short summary on the match last night; Alex Song rocksss!!!!!!!

salam & good day all.

last night the plan was to watch both Arsenal match and also the Malaysia Cup finale match, but as I actually already expected I was not able to watch the Malaysia Cup finale due to no online streaming available for the match. even the RTM website doesn't help much, when they actually advertised in their official website that they have the online streaming service. but then, that should not really surprised me eh? hehe

anyway, was able to watch the Arsenal vs West Ham league match, and my hope for not-so-cold weather was fulfilled. maybe because it's already raining all day hence the night doesn't feel all that cold anymore. my short summary of the match as per below.

The Starting 11.

as per predicted in my previous post, le Boss will start Andy instead of Theodore in the LWF position. well, maybe some other time we'll be able to see Theodore on that said position as a starter.

The Substitutes.

Theodore for Denny Boy (min 67)

Super Nik for Andy (min 80)

Manu Eboue for Marouane (min 90)

The Final Result.

Arsenal 1-0 West Ham

Alex Song min 87

The Team Performance.

sure we all love the 4-0, 5-1 win but sometimes this kind of result will tell you more about the team. we keep on going with our game up until the final minutes, and I like it very much. we never gave up with our football identity up until the end, and in the end it proved to be just enough for 3 points. yup, 3 points is what matter the most with both Chelsea and Man U also winning their respective league match last night.

to sum it up, I am very proud with the team performance last night.

The Individual Performances.

standout performances from the defensive unit as a whole. they've look a lot better as a unit in recent matches. I'm not sure it's the effect of new found confidence in Lukasz or the effect of leadership from our new signing especially Seba who we all can see is vocal during the match. maybe it's the combination of both. Bak and Gael even go forward on attack with purpose and final ball now. Lukasz did his job very well again last night. and something I noticed was that our back 4 was all French last night. must be only the second time that happened.

Cesc was clearly carrying a knock, and still able to provide a number of killer passes. Samir took the deep lying playmaker role quite well when Theodore came in the second half. and Alex Song, our marauding midfield maestro. I guess people will not complain now that he always seems to found himself in the attacking moves which supposedly left his 'purpose' as a defensive midfield. bullshit la I tell you, we never played with defensive midfielder no more this season.

disappointing performances from Andy and Denny Boy. and to a lesser extent; Marouane. Marouane looks really tired and he could use a period of resting now that Nik is back. Denny lost the ball too much for my liking, and most of them are from his own mistakes i.e. heavy first touch and lack of positional awareness. surely Jack will take back his place now that he had finished serving his 3 match ban.

and on to Andy. let's give him a place on the bench for few games eh le Boss. can be good to rest him, he seems to always played an awful lot of international matches. cannot be help la I think since he is the Russia international team captain. but also, and more importantly maybe he will realize that he can be dropped if he keep on performing as how he's been doing so far this season. I'm quite sure Theodore will relish his opportunity to play on the left side if he got it.

The MOTM.

surely Robert Green deserve the MOTM for the match, but from our side I'm choosing Alex Song to be our MOTM.

that's it for now. and oh, Kelantan win Malaysia Cup after getting their revenge on N9 from last year final. congrats to them. ciao.

West Ham coming to the Emirates. and also Malaysia Cup finale; both tonight

salam & good day all

it'll be a late night again for me tonight as Arsenal will be playing at home to West Ham in a London derby league match at 0100 my local time. I just hope it won't be 9 degree celsius again as what I experienced last week, TWICE. it was so cold, I was shivering on both occasions.

anyway, we are coming to this match on the back of back-to-back away clean sheet victories last week. wow! it is actually feels weird to say that. I mean how often did we have a clean sheet recently, not to mention back-to-back away at that. maybe there are some hope for our GK department after all..hehe. we are still without Robin, Kieran and the Verminator through injuries. we also be without Jack as he'll be serving his last match suspension from the red card he received during the match against Birmingham. Aaron is still on his road to recovery. I don't think we'll see him playing at all this year, while I fully expect him to start his on-field recovery next year. anything good occurs during this year will be considered bonus for me.

with that being said, I'm hoping that we'll start like this tonight.

I always want to see how Theodore will do on the left side of our attacking pay ala King Henry used to do last time around. and with Andy mixture performances this season we should be trying it now, at home against opposition who known to play open football (but then who knows maybe they'll park the bus also tonight..hahaha). adding the ammo to that suggestion is that now Samir had proved to be an excellent goal threat also. my understanding of why le Boss keep on playing Andy even though at times (and most of the times to be honest) he doesn't bring much into our play was that Andy provides excellent goal threats. and in our team especially when Cesc was not available we just do not have enough of it (goal threats) to be able to drop Andy.

but I know that le Boss will start with Andy on the LWF position tonight. so let's just hope for the best. I know we will win as long as we keep on attacking from the very 1st minute.

also tonight is a Malaysia Cup finale, a repeat of last season final between Kelantan and Negeri Sembilan. I'm still looking around the net for a way to watch this online, even though I'm not expecting much. here's hoping for a good match, for the sake of Malaysian football.

ciao.

oh yeah!!!! we're into the last eight of Carling Cup

salam & good day all

today I'm up early. for Subuh and for the Carling Cup round of 16 match between Arsenal and Newcastle at St. James Park kickoff at 5.40 am local Melbourne time and it was so cold it's freezing. last time I watched Arsenal match around this time, it was 9 degree celcius. that was last Monday morning and I'm pretty sure this morning it was just as cold as that time.

does not feel like writing a hell lot about the match so am going to just write the summary of the match and what I think of it.

Starting 11

Substitutes

Bak for Kieran
Cesc for Denny Boy
JET for Super Nik

Final Result

Newcaste United 0 - 4 Arsenal (Krul o.g., Theodore x2, Super Nik)

Team Performance

we did OK. after blistering start we did slow down quite a bit and Newcastle does made it hard for us. le Boss really seems to take this competition seriously, he even sent out Cesc for the last 20 minutes. some may argue that he sent Cesc in because our captain needs some game time but I'd prefer to see it as statement of intent on how serious he view this competition. and also it also proved that we are currently having enough depth in the team to take all competition seriously.

