

Aston Villa are the real winners despite being losers

Despite losing today I'm sure there will be plenty of Aston Villa fans walking around with smiles on their faces.

Today Arsenal had a great opportunity to close the gap on Aston Villa, instead we have had to endure another frustrating afternoon.

These are frustrating times to be a Gooner. And worrying times too. We have to start turning draws into victories and soon.

Despite the fact we have missed the chance to put real pressure on Aston Villa, I honestly believe that Aston Villa are on the slide. We have to take advantage of that.

Aston Villa have never been in the running for a Champions League spot and I'm convinced that they are beginning to feel the heat. We should have made it even hotter for them this evening.

Villa will be breathing a sigh of relief that their defeat hasn't weakened their top four place too much while Arsenal will be kicking themselves.

It's an old cliche but every game for Arsenal to the end of the season is a cup final.

Keep it Goonerish.......

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't say they have never been in the Champions League race, but I still think we will finish above them. 2 losses and a draw in their last three games despite being at home for the two of them, shows that they are heading into their fixtures of death in bad form.

Anonymous said...

Unlucky gooners, Villa will finish 4th at your expense because your manager sold all your best players and replaced them with inexperienced youngsters. Villa were lucky to not lose 2 or 3 nil but could also have drawn. I wonder what the score will be come the 9th May when Hiddink has a grip of his squad and Arsenal have to go to Old Trafford the week after?

Anonymous said...

Villa never in contention for a Champions League place?

I think you might be in denial.

Surely Arsenal have never been in contention for a Champion's League place given their position in the table and lack of form?

Rahul said...

I GIVE UP!!
I give up trying to predict arsenal this season. I am just going to lay back and just go along with the flow.
This game could have been over before even it started.
Without Cisce, it was known that Sunderland had come for a draw.
Y didnt wenger use Nasri in the middle as "PLAYMAKER". I mean... isnt that y he was bought in the first place. He cud hv played vela on right, persie on left, arshavin and bendtner up front with song as a dm (i am sry but i personally feel song is a better dm than denillson.)
If he wanted to play den and song in the middle... y did he buy nasri and arshavin as playmakers.
Arshavin was pretty much useless becos he didnt get enuff balls to hit the target with.
And Our players have to alteast work the keeper when u hit a strike!!!
I personally feel wenger dropped the ball this game. Den and song dont cut it. especially when u hv nasri and arshavin who are known and successfully playmakers.
Sigh..
I know it was a long rant. But i had to say that.. or abuse some one and i am too tired to think of something nasty to some one unfortunate.

Anonymous said...

This article is quite simply written so you can have something to help counter your inevitable worries..
what a load of rubbish!!
never in the hunt?! what are you on about?! we beat you at your gaffe and should of done at villa park, 6 points ahead of you!!!
Just because watching all your foreign rubbish isn't satisfying your 'glory hunting needs', you come on here and quite simply embarass yourself..
You arsenal fans are most definitely clouded in your beliefs..
and yeh you might finish above us but even so, what a completely shite article..
UTV

Rahul said...

Another thought...
Does ne one think that maybe ramsay should be given a chance!! ??

Anonymous said...

it,s not looking to good! im trying to keep the faith but were leaving it a little late arnt we!!! nice 1 wrighty

Anonymous said...

denilson was our best player today but its still his thought we pay bad. what the heell has this kid gotta do

Anonymous said...

The author meant never in the race for a champions League spot, before this season as in they don't have experience of it or the pressures, he didnt mean were not flying this season. I still think Villa will pip Arsenal looking at the fixtures but it's going to be a close call. Villa Fan!

Anonymous said...

beginning to feal the heat - kind of like arsenal have all season after not replacing players that left- when arsenal finish 5th and cesc goes back to barca you lot will be finished. eboue will be your best player left

Anonymous said...

'The author meant never in the race for a champions League spot, before this season as in they don't have experience of it'


we won it for a start.... in 82 - somthing your club has yet to do

Joppa Road said...

everyone knows Wenger has his fav's. We would all love to see Ramsey or Wiltshire given a game (especially at home) yet Denilson is in everytime. Simply he is not good enough. Can you imagine being on an opposing team thinking we are up against Denilson and Song. Hardly going to put fear of god into anyone is it. Arsenal have become a sideways team. The team just isnt good enough to play flowing attactive football against decent oppostion.

