A
Anonymous
Guest
Living in the north Bolton is always an easy game to get to, just a quick 30 minute blast down the motorway, hence the quickness of this report. As most Arsenal fans i have mixed feelings about the place. Christopher Wreh's screamer to give our 10 men a great victory to move us a step closer to our double in 98 and Freddie carrying on his scoring run to give us the chance to win the league at OT. These are great memories, but were made sour by last years result. 2-0 up and looking odds on to complete the 'double double' when we lose three players through injury and the rest is history. Anyway with the scene set onto the game.
The weather in the north today was horrible. Huge amounts of rain and wind, not the ideal circumstances for our team. Seeing the Arsenal players come off the coach, just comfirmed this. Henry wearing about four jumpers, two hats and a pair of gloves quickly made his may into the ground with his head down, as did most of the players. Kind of set the tone for what was to follow; they didnt want to be here.
The team was what was to be expected, but with very few attacking options on the bench. No wiltord or Ali meant Kanu was the only offensive option. Not a good move imo.
Bolton started the game on top and put us under a lot of pressure early on. Davis, a totally new player to a couple of years ago was beating Cygan in the air everytime. They also looked to pressure Clichy early on and got a bit of joy down his wing. A couple of crosses were flashed across goal, but we defended them well enough. At the other end? nothing.
The pressure continued and Bolton were dominating the midfield. Pires was failing to track back putting Clichy under great pressure, but after a nervous start he went from strength to strength. We were giving the ball away far too often and failing to hold it up up front, meaning Bolton had a lot of the ball. Credit though to our defence, for all the pressure they put on Jens didnt have a difficult save to make.
At last we had a half decent attack, starting with the excellent Toure, he really is something special. He cleverly beat his man close to the touch line and drove the ball forward, his cross though was too deep. Henry collected it and drifted a cross-come-shot inches past the post. it would have been a lead we didnt deserve.
Bolton put the pressure back on after this, with Kevin Nolan putting a shot inches wide. I thought it was in all the way, but just missed in the end. How it didnt go in i dont know. Another cross from the right lead to Djorkaeff flashing a shot over the bar. We were really put through it.
But agian super Kolo went on a powerful run, beat a coule of men and put an inch perfect ball through for Dennis. He had done nothing all game, but as the ball found his feat we expected a goal, or for him to at least hit the target. What we got was a horribly sliced shot high and wide. The best chance of the game gone. Kolo was not only our best defender, but also our best attacker.
Back at the other end a Djorkaeff shot was well saved, and with half time approaching Vieira won the ball. He was having a shocker of a game (more on this in a bit) but this was the old PV, al a Chelsea in the cup last year. He brought the ball forward powerfully and slid in Henry down the right. He flashed over a cross with met the head of Freddie. It didnt appear a chance from the other end of the pitch, and the ball drifted wide. But seeing the replay on the screen it was a great chance that should have been buried.
We had been second best in the first half, but had created the better chances. For all Boltons possession they only really created one clear cut chance. We would need to improve, but at this stage i fancied us to nick it.
Second half and the heavans opened. The rain was torrential. Not good news for us. I cant remember being as cold as this at a game for a while.
Davis had a decent effort just over, which seemed to spark us into life. We finally found our passing game and the movement was much much better. Pires started to get the ball, and for the first time in the game we put Bolton under some pressure. But the frustrating thing was our final ball was crap time and time again, and we rarely had more than one man in the box. A deep cross landed on Charltons TWO arms, and was a clear penalty imo, but Poll waved play on. We all went mad, lucky escape for Bolton.
The game was starting to get a bit nasty now, with Vieira and Campo both picking up bookings for silly tackels. These bookings seemed to calm the game down a bit, and during this period Dennis challenged for the ball forcefully and won it. The Bolton crowd went mad, but the ref rightfully waved play on. Dennis fed Henry down the right who was one and one with Charlton. I expected him to skin him, but he cleverly waited and fed the ball to the on rushing Freddie, whos weak left footed shot was well saved, but the ball rebounded to Pires, who mishit his shot into the ground, causing it to bounch over onrushing defenders and keeper into the net. Both sets of fans went mad, but for very different reasons.