Individual Performance

standout performers were Wojciech, Laurent and Super Nik. we absolutely MUST ensure Wojciech sign the contract extension A.S.A.P!! Theodore getting back to form just nice, 2 very well taken goals. if Cesc had played from the beginning I really fancy Theo getting more than just a couple of goals.

disappointing performances from CVela, Johan, Denny Boy and Eastmond. CVela looks like he is not suited at all to be playing that wing forward position. maybe a loan move will do all parties good ala young Jack last season. Johan seems weak and not good at all, though he did improved a lot in the second half. Denny Boy and Eastmond together just doesn't work in this match. as if they are both the same players, poor positionally most of the times, passing sideways all of the time, bad 1st touch etc. maybe nerves or in Denny Boy case, getting back to match fitness.

MOTM

it's really hard to choose from Wojciech and Laurent, but I'll go with Wojciech. this is the first time I watch him in a full match, and I now realized what the buzz was all about. get him sign NOW boss!!!!

that's it for now. ciao.

Arsenal 5-1 Shakhtar Donetsk. perfect for us and welcome back Dudu

salaam & good day all

so I was up as early as 0420 today morning to watch the match. the match itself does not start until 5.45 am but I was settling down for prayers and getting pumped up for the match and Dudu return to the Emirates.

on to the match. we never get out of our second gear but yet we won 5-1. we are not performing that well, but  we never need to do that in this match. Shakhtar doesn't seems to recover at all from their GK howler that presented us the opening goal in the first half, which was coolly (and luckily) converted by Alex Song. further goals followed from Samir, Cesc (penalty), Jack and Marouane while Shakhtar replied with a late consolation goal by who else, Dudu. that has got to be the first time I ever saw the Emirates celebrated an away goal like that. practically everyone were on their feet, applauding and chanting Dudu's name. even the man himself obviously holding up his tears when asked in the post match interview the question on the Emirates faithful reception towards his appearance. you'll always be welcomed at the Emirates Dudu.

match rating followed.

Lukasz - not much to do, but did OK with what he had to do. slowly gaining confidence back and hopefully he will turn out to be what le Boss keep on claiming; a world class GK he always saw in training. (6)

Manu Eboue - typical Manu Eboue performance. strong on attack, and decent on defensive duties. lack of attack from Shakhtar meant that he spent more time on their half all game. (6)

Laici - OK performance. thought he could and should do better for the Dudu's goal, but that is taking nothing away from the coolness of Dudu's goal. other than that, satisfactory match for Laici. (5.5)

Johan - got a penalty for us. also lost his man a few times when defending. other than that, doing perfectly fine for a player who miss the whole of last season. a very good 4th choice defender for any club. (5.5)

Gael - thought he did good. always making himself available for the passes and always provide option when attacking. if only his deliveries in the final third are good, we ought to score a few more from it. (6)

Jack - getting better by the match. and it is good to finally see how the partnership of him and Cesc work. and I like what I see. get a goal also, a wonderful goal at that. MOTM for me. (7.5)

Cesc - painfully obvious that he is still lacking match fitness. of course la, he just came back from a month absence. but also painfully obvious is his class. should be better in the coming matches though. (6.5)

Alex Song - I'm getting tired of people criticizing Alex Song for attacking too much, for not be the 1 sitting in front of the back 4 and protect them in the traditional DM style. we do not play like that. we play with 3 CMs who attack and defend when needed to. heck Alex Song even got a goal and an assist in this match. (7)

Samir - he looks to be stepping it up (at least goal-scoring wise) this season but still find himself stuck in the wing forward position, such as the quality we have in the midfield. but still he goes on with his job, and even scored. the problem I have with players like Samir and Tomas playing the wing forward position is that they did not offer enough penetration through the wing position while players like Theodore and Andy do just that. (6.5)

Tomas - see Samir above, without the goal. (6)

Marouane - he is yet to fully in synch with the rest of the team, but he is getting there. scored a goal, even manage to have a look at the linesman before doing that. ingat komik bolasepak Jepun ka? hahaha (6.5)

Denny Boy (sub) - doing OK when coming on for Cesc. the thing I like the most about Denny Boy is that he always making himself available for the ball and always tried to keep the fast ball movement going. looks like also he bulking up quite a bit this season. (5.5)

Theodore (sub) - came in to play the CF role but failed miserably. put him on the RWF and I can assure you he'll look a different player. tried hard, too hard perhaps but nothing comes out for him. (4.5)

Andy (sub) - see Theodore above, but slightly worse. (4)


also, my local team playing the 1st leg of Malaysia Cup semi final at Darulaman Stadium tonight against the mighty Kelantan. the game will be played at 2345 at my local time here so another late night for me tonight. probably will come out with another entry for that before the kick off.

till then, ciao.

bengong me & Dudu return in 1 hour time

salaam & good day all

was supposes to write something about Kedah Malaysia Cup semi final match against Kelantan and Arsenal Champions League group match again Dudu's Shakhtar Donetsk last night but due to certain reasons does not materialize. 'certain reasons' in this case were

1. Kedah match was tonight, not last night. good thing my wife had a chat with my brother who's in Kedah right now. if not I'd look like stupid idiot waiting for the match close to midnight here last night.
2. so after that me and my wife decided to watch some movie first. we took up the challenge of 'Frozen'. damn that movie sucks big time. fall asleep after the second guy fighting the wolves.

so here i am, up at 4.30 in the morning (most of all because I haven't perform Isya' yet...huhu) and writing something about all the above 1 hour from kickoff time.

so news are that Cesc and Theodore are available. Robin, the Verminator, Bak and Koci still not though. seriously what the hell is up with our injuries situation. looks to be worse by the season. really, somebody should have take a look at it and come up with permanent solution. so with all the news re: injuries, comeback, suspension, league commitment on the weekend etc, I'm expecting the team to be as per below.