Denilson, Bendtner, Eboue, Song, Diaby, Almunia are just average players at best - argue that all you want its the truth. They are not clever enough.

How the mighty has fallen when you look at the football we are playing this season - its awful. And before you start going on about injuries etc - we had Fabregas & Walcott fit earlier on in the season, yet Wenger seemed to fancy Eboue above Walcott for quite a few of the games. It was only when he scored the hatrick for England Wenger gave him a run. Says it all.

Yet again he comes out and has a dig at Sunderlands tactics. Shut up Wenger we are all sick of it.
The team looked lazy to me today.

Fuck em.

Arshavin shows the sort of player we should be going out and buying. Quality. Amazing what a bit of quality does isnt it instead of being told that we already have that kind of quality there....do me a favour.

Joppa Road said...

why not Ramsey?? After all he was our big summer signing lolol

Anonymous said...

Wrighty, I have to say your greatest weakness is that you are too naive and overly positive. There is something far greater at Arsenal to change, it's not a quick fix.

wahed said...

we f***ing suck!!!! i would give up one of my limbs to have cesc back in the team right now!!!

Anonymous said...

In Arsene we trust?
Some of my highlights from the last year
1. 5-1 loss to Spurs
2. 4-0 loss to Manu
3. Blew the league
4. Score with 4 minutes to go at Anfield, heading for the CL QF. 3 minutes later Liverpool have scored twice.
5. Identifying '3 super super class players to be signed within 3 weeks' Subsequently signing Nasri, Ramsey, Silvestre,Bischoff and Coquelin.
6. Identifying a lack of experience and height at the back. Subsequently signing no one with experience, oh sorry - Silvestre
7. Letting the following experience leave: Lehmann, Gilberto, Diarra, Flamini, Hleb.
8. The club drifting along aimlessly with no chief executive
9. Playing crap football
10.Defeats to Stoke City, Hull City.
11.12 match unbeaten run, sounds grand until you see that 7 games were draws against the likes of West Ham & Sunderland.
12. When we have managed to win at home they've been nervy affairs against powerhouses such as Bolton, Wigan and Portsmouth
13. The 1 actual highlight was a magnificent performance in Milan

To come?
1. Place in 2009/10 Europa League
2.Fabregas, Van Persie to walk away in the summer

In contrast, in the same period, Manu, an ambitious club have won the league (safe to say twice), FA Cup, Champions League, Charity Shield, final of 2009 league cup, QF of 2009 FA cup, 2nd round of 2009 Champions League.

Will Wenger finally stop persisting with his misplaced confidence in players that have constantly let him down? I wouldn't hold my breath.

Anonymous said...

Wenger is killing this team. He was our saviour but he is no longer the saviour.

He has become a sterotypic idiot. I wonder if he is addicted to Eboue. Substituting Song who is by far better on the field than Denilson can only be done by some one clueless.

Bring in almost Useless Eboue connotes stupidity. No good CM yet we have Arshavin and Nasri.

Wenger and not Arsenal drew. He is becoming annoying and very arrogant. This team should be disbanded now and right now.

They are too arrogant. Someone needs to tell Wenger to package Eboue as Esther gift for a conference league team or let him be the ball boy for the ladies as even the Ladies won't need such an idiot and hopeless player like him.

I just hope we qualify for champions league if not we will be in for it.

Anonymous said...

The movement of the ball from back to front is so laboured How on earth can anyone think that Denilson and Song are good enough as a pair. Nasri was poor today, but surely he should have played inside and if he can't do it let Ramsey have a go. I won my bet today that Wenger would get Eboue onto the pitch. -Ramgun

Anonymous said...

Can't believe you Gooners have the arrogance to think you'll still finish 4th, Villa on the slide? Gimme a break!! We were as good as Chelsea today, and we weren't even at our best, with Martin O'Neill as manager we sure as hell won't let the whole season go to waste, just because we've had a few bad results.
Pretty pathetic the way you think no matter what happens (0-0 against Sunderland?) you'll still out-do us. You had better pick your form up seriously, because looking at our run-in, we are more than capable of winning most of the games. I don't know what this "experience" nonsense is, a game is a game, doesn't make a difference what stage of the season it's at.