We were one up in a game we didnt deserve to be. Right, now time to defend a lead and hold on for a vital three away points. Off went Dennis and on came Parlour.
We seemed to decide to sit back after this and invited Bolton onto us. Bad move imo. The crowd were now really up for it and pressured the ref to give them every 50/50 decision. This resulted in many freekicks dropping into our penalty area, aswell and okatchas long throws. We were seriously up against it and didnt look convincing at all in defence. Henry was left very isolated, and the Bolton defence did a great job of marking him. It seemed only a matter of time untill they would socre.
Okotcha hit a brilliant free kick against the post, with Lehmann beaten all ends up. Djorkeaff also tested Lehmann from distance. By this time Pederson had been brought on to give them more attacking options, and eventually it paid off. The ball was bounching around in our area as it had all day, we failed to clear, it fell to Pederson who hit a great shot on the half volley into the roof of the net. No chance Jens. 1-1 and another lead thrown away. Gutted, but it had been coming and was no more than Bolton deserved.
The last few minutes were played out without any major incidents, and their fans celebrated as if they had won the league at the end.
Players
Lehmann 6/10 - His kicking was absolute ****e. This needs to be sorted quick, he sliced more than a loaf of bread. He also looks dodgy on high balls, he claimed a couple brilliantly, but also lost a couple, resulting in him being lobbed and Pires clearing off the line. His handling from shots is good, but im yet to be convinced.
Toure 9/10 - Brilliant MOTM by a mile. This guy is a superatar. Great in attack and defence. Strong, fast, skillful, had it all today.
Campbell 7.5/10 - mostly solid, but his distribution is shocking. This is what is preventing him being a world class CB. Coverd Cygan well, and is never going to be pushed off the ball, although he needs to be careful with his shoulder to shoulder tackles as a penalty could have been given against him.
Cygan 7/10 - played well, although a loss a bearings let Djorkaeff in, who if had a better touch would have scored. Struggled to cope with Davis in the air first half, but improved greatly second. Great passer of the ball though, with is his major plus point.
Clichy 8/10 - Fantastic game, what a great little player this guy is. Started badly, but a great block tackle gave him confidence and improved from there. He is seriously quick, and stronger than he looks. Got forward in the second half and looked dangerous. Just needs to improve his passing which was rash at times.
Pires 6/10 - Crap first half, didnt fancy it at all. Improved second but still it wasnt good enough. More effort is needed from bob, as we cant afford to have passengers away at Bolton. Compalins every time he is tackled. Not good enough.
Vieira 5/10 - Worst game i have seen him have. He is not fit and it is worrying. He is becoming injury prone and there injuries may be having an effect on him. He was bossed by none other than Ivan Campo today. Failed at any time to dominate the midfield, was a yard of the pace and his passing was ****e.
Gilberto 6/10 - marginally better than his midfield partner. Had a decnet shot saved second half and played quite well in places. But we were second best in mid today, and you need more form players like Gilberto.
Freddie 6/10 - See Pires.
Henry 6/10 - Average. Looked dangerous at times, but Bolton defended brillianly against him. Had a hand in the goal as always, but didnt look like scoring himself. It is a while since he has now and we need goals form him, as no one else looks capable at the moment. Was another who didnt like the cold. More is needed if we are to win this league.
Dennis 5.5/10 - Crap. Did well for the goal but was may as well not have played other wise.
Parlour came on and ran around to no great effect. Had a chance to release Henry but a per usual his final ball let him down.
On the whole we were second best by a long way to an averge Bolton team. They wanted it more than us today and it showed. Aside from the two full backs none of the players did their job today, and Wenger got the tactics all wrong. It was just not good enough. This game convinced me we NEED to strengthen in January, with a stiker top of the list. The amont of times we have no one in the box is scary. Someone needs to take the prssure of terry who is going through a bad patch.
