Nattens Arsenal - 7 januari 2011
Först och främst så grät jag många glädjetårar när jag såg gamla klipp från Sportspegeln tidigare ikväll. Bosse Hansson, Zachrisson, Plex, Bedrup och alla andra. Allihopa hade gått rakt in i en startuppställning idag. Hegerfors också, även fast jag såg honom prata hip-hop med Fredrik Strage på nyhetsmorgon och var helt "lost". Men vilka fantastiska minnen. Jag vet att min kollega och väldigt gode vän herr Ruben har haft en lista över sportprofiler på gång. Dags att aktivera detta. Vilka fantastiska minnen. På min personliga minuslista finns alltid Mikael Hvinlund längst upp. Alltid.
Wenger
Först skall man kort inse att Gunners gjorde en makalös insats igår. Första halvleken mot ManCity var sagolik. Inse att vi spelar mot ett lag fullt av världsstjärnor och de var inte över halva plan. Det var flyt, det var målchanser, det var tre skott i virket och grabbarna spelade sagolikt. Wenger var bitvis helt lyrisk efter matchen, insåg att laget haft otur, insåg också att City inte ville spela boll.
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Om matchen
Wenger tyckte att Gunners hade spelet, men fick inte med sig resultatet. Men.."..I take a lot of encouragement from tonight’s game, even if mathematically we are all frustrated and the players are very disappointed. But overall there is no way we should lose courage or belief in our team. It is the opposite. We should even come out with even more belief in our quality and be more resolute in the coming games because we have shown we have what it takes to be a serious contender in this League."
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Om eftertankar..
Wenger ger sina tankar om matchen och tycker att det var synd att man inte kunde näta direkt. "They came here to have a 0-0 and they got what they wanted. I believe had we scored the first goal it would have changed the run of the game tremendously. We faced long, long periods in the game where we faced 10 men as Tevez – I have never seen him so deep. When we lost a little bit of sharpness and freshness in our movement, we looked less dangerous, because you need to play against 10 men like that in the final third. Quality passing, sharp movements… they became more difficult as the game went down." Sedan a
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Om Citys spel(länk)
Wenger inledde med att prata om någon buss. Han skulel prata med den där schejken som hade placerat bussen på Emirates " It is no fucking parking lot", sade han och blev vrång. Sedan fortsatte han "I wasn’t surprised because they came here last year set up to play 0-0 as well. I wasn’t too surprised, but I hoped that we would have scored one of our early chances. I must say as well that we were unlucky because we hit the post a few times, their keeper made a few good saves and they defended very deep. So it was difficult."
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Om Citys maskning(länk)
Wenger ville inte ta till så hårda ord kring ManCitys avslutning men idiotförklarade Joe Hart på sitt eget lilla sätt. "That was showing that they were happy with the 0-0. I can never understand why when the goal kick is on the right, the goalkeeper goes on the left. It’s always a sign that they are happy to gain a few seconds when they go down and are not in a hurry to get up. We faced that today and I would rather take the positive out of the game. It is a long way to go and I believe my team gets stronger and stronger thought we have to keep focusing on what we do."
Han fortsatte med att idiotförklara Mancini.."We try to win our games always, but maybe it was their way to try to win. To defend deep and to catch us on the break and make something special. That was the way they were organized tonight. We have to respect that and sort out the problems we face. Even if a team defends deep, we have to find a way to score and you cannot reproach Man City for that. Maybe it was not the most spectacular way but still they were efficient in what they wanted and they got it."
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Om utvisningen
En kalkonartad utvisning. Absolut. Men å andra sidan, åkte N'zogbia ut mot oss i matchen mot Wigan, så skall Zabaleta och Sagna ut. Wenger säger "It was harsh. I hoped for a second that it would be two yellows because the game was fair. It was not very physical or a game full of hate, it was a respectful game. Both teams were committed but I hoped yellow and we got red. He can only show yellow or red and he chose red. It looked to me a little out of context to the game, but we have to look at it again because it was on the other side of the bench." Senare säger Wenger att han inte kommer att protestera mot Sagnas utvisning "I have seen it again and there is no way we can appeal.For me it is a red card and we have to accept it. Bacary lost his temper and had too strong a reaction. He acknowledges that he should have kept control. We will not appeal.”
Om Mancinis kommentar att han spelade så maskartat på grund av att han saknade spelare.
"Blaha-Blaha" säger Wenger. "They played Barry, De Jong and Toure in midfield. Tevez up front. At the back they had I think a strong defence. They missed maybe one or two players. They missed Silva maybe. I cannot explain his approach only he can explain his approach." Jag tycker i alla fall att Mancini har en snygg halsduk. Om den är något lite större så slipper man se hans ansikte. Jag tror f.ö att han fortfarande tror att han har Lazios halsduk på sig. .
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Om Leeds
Wenger och rotation. Diskussionen fortsätter. Men mot Leeds blir det rotation. "It will be good to have Kieran back and Eboue will play as Sagna is suspended.I have somewhere in my mind that I will make changes, but I don't know who will play.From last night, we have no serious injuries.I believe that [Samir] Nasri and [Robin] van Persie could be short for Saturday. They have kicks - van Persie on the hip and Nasri on the ankle. It is a question of days.They have a chance to recover in time, but I will certainly rest van Persie and maybe Nasri" Mitt personliga tips? "Sczesny-Eboué,Squillaci,Djourou,Gibbs-Denilson,Rosicky, Ramsey-Arshavin, Chamakh, Bendtner"
Frågetecken för Ramsey dock.
Spelarna
Fàbregas om Nasri
Samir Nasri blev vald till Decembers bäste spelare av PFA och Fàbregas säger "I think Samir said it himself, but he’s in the form of his life.Perhaps he could have been playing the same way without scoring and people wouldn’t have noticed it as much, but now he’s getting goals too and for me he is one of those who are leading the team the most.It’s his third season here and sometimes it takes a while to settle in, but this season he’s been so regular in his form. His goals [against Fulham] showed incredible composure and sometimes it’s all about confidence - when that’s high, you do things you might not be capable of if you’re not in good form."
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Nasri om kontrakt
Samir Nasris kontrakt går ut 2011/2012. Som vanligt är klåparna från Unesco igång och drar i allt som är vettigt på ett oskönt sätt. Bomba! Hursomhelst, så säger Samir Nasris far Bengt Nasri..eller heter han Hamid?.."He is only 23 years old and still has much room for improvement. I am convinced that he can go even higher. I think that yes, this will be with Arsenal.It is a club that is close to his heart, that knew how to bring him to the level where he is. I think that Arsenal remains his priority.
Fabregas om Djourou
Som man sett så har Djjourou höjt sig markant. Att stå emot Drogba, som gjort att Senderos fått psykologisk hjälp och behöver sondmatas, har varit magiskt och Fàbregas ser en skillnad. "I've talked about Johan before, but I really admire how he's handled his comeback.I don't know how I would react to a season without playing but he was always strong, smiling and working hard. The boss has treated him really well, with caution, and he's now playing fantastically for us. Hopefully he can keep it up because I think that, with the way we play, we need a centre-back like him – strong, good on the ball, quick, making his presence felt on the opposition striker."
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Det var en trettondag som gav United ett litet försprång. Så kan det vara. Men samtidigt som vi ändå tog en poäng, spelade bitvis fantastisk fotboll, så kunde man konstatera att Chelsea, Liverpool och Spurs torskade och jag noterar att St Totteringham's Day kommer allt närmare.
God natt.