Lukasz

Manu Eboue   Laici   Johan   Kieran

Denny Boy   Alex Song   Jack

Theodore   Marouane   Tomas

with Carlos Vela, Nik and Samir to come in as substitute in the second half.

should have been a straight forward win if the team concentrate enough and play to their usual ability. my main worry is that our defensive play as a group seems to be very, very poor. we just did not defend very well, full stop. I'm not sure what really was the cause for this but someone ought to have a look at it (paging Mr. Arsene Wenger). and by saying 'if the team concentrate enough', I mean to not let mind game such as this affect how we perform tonight.

it's time for Subuh prayer now. will be watching the match after that. here's hoping for a good entertaining game, and an Arsenal win la of course. till then, ciao.

oh, and 1 other thing not to be forgotten. welcome back Dudu :-) I'm sure Gooners at the Emirates will be giving you superb reaction later on

Arsenal 2-1 Birmingham : a late review (and a short one at that)

salaam & good day all

I know it's been 2 days since the match, but I'd promised myself I'll do a review on that match so here I am writing a review for it. anyway will only do a short and brief review of it since I'm planning to post up a couple more entries today

their goal.

the header was unstoppable from Lukasz point of view. it's the kind of header that you (as a GK) will be damn frustrated that you are not able to do anything about it because it is very slow. but a well placed header to the bottom corner at that. defending the cross and the header could be better though.

the penalty/the dive/Marouane the 'diver'/our equalizer.

the penalty was the correct decision. and Marouane did not dive. there was contact, and he fall after the contact. yes, he did ensure that the referee know of the foul but it was not a dive.

our winning goal.

coolly taken by Marouane. he and Jack seems to have a very good understanding of each other.

Jack dismissal.

a deserved red card but I prefer to look things on the brighter side. now he will get his much needed rest, and hopefully he will learn from this. at least learn to gain revenge on other thing Jack, and make sure the referee did not see it..bwahahahaha

MOTM.

Jack deserve this just ahead of Marouane in my opinion. I'm not sure whether am I supposed to be happy or sad that an 18 year old midfielder is our best player so far this season.

will post up a couple more entries on the Kedah semi final match and Arsenal CL group match later on. till then, ciao.

Arsenal 3 - 0 Wigan ; match rating only

salaam all

below are the match rating of last night match. doesn't have time to comment fully on the match, so match rating will do la for now.

Lukasz – captain for the night, but did not offer any assurance at all to his defenders early in the match. Wrong decision making in handling the long throw in did cause some nervy moments for him afterward. Getting better by the minutes though in the match. That double save probably 3rd best save I ever saw produced by Arsenal goal keeper. The thing with Lukasz is he always knows what he want to do which is very important to a goal keeper. Whether what he wants to do is the correct action or not is different matter altogether. I fully expect him to challenge Manny for the #1 spot next season. (6)

Gavin – I always heard that he is the better among the 2 Hoytes we had. And he proved that in last night match. Better defensively, decent going forward. This is from a player who his favoured position is central defender. A very good prospect indeed. (6)

Alex Song – played well last night. IIRC, his partnership with Johan was only beaten once by De Ridder brilliant run. Solid throughout the match. Carry the ball out of the defensive area well, which is not surprising given that he is actually a midfielder. (6.5)

Johan – marshaled the defensive area very well last night. This is the Johan that we all come to love in his early appearances for us. Le Boss decision to let Phil went on loan is a major vote of confidence to him IMO. And he did himself no harm at all with last night performance. (6.5)

Gibbs – just like a young Gael. Excellent talent going forward with lots to do on his defensive game. Not helped by the fact that the cover from Fran Merida was close to non-existent. A very excellent prospect. Ensuring that we are all covered in the left back position. (5.5)

Jack – now this is a special little player. Seeing him you just know that he’s special, just like seeing Cesc during his first match for Arsenal. Who said we do not produce English players? My MOTM with Johan a close second. (6.5)

Aaron – another special kid. I have no doubt that he and Jack will make it here at Arsenal. You will find it hard to believe that he and Jack are only 17 and 16 years old respectively basing on their display last night. (6.5)

Randall – good match from him last night. Take turn to go forward with Aaron, even though seems like he did more of the defensive duties. Too many losing the ball though in the middle of the field for my liking. That aspect has to go from his game if he want to make it here at the Arsenal. (6)

Fran Merida – quiet game from him. Am a bit disappointed by his display to be honest last night. I was expecting a lot more from the player dubbed ‘Cesc with more attacking ability’ when he just join us. Did not track back to help Gibbs either. (4.5)

Carlos Vela – received a Mexican wave just after he scored the goal of the night. Didn’t do too well in the 1st half, case of trying too hard IMO. Become way better in the second half. His acceleration is just amazing. He must be very very close to break to the 1st team regular. (6)

Jay Simpson – scored a couple of a well taken goals, especially the first one. But other than that, he just decent. Losing the ball too much, lack of idea when have the ball outside the penalty area, did not looks up when having the ball making himself unable to see his team mates in the better position to attack to name a few. He remind me of Adebayor when he just came in to Arsenal. Hopefully he can develop as well as Adebayor. (6)

Subs

Lansbury – a few nice touches on the ball but that’s about it. Nothing much to say about his performance. (5)

Amaury – same as Lansbury. In fact, I’m going to give all 3 subs the same rating and comment..hahaha. (5)

Rui Fonte – same as above. (5)

Arsenal 2 - 1 Manchester United. WE ARE THE ARSENAL!!!

salaam all

Haven’t been able to do my match rating since the last 3 match since I did not watch them. I was very frustrated not being able to watch them, the north London derby in particular. But what to do, my parents are in town to send relatives go for Haji and I am the driver

Anyway, am so glad to be able to watch Arsenal match again last Saturday. What’s more is that it was against our rival, Manchester United. With all the noises from the media, you will be forgiven to think that we are not even the slightest considered as MU’s rival. F**k it, who cares what the media thinks. WE ARE THE ARSENAL!!! And we will play our own way to win matches.

Went to pasar malam to get my usual Saturday dinner menu which are bihun goreng rm2.50 with ayam goreng, a couple of kepak ayam madu (this is for my gf since she like it so much) and 2 pieces of pulut udang (may I say the best pulut udang in KL after 4 years of searching). Come back to my home at around 8.20. My housemate, Fung was already in front of the TV, while John Dykes was commenting on something just as I was opening. Then I heard it; “the news from the stadium is that Arsenal will be happy with a score draw” or something along that line came from John Dykes. *that is actually the news that John Dykes gather, not what he think IMO*. I snapped when I heard this. Below are the conversation between me and Fung as of that time.