We also need to defend better as a team away form home. If we continue to throw away leads like we did last year we will not win the league. We are drawing too many games. If the mancs win tomorrow, they go top despite three defeats.
Positives to come out of the game are that we didnt lose a game we should and are still unbeaten. Also the performance of Clichy, who looks a star in the making.
The weather in the north today was horrible. Huge amounts of rain and wind, not the ideal circumstances for our team. Seeing the Arsenal players come off the coach, just comfirmed this. Henry wearing about four jumpers, two hats and a pair of gloves quickly made his may into the ground with his head down, as did most of the players. Kind of set the tone for what was to follow; they didnt want to be here.
The team was what was to be expected, but with very few attacking options on the bench. No wiltord or Ali meant Kanu was the only offensive option. Not a good move imo.
Bolton started the game on top and put us under a lot of pressure early on. Davis, a totally new player to a couple of years ago was beating Cygan in the air everytime. They also looked to pressure Clichy early on and got a bit of joy down his wing. A couple of crosses were flashed across goal, but we defended them well enough. At the other end? nothing.
The pressure continued and Bolton were dominating the midfield. Pires was failing to track back putting Clichy under great pressure, but after a nervous start he went from strength to strength. We were giving the ball away far too often and failing to hold it up up front, meaning Bolton had a lot of the ball. Credit though to our defence, for all the pressure they put on Jens didnt have a difficult save to make.
At last we had a half decent attack, starting with the excellent Toure, he really is something special. He cleverly beat his man close to the touch line and drove the ball forward, his cross though was too deep. Henry collected it and drifted a cross-come-shot inches past the post. it would have been a lead we didnt deserve.
Bolton put the pressure back on after this, with Kevin Nolan putting a shot inches wide. I thought it was in all the way, but just missed in the end. How it didnt go in i dont know. Another cross from the right lead to Djorkaeff flashing a shot over the bar. We were really put through it.
But agian super Kolo went on a powerful run, beat a coule of men and put an inch perfect ball through for Dennis. He had done nothing all game, but as the ball found his feat we expected a goal, or for him to at least hit the target. What we got was a horribly sliced shot high and wide. The best chance of the game gone. Kolo was not only our best defender, but also our best attacker.
Back at the other end a Djorkaeff shot was well saved, and with half time approaching Vieira won the ball. He was having a shocker of a game (more on this in a bit) but this was the old PV, al a Chelsea in the cup last year. He brought the ball forward powerfully and slid in Henry down the right. He flashed over a cross with met the head of Freddie. It didnt appear a chance from the other end of the pitch, and the ball drifted wide. But seeing the replay on the screen it was a great chance that should have been buried.
We had been second best in the first half, but had created the better chances. For all Boltons possession they only really created one clear cut chance. We would need to improve, but at this stage i fancied us to nick it.
Second half and the heavans opened. The rain was torrential. Not good news for us. I cant remember being as cold as this at a game for a while.
Davis had a decent effort just over, which seemed to spark us into life. We finally found our passing game and the movement was much much better. Pires started to get the ball, and for the first time in the game we put Bolton under some pressure. But the frustrating thing was our final ball was crap time and time again, and we rarely had more than one man in the box. A deep cross landed on Charltons TWO arms, and was a clear penalty imo, but Poll waved play on. We all went mad, lucky escape for Bolton.
The game was starting to get a bit nasty now, with Vieira and Campo both picking up bookings for silly tackels. These bookings seemed to calm the game down a bit, and during this period Dennis challenged for the ball forcefully and won it. The Bolton crowd went mad, but the ref rightfully waved play on. Dennis fed Henry down the right who was one and one with Charlton. I expected him to skin him, but he cleverly waited and fed the ball to the on rushing Freddie, whos weak left footed shot was well saved, but the ball rebounded to Pires, who mishit his shot into the ground, causing it to bounch over onrushing defenders and keeper into the net. Both sets of fans went mad, but for very different reasons.
We were one up in a game we didnt deserve to be. Right, now time to defend a lead and hold on for a vital three away points. Off went Dennis and on came Parlour.
