Arsenal/Villa. The view from the travelling supporters in a home game « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade

By Walter Broeckx

Going to the Emirates on our pilgrimage to our spiritual home of football is a long journey for us. But having the sun shining continuously from the early hours in Antwerp till the moment  we left London was a very welcomed bonus. I remember April games when we almost froze out of our jackets.

Our party was just in time to get on the Eurostar and this was the real start of a great day in London. Eating and drinking from 10 am in London was great. It was warm and all you could see was the red and white in the streets around the Emirates and Highbury. More of the Arsenal Benelux supporters are finding the way to the Auld Triangle [traditional watering hole of Untold readers and writers] for a short stop before the game. Or a long stop for some. The Scottish Arsenal supporters were also very visible this time.

Meeting Tony and whoever is in his company is always a great moment. I think Tony is one of those persons who only attracts nice and friendly people around him. One of my ref reviewers was there to meet us. And we both were very much surprised by what we have managed so far this season. And promises were made to keep on doing what we are doing. And indeed we remembered the one great remark made by Laundry Ender at that same corner in front of the Auld Triangle that brought up the idea to expand the effort I then made and to bring in others.  Thanks for volunteering; what a great result so far.

Let us move on to the game. And as I don’t do the review of the ref of this Arsenal game  I must say that I have seen Dowd do great games. And I have seen him do the most biased games since our game number 50 that ended our unbeaten run. He was so outrageously biased last year at Newcastle that it was almost impossible to write it down in words.  But yesterday I had the impression that he tried his utter best to be as unbiased as possible. Now I could be wrong when our reviewer sends me his findings but I think he will have a high score in this game.

And what about the team itself. What about our Gunners on the field?  It was a one way affair this game. We played them off the pitch as the expression goes in Dutch [and in English, Walter – you are fine with that expression, Tony] . Or from the closet to the wall which is another Dutch expression meaning that Arsenal had a total supremacy on the field. [No that one doesn’t work in English].  Gibbs scoring was great and Walcott doing the same made it an all English first half for Arsenal. Szczesny was mostly enjoying the sun shine during that first half. The big difference with the second half was that he then was standing in the shadow. But he had almost nothing to do during the whole game.

What I did see was 10 Gunners (sorry Szczesny I can’t include you in this) working so hard and with lots of energy that is was almost impossible for Aston Villa go do anything meaningful in this game.

I think Djourou was doing great to cover up for Koscielny. I admit I was a bit anxious when Djourou went down after what I had been told was an elbow from Heskey but thankfully he recovered and had a decent game. Sagna was world class once again. He now has really completely recovered from his broken leg. Gibbs was great in attack, just needing to pay a bit more attention on a few occasions when he ran forward a bit too much and opening space for Villa. Vermaelen was …well he was just The Verminator once again. Leading the backline by example and also pointing at players to do their job.

In midfield we had what I think looks the strongest combination of the whole league. Rosicky is running as if he is only 21 years old. Twisting and turning, making life difficult for the opposition. What a rebirth. Song is just the best defensive midfielder in the world. As we expected him to become. Did I just wrote defensive? No, he is more than that. His assists stats don’t lie about that. Arteta… we should have brought him earlier. He is not a Cesc. But the way he always seems to find space for himself is amazing to see when you are in the Emirates. He always keeps calm and his movement is really great for the other players who can always find him on the field running away from his marker.

Robin Van Persie could and should have scored but maybe it is not a bad thing that other players scored. One man team… sorry just don’t agree. Walcott with a well taken goal and always sharp and looking dangerous against the opposition he is not at his best against with them playing with all and everyone very deep and with some 10 defenders on the field.

Gervinho is slowly getting back to his start of the season form. What was great was that after he didn’t track back early in the game he got some players pointing to him and telling him to do better next time. And minutes later he was the one that came covering for Gibbs and the Villa players could not but foul him and the assistant signalled and the ref blew the whistle. And then Szczesny showed what this Arsenal team is all about by now. Our young Polish keeper came rushing out towards Gervinho to give him a well deserved pat on the back.

The whole team is working together and is gelling. The return of Santos brings another player back and brings some extra competition for Gibbs who for the moment looks strong and injury free (fingers crossed).  Santos still a bit rusty in his first minutes though…  The other subs coming on just played without hesitation. Ramsey slotted in place of Gervinho and almost scored after a fine move. And I felt sorry for the Aston Villa left back. After having ran after Theo for 70 minutes and being exhausted we brought on The Ox. As fast as Theo and with even more tricks in the bag.

The last minutes of the game was great. The Emirates singing and then  shouting when Song was fouled.  And if it works I will show you a little video that I recorded from this minute. Foul on song

And then came the free kick. And I also filmed it. Now you will see why I never will get a job to work as a cameraman but remember this was taken with a little camera designated to take pictures and not really a video camera. So it is a bit shaky at times.

And for those knowing Dutch they will hear me predict that we would score. Okay I said it would be Santos to score. And I think Given was expecting Santos to take it also. But then to my and Given’s surprise it was Arteta who scored with an amazing free kick. So a great moment to see again. Arteta goal  And the perfect ending to a great but on sided football game at the Emirates. If all goes well I will be back for the last home game of the season. I will order my ticket after ending this article. Hope to see you again then.

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Being there: conversations at the game on Villa, Liverpool, Tottenham, the coffee and racism

Wrong calls by the refs.  We compare Arsenal,  Chelsea, Liverpool, Man C, Man U, Tottenham