…Sounds from TV saying that Arsenal will be happy with a score draw..
Me : b*t*h la, will be happy with a score draw?? Depa ingat kita sapa???
Fung : serius baq hang. Pala otak depa
Me : kita Arsenal la. we’ll never happy with a score draw. Kita mesti mau menang la!!!
Fung : betui. Haram betui depa ni
…the TV goes back to the studio, where the “pundits” that were Steve McMahon and Paul Massfield were present...
Me : ni mesti dok kata kita akan kalah la ni dua2 ni
Fung : tobat baq hang
Me : eleh, McMahon ni mesti dok tensen pasai 89 lagi ni. IT’S UP FOR GRABS la Macca!!!!
Fung : takpa, biaq depa tengok

After that, just as we were saying the pundits wrote us off. But then again, these are the same people that wrote us off even before the ball being kicked last season. How they were made to eat their words last season. And they are about to be made to eat their words again that night

Everybody knows what happened. A very entertaining football match which should not be a surprise really. Arsenal vs MU is always an entertaining match doesn’t matter where the game played. Even more so when MU think they can win because they will attack more. Remember the double we did over them during 2006/2007 season?

I will do my match rating this time around. Before that, I just want to state that how happy I am to see such a committed performance from the boys. That, is what we all want. Because if the boys are committed in every matches, we will win every matches.

Manny – I’m split between wanting to describe his action on the backpass issue as stupidity or nervousness. However, in the end we all must admit that top gk just won’t do that. I still think he’s good enough for us though. And how he came back from that incident and guard his goal is nothing short of incredible. Even get kicked by Carrick while guarding his goal. (6.5)

Bac – solid as ever. Nothing get passed him although that fact is helped by Park Ji Sung who drifted in too much IMO. (6)

Billy Gallas – give his all today, and it is enough to win us the match. Which make him still good enough to be our first choice CD. It’s all about the partnership. Even showed his leadership quality throughout the match. (6.5)

Mikael – same as the captain, solid. This does give us hope that our defensive fragility may be solved this season. (6)

Gael – 1 on 1, nobody get pass him. Not even the so called the Best Player in the world. What with our first choice left back that make them handle C.Ronaldo so well? (6)

Theo – not 1 of his better match. His decision making still pretty much lacking. But now, his presence alone is enough to help the team. And what a clever run made by him to help set up our 2nd goal. (4.5)

Denilson – good match from the young Brazilian. Seems to understand more and more by the match that he and Cesc can work well together, it just that 1 may need to sit a bit deep when the other going forward. And the giveaway of the freekicks in dangerous area need to go also. Other than that, he is in the correct path. (6)

Cesc – a solid game from our world class midfield general. He always going to make less pinpoint passes when he only have 2 runners in the form of Theo (not having a good match) and Samir (defensive duties does take his time from doing the forward running). If Ade is playing, you will see more from Cesc. Anyway, still solid match from him nonetheless. (6)

Samir – how excellent is this player? Finally, we manage to find replacement for Pires; both for his goals and his contribution in our playing style. Took his goals effectively, and fit in nicely with our style of play. Toy around with MU captain like the older Neville just a little child..haha..however this does remind me of the time Reyes excelling in our side. And then, the Nevilles literally kicked him out of the BPL. But, somehow I don’t see the same happening to Samir. Well played Samir, my MOTM for this macth. (7.5)

Abou – play the extra man in midfield role. He also supposed to support Nik in attack, but spent more time in the our part of the field due to the defensive duties performed. Played well enough to contribute to the win, but I do have the feeling that he should be contributing more to this match. More to come from him I predict, but it has to come fast as he is not what we can call young anymore in this Arsenal side. (5.5)

Nik – I thought it was a big ask to put him in our 4-5-1 formation which he never played before and ask him to perform. What’s more is that the match is against the current BPL and European champion. But he did well for me. Obviously not as well as Ade would do in that lone striker role but his performance was good enough for me, considering the situation. Not to mention he also looks visibly exhausted towards the end of the match, hence causing him to miss the 1 golden chance for him in the injury time. (5.5)

Subs

Alex Song – went on a crazy run right after he came in but after that settle down and bring the extra security needed in the middle of the field. (5.5)

King Kolo – I was a little bit disappointed by his performance in this match. Was hoping a little bit more from him both in term of defending and attacking. (4.5)

Lukasz – looks composed and confident, which very important for a gk. Nothing can be done about the goal though. Not just it’s a good striker from Rafael, his view was also blocked by 1 of the defender. (5)

Arsenal 3-1 Everton : a game of 2 halves

salaam all

we finally get back to our winning way in the league. i am grateful for that. make no mistake, our performance was not really what you would call convincing as a title contender but at least we get the 3 points. like the saying goes, the most important statistic in the end of every match is the goals scored.

we were without a number of first team players. Billy Gallas and Bac were injured during their international duty with France and Nik also injured for the same reason. Cesc had a broken nose but was declared fit to play. Robin was also injured during international duty (nothing new here..ha!) but le Boss confirmed on the match day that he also will be available for selection.

the injury to Bac and Billy Gallas can only means 1 thing, and that is the long awaited debut of Mikael Silvestre in Arsenal colour. up until now i can't shake off the weirdness of seeing him in Arsenal colour. but he did well IMO. as 1 of fellow Gooner on the net was saying, he probably won the challenge for header in 1 match more than King Kolo and Billy Gallas did combined for the whole season.

match rating followed and also including new feature in my match rating; MOTM.

