It's Good To Have You Back

For a variety of reasons I have only been able to take in the last several matches via Twitter feeds, match reports and the like. It's quite a feeling to be losing a match 1-0 getting into a car to go to the airport and then discovering we won in the last minute just as I emerge from security and head toward my departure gate. Nothing takes the edge off a 15 hour flight like victory stolen from the jaws of defeat [It sounds awfully weird writing that phrase 'correctly' with respect to the Gunners].

By now we're all well aware of the Premier League record the Arsenal just set for consecutive comeback wins. But this team had to make comebacks already this season, so why does it seem so surprising? We shipped two marquee players without the expected big-name replacements. We pocketed the cash and brought in a few journeyman players, missing out on the likes of Juan Mata. Then we dropped two clangers.

The mauling at Old Trafford wasn’t exactly unexpected, even if the margin was more than anticipated. The capitulation at Blackburn compounded that result. A hand-ball assisted goal by Van der Vaart was the decider in the loss to Spurs.  Afterwards we went on a run that saw us climb from the relegation zone right back up to the top five with a series of gritty performances. If the football wasn’t exactly flowing, the points were steadily accumulating. We thrashed Chelsea at the Bridge and won a Champions League group that appeared to be the toughest draw, whereas the wealthy Manchester clubs crashed out against far inferior competition.

O Captain, My Captain

we've got the best player in the league

It’s hard to believe there were doubts about Robin Van Persie’s credentials as a leader when you look back over the season he is having. Even as a longtime admirer of his playing ability I have to admit that he continues to impress in this regard. Amy Lawrence sums it up rather nicely in her piece for The Guardian. No disrespect to Henry or Fabregas as players but they don’t have a patch on RVP as a captain. He arrived with questions over his temperament and survived questions of his durability and we are now seeing the man, who grew up loving the club he now plays for [see him as a kid in the Arsenal kit on Stuart MacFarlane’s Flickr], emerge as a leader to rival Vieira and Adams. He inspires this Arsenal side. His technical ability was never in doubt. In fact, the likes of Bergkamp, Henry, Van Basten, and Cruyff have testified glowingly on behalf of his footballing skill.

Walking In A Bergkamp Wonderland

that goal against Newcastle

The only thing missing from this drawing is the brick that Nikos Dabizas shat right after that indelible flick and turn from Dennis Bergkamp. To add insult to injury he was muscled off the ball by the Dutchman, who then gave Shay Given the eyes to the near post and passed it into the far corner cool as you like.

Suuuuuuuuper, Super Lob...

Take A Bow Son

This was the year that Robert Pires announced himself to the Premier League properly, with a masterful season that got him the Football Writer's Association's Player of the Year Award and the likes of Bergkamp, Vieira, Henry, Ljungberg, and Adams to bow to him while he accepted his league winner's medal on crutches. A bad knee injury in the spring ended his season and World Cup hopes but he was a revelation to the Arsenal that year and would become a key figure in one of the most lethal left sided attacks in the top flight for several seasons to come.

This is the lob against Villa--- incredibly deft first touch with the outside of his right boot to flick the ball over and inside his marker, then with the second touch a wonderful side-footed half-volley over Peter Schmeichel  to secure a vital three points away from home. A truly superb football player and the type of legend you want desperately back at the club in some capacity behind the scenes. Hypercool, super Robert Pires.

Follow @11cannons

Well That Was A Bit Special

from the road

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE

Ashburton Grove

Referee: Mike Dean

Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham Hotspur   26 February 2012
Sagna [40]                                    Saha [4]
Van Persie [43]                              Adebayor [31 pen]
Rosicky [51]
Walcott [65, 68]

For various reasons I have missed the last 3 matches down at the pub. Before Sunday, the title of my latest entry has been kind of mocking me. Ok, not kind of. Remorselessly fucking mocking me. Never give up. Right.  After each cup defeat I was sorely tempted to post something to address the irony of my conclusion in that previous report to the subsequent performances [or lack thereof].

Knowing that I would in all likelihood be unable to view this North London Derby didn’t help the pre-match tension, I have to say. With Mike Dean in charge and Phil Dowd between the two managers, there was even less optimism. 7amkickoff noted beforehand that we have never won a NLD with Dean in charge.