Arsenal
Will it be five in a row? Here's a real test
Bus passes
By Boris Mellor
October 24 2009
Since defeat at Man City on 12 September Arsenal have won four premiership games in a row, scoring 14 goals and conceding three. Perhaps it was best to get defeat out of the system early on. The bulk of those wins were at home, meanwhile the Hammers are yet to win at home.
At home they have only scored five goals and conceded seven. They look like lambs to the slaughter, and all the pundits are predicting a massive Arsenal victory. Due to Icelandic financial problems the club has had a fire sale over the last year and therefore is not as strong as they have been, which was not that strong.
But, and there nearly always is a but, some of their best performances are saved for the big clubs. Hence last year they ruined my birthday by drawing 0-0 at the Grove. A result that had the press questioning (not just the press, I began to doubt it myself) the Gunners credentials for fourth place; and would you believe it Spurs (away) came up next and they drew it 0-0. Followed by a 0-0 draw at home to Sunderland, that was 3 draws in a row in case you lost count.
The sequence ended with a fourth draw at home to Fulham. So what is the point of this tale of gloom? Simple if as Wenger says this team is much improved and is now a contender then this game is a real test. The test is not Man U, Chelsea, or Liverpool as the pundits would have you believe, the test is ruthlessly beating everyone below.
Man U failed the top four test last season, their record wasn't great, they lost to Liverpool twice, but they won the league not the scousers. Therefore if Wenger's predictions are to mean anything then Sunday's game is a must win. It should be five league wins in a row.
Wenger should be cheered by the fact there were no new injuries in the CL midweek. Rosicky has failed to recover in time, but Eduardo is available. Bendtner is 50-50, and Nasri not quite yet ready. The only headache Arsene has is which of three fit keepers to choose from. What wouldn't Zola give to have that as his main problem?
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Discussion started by Arsenal Times , 24/10/2009 18:47
Arsenal Times
24/10/2009 18:47
24/10/2009 18:47
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:10:28:10:45:11 by Padre Pio.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:10:28:10:45:11 by Padre Pio.
Good preview. But form and squad quality goes out the window against our london rivals. Theres going to be thirty five thousand of my essex pals screaming for our blood and for that reason alone people like vermaelen and song need to stand up and be counted
i agree thats the test - Man U apparently only dropped 2 points against bottom 10 last season. we have to grind it out 35,000 screaming whatevers. Play well and they will shut up
This "London rival" talk really means nothing in my view (maybe in the Spurs derby). Arsenal should win because we are ten times better than West Ham.
Official 1000th poster in the classic transfer rumors thread of 2014.
Ok tom, go to one of these games and you will change your mind. Or have a look at some west ham v arsenal results over the years even when we had a vastly superior team.
thats probably because you have never been to a London Derby Tom.
In Derby's form can go out the window - hence the ludicrous 4-4 draw with spurs when we were wiping the floor with them. Or losing on last minute against Hammers and pardew celebrating - what became of him?
In Derby's form can go out the window - hence the ludicrous 4-4 draw with spurs when we were wiping the floor with them. Or losing on last minute against Hammers and pardew celebrating - what became of him?
I do admit the Spurs derdy has something about it, but results hardly warrant the tag "form goes out of the window", and if you want to talk about West Ham results over the years, have a look at our results vs Bolton and West Ham in recent years - we lose occasionally becaue we were either rubbish or massively unfortunate.
Official 1000th poster in the classic transfer rumors thread of 2014.
Do you remember the mike small goal in the early nineties padre, or in the cup in the 1989 replay. Or even in the 2002 away game where we should have lost. How about our first defeat at the emirates. Maybe its a local thing but I ALWAYS fear the hammers.
Its more down to every team having beaten us at some point. West Ham haven't done it more or less than your average club (unless there is clear stats to prove it...)
Official 1000th poster in the classic transfer rumors thread of 2014.
we have to win this; no tuesday mentality needed here.we have to dig in and get a win.anything short will be unacceptable
Not many clubs have beaten us at home - they are amongst the few.
Last season we only took two points off Spurs - if that isnt form meaning nothing then nothing is.
Sorry which 2002 game we should have lost?
Last season we only took two points off Spurs - if that isnt form meaning nothing then nothing is.
Sorry which 2002 game we should have lost?