Manny - game like this showed why people will always have doubt over Manny credibility as Arsenal #1. nobody doubt his shot stopping ability, but to be Arsenal #1, you need to be more than that. 1 crazy moment in 1 of the dangerous corner Everton have bring back all those doubts. save our a$$ though early in the 2nd half. (5.5)

Alex Song - probably the poorest ever performance by him in Arsenal colour. but the fault solely lies with le Boss as he was the 1 who decided to play Alex out of position. a bit better in the 2nd half when moved back to his more familiar role in the centre of defense. (2.0)

King Kolo - was slightly below average. his injury is a blessing in disguise as it ensure that normal balance restored in our side. i honestly think the main problem with King Kolo is that he cared too much. (4.0)

Mikael - showed Billy Gallas and King Kolo how to win a header challenge. played well for a debut match. looks good as a partner for either Billy Gallas or King Kolo. here's hoping for more to come from Mikael. (6.0)

Gael - MOTM. this guy is simply amazing. given the choice to me, he should be the captain. (6.5)

Manu Eboue - slightly below average performance by our cult hero. getting better in the 2nd half though. but then, every players in our side looks better in the 2nd half. that is the indicator of how bad we played in the 1st half. (4.0)

Denilson - poor game from the Brazillian. a few nice tackle, but that's about it. what make me frustrated the most about him is that he will always almost casually jog around even when we are attacked. no real urgency from him to track back and initiate the attack. (3.0)

Cesc - average game from him. better in the 2nd half when Denilson decide he had enough tried being a 'Kaka' and play a little deeper. (5.5)

Samir - showed that he has more in his game than the ice cream maniac that is Alex Hleb. protect the ball well, which is really important aspect. also link up well with Gael. real gem we have here. even able to scored with long shot. it's only October, that must be the reason why le Boss haven't able to grind that out from him..hahaha (6.0)

Robin - poor, poor match from him. he was supposed to be the clinical one for our main striker pair. but he was toothless in this match. but he kept on going though, and get 1 of our goals. that is new for him. he always seems to disappear in the match where things are not going his way. but he need to find back his shooting boot, quickly. (5.0)

the Togonator - see comment for Robin, minus 'the clinical one' part and minus a goal. everything else is the same. (4.5)

subs

Theo - scared the sh1t out of the Everton player when he came in. getting more confident by the day which can only be good news for us. even got a goal for good measure. i am with le Boss regarding his comment about Theo has more to his game than Leo Messi. (6.0)

Abou - a good comeback cameo appeareance by him. even got himself an assist to go with the calm, assured game. that's what he need to add to his game; calmness and of course a better decision making. (5.5)

special note on the refereeing of the match. how poor is the referee? consistently making mistake to both side. even the commentator was saying '2 wrong doesn't make it right'. how on earth we did not get a penalty for that foul on Robin and how on earth Tony Hibbert was not sent off were beyond me. not only that, he even yellow-carded Gael in that incident with Tony Hibbert. as i always said to my sister here in my office "sh1t you la".

another special note to le Boss. i can only assume that he lost a bet with Manu Eboue, and the bet prize is that le Boss will never ever play him in the right back position again unless Manu Eboue wanted to. what on earth did le Boss thinking putting Alex Song as right back when we have Manu Eboue available? that was a gamble and it almost cost us. the only good thing came out from that gamble is that by the looks of that performance, le Boss will never ever put Alex Song as right back again.

so, now on to Turkey for CL group match. damn, there won't be any live coverage for our match from Astro.

Bolton 1-3 Arsenal : match rating

salaam all

this win feels so good. i mean it's Blackburn and Bolton, away and back to back convincing win. plus Liverpool drew with Stoke means that we are on top of the table now. the view is so nice from the top..haha. now Alan Hansen can shove it up where he like it. he must be still bitter about 89..hahaha..IT'S UP FOR GRAB NOW!!!!

my match rating as followed

Average Al - kept us in the match with some great saves. nothing new there as we all know he's an excellent shot stopper. had started to gain authority on his penalty box, but still a lot more to do in regards to that for him to reach world class status. communication is another aspect that he may want to improve. however, good performance by Average Al. a season long performances like this and i may change his name to Great Al..haha (7)

Bac - nothing much to do defensively today. support the attack well, but a little bit kancheung when moved to the left but settle down after 5-10 minutes. (6)

King Kolo - good performance by King Kolo. definitely getting better by the match. but it's painfully clear to see that his partnership with Billy Gallas is not working. am not sure what le Boss want to prove here. but as long as we are winning i guess i can't really complaint. (6)

Billy Gallas - it's not happening with the captain today. did not get up to challenge for most of the high ball. suspicious positioning at time. c'mon captain, we need more consistency from you. as of now, the only thing you are consistent with is your inconsistency. (4.5)

Gael - excellent as usual. to quote my housemate, 'nasib baik fullback kita dewa' which translate in English to be 'lucky our fullback are superb'. really unlucky with the tackle. the Dudu incident flashed thru my head just now when Gael tackled by that fcuker; Davies. lucky Arsenal.com reported that the injury was not as bad as feared. (6)

Denilson - how good was he tonight. not just tonight, after the disastrous Fulham match he has been stepping up his game more and more by the match. he carries most of our attack tonight, and to good effect that is. and that while playing at right wing position. sometime i have difficulty in believing he is just a 19 year old boy. (7.5)

Song - finally given a chance in his original position in a proper 4-4-2 formation a.k.a. beside Cesc in the middle of the field. did good, and seems like he is ready for the step up needed by us this season. it will be interesting to say the least to see he, Denilson and Diaby fight it out for the midfield position to partner Cesc. and this without taking Aaron into consideration. (6)

Cesc - not his usual attack-imposing match but i though he was very good in defensive department. whether that was due to the impact of Song being played next to him. but i hope he and Denilson found a way to play with each other without sacrificing one attacking ability. (6)

Manu Eboue - i do not care what other people in this board said about him but for me he already reach the cult hero status with the fan. was very very good tonight. what i like most about him is he always keep the ball moving at our pace. he even scored 1, be it an offside goal. their goal was resulted from a wrongly given corner kick, so it all even out la . (6.5)

Nik - i thought he was excellent in the 1st half, but faded in the 2nd. in the first half, almost everything he did were excellent. off the ball and on the ball movement were excellent, his passing were accurate and effective i.e. playing other players into attacking position. that says a lot about vision and match intelligence, the 2 things that you cannot teach IMHO. so glad that he break his duck in BPL this season. (6.5)

Ade the Togonator - he was very very good. was everywhere with purpose, defender really hate playing strikers like him. big, fast, skillful, unpredictable and he just kept coming back for more of the same. got an assist also. hey, he was only flagged offside once right throughout the whole match. now that is excellent for a serial offside offender like our Togonator..hahaha. (6.5)

the subs

JD - shaky throughout the match. understandably though as he was being played outside of his normal position. but JD, if you want to make it at Arsenal, be sure to make yourself a versatile player. (5)

