Giggs and Ronaldo cry and Van Persie has a broken foot

How good am I? I totally predicted the correct final score, as well as who would score one of the goals. It was a pretty balanced game, minus the last 10 minutes where we pwned Manchester. Some notes of interest:

Ryan Giggs cries almost as much as Ronaldo, seriously, grow a backbone.

Ronaldo got a yellow card for arguing with Toure, which was pretty much the most hilarious thing I've seen in a while. Then he got taken off in the last few minutes in order to prevent further rows. He managed to hold back tears until he got into the locker room.

Eboue still continues to show signs of not being as dependable as we'd like. I'd like to see less hacking and more depth of play. Overall our backline is just SO young. Clichy is 21, Senderos is 21, Toure is 25, Eboue is 23. I really think this is our worst weakness, and I'll feel much more comfortable with Gallas back.

Wayne Rooney is a monster that looks like he eats small children for breakfast. Do any of my Manchester friends know why they have him stuck out wide? I personally like it because it means he scores less, but from y'alls point of view I'd want him front and center where he could do more damage. That said, his goal tonight was pretty... but I'll only admit that because we won.

I'm a bit concerned about the commentators on FSN. They incorrectly identified Van Persie as Fabregas at least once, and cited a few questionable statistics. However, they did call Adebayor's legs telescopic... which is by far the best description I've heard to date.

Finally, the worst news is that Van Persie evidently broke a metatarsel in his right foot "celebrating" his goal. How do you break a bone by celebrating a goal? This means 6 weeks out of commission, not something we need if we're going to close the gap between us and Liverpool.

Goodbye Lauren, and our Manchester meeting

First off, I must say goodbye to our favorite Arsenal fullback Lauren. Pompey at Portsmouth has snapped him up to join the other Arsenal retirees (see Sol Campbell). You will truly be missed, especially for your famous "cold stare".

Oh Giggsy... you won't miss Lauren or his "cold stare" will you? (Apologies, this is the best picture I had and C*le just happened to be in it.)

We really could use his experience this weekend, especially with Gallas out and that loose Ivory Coast cannon known as Eboue wondering about the backhalf. Anyhow, I've made a pros and cons list of this big meeting this weekend.

Pros:
1. We have injured/outed players. For whatever reason, we play better when we are a bit of the underdogs. No Gallas, no Gilberto, possibly no Van Persie, sounds like we are officially underdogs.
2. This could help knock Manchester off the top spot of the table. Woohoo!
3. We have Henry back who is an unbeatable goal scorer when he wants to be. My prediction is that we'll see Adebayor up front with him, as Manchester had a tough time coping with him last game.

Cons:
1. We're playing at home. Let's face it... the atmos at Emirates just isn't what it was at Highbury. It's big and new and nice... but it's just not Highbury, yet.
2. This could help knock Manchester off the top of the table. That means that Chelsea could overtake them and be champions for the third straight year. Barf.

All in all, I think this is going to be an exciting game. Then again, it could be boring except for the 1 minute where the 2 goals are scored.

Final prediction: 2-1 Arsenal. Sorry Manchester, we've been on lately.

6-3

What sort of score is this?

One of a piss poor American football game?

A Canadian hockey game?


No my friends.... this is the Arsenal Liverpool matchup, the second this week to be exact. Not only are the Scousers knocked out of the FA Cup, but the Carling Cup as well.

To blatantly steal from the ESPN headline: "The Beast runs riot at Anfield". I cannot think of a more accurate description of the massacre that occurred. Those of you that frequently watch soccer know what a rarity a score like this is. For a player to score 4 goals and have a 5th missed penalty is almost unheard of. I'm sure everyone is rolling their eyes and thinking "oh well, it is Thierry Henry" but my friends you are WRONG.

This was not the work of Henry, but of the previously doubtable Baptista. By all accounts, this is the type of play that we expected out of this player when we struck a deal for him at the end of the transfer window. I for one am finally pleased with the way our offense is playing, but our defense is still a little shoddy. Keep it up Gooners.

In other Arsenal news:

For this transfer window we are linked to Ribery. Who else is not surprised? Will we get him.... my vote is no because I don't think that Mariselles is going to let go of that fellow anytime soon.

We continue to play well outside of Barclays and like shit inside. My prediction is that this run will continue and we'll be lucky to take third in the charts. Personally, I'm pulling for Portsmouth, simply because they aren't Man U or Chelsea; as well I have a small hope in my heart that West Ham and Charlton won't get relegated. They were plucky enough to beat some of the best teams in the league, so good job fellows.


Edit:
I just found a clip of Alex Song's "goal". It was more of a bump into a fabulous Fabregas ball. Why is this guy still on our team and still allowed to play?! Sheesh.

Tonight. Tonight. Tonight.

So we might have a chance tonight... I mean Charlton is awful. But on the other hand we do not have a striker.

Yeah that's right... you heard me. The team of Van Persie, Adebayor, Baptista, Henry, Walcott, etc. has no strikers.

Zip. Zero. Zilch.

There have been some rumors that Henry is planning to come out for a bit and work a little magic then go back to being huffy and injured. Personally he has disappointed me this season, but then I see things like this:

And I remember why I admired him in seasons past. So let's just cross our fingers and hope that he comes in for 5 minutes, takes control, scores 2 goals, and we can continue down the path of inconsistency on our merry way.