Good luck in the Europa Cup or whatever it's called next season anyway, you deserve it

UP THE VILLA!!!

Joppa Road said...

VILLA FAN....its a shame really that alot of the people who run the major Arsenal forums are very reluctant to criticise Arsenal. We have to put up with constant defending of mediocre players such as song, denilson, eboue, diaby, almunia & Bendtner.

Only when we struggle to qualify for the UEFA will some of these guys have to tell it like it is.

I don't think O'Neil will let this slip now. Arsenal must secure 5th.

Anonymous said...

To the person who said of bad form.

Yes we have lost two of the previous three games but this article was talking about the Premier League and the race for the top four places.

We lost to Everton in the FA Cup, we drew to CSKA Moscow in the Uefa Cup and today (our first loss in 13/14 Premier League games btw) against Chelsea.

Now if we're talking about the league, which is the issue here, how anything you said have any relevance?

As for the Arsenal today, you we're unlucky at the start but you ran out of ideas, simple as.

Good luck in the race for forth.

Anonymous said...

Even if they do play in the CL they wont be up to the class. Can you imagine Zat Knight and Luke Young playing CL?

6 points however is not an insurmountable gap. It may infact come down to goal difference, which is very close at the moment.

Anonymous said...

You sad, arrogant twats still continue to attempt to put Villa down. Villa are above you on merit, not to mention outplaying your team both home and away. Villa fans are enjoying the ride and will still be mightily proud of our boys if we finish 5th. You lot bitch more than Essex girls. Man up, grow a pair, accept and debate your own weaknesses, and be magnanimous enough to applaud the efforts of others.

Anonymous said...

To Villa fans, no doubt your team is to applauded for your acheivments this year. You have been great so far and fully deserve your place in the top four. I don't think most Arsenal fans are being disrespectful to you by referring to experience, I just think they realise that end of season pressure can get to teams in different ways. On current form Villa are a certainty for a top four place but alot can happen between now and May. It hurts me to say this but Arsenal are displaying a helleva lot of unwarranted arrogance at the moment, Wenger got things completely wrong for the first time since he became manager and in my opinion is backing a terrible team that have done nothing to repay his faith.

Anonymous said...

It is perhaps fitting that you are as deluded as your manager. I'm a Villa fan, and I wasn't smiling after losing a game that now means that our outside chance of stopping Man Ure winning the title has gone. I was, I'll allow, faintly amused by your result today, but hardly happy. You see, it was quite a while ago that I realised that you have no chance of finishing above us. This is because we are six points clear, have better players, and are, most importantly, a much better team. Your results are irrelevant to Villa, at least for this season, but perhaps for longer...

Anonymous said...

yet a frustrating display. in a home game vs sunderland-a match we really should dominate- why the fuck does wenger start with denilson and song? they have shown none what so ever attacking nor creative qualities! why didnt nasri or arshavin play in the middle? with vela on the left side? why did we even buy arshavin when he didnt get the ball once after 15mins played (i know he got tired after the break, but you know what i mean). we all saw he has the quality to change the game, but he simply didnt get a chance, except the 2-3 shots during the first 15-20mins.

i dont care some of you dig up statistics showing denilson has XX successive passes and tackles on average and saying he is pure quality, watch the match and you will see that he simply isnt good enough! not for manu, not for lpool, villa, chelsea, everton etc etc. he is a talent, but not good enough. not yet atleast.

when it comes to song, he isnt good enough. and i doubt he ever will be. he has good stamina, and has some important tackles. thats it. no more. he cant pass. he doesnt contribute with anything in the attack. and a midfielder on a top5 team in the world has to. simply as that.

sagna is good defensive, but has limited attacking qualities. can anyone honestly say they have seen sagna cross a total of 5 good passes into the box during his arsenal career. the only thing he contributes with is keeping the width and maybe give room for some players such as arshavin. but hey-thats a job anyone can do.. again: in todays football a top team needs full backs with really good attacking qualities (i cant think of a better example than evra. he is amazing..)
dont get me wrong, it isnt just sagna's crosses that is way below pair, the whole team cant seem to make a decent cross! maybe v.persie, but he is supposed to be at the receving end of it! the reason i emphazise the crosses is because arsenal afterall plays quite wide, with two wingers and occasionally wing backs in the likes of sagna and clichy. AND that is were the creativity and attacking quality is.