Theo - how good can this kid be? when we play to his strength, you know like we did with Titi, our attack really looks unplayable. decision making and ball control seems to getting way better after that hattrick. (6)

Aaron - played ok within his given time. doesn't afraid to shoot also. good, as we all know at Arsenal if you are good enough you are old enough. keep on improving and i'm sure we'll see more of you this season. (5)

my MOTM is Denilson. not just he played very well tonight, he played well ever since after that Fulham match. that's 4 matches in a row now, with him played 90 minutes in every match. he already in his way on doing a Flamini this season i.e. stepping up to the required Arsenal standard. long may it continue

Blackburn 0-4 Arsenal : match rating only

salaam all

just want to do match rating for the Blackburn match in this entry

i know it's been 2 days since the game, but i still want to do match rating Al - progressing well, start to take control over his penalty box but still not enough for me. need to do a little bit more in term of communicating with the central defense. excellent save from McCarthy shot nearing the end of the match, but we all know Al is an excellent shot stopper. (6.5) Bac - solid match, kept our right side safe and limited Gamst Pedersen chances to the very minimum. (6.5) King Kolo - an excellent defender on his own, but his partnership with Billy Gallas is not working well. and it's not working well for 3 years already. just how on earth we end up with a clean sheet is beyond me. (6) Billy Gallas - still a very good defender, but he just too similar to King Kolo. both are reactive type of defender, they need Rio-type or JT-type defender next to them. it's all about partnership for central defender position. (6) Gael - excellent match. coping well even without Theo's help in defensive duty in the first 20-30 minutes. as i said in my previous match rating, the best left back in BPL. (7) Manu Eboue - a very very good match by Manu Eboue. passed the ball well, keep our passing game flowed without slowing our gameplay down. i just have to talk about the penalty incident. it was a correct call to give the penalty. did Manu Eboue dived? well, that's for everyone to decide on their own (6.5) Cesc - slowly getting back to his best. the ground that he covered was just amazing. he was everywhere, doing defensive duties and also leading our attack. this is exactly why i said we do not need a DM next to Cesc. let's partner him with another CM who will share the defensive and offensive duties. someone like the next player in my match rating. (6.5) Denilson - the thing that impress me most about Denilson is his growth. everyone can see how he gradually growth into his position in our team. also intelligent enough on the offside rules. pinpoint cross for Ade's header. is it just me or did he involved in at least 1 goal in every match (except the Fulham match obviously) that we have this season?the aspect of his game that he need to improve now is to not give too many freekicks in dangerous position. he did that quite a lot IMHO. (7) Theo - a very good match by young Theo. he is a confidence type player. when he confidence, he will take on defenders and just past them like they were not there. still a lot of aspects of his game need to work on. finishing, helping with defensive duties and consistency. however, even with those flaws, he is very useful due to his pace. defenders will scare sh1t to see Theo's name on the starting 11 from now on. to be fair to him, everything seems to be in place nicely for him. (6.5) Robin - excellent! this is the Robin that we know. off the ball movement was excellent. played of the Togonator excellently. now, just stay healthy for the rest of the season and we will win a championship or 2 this season. (7) Ade the Togonator - he was offside for about 48 times in this game alone. he frustrated the hell out of every Gooners when an attack break out due to his offside. but he kept coming back to haunt the defenders every time. what did he did the 2 times he get away from the offside trap? yeah, he scored in both occasions. and he get his hattrick. i'd take that any time my friend. not to mention he scored a 'perfect' hattrick; from a header, left foot and right foot. more of the same please. (7) subs Song - good game by Alex. seems to always use his chances to impress very well. he might be not as mobile as Denilson, but he sure is versatile. a very useful player to have for any club. (5.5) Aaron - good game by the 17 year old. even get an assist. looks comfortable enough on the ball even though this is his BPL debut. the thin that please me the most is that he (and Jack) came in and they did not look out of place. played our passing game well. (6) Jack - they just keep getting younger and younger, doesn't them? this kid is just 16 years of age. but at Arsenal, if you are good enough you are old enough. and Jack certainly good enough. had a very intelligent football head, which also can be said for Aaron. that is what separate the 2 if them from other youngsters IMO. (5.5)

Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle : match rating and review

salaam all

we continue our fine form in the match against FC Twente in this match against Kevin Keegan's side. almost everyone played an excellent match. and yes, that includes Eboue. am very glad to see Samir did what he did to the thug that is Joey Barton. now he knows that Arsenal players can play that game too. too think that he complaint after tackled by Samir when he give the smirk to Samir after his tackle is just unbelievable. if you want to act like a tough guy, act like a tough guy throughout the whole match. don't be sissy when you are in the end of a tackle. how the hell he get away with his tackle on Samir (not to mention that was his first action in the field) only the inconsistent referee on the night knows.

what i like the most about our performance was we go on the attacking mode right from the start. in fact we should have been 2 goals up within the 1st 5 minutes if the referee and the linesman done their work properly and Billy Gallas did not missed an open goal opportunity. if we have been more clinical, the result should read 7-0. then we can go back at having our annual 7-0 result.

another positive thing is Carlos Vela looks like an Arsenal player. that, is always good for a player making his competitive debut for us. here's looking forward for more of his contribution during the course of the season. i have no doubt that this kid will have a lot more to say on our title challenge.

1 negative thing was that our players especially the 2 main strikers i.e. Robin and Ade only have 1 good foot. when presented with chances at their weaker foot, almost all the time they failed to convert them. i hope they can spend more time practising their weaker foot.

match rating as follow.

Al - much better performance compared to the 1 he put in during the match against Twente. the only thing missing from his game now is to be commanding in the penalty box. when he completed this aspect of his game, then he'll become a world class goalkeeper. (6)

Bac - not much defending to do as Newcastle rarely attack his side. superb as usual in supporting the attack. (6)

King Kolo - looks very determined, and it shows in his game. unlucky to be denied by Given's superb save. bring the ball out from defensive position with confidence. still not so comfortable defending set piece though. (6.5)

Billy Gallas - missed an open goal early in the match. solid display of defensive game. same like King Kolo, still look uncomfortable defending set piece. (6)

Gael - if there's any left back better than him in the BPL, then i must've missed it. the incredible thing is, he looks like getting better with every match he played. adapting well to the attacking play with Samir also. (6.5)

Eboue - the cult hero that is Emmanuel Eboue finally started to be appreciated in here. if only he cuts out on his antics and dives, he will be a very useful player to have around for us. (6.5)

Denilson - looks nervous especially with his passing all night. IMO his performance in the Twente match was better than last night performance. grow up fast man, and we might not need to splash that much money for any midfielder. must admit though that his off the ball movement for the 3rd goal was excellent. that honestly, save his rating a lot. (5.5)

Cesc - average game from Cesc, but he still bossed the midfield area. says a lot about his class. (6)

Samir - adapting really well to our play. he may be not doing a 'Bacary', but new players in attacking side always take more time to adapt to our attacking play. glad he showed to Barton that he can play that game too. (6)

Robin - excellent display. i said before, he just need 1 goal to get going. and he really was getting going last night after the penalty. was unlucky not to have his 1st Arsenal hattrick also. not to mention that he should get the penalty decision for that tackle by Coloccini inside the first few minutes. here's hoping that he's not badly injured. bad enough to make him miss the international duty, but not bad enough so that he can face his favourite opponent; Blackburn next week. (7)

Ade - excellent, just bar the goal. seems to be involved in every attacking moves, certainly involved on the moves that lead to the 3 goals. needs 1 goal though to get him going, and for his and Arsenal sake let's hope he gets it very soon. (7)

subs

Vela - played well considering this is his first competitive match in our colour. seems to have very intelligent football head. we will see more from him i predict during the course of this season. (5.5)

Theo - had a mix game. positioning, off the ball running were good to say the least. but on the ball, he still frustrating to watch. (4.5)

Song - too short of times on the field to display his qualities. i think it's time to give him his chance next to Cesc in our midfield (5)

Arsenal 4 - 0 FC Twente - match rating and a little review

salaam all

we had Champions League qualifying match last night at The Emirates against FC Twente. leading 2-0 from the 1st leg, the match should be a good way of excorsing the effect of horrible performance that we showed against Fulham last week.

the match was at 3.00 am Malaysia time. with Liverpool match being shown almost all the time by Astro, i can only settle for the delayed telecast at 5.00 am. woke up at 5.56 am thinking sh!t, i must've missed the whole of first half. quickly turn on my Astro to found out the match just started up until 15th minutes. huhhh...glad about that.

just a short 1 about key points from last night match. i like how Nik and Theo in particular never gave up on trying. failed? just keep on trying. the result? both of them got a goal each. and it's amazing to think how much impact 1 player can have to a team. Cesc is world class, there's no 2 way about it. he maintain his fitness throughout the season, we surely have a shot at the title.

so we won 4-0, goals by Samir, Billy Gallas, Theo and Nik to take the tie with aggregate 6-0. the draw for the group stage is at 12.00 am tonight. surely we all Gooners will wait the draw with high interest as there are some very strong clubs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th pots. anyway, match rating followed. disclaimer - this match rating is only based on the match starting at the 15th minutes.

Al - less than convincing performance by our #1. there's a couple of incident where his decision making can surely at the least were questionable, most particularly when he came out too far to the front for the cross ball where our defends had it cover. lucky for us the Twente player was offside. not good Al, not good at all. (4)

Bac - solid performance. going forward well, combined with solid defense. remember him and Gael were having the hard time containing Twente forwards during the 1st leg but nothing get past them last night. (6.5)

Johan - solid and reliable display from the young Swiss defender. based on merit, he should play the Newcastle match. heck, he should played the Fulham match. but we all know le Boss will bring back King Kolo back to the 1st eleven for the next match. (6)

Billy - showed glimpse of the old Billy Gallas in this match. even scored a goal. but everything seems easy when we are winning. the question remained how he will lead our young team when the chips are down. and based on the Fulham match, it doesn't looks good. (6.5)

Gael - solid performance. see Bac comment as both having similar efficient display. (6.5)

Theo - good hardworking performance by young Theo. he should keep doing this and surely we have a very good player in our hand. he kept it simple when he has to, and most importantly used his pace in the correct situation. and how we all can see he need that goal. nice finishing touch also. Ade should learn from him. (6.5)

Denilson - decent performance. seems like Cesc presence in the field gave that extra assurance to him. a really glad he got the assist for the Nik's goal. he need that backpass and assist to help him get over that performance against Fulham. (6)

Cesc - not at his best yet, most probably due to match fitness but we all can see the impact of having him on the pitch. as for our current squad, if he can stay fit for the whole season, we have a shot at the title. (6.5)

Samir - good game by our new boy. 2 goals at the Emirates in as many matches, i don't think we can ask for more from him. give him time to fully adapt to our playing style (which i predict to be January barring any major injury), and people will see what the hoo-haa about him. (6.5)

Robin - not a very good game by Robin. too many chances misses in this early season, last night was no difference. at least his free kicks were getting better. need to step up fast; both for Arsenal and his sake. Nik is ready to pounce any time now. to be fair, IMHO he just need 1 goal to get going. (5)

Nik - like Theo, good hardworking game by the young striker. ball control can be better, but i like his confidence. that confidences were what causing our 2nd and last goal. never afraid to do what he wanted to do. c'mon Nik, prove me wrong. i always think he will be a big player, just not for us. i'd be glad to be proved wrong in this. (6)

subs

Eboue - less than decent display only from him. looks lazy at times. not a good way to prove to le Boss that you are Arsenal 1st eleven material. (4)

Ade - good display when he came in. looks hungry for goals during the time Cesc was on the pitch but then looks rather disinterested when Cesc was brought out. we don't need this kind of behaviour, more so from our number 1 striker. (5)

Song - assured display by him. am really curious to see what exactly is le Boss plan with him. surely will be exciting to see his progress with our team. (5)

Double Treble!!!

salaam all

Hari Sabtu, 23 Ogos 2008 sejarah tercipta dalam kancah bolasepak Malaysia. pasukan Kedah memahat nama Kedah dalam sejarah bolasepak Malaysia sebagai bukan sahaja pasukan pertama melakukan 'Treble', Kedah juga melakukan 'Double Treble'.