We seemed to decide to sit back after this and invited Bolton onto us. Bad move imo. The crowd were now really up for it and pressured the ref to give them every 50/50 decision. This resulted in many freekicks dropping into our penalty area, aswell and okatchas long throws. We were seriously up against it and didnt look convincing at all in defence. Henry was left very isolated, and the Bolton defence did a great job of marking him. It seemed only a matter of time untill they would socre.
Okotcha hit a brilliant free kick against the post, with Lehmann beaten all ends up. Djorkeaff also tested Lehmann from distance. By this time Pederson had been brought on to give them more attacking options, and eventually it paid off. The ball was bounching around in our area as it had all day, we failed to clear, it fell to Pederson who hit a great shot on the half volley into the roof of the net. No chance Jens. 1-1 and another lead thrown away. Gutted, but it had been coming and was no more than Bolton deserved.
The last few minutes were played out without any major incidents, and their fans celebrated as if they had won the league at the end.
Players
Lehmann 6/10 - His kicking was absolute ****e. This needs to be sorted quick, he sliced more than a loaf of bread. He also looks dodgy on high balls, he claimed a couple brilliantly, but also lost a couple, resulting in him being lobbed and Pires clearing off the line. His handling from shots is good, but im yet to be convinced.
Toure 9/10 - Brilliant MOTM by a mile. This guy is a superatar. Great in attack and defence. Strong, fast, skillful, had it all today.
Campbell 7.5/10 - mostly solid, but his distribution is shocking. This is what is preventing him being a world class CB. Coverd Cygan well, and is never going to be pushed off the ball, although he needs to be careful with his shoulder to shoulder tackles as a penalty could have been given against him.
Cygan 7/10 - played well, although a loss a bearings let Djorkaeff in, who if had a better touch would have scored. Struggled to cope with Davis in the air first half, but improved greatly second. Great passer of the ball though, with is his major plus point.
Clichy 8/10 - Fantastic game, what a great little player this guy is. Started badly, but a great block tackle gave him confidence and improved from there. He is seriously quick, and stronger than he looks. Got forward in the second half and looked dangerous. Just needs to improve his passing which was rash at times.
Pires 6/10 - Crap first half, didnt fancy it at all. Improved second but still it wasnt good enough. More effort is needed from bob, as we cant afford to have passengers away at Bolton. Compalins every time he is tackled. Not good enough.
Vieira 5/10 - Worst game i have seen him have. He is not fit and it is worrying. He is becoming injury prone and there injuries may be having an effect on him. He was bossed by none other than Ivan Campo today. Failed at any time to dominate the midfield, was a yard of the pace and his passing was ****e.
Gilberto 6/10 - marginally better than his midfield partner. Had a decnet shot saved second half and played quite well in places. But we were second best in mid today, and you need more form players like Gilberto.
Freddie 6/10 - See Pires.
Henry 6/10 - Average. Looked dangerous at times, but Bolton defended brillianly against him. Had a hand in the goal as always, but didnt look like scoring himself. It is a while since he has now and we need goals form him, as no one else looks capable at the moment. Was another who didnt like the cold. More is needed if we are to win this league.
Dennis 5.5/10 - Crap. Did well for the goal but was may as well not have played other wise.
Parlour came on and ran around to no great effect. Had a chance to release Henry but a per usual his final ball let him down.
On the whole we were second best by a long way to an averge Bolton team. They wanted it more than us today and it showed. Aside from the two full backs none of the players did their job today, and Wenger got the tactics all wrong. It was just not good enough. This game convinced me we NEED to strengthen in January, with a stiker top of the list. The amont of times we have no one in the box is scary. Someone needs to take the prssure of terry who is going through a bad patch.
We also need to defend better as a team away form home. If we continue to throw away leads like we did last year we will not win the league. We are drawing too many games. If the mancs win tomorrow, they go top despite three defeats.
Positives to come out of the game are that we didnt lose a game we should and are still unbeaten. Also the performance of Clichy, who looks a star in the making.