Spurs are a good team. Our record against them is embarrassing for the lilly whites.
Official 1000th poster in the classic transfer rumors thread of 2014.
Are we somehow comparing a hammers derby to a spuds derby?
Please say it aint so
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:10:24:21:09:12 by Rockstaar.
Please say it aint so
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:10:24:21:09:12 by Rockstaar.
For some reason. West Ham are merely based in the same city. I see no rivalry on the playing side.
Official 1000th poster in the classic transfer rumors thread of 2014.
Quote:Padre Pio
Not many clubs have beaten us at home - they are amongst the few.
Last season we only took two points off Spurs - if that isnt form meaning nothing then nothing is.
Sorry which 2002 game we should have lost?
Where they went 2-0 up through Kanoute and Joe Cole then missed a pen, (I think thats what happened anyway) then we got back in it late on with Henry's piledriver and Kanu's equaliser from Wiltord layoff. Im pretty sure that was early 2002-2003 season but I could be wrong.
In the cool blue away strip?
Official 1000th poster in the classic transfer rumors thread of 2014.
Well those of you that are dismissing West Hams menace in Arsenal games are very wrong, they are the archetypal team that trips Arsenal up, their fans are baying lunatics and at Upton Park they can intimidate many a superior team out of their stride, there is a lot of needle in our games against them, going back to the 80's where there was some serious trouble between the two sets of fans. For examples of occasions where West Ham have tripped us up despite having a very inferior cr*ppy team, here you go
1980 Beat us in cup final despite being lower division side
1984 humiliated us 3-0 If I am not mistaken
1988 Smashed us up 3-1 away even at the end of a good season, Liam Brady scored one of the goals I think)
1989 Beat us in cup replay despite us winning league (Leroy Rosenior wasn't it)
1992 Beat us at Highbury 1-0 despite us winning most of our home games that season
1994 beat us at home 2-0
1995 the stats show they beat us again at Highbury again tho I cant for the life of me remember that game
1998 In an unbeatable title winning season they came to Highbury and drew 1-1 in the cup - they should massively have won we got a very dodgy penalty but we managed to edge them in replay on pens with 10 men.
2001 2-1 to them in the infamous Vieira spitting game
2006 beat us at Highbury 3-2 in that game where Sol walked off pitch at half time
2006-7 did us over 1-0 in both games including 1st defeat at Emirates
2008 - 0-0 at ours to contribute to miserable winless period pre-Arshavin in the winter months.
There you go, plenty of reasons over the years why the hammers should be respected despite their league position. Far more examples of them getting one over on us than the Hotspurs, I think.
1980 Beat us in cup final despite being lower division side
1984 humiliated us 3-0 If I am not mistaken
1988 Smashed us up 3-1 away even at the end of a good season, Liam Brady scored one of the goals I think)
1989 Beat us in cup replay despite us winning league (Leroy Rosenior wasn't it)
1992 Beat us at Highbury 1-0 despite us winning most of our home games that season
1994 beat us at home 2-0
1995 the stats show they beat us again at Highbury again tho I cant for the life of me remember that game
1998 In an unbeatable title winning season they came to Highbury and drew 1-1 in the cup - they should massively have won we got a very dodgy penalty but we managed to edge them in replay on pens with 10 men.
2001 2-1 to them in the infamous Vieira spitting game
2006 beat us at Highbury 3-2 in that game where Sol walked off pitch at half time
2006-7 did us over 1-0 in both games including 1st defeat at Emirates
2008 - 0-0 at ours to contribute to miserable winless period pre-Arshavin in the winter months.
There you go, plenty of reasons over the years why the hammers should be respected despite their league position. Far more examples of them getting one over on us than the Hotspurs, I think.
Quote:Tom14
In the cool blue away strip?
Yes Tom, the second best Arsenal away strip which I have now put away in a box.
celine, surely you could come up with a list like that for any above average team?
Official 1000th poster in the classic transfer rumors thread of 2014.
It was 2-2, It was Henry then Wiltord that scored.
In 2006-7 they did double over us which was rediculous.
Not many teams do double over us Tom
In 2006-7 they did double over us which was rediculous.
Not many teams do double over us Tom
Quote:Tom14
celine, surely you could come up with a list like that for any above average team?