terima kasih coach Azraai

terima kasih barisan kejurulatihan dan pegawai2

terima kasih pemain2 Kedah

terima kasih Outlaw, Nelson dan Marlon

terima kasih arwah Datuk Ahmad Basri Akil

kita tawan Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil semalam. penyokong tawan stadium dengan memenuhi 90% tempat duduk di bahagian kita. team kita tawan stadium dengan memperbudak2kan team lawan, takdak lawan langsung la. nasib baik 2nd half dah slow down sikit, kalau tak mau kena 8 bijik depa. this is not me being arrogant, this is me being brutally honest.

apa2 pon Alhamdulillah sebab dapat buat Double Treble. lambat la nk ada team lain nk boleh challenge achievement ni

Fulham vs Arsenal - match rating

salaam all

we lost to Fulham last night, deservedly. to prevent myself from doing a lot of cursing, i will only do match rating in this entry

Manny - do what need to be done. cannot be blamed for the goal as the cross was too low for him to go for it. would like him to be more vocal ala Lehman though. (5)

Bacary - not 1 of his better performance but still way better than most of the rest. he might want to be a bit more discipline with his overlapping, but with the clueless human being in front of him in the mould of Theo, who can blame him. (5)

King Kolo - played ok. however, it's really obvious that he and Billy Gallas are not the proper central defender pairing. i can only assume that le Boss was being cautious with his injury when he was brought out. (5)

Billy Gallas - how did we end up with this William Gallas? he was a superb defender during his time at Chelsea. heck, he was good enough for us last season. the goal last night was all his fault for not marking Hangeland well enough. and he also failed to lead the team last night. (2)

Gael - same with Bac, not 1 of his better game but way better than most of the rest. it'll be hard for him and Bac to better the high standard both of them set last season but i have no doubt that both are able to do it. (5)

Theo - the true meaning of trying too hard to impress and do not know his limitation. always wanted to do something fancy with the ball but most of the time causing us our possession only. you should just keep it simple most of the time dude, you are not that good enough..just yet. clueless!! (1)

Eboue - in the scapegoat category with Ade and Senderos. kept it simple, kept the ball moving well. the 2 runs he produced were nothing short of class. he looks very mobile, a good player when he can concentrate on his game rather than his antics. but will always get the blamed for everything though in this board. (4)

Denilson - why oh why you can't keep it simple when you have to. we are the Arsenal, it's all about passing and movement. not like the clueless Theo, he looks like he know what he's doing . but the executions all the time were horrendous. (1)

Samir - good game by him last night. you will see a different Samir when Cesc play. (5)

Ade - i was expecting a better game by him last night. he should have scored with that header chance. you can blame the striker when the service from the midfield was almost non existent last night. (4)

Robin - actually played ok last night. 2 things that irritates me were 1, his freekick. getting worst by the day. 2, all the unnecessary touch he make when he received the ball. he is so predictable now. but still, looks like he adapting well to the 2nd striker role. (3)

subs

Nik - don't have much impact when coming on. maybe we should start playing 4-3-3 now that we do not have any capable midfielder to deputies for Cesc. (3)

Song - am really glad to see him played well last night. still remember he was booed by our own fans during the match against Fulham at the Cottage last 2 seasons. my suggestion is let's put him and Eboue in the middle for the match against Twente this midweek. surely can't be worse than tonight midfield's performance. (5)

maybe i'll do the ranting in later entry when i feel like it

Arsenal 1-0 Everton

salaam all

our last home match tonight was against Everton. i was quite worried for this game as Everton's place in Europe next season is still not yet safe and quite a number of our first team players not available. i do not want to lose at home at all this season. we really need to start establishing the Emirates as a fortress now. i know we only lose once at the Emirates since we started playing there, but we need to keep that record. and pre match events still left me in a mix feelings about the match. Villa lost (surprisingly) to Wigan last night, so Everton won't be pushing too much in tonight match. then seeing our starting eleven le Boss put out bring back my worry. a midfield of Theo-Denilson-Gil-Eboue seems so wrong. but hey, what can a fan do. when the starting whistle blow, there'll be no end to my support

not surprisingly, it's a poor match to say the least from us. to make matter worse, Everton choose to sit back and join us in making the game more dull. quite a bad decision i think from David Moyes to not attack us given that we played with half reserve players in the first eleven. and boy, did they not pay for it. Nik (who's been poor all night even though he seems to try very hard) scored with a thunderous header from a very good cross from the substitute Armand. so Everton must wait until their final league match to confirm their place in European football next season

as for us, we played so poor i don't think i want to talk about the match as a whole anymore. but i'll sat something about some of the player's performances tonight. some of the players just did not appreciate the chance given by le Boss to show that they are capable of playing as regulars in the league. Denilson blew his chance big time. same can be said for Eboue (btw, how many chances he will get) and Theo. Nik tried hard, very hard at times but you are not Cesc Fabregas my friend. you are a striker and you should spend more time inside the penalty box rather than our own half. see what you able to do when you attack the ball inside the penalty box? i know that probably le Boss asked you to improve on your link up play but surely le Boss did not ask you to try and replace Cesc's function in the team eh?

enough with all the negativity. let's talk about the good things we can take out of this match. Song really is growing into the central defender position. calm, strong and so able to bring out the ball from defense and start the attack. he might be the new signing needed at the defensive department next season. Gil look professional as ever. the same can be said for Gallas and Jens, who got his home farewell. thanks for everything Jens. you may have your flaws, but you are an Arsenal Legend for me. i will never forget what you gave us over the years. Gael as excellent as ever, my MOTM for us (i picked Yobo for overall MOTM by the way). running everywhere; right, left, up and down. excellent!! A$$ley who?

last but not least, Armand seems to play better in the left wing role than in the left back role he supposed to be excel at. maybe it worth to give him his chance to start against Sunderland next week. surely he can't do no worse than Eboue. i think even Khyril Muhaimeen will do better than Eboue in that right wing position..haha..don't be surprise to see le Boss come out and say we don't need to buy a winger as we already have Armand waiting to break into the first team. that will be so just like le Boss

i'll end it here. so here's hoping Chel$ea to lose tomorrow so that we can still get that number 2 spot. and i just can bare watch the traitor + money grabber that is A$$ley Cole get the championship