i dont like to have a go at the players, but enough is simply enough! sigh

the only positive after this game: -kolo shows promising signs.
-arshavin is exactly what we need. use him! give him the ball!
-no injuries
-gibbs is showing promising signs
-still enough games left to finish top 2-3-4.

and why are some people critising almunia??? he isnt the best, but he is hardly our biggest concern-if any concern at all, at the moment.

i just had to get the frustration out.

ConniezCool said...

Wrighty you really are making yourself look a fool. Rather than looking at how poor Arsenal have become this season, you constantly jab at Villa (they are weak, they are sliding ect, ect, ect). Take your Oakley's off buddy and smell the coffee. Villa have shown no weakness this season, and don't look like starting soon. Arsenal continue to slump (Ding, Dong!!!yes Arsenal are sliding not Villa) a draw against Sunderland yesterday confirms this ... you could have had another 45 mins and not scored from 65mins your lads were clueless and didn't look like they wanted to be out there. It would take a dramtic change in form from both teams to put Arsenal back in the picture. If you arrived back from 'la-la' land and stated something that everyone else agreed with - you might start to get a bit of credibility. You might be back next season but your form is rank, even if it wasn't I think Villa will take the CL spot -maybe 3rd place.

Anonymous said...

Villa's slide in form?

Villa vs Arsenal PL points:

Last 8 games: 17 vs 14
Last 4 games: 7 vs 4
Last 2 games: 3 vs 2
Last 1 game: 0 vs 1

So I'm guessing you mean our ONE game slide by losing to the 2nd best team in the country and last years CL runners up!?

Look guys we're where we are on merit, we've been better than you - simple as that. If your team are as deluded as you fans it has no chance!

Another couple of points:

1. Everyone has injured players but you seem to be relying on the return of Walcott who wasn't a regular and Fabs who was playing poor prior to injury anyway!
We have two of our back 4 to come back + our top scorer of last year has just come back after 4 months out.

2. Last season you were top of the league and.. your form fell away the last 12 games.. tick tock!

3. Your on form to get 65pts this season. 06/07=68 & 05/06=67

Your not doing that bad, we've just upped the stakes!

Joppa Road said...

agree with last two points. But you can bet they will be up for the champs league and the passion will suddenly return. Far too many average pre madonna's in this team.

Anonymous said...

Another 0-0 draw isn't good. What Arsenal really lack is the runner for the ball. When we have Henry & Ljungberg, and with Bergkamp as the Pass Master, we are very frightening at attack. Bergkamp can pass anywher from the field and there are always runner for the ball. We really lack the runner and the pace upfront. I really miss to see our striker beat defender at the center circle and leave them chasing just to collect the ball at the back of the net. What Arsenal really and urgently need now is not a CB or DM, but a striker which are clinical, can beat players and leave them 4 to 5 yards before scoring.

McParland said...

Personaly i never write the gunners off, but yesterdays result at home to sunderland hardly helped your cause. Were as Villa played reasonably well against a class chelsea team realy up for it suffering with new manager syndrone; and on another day especialy against lesser teams at least 3 of their on target efforts would have been goals.So Villa and MON are deffinately in the driving seat for 4th place FACT.. Keep it going you villans we are all behind you.

Anonymous said...

as a villa fan i believe we will pip chelsea to third place this season but i truely believe your fight for fourth is with the blues! i for one wud prefer to see the gunners recover from their water treading form of the moment to stake a place in europe. chelsea the moneybags of the premier are the team i would like to see suffer from this tighter than usual encounter of league results xx

Anonymous said...

Sounds as if Wrighty7 is becoming a little worried by Arsenals poor displays and postion.It's Liverpool who are actually on the slide.Villa to finish 3rd and a Champions League spot for me and they deserve it for the terrific season they have had and breaking up the monopoly of the same boring BBC/Sky Four.