Probably not Tom, you mention Bolton but they only had it over us for a 4 year period and we have more than had our own back after that, also, during those periods they were a top 6 team. When you consider the sh*t West Ham have generally been in over the years they are probably the only team to have given us serious problems despite their situation. Charlton perhaps could be considered to have done the same but that only strengthens my argument about London teams. Southampton perhaps also qualify, but I would have to see the stats.
Yes sorry Padre, it was Kanu's lay off and Wiltords goal. But you see my point surely. I was at horse racing that day and the radio commentators had completely written us off by the time we got our late goals.
But is that down to Arsenal being turd or the place where the team is based? As I said, West Ham are generally a decent team so it makes sense for them to have a good record against us comparatively.
Official 1000th poster in the classic transfer rumors thread of 2014.
Well, they aren't usually a decent team, but the its a fact that their team and the whole ground lifts itself for games against Chelsea Spurs and Us. I live in Essex and the West Ham fans who I talk to every day gear themselves up for games against us and Spurs more than they do for any other team. And it DEFINITELY rubs off when you see the games. Watch the game tomorrow, I bet you the ground is a CAULDRON. Look at it from another perspective, when they beat Spurs in the last game 2006 to gift us the CL space, you can see their fans dancing around like they had won the WORLD CUP when Benayoun scored the winner, basically because they hate all other London teams and it rubs through to the players.
sorry we're not Millwall..we're no big rivals to the hammers..yes its a London derby so the intensity will be higher than usual..but it isnt exactly spurs now is it
West Ham are a decent team and they arent easy to beat..in form or not, but if we cant beat them with our present squad then we are pretenders..nothing more
It just happens that they have one of the most feared firms in the country, so they're always out to prove a point...especially with us being pretty pretty arsenal
but for a derby to be an intense rivalry...it has to be on BOTH sides..and most arsenal fans couldnt careless about West Ham...Fact
West Ham, Fulham, Chelsea (pre titles)all the same...just London teams that need beating
[arsenalsigs.blogspot.com]
West Ham are a decent team and they arent easy to beat..in form or not, but if we cant beat them with our present squad then we are pretenders..nothing more
It just happens that they have one of the most feared firms in the country, so they're always out to prove a point...especially with us being pretty pretty arsenal
but for a derby to be an intense rivalry...it has to be on BOTH sides..and most arsenal fans couldnt careless about West Ham...Fact
West Ham, Fulham, Chelsea (pre titles)all the same...just London teams that need beating
[arsenalsigs.blogspot.com]
Quote:Rockstaar
sorry we're not Millwall..we're no big rivals to the hammers..yes its a London derby so the intensity will be higher than usual..but it isnt exactly spurs now is it
West Ham are a decent team and they arent easy to beat..in form or not, but if we cant beat them with our present squad then we are pretenders..nothing more
It just happens that they have one of the most feared firms in the country, so they're always out to prove a point...especially with us being pretty pretty arsenal
but for a derby to be an intense rivalry...it has to be on BOTH sides..and most arsenal fans couldnt careless about West Ham...Fact
WRONG
West Ham, Fulham, Chelsea (pre titles)all the same...just London teams that need beating
Celine if you took a poll and ask which teams in London do you most want Arsenal to beat...please tell me you dont think West Ham polls higher than Spuds or Chelsea
[arsenalsigs.blogspot.com]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:10:24:22:26:36 by Rockstaar.
[arsenalsigs.blogspot.com]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:10:24:22:26:36 by Rockstaar.
yes yes yes perhaps but for a small cr*ppy team which West Ham are, Arsenal fans are still more interested in beating them than they are Stoke and Wigan. Which is why they count in a top ticket category at Arsenal along with the top teams like United and Liverpool, and why if you live where I do, people talk about the game for weeks in advance.
Well we failed that test. I knew we couldnt cope with a team fighting for its life which is why I predicted 1-1.
Thats why Chelsea will become favorites for the prem
Thats why Chelsea will become favorites for the prem
west Ham, second from bottom, still second from bottom and we blow a 2 goal lead. London Derby has nothing to do with it?
I told him as well. I also predicted 1-1 so got a point. I knew we would bottle it
Chelsea and spuds soon
Theodore roosevelt - In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
Theodore roosevelt - In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
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