You Can Polish A Turd, But It's Still A Crap Goalkeeper

from the factory floor

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Karaiskaki Stadium

Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco

Olympiakos 3-1 Arsenal   06 December 2011

Rafik Djebbour [16']          Yossi Benayoun [57']

David Fuster [36']              

Francois Modesto [89']

I threatened down at the bar that my report for this match would just be a collection of Benny Hill youtube clips, thinking the less said about this the better. And oddly enough though the result ‘doesn’t matter’ so to speak, it’s worth having a look at.

Two pretty big screw ups on our end put the home side up 2-0 in the first half hour. Ed’s observation that the first wasn’t so much of an indictment on Fabianski was belied by the shambolic performance the Pole put in for the first quarter-hour. To be fair, Ed strolled in a bit late and wasn’t privy to the opening minutes by our number two [that pun is fully intended].

Good Old Arsenal

from the factory floor

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE

DW Stadium

Referee:  Mark Clattenburg

Wigan Athletic 0-4 Arsenal     03 December 2011

Arteta [28] Vermaelen [29] Gervinho [61] Van Persie [78]

Vast numbers of NY Gooners continue to appear at every match down at the Factory, so much so that we were once again shunted upstairs. With a gooner behind the bar on the main level, this suits us just fine. I fear for Liam’s health though. I still can’t figure how he kept pace with all four of us.

Speaking of pace, early going it was fairly pedestrian. Given the rotation for the CC match it was interesting to see how slowly we got out of the gate. I arrived a few minutes late and missed the early Wigan chances, so perhaps there was a little mini-shock there to overcome. Most forward moves for the first 20 odd minutes involved Arsenal players running in straight lines toward the Wigan goal, without too much threat.

Paid The Kos To Be The Boss

Tackling The Shit Out Of All And Sundry

You would have to say this man has come quite a long way since that dark day at Wembley when he and Szczesny combined to fluff their lines and allow a last-gasp winner to concede the Carling Cup to Birmingham City. Yet Laurent Koscielny has simply transformed himself from then to now. While there were promising signs last season of his worth, there were many skeptics about the wisdom of bringing a player with only one season of top flight experience under his belt, and one of Europe’s ‘lesser’ leagues at that. 


Kos has put paid to those doubts with a string of commanding performances, reaching their zenith at Stamford Bridge in the 5-3 victory that announced Arsenal’s reemergence as a Premier League side to be reckoned with. Watching him play you get the sense that he just loves to defend. He is Arsenalish from a time that seems to pre-date Wenger, but at the same time a quintessential signing from the manager.


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No Shame In Our Game

from the bunker

CARLING CUP Quarterfinal

Ashburton Grove

Referee:  Lee Probert

Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City 29 November 2011

Aguero [83]

When the line-ups were released for this match I have to say I had a cheeky feeling we just might sneak this one. I had no idea that we would put in such a massive shift all over the park and after 90 minutes feel hard-done by to lose by a single strike from one of City’s plethora of high-priced attacking players.

From the outset it looked as though Mancini’s tactic was to keep us at arms’ length until the later stages, then bring on some of his even bigger guns to try and finish us off. This was never more evident than in the dozen or so passes to Pantilimon over a period of about 2 minutes early on, most of which came from Savic. That tactic, it appeared would get turned on its head somewhat, because we made a strong start and it was apparent we would give them a match.

True Grit

from the factory floor

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE

Ashburton Grove

Referee:  Mike Dean

Arsenal 1-1 Fulham 26 November 2011

Vermaelen [OG-65, 82]

For a few matches now there has been a common theme, that we were able to dig out a result when a month or so ago that possibility would have been very much called into question.  After quite the exertion in midweek to land the top spot in our Champions League group, a drop-off in energy and performance did not pose much of a surprise.

That drop-off wasn’t matched at the Football Factory. Our minion of NY Gooners turned back the clock with some true grouchy old man style ranting, a necessary evil due both to the scrappy affair unfolding and the need to establish a good view of the match on the odd array of screens on the main level. In a way it seems fitting that so many tourists are subject to the coarse vulgarities on offer. This is New York